Guideline on Buying Tires Wheel Balancing and the Performance of Your Car | Page 10

The next step involves fixing select weights at various spots on the rim to balance it. Lead
weights with soft flanges and various denominations are knocked onto the edge of the wheel
using a plastic hammer. This technique, however, does not work very well on alloy wheels as
they do on steel wheels since they tend to break the expensive aluminum clearcoat. For alloy
wheels, Tape-A-weights are preferable. These are strips of flat lead squares with a powerful
adhesive each weighing about a quarter of an ounce. The weights are cut to size with clippers
and stuck out of sight behind the spokes inside the barrel. Although the adhesive is strong
enough and helps the weights to stay put in most ordinary driving conditions, duct tape is used
by racing techies due to the excessive heat generated during a race that can melt the adhesive.