hey all.
the issue: I recently purchased winter wheels and snow tires, online, for my mini. The tires were balanced, and the weights were attached by the use of TWO SIDED TAPE! Is this normal? I have never seen this before. Two of the wheels have already lost the weights used to balance the tires, and the tires are not even on my car yet!
Yes, I am very disappointed, and will be sending them all back pronto.
I will no longer buy tires online.
Has this happened to anyone else?

 

When I got mine from a well known tire store on-line, mine came with the weights magnetically attached to the inside of the wheel rim. When I set them down, several just slid right off. I went to a local tire store, and had them spin balanced. New weights were crimped on to the rims. No problem after that. The local store mentioned that the weights might scratch the wheel which might accelerate any corrosion. No problems over the last two snow seasons. But yes, sort of disappointed in the beginning.
It will all work out.

 

Thank you.

 

This is a normal procedure as they are trying to not damage expensive rims. I generally specify the taped weights at Discount Tire for just that reason. I haven't had any lost taped weights in the 6 years I've had my MINI and I road course and autoX. I suspect the rim wasn't degreased in the weight attachment area so the stickum couldh't adhere properly. If your winter rims are steel then the clamp-type weights are the way to go, especially up North where the winter road conditions are less than optimal. ;-) Rough roads can cause any weights to come off. Over the years I've lost several clamp-type weights so it's it's not a 100% solution.

I've never heard of magnetic weights and unless aluminum magnets have been developed recently I probably never will. :-)

 

Same here. My current winter alloys from Tire Rack have hidden weights inside the rim attached with I assume high strength tape. 3 years and no issues here. My new winter set for the JCW also have the hidden weights and I am glad - those crimp on things are fugly.

My OE summer wheels have the crimped on weights and I have lost them on two wheels so far and they left damage behind on the rim.

OP: You need to switch to another Internet vendor.

 

Adhesive user here, too. It's crazy tough sticky, though--not like a Scotch brand, buy-it-at-the-store tape. Perhaps you got hosed?

 

Even on my 2 wheeled Bimmer the wheel weights are taped on,,, and it is a PIA to remove the old residue after installing a new tire.

 

Stick on weights are the industry standard. Sometimes the wheel isn't cleaned well enough before they are stuck, and they fall off. Clamp on weight is typically for steel wheels. Some OEM's use it as well, but there quite often is finish damage under them.

 

You would be surprised how much force certain pressure sensitive tapes can withstand. I've been testing a few for work and many of them are withstanding 100lbs of normally applied force pulling the two pieces apart.

 

The wheel shop at my local track uses the adhesive weights, then covers them over with a foil tape to make sure they stay put. It's not particularly attractive, but that's usually not the point of track wheels.

 

Thank you all for your interest. In order to update you all, I had the tires rebalanced at my own expense. I suspect that the wheels were not properly prepped prior to balancing, so the tape did not hold.
In my experience, vendors can make all kinds of claims, but in the end, their product is only as good as the employees they hire. Maybe the tech was a new hire, or was having a bad day.
In the interests of fairness, I want to be clear that the tires did not come from Tire Rack. I am not sure whether or not I want to divulge the internet vendor, maybe some other time. Either way, I will buy all tires locally from now on.

 

I would not blame the vendor as such, unless you can prove the rim wasnt cleaned. The tape could have been old or defective, and the glue-ons are most common, for the reasons noted above. I did buy from Tire Rack, is glued, and no issues. Getting snows mounted Friday, will have them glued as well. The bang-on weights are designed for the lip profile of steel wheels and will not attach correctly to most aluminum wheels. Another issue with the bang-ons is that corrosion under the attaching tab can actually pop the tire away slightly and cause a very exasperating slow leak. 2 yrs in the tire & auto industry, I paid attention.

 

I assume the vendor refused to pay for the problem? Which vendor did you use so we can perhaps avoid them? Like I said before, one bad experience with an online vendor wouldn't personally stop me from shopping online - I would just avoid that vendor. Tire Rack has been great so far and have incredibly fast service... I mean within hours of my order the tires were mounted and waiting for UPS pick-up.