'66 wheel balance weight placement; new TIM&JG

[Gary B.]

[John S.]

Re: '66 wheel balance weight placement; new TIM&JG

Gary:

I can't speak for the 1966, but the 1965 TIM&JG and AIM both state that the wheels should be balanced by applying weights to the inside of the wheel at the rim edge.

[Gary B.]

'66 wheel balance weight placement; new TIM&JG

John,

I know the allowable placement of weights differs by year according to the AIMs. It's only '66 that I'm talking about.

Gary

[William C.]

Re: '66 wheel balance weight placement; new TIM&JG

If you notice, the AIM change did not occur until January of '66, so if a change was made in actual plant practice it would likely be at some point after that date.

[Gary B.]

'66 wheel balance weight placement; new TIM&JG

Bill,

So perhaps early '66s had weights only on the inside (like in '65), but later '66s could have weights on both inside and outside?

Gary

[Terry M.]

Re: '66 wheel balance weight placement; new TIM&JG

Gary there is language in the 1972 AIM that would make one think that balance weights could be installed on both sides of the wheel, yet we consistently see the weights installed only on the inside during 1972 MY. I can't tell you what was going on at St Louis with the wheel install and balance line, but it is curious.

[Gary B.]

'66 wheel balance weight placement; new TIM&JG

Terry,

I can see how a trend for putting weights only on the inside might evolve over time, since for '67, for example, the rally wheels either couldn't take weights on the outside or it would look ugly. So, what is observed by '72 might not reflect what was done in '66 because of difference in wheel types, etc. I assume if the '66 AIM said mounting weights on the outside was permissible, then it was sometimes done.

Gary

[David S.]

Re: '66 wheel balance weight placement; new TIM&JG

I was under the impression all the 66 rims / tires were static balanced which means only the inboard side got weights.

-Dave

[William C.]

Re: '66 wheel balance weight placement; new TIM&JG

One could infer that, or the plant could have continued with the practice they had trained on and used in previous years. Remember the AIM had no "force of law" as to assembly plant procedures. I'd like to see a couple of late-production "bowtie" spares before drawing any conclusions. Also don't really know how often extra weights were required. Tires were simpler back in the day--- no belts to provide imbalance.

[John H.]

Re: '66 wheel balance weight placement; new TIM&JG

I was under the impression all the 66 rims / tires were static balanced which means only the inboard side got weights.

-Dave

Dave -

ALL assembly plants static-balanced wheels/tires, using the de facto industry-standard Micropoise balancing equipment, through the late 90's; dynamic balancing equipment capable of assembly plant cycle times wasn't available until about six years ago.

[Gary B.]

Static balancing

John,

Based on your posting and Dave's, does that imply the putting weights on the outside of the rim for the '66 Corvette production line wouldn't have been done, hence the change in the TIM&JG?

Gary

[John H.]

Re: Static balancing

John,

Based on your posting and Dave's, does that imply the putting weights on the outside of the rim for the '66 Corvette production line wouldn't have been done, hence the change in the TIM&JG?

Gary

Gary -

The wheel/tire exited the mounter and indexed on the balancer spindle with the front side up, the balancer shot a dot of hot wax on the inboard side of the tire where the weight needed to go from the bottom, and the machine then flipped it 180* (front side down) and sent it into the weight-apply station, where the operator installed the weight(s) on the inboard rim flange next to the wax dot on the tire. In order to install a weight on the outboard rim flange, the assembly would have to be flipped over again, and there was no wax dot on the outside of the tire, so the operator would have to pick it up to find the mark on the back side of the tire. This was a lot of extra work, and was not likely to happen.

[Gary B.]

What's a judge to do; please vote

So, here's what we have. The '66 AIM says weights can go on either side. The TIM&JG says inside (only). John tells us that weights on the outside could have happened, but it's likely to have been a rare event.

You're judging a '66 with weights on the inside and the outside, but the total weight is within the allowable weight limit. Do you take a deduct?

Gary