On December 1st I mounted my winter tires on some new wheels. I bought a No-Mar mounting/demounting bar, made my own wheel stand out of an old table pedestal and a wheel spacer, and used a bubble balancer from Harbor Freight.
I've had that bubble balancer for about 4 years and used it for the first time. I bought the wheels about a year ago and waited until I sold my aero wheels to take off the winter tires and mount them on the new ones. I've used the winter tires for 2 winter seasons and plan to use them at least 1 more winter season (possibly 2 if I can resist full acceleration and cornering with them ).
Portable Wheel Balancer
The No-Mar mount/demount bar has replaceable nylon tips to keep from scratching the wheels, and comes with a vegetable-based grease that is safe for rubber. I also ordered their "yellow thing" that helps you with mounting the tire.
Mount / Demount Bar<br>for Motorcycle Tires-TC-MDBAR
The wheels are Fast Wheels EV01+ and they are designed and tested to be as efficient as the Tesla aero wheels with covers. You can take the inserts off for less aerodynamics and more style (subjective, and I prefer the inserts on). They are made in multiple sizes (18" & 19") and bores and widths, but I stuck to the same specs as the OEM 18" wheels.
Fast Wheels EV01(+) for Tesla Model 3 Wheels 18
Here are the wheel spacers that I used for the wheel mount. I epoxied one to the pedestal and drilled 2 holes for nuts and bolts to secure them. One plank was used for the base (to stand on during use) and I will be adding 2 more sections to form a + symbol. The 2 additional sections will be attached with heavy duty hinges so I can fold them up and store in a smaller footprint. One bonus of using this particular spacer with the 64.1 mm bore and 5x114.3mm bolt circle is that it will fit Mustangs and can be used on my brothers' 1969 and 2010 Mustang wheels.
https://smile.amazon.com/TRIBLE-SIX-Hubcentric-Spacers-12x1-5/dp/B07YCD7D39/
And finally, my tires are Michelin X-ice Xi3. When I balanced them I marked the heavy spot on the tires and rotated that to opposite the TPMS sensors. Two ended up being perfect and 2 close but not perfect. I decided not to use any weights and the ride is smooth. On new tires balancing is easier because they are marked with a red or yellow dot. Line up the yellow dot (lightest part of tire) with the TPMS sensor (heaviest part of wheel) and you might need very little or no weights. This varies, but see here for details.
Tire Match Mounting and Balancing | Yokohama Tire
I've had that bubble balancer for about 4 years and used it for the first time. I bought the wheels about a year ago and waited until I sold my aero wheels to take off the winter tires and mount them on the new ones. I've used the winter tires for 2 winter seasons and plan to use them at least 1 more winter season (possibly 2 if I can resist full acceleration and cornering with them ).
Portable Wheel Balancer
The No-Mar mount/demount bar has replaceable nylon tips to keep from scratching the wheels, and comes with a vegetable-based grease that is safe for rubber. I also ordered their "yellow thing" that helps you with mounting the tire.
Mount / Demount Bar<br>for Motorcycle Tires-TC-MDBAR
The wheels are Fast Wheels EV01+ and they are designed and tested to be as efficient as the Tesla aero wheels with covers. You can take the inserts off for less aerodynamics and more style (subjective, and I prefer the inserts on). They are made in multiple sizes (18" & 19") and bores and widths, but I stuck to the same specs as the OEM 18" wheels.
Fast Wheels EV01(+) for Tesla Model 3 Wheels 18
Here are the wheel spacers that I used for the wheel mount. I epoxied one to the pedestal and drilled 2 holes for nuts and bolts to secure them. One plank was used for the base (to stand on during use) and I will be adding 2 more sections to form a + symbol. The 2 additional sections will be attached with heavy duty hinges so I can fold them up and store in a smaller footprint. One bonus of using this particular spacer with the 64.1 mm bore and 5x114.3mm bolt circle is that it will fit Mustangs and can be used on my brothers' 1969 and 2010 Mustang wheels.
https://smile.amazon.com/TRIBLE-SIX-Hubcentric-Spacers-12x1-5/dp/B07YCD7D39/
And finally, my tires are Michelin X-ice Xi3. When I balanced them I marked the heavy spot on the tires and rotated that to opposite the TPMS sensors. Two ended up being perfect and 2 close but not perfect. I decided not to use any weights and the ride is smooth. On new tires balancing is easier because they are marked with a red or yellow dot. Line up the yellow dot (lightest part of tire) with the TPMS sensor (heaviest part of wheel) and you might need very little or no weights. This varies, but see here for details.
Tire Match Mounting and Balancing | Yokohama Tire
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