Do you need to balance your wheels every time you change your seasonal tires?

At each change of season, many drivers replace summer tires with winter ones and vice versa. This replacement is recommended to be done at vulcanization or authorized services. But do you need to balance your wheels every time you change your seasonal tires?

Every year, the arrival of the cold season means an extra worry for drivers, because they have to replace their tires. The same should be done when the hot season comes.

Because in winter, when the asphalt is cold, summer tires are ineffective. And they even become dangerous and lose grip immediately on roads covered with snow, ice or ice.

And in summer, winter tires become stiff, which greatly reduces their grip. So, they are equally dangerous, which is why summer tires must be replaced seasonally with winter ones or vice versa.

Do you need to balance your wheels every time you change your seasonal tires?

A wheel is unbalanced when its center of gravity is displaced relative to its center of rotation.

The imbalance of a wheel can be static, which means that there is a heavier point inside the tire. This causes the entire wheel to not roll evenly on the asphalt.

When there is unequal weight on the sides of the lateral median, where the rim and tire meet, a dynamic imbalance occurs.

After the tires are mounted on the rims of the car, balancing is done by equalizing the weight of the wheels. Practically, in this way a correct rotation of them is ensured.

Therefore, every time the seasonal tires are mounted on the rims, a wheel balancing must be done. This is the only way you can ensure that the mounting is correct and the wheels have the right dynamics.

How to do wheel balancing

Wheel balancing is done by mounting the wheels on a machine that rotates and determines where there are imbalances. The device then indicates where specially designed lead counterweights should be mounted.

Specialists recommend that balancing be done both when replacing seasonal tires and periodically.

So, in the case of drivers who have all-season tires, for example, wheel balancing should be done every 15,000 kilometers.

Using wheels that have not been balanced can lead to, among other things:

• vibrations while walking;
• loss of grip;
• loss of steering control at higher speeds;
• uneven tire wear;
• severe wear of shock absorbers, bearings or the entire steering system.

Unwarranted jitters while driving are the first sign that the wheels need to be balanced. When tremors are felt on the steering wheel, the front wheels require urgent balancing. And when these tremors are felt in the seat, a rebalancing of the rear tires is most likely required.