I just did my wheel balance at Costco and they use hoffoman 5 Fe wheel weights which is sticker-ed onto the rim. I see that the front wheel weights are rubbing to calipers due to clearance issues which its 3.75mm/3.70mm. I do not want to clip on weights (outside) to my alloys. Are there are any other sticker weights that would clear calipers?
Thanks.

 

Some general info:

Whatever you get fixed for the front wheel(s), where you have the problem now, also check that you don't have a problem on the rear wheels that you'll notice when rotating tires to the fronts.

The Fe means the weights are made of iron. Lead (Pb) was standard back in the day. Lead is denser so you can use a smaller weight with the same mass. It could be that Lead weights are banned now for environmental reasons, and iron is the next best thing (cheap + dense).

I expect there is leeway in the thickness of the weights, and the exact placement of them, that the wheel balancer guy could use to avoid this problem if he knew how tight a fit you had there.

Not sure what the 3.75mm/3.70mm numbers are for, but to get an idea about how small that is, a dollar bill is about 0.1mm thick, and a regular sheet of paper is about 0.05mm thick.

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So if it were me, I'd take it back in and point out the problem to the balancer guy, including the fact that you'll want to be able to rotate rear wheels to the front at some point. They should be able to fix it for you. But I know getting anything done at Costco is an exercise in patience, so good luck.

 

Hey oldskewel
Thanks for this. This issue was persistent for quite a while and sometimes I getaway with static balance (which isnt the best). The wheel weights are 3.75 mm thick and clearance is 3.70 mm between the rib of the rim (tallest portion) to top of the floating caliper. Usually the midsection on the rims is designed to be thicker for structural integrity and that would be middle of the rim is the perfect place to balance the weights.

There is a way to get around like placing massive amounts of weights on the side of the rim and balancing the other side (inside) by adding clip on weights but that is not the nicest way to do this. I am seeking if there are weights thinner than <3.70mm so that it can clear the calipers.

And yes I did the tire rotation (myself) that is where the issue cropped up this time which was something I expected.

 

Lexus dealers used to have decent looking hammer on balancing weights but those became no longer available in the mid-2000's. My local Lexus dealer had a good supply of them but eventually ran out.

Some specialty wheel shops have ultra low profile stick on balancing weights.

Googling "ultra low profile wheel balancing weights" found some that are represented to be 1/8th inch thick which is 3.175 mm.

Here's one at http://yourtireshopsupply.com/produc...eel-sn200624st which is marketed for "imports and sports cars where brake caliper clearance can be an issue with standard thickness QuikStik weights"

 

Thanks Kansas. The problem with the measurement listed is, most dont disclose the thickness of the sticker which adds up to the overall height. Indeed my present weights are 3mm but the sticker is another 0.75mm.

 

Ive had this issue. I found a tire shop that can balance the wheels by putting the weights closer to the middle of the wheel barrel / farther away from the inner face of the wheel and out of the path of the calipers. Problem solved.

Not all shops have a machine that can do this I believe, its a different setting or something they told me.

Good luck, I know how annoying it is to hear that loud clicking noise when those wheel weights hit the calipers!

 

Discount tire uses 1/4 oz weights in 3oz strips that are really low profile. I worked there for 5 yrs and you could get a row of those to clear the LS400 calipers while doing a dynamic Clip inner and tape outer balance.

 

I wanted to update this thread since it came up in my search and I was having the same clearance issue on my 99. I had went to multiple different Discount Tire shops in my area trying to find one that had those thinner tape weights, but I was having bad luck. In my research into this, I learned about balancing beads. I found this Counteract 3oz balancing kit on Amazon for about 35 bucks, so I decided to give it a shot (3oz is what Counteract's website recommended based on the tire size):
https://counteractbalancing.com/prod...lancing-beads/
Unfortunately, they did not work for me. At around 60 or so mph I would get a bad vibration that would only get worse with more speed. The vibration would mostly smooth out on inclines and declines, which told me they were moving around, but the vibration would come back after the road leveled out. I wanted to investigate further to see if the beads were clumping, but due to time constraints, I had to go back to the stick weights the same day. Funnily enough, I think this last Discount Tire that I went to had those thinner weights I was looking for as they are clearing the caliper now.