How often should you balance your wheels?

Following on from the previous article on why wheel balancing is needed, we conclude that wheel balancing is needed after all. The next natural question is: how often, or in which cases, must it be done? To answer that, let’s recall the conditions a wheel works in, and the technology used to balance it.

So, wheel balancing is done by fitting balance weights to the surface of the wheel. These weights are either stuck to the wheel (which is the usual method for most alloy wheels) or clipped onto the wheel’s rim flange. Either way, while the wheel is in use, especially after impacts of varying force, and also when washing it under high pressure, the weights sometimes fly off, which on its own is reason enough for an unscheduled visit to the tyre fitter.

What’s more, hard starts and emergency braking, as well as taking corners at speed, cause uneven tread wear, which also throws off the results of wheel balancing. And driving over large potholes, speed bumps, ruts and other road irregularities at speed carries a fairly high risk of damaging the wheels’ geometry, which makes it dangerous to keep using them.

Perfect wheel balancing is physically impossible, and in most cases is not necessary anyway. Even so, how much balancing accuracy matters for safe driving depends directly on your driving style and the speeds you drive at. It is also worth remembering that wheel balancing checks the wheels’ geometry too, so the procedure always has a positive effect on road safety.

So, wheel balancing definitely needs to be checked or done:

• When you change wheels or tyres for the season (even if you have two sets of wheels and no tyre fitting is involved in the changeover).
• If you hit a pothole, strike a kerb, or drive over a speed bump at speed, and so on.
• Every 15 thousand km (this is the car manufacturers’ firm recommendation, and given everything said above, it is hard to disagree with). That said, most motorists do not usually cover more than 15 thousand km a season, so this rule is normally covered anyway by balancing at the seasonal wheel change.
• Before and after a long trip (when the total expected distance is more than 2 thousand km).

If you prefer aggressive driving at high speeds, it is worth thinking about checking the wheel balancing every 7-8 thousand km, in other words twice as often as the car maker recommends. Remember that any problem with a wheel, however minor, can lead to very serious trouble on the road at high speed, so wheels always deserve special attention.