Laser pointer on Wheel balancer

[Junior]

I have an older coats wheel balancer. Works great and is accurate. The problem is that on modern car 19-22" wheels it becomes really hard to eyeball the correct place on the wheel for the weight. Extra spins become common because the last weight was a few degrees off the mark. Newer balancers have laser pointers that make it easy. Has anyone retrofitted a pointer to their older balancer? Did you buy a kit or did you build something? I've done some searching but I can't find anyone that's done this before. I feel like it would be really handy.

 

[jeftec]

Hi Junior, I guess I can speak with a little authority on this. I own a Coats service center and weight placement is a continual issue for us. We get lots of complaint that the balancer is chasing weight, when in reality the tech is placing the weights off TDC creating a problem.

To answer your question, at one time Coats made pretty much what you're looking for (but only if your balancer has a 40 mm shaft). The part # was 85608046. It is a laser attachment, useful for either balance plane. Coats obsoleted the part a few years ago, but I am attaching a link to a vendor who says it is in stock. Remember it is for 40 mm shaft only.

http://www.autotoolworld.com/Hennessy-Industries-85608046-Coats-Laser-Guided-Weight-Placemnt-Tool_p_217301.html

The newer Coats balancers (1500,1600) use a built in laser for inboard placement, but still rely on the tech placing the weight correctly on the outboard side. The adapter they made was handy, but a little cumbersome for most shops, so I guess they saw little demand for it.

Hope this helps, JefTEC

[Junior]

Thanks for the reply, that's exactly the kind of thing I was looking for. What I ended up doing came to me as I was hanging cabinets in one of my rental buildings using a self leveling laser line tool. I bought a basic one on amazon and bolted it to the tray on the top of the balancer. It works great! Only downside is having to turn in on and off, I might open it up and wire it to an external switch to make it easier.