Come on guys, can’t you draw this?
I tried, but I couldn’t figure out how to get my drawing into the thread.
You got it - peak is the heavy point, base is the 4 weights, triangles plus a rectangular base in 3D = pyramid.
I just bought new tires yesterday…two of the tires were balanced without any weights being used. That’s the 2nd and 3rd time EVER I’ve seen a tire and rim perfectly balanced without weights. I was very amazed…so were the techs.
LOL, I cannot remember the last time I had so much struggle with such a basic concept!
Alzheimer’s, anyone? 
I’m not good at translating words to pictures. And VV. Never have been.
In bubble balancing, if you wanted to get the bubble dead center, it was easier and quicker to use two weights. Rarely would there be one weight that was the exact weight needed to center the bubble. You could always use a larger weight and try trimming a little off but that is just a guess and often missed. It was much easier to use two weights slightly over weight and move them apart to bring the bubble to center.
A patient installer could do a pretty good job at it .
When you are pumping gas, cleaning windshields, doing oil changes and mounting tires all at once, patience is a luxury. Efficiency is important. Don’t forget you also have to make time for a little friendly banter with the customer as well.
Kinda like being a waitress.
And just so everyone understands:
Wheel weights come in increments of 1/4 oz or 5 grams. It turns out people can not tell the difference at that level of imbalance. So anyone trimming weights to get a better balance is wasting his time.
Also, static balance (bubble balance) solves way more than half of the problem - which is why it is still effective today. Dynamic balance, which deals with side to side wobble, solves the next largest problem. And lastly, uniformity (think out of round and you’ll be close), solves the third largest problem.
I have yet to see a shop that still uses a bubble balancer nowadays
True enough but I’ve got a Micro bubble balancer I use at home and while I’ve mentioned this before, I’ve balanced or checked and rebalanced a number of tires that shops with spin balancers could not get quite right.
Until his death about 10 years ago the old man who ran a local gas station still used a Micro bubble balancer and he also would find himself balancing tires that the computer spin balancers could not get right.
The bubble never lies; the digital readout on the spin balancer just might.
I’ll say it yet again . . . there are a lot of mechanics out there, who don’t know how to properly use a balancer
Lack of training is part of the reason
Mental retardation is also part of the reason . . . some guys are literally so stupid, they don’t know a rim/tire assembly is NOT supposed to wobble or tramp up and down
I’m sorry if that wasn’t pc, but it’s the best way I can explain it
and then there are the countless guys who just don’t give a . . . n. They’ll throw 4 ounces on each side, use 3 weights on each side, the rim will wobble, and they can’t be bothered to “get it right”
@db4690 - And I find that’s pretty much the norm with the national chains. Never had that problem with Independents. Small independents need to be BETTER…they get a bad reputation they’ll be out of business shortly. Takes years (if not decades) for a bad reputation to catch up with the large national chains.
Smoothest tires , I have acquired recently ,came from an independent shop that charged a bit more ,The tech even knew to use a tightening sequence on the wheels( not the full torque chatter move on to the next lug nut deal ,then check one lug and drop (torque sticks cause trouble too )