Wheel weights

^ To each their own. I will stand by my original statement there is something wrong when 18 weights are needed to balance a wheel and tire combo.

This.

I'm not trashing the vehicle. I'm very happy with it as a total package- just as I'm thrilled with my German slot car that needs a piece of garbage seal replaced every 20k miles.

But that doesn't mean I'm happy about having to replace seals and bushings in a $50k car every 20k miles...

18 wheel weights sucks any way you slice it.
 
Kayger,
There are also weights on the inside of the rim, the older type that clamp on to the edge of the rim. At least I found them on mine. Mazda has obviously had a major issue trying to balance the 19" wheels. The more I think about it the more irritated I get. This would have been a deal buster for me. The wheels are junk, pure and simple. Expensive junk I might add.
 
I'll have to look for those. Pretty comical when I have more wheel weights on one wheel of the CX-5 than on the other 8 wheels of the other vehicles I own combined.
 
I'll have to look for those. Pretty comical when I have more wheel weights on one wheel of the CX-5 than on the other 8 wheels of the other vehicles I own combined.

I wonder if anyone has taken their car to a shop and had the wheels re-balanced. The dealer offered to have service do it for me but they are quite a ways away. I don't think this is a warranty issue at this point so another dealer would likely charge me. Doesn't seem like too many people on this forum even care, which I find puzzling considering the obsession with lesser things. Personally, I think this could be a problem asthe tires wear, in fact it may even cause them to wear prematurely.
 
how can it cause the tires to wear prematurely?
Yes it isn't great that it takes more weights but once the weights are in place it is balanced just like a wheel that only takes 4 weights to balance. The weights have corrected for the weight not being correct on the wheel to start with.

If you aren't experiencing any problems with the tires then why rebalance? Especially when the person that redoes it might not do as good of a job as is currently done.

Good question on the match balance. I've even heard before that if it takes a lot of weights it is a good idea to pop the tire loose and rotate it 180 and try again.
Are we certain it is the wheels and not the tires that are at fault?
 
Not sure if it's the wheel, the tires, or a combo of both.

I'm going to mention it when I bring her in for the first service, but I expect I'll get the "nothing wrong with it" "totally normal" routine.

She rides very smooth right now with zero detectable shake in the steering wheel, so I don't think rebalancing is going to do much for me.

I'll just keep an eye on the tread wear as the tires start to wear.
 
Seems to me when you have excessive weights as the tire wears the weights over compensate and cause uneven tire wear. Tires and wheels should match without a ton of weights. Could be the tires but regardless it is not a good match.
 
Seems to me when you have excessive weights as the tire wears the weights over compensate and cause uneven tire wear. Tires and wheels should match without a ton of weights. Could be the tires but regardless it is not a good match.

That would only be the case if it is the tires causing the balance problem. If it is the wheels then as the tires wear it won't change. Because the weights would be compensating for the wheel, which won't change its weight distribution as the tire wears.

If you have only 2 weights on wheels to get them to balance then it is no different dynamically than requiring 16 weights once they are balanced. The forces applied to the wheel don't know the difference between a perfectly manufactured wheel with minimal weights or one manufactured to lower tolerances with a lot of weights.
- The only difference is in one situation the weight is built into the wheel and the other it is attached to the wheel.
Sure, I'd prefer mine to be built in but it still works either way.

I'm going to mention it when I bring her in for the first service, but I expect I'll get the "nothing wrong with it" "totally normal" routine.

Even if they did agree that it was wrong what would they do? It seems to be pretty standard across all the 19" wheels (although I haven't even looked at mine to see, so who knows) so where would they get replacement wheels that don't need as many weights?
I haven't seen any complaints about uneven tire wear or any other problems that would be associated with balance problems so I'm not sure what there would be for them to fix
 
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Even if they did agree that it was wrong what would they do? It seems to be pretty standard across all the 19" wheels (although I haven't even looked at mine to see, so who knows) so where would they get replacement wheels that don't need as many weights?
I haven't seen any complaints about uneven tire wear or any other problems that would be associated with balance problems so I'm not sure what there would be for them to fix

How about no-charge balancing for the length of our warranty?

I've had a slight vibration from the front end since I've owned the CX-5 (2 weeks now). Brought it back within 2 days of delivery to get it checked out and the diagnosis was that there's nothing wrong, it's just me needing to get used to a different vehicle. I'll be bringing it back for the complimentary 1000 mile service and will force the issue that the front wheels need to be rebalanced. The left front not only has a string (more than 15) of adhesive weights but also a big weight on the innermost part of the wheel.
 
having them balanced from the start is good and I can see getting it done if there is a vibration but my question still stands:

Can anyone explain why more weights would cause a wheel to go out of balance over time more than one that took less weights?

I'm no expert but I don't see how the laws of physics would care if the weight is attached to the wheel or part of the wheel.

It might make it more challenging to balance the first time and if you get someone that isn't good or is lazy it wouldn't be good. But I've had wheel/tire combos that vibrated from new and had very few weights attached. I like to find places that have road force balancers to do my tires now and have better luck.
 
I've got nearly 17K miles on my CX-5. I have rotated the tires twice now myself. Wear looks even, and minimal. There is no shudder in the steering, and bouncing in the body. It is smooth.
I'm going to take a closer look at the number of weights used on my wheels.

Perhaps I missed it, but is this issue more common on the 19's than the 17's? Or is it an issue with both?
 
I've got nearly 17K miles on my CX-5. I have rotated the tires twice now myself. Wear looks even, and minimal. There is no shudder in the steering, and bouncing in the body. It is smooth.
I'm going to take a closer look at the number of weights used on my wheels.

Perhaps I missed it, but is this issue more common on the 19's than the 17's? Or is it an issue with both?

That is s great question.
 
I have never checked my car for wheel weights and since I really am just getting into the hobby in general being a younger guy I would love if someone would better explain what to look for and what they look like. I have a 2014 GT so 19 in wheels for me
 
I have never checked my car for wheel weights and since I really am just getting into the hobby in general being a younger guy I would love if someone would better explain what to look for and what they look like. I have a 2014 GT so 19 in wheels for me

These will be found on the inside of your rim.

Stick%20On%20Wheel%20Weights.jpg
 
Perhaps I missed it, but is this issue more common on the 19's than the 17's? Or is it an issue with both?

My 17's came from the factory with 11, 13, 4 and 2 (weights per wheel) which is reasonable. If I had 18 weights I would ask the dealer to see if they could improve the situation by breaking the beads and rotating the tire on the rim 180 degrees. Either that or bring it back for a re-balance at the tires half-life. That way, if they refuse and it becomes a real issue with tire wear, it might be a Mazda warranty issue, not a pro-rated tire warranty issue (since the tire manufacturer did not mount and balance the tires). I would do anything to avoid having to claim on a tire manufacturers warranty.
 
I was curious how many weights my '14 GT had.

Going clockwise from driver, 18,6, 8 and 3. On the highway the other day, I did feel a noticeable shake/feedback from the steering wheel. I thought it might have been the road surface, but this makes more sense.
 
^I would have them rebalance the wheels or otherwise diagnose and correct the shake. No excuse for a brand new vehicle with wheel shake.
 
I was curious how many weights my '14 GT had.

Going clockwise from driver, 18,6, 8 and 3. On the highway the other day, I did feel a noticeable shake/feedback from the steering wheel. I thought it might have been the road surface, but this makes more sense.
Thanks for validating what I've been feeling.

Today, I completed the survey that Mazda NA sends out and even though I gave my dealer all 10's, I commented about this issue when asked if everything is OK after delivery.
 
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