Wheel Balancers

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Giuliano Wheel Balancers

This is where the coming together of two great names has made us ‘greater than the sum of our parts’. Giuliano have been supplying wheel balancers for decades, but in recent years have really developed their balancing offering to a much greater degree, becoming a true manufacturer and serious player in this particular sector. In the UK, this has been helped tremendously by the acquisition of the Balco brand and know-how.    Call us today on 01733 920 440 to discuss your next wheel balancer.

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Balco SL10 Wheel Balancer

Balco SilverLine SL10 Wheel Balancer

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Giuliano P20 Wheel Balancer

Giuliano P20 Wheel Balancer

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P43 Wheel Balancer

Giuliano P43 Wheel Balancer

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Giuliano P45 Wheel Balancer

Giuliano P45 Wheel Balancer

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Giuliano P56 Pro Wheel Balancer

Giuliano P56 Pro Wheel Balancer

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Professional Wheel Balancing Machines & Equipment

Balco, a ‘portmanteau’ (a word made from blending two words – don’t worry, we had to Google it too!) for the Balancing Company, boasts a heritage that goes way back to the early '80s in San Jose, California. A couple of chaps who came from what was then one of the US’ largest wheel balancer manufacturers, Nortron, left to establish their own company, designing and manufacturing a select set of projects based on a new concept they had developed. One of these was a revolutionary (excuse the pun) wheel and tyre balancing machine, which eventually became known as ‘handspin’ technology. 

The principle was simple, and based on some technological advancements of the time. Traditionally a wheel balancer machine generally needed to have the cycle spin operating at circa 250 to 400 rpm in order to detect the imbalance. That is quite some speed, a speed at which water or debris could easily fly off the wheel assembly, and therefore, as protection, the machine had to incorporate a large wheel guard or ‘hood’. These two technical entrepreneurs developed a method of balancing wheels that could establish the imbalance of a rim/tyre assembly at just 90 rpm, a speed which was so sedate that a hood wasn’t even required. The benefits of this were numerous, with the main attractions being a smaller footprint, no motor required as the wheel could be manually brought to speed, lower cost to the manufacturer, and less moving parts to wear. Consequently, the ‘handspin’ balancer went on to be one of the key landmarks in wheel balancing evolution. Balco also went on to manufacture motorised models, but always utilising their then patented low spin technology.

You can read more about the history of Balco here read more about the story of Balco.

Why Choose Giuliano Wheel Balancers?

Today, as part of the prestigious Giuliano Automotive Group, this ethos for pioneering and setting new standards has helped form the mentality and passion for a range of equally user-friendly, competitive, and technologically-advanced wheel balancers to meet all applications and budgets. From entry-level, low-cost versions through to premium, high-performance and high-specification wheel balancer options. And of course, in a nod to the legacy and living proof of the validity of the technology even today, we even have a 'handspin' model - essentially the 5th generation since that 80’s innovation.

Wheel and tyre balancing, however, doesn’t just end with the machine. The quality and method of mounting the rim correctly are also of paramount importance. There are so many factors that affect the result of a balancing cycle, such as the quality of the centre bore of the rim, the cleanliness of the rim, and the quality of the cone mounting the wheel – all of these things massively affect balance.

There is a saying – ‘properly centred is half-balanced’ - and that is absolutely true. You can have a wheel balancer with a capability to balance down to as little as 1 gram, but that is completely irrelevant if a rim with a dirty, elliptical centre bore is mounted on a cone that has worn through use. To say that an average-sized rim can be affected under those circumstances by as much as 20 to 30 grams in the reading is not an exaggeration! This knowledge is another aspect of what sets Giuliano Automotive UK apart from the rest; we are extensively trained and experienced in this science. This level of expertise comes from decades of working with rim, tyre and vehicle manufacturers to solve problems or develop suitable mounting applications.

Balancing Requirements With Your Budget

Without doubt, the best option is always to discuss your requirements with one of our team, and we will guide you completely in the right direction. That direction may actually be the cheapest option, or indeed we may point out that you need to spend a little more than you thought to get the right wheel balancer for you. Either way, you will only get honest, transparent, and qualified advice as to which wheel balancing equipment is best for you.

Ultimately, all wheel balancers have to balance to zero, in the same way a car has to get you from A to B. But, like cars, the variation in specification and quality is huge. Buying a wheel balancer is a process that should involve an explanation of features that may, at first glance, not be obvious, but could impact something as simple as the number of customers who come back saying that their wheels still seem to ‘wobble’ or vibrate. If you are a BMW main dealer, your criteria for purchasing a balancing machine are very different from those of someone running a busy tyre shop or a mobile tyre fitter.

We stock all types of wheel balancing equipment:

  • Hand Spin (Mobile/Budget)
  • Semi-Automatic (2D)
  • Fully Automatic (3D/LCD)
  • Heavy Commercial (Truck)

If you have any questions or just need a hand deciding on the correct balancer, please give us a call on 01733 920 440.  Or if you are ready to order, we are standing by to take your call.

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Common Questions About Wheel Balancers

Browsing through our website, you will see plenty of options, and hopefully some guidance as to the differences and benefits as the range progresses. In the meantime, we have listed a few Frequently Asked Questions we know people often have, and we hope you will find our answers useful.

Frequently Asked Questions

Over the years we have made our balancers more and more compact, partly due to advances in technology, and partly due to design evolution. However, if someone is really restricted for space, we would highly recommend a ‘handspin’ balancer. A handspin machine doesn’t require a hood, or wheel guard. A simple crank of the hand spins the wheel to 90rpm, which is adequate for calculating an imbalance. There is absolutely no downside to having a handspin balancer, it is only tradition that means motorised balancers still exist. In fact, our P20 machine offers automatic 3D data input, FES function for balancing the weights behind the spokes, and a host of other advanced features. It will, however, save you space and money, so it is really worth considering a handspin balancer for small workshops.

When purchasing a wheel balancer in this day and age, it is imperative that you are able to handle alloy rims. This means that the facility must be included to place the weights on the inside of the rim, not on the outside as you would with a steel rim. All Giuliano balancers are equipped with this capability and, in fact, you can even choose to hide the weights behind the spokes using our FES (Fast and Easy Split) behind-spoke program, standard on all Giuliano wheel balancers.

Absolutely, this is something we specialise in at Giuliano Automotive UK. Our P20 only needs a 12v supply, which means it can be operated from a battery that can be run as a ‘slave’ battery in the vehicle to avoid draining the vehicle battery. The machine is compact, designed for portable use, including special coating of the PCBs to avoid issues with condensation, and has all of the features you would expect from a high-end workshop model – just smaller.

That is a very good question, because there are several factors that affect the speed of operation of a wheel balancer, not just cycle time.
 
These include:
 
Cycle duration
Set-up time
Requirement to do a checkspin
Clamping accessories
 
To take each of these in order, cycle duration is fairly obvious. The faster the balancer is at calculating imbalance, the quicker the job. Our machines will balance in as little as 4.7 seconds, and as of 2026 we aren’t aware of any other manufacturer to better that. The set-up time is based on how much manual data entry you must do in order to tell the balancer what size rim it is balancing. All Giuliano balancers has automatic data input, so it does not get any faster.
 
Traditionally, every balance requires a ‘checkspin; in order to ensure the reading is zero and the rim has been balanced correctly. All of our models from the P43 upwards include a laser to ensure the weight is applied in the right place. This means there is no room for human error, and therefore there really is no need to do a checkspin – you can trust the machine! People often don’t realise this, but if you have a calibrated laser on a reputable brand of wheel balancer, you don’t need to do that checkspin.
 
The clamping accessories are also important. A clean, well honed threaded shaft with clean, well hones cones, working with a quick-release locknut, will ensure a speedy manual mounting of the rim. However, our P56 Pro wheel balancer has automatic clamping, so by pressing a pedal the whole thing is done pneumatically. Given all of that information, we would say our P56 Pro is certainly one of the fastest floor-to-floor wheel balancers on the market.

Absolutely. If you are a business we can arrange for finance over any period to suit you, but normally 3 or 5 years. This is a great way of having the income from tyre work pay for the machine as you go along, making it much more affordable to invest in the right product that will still be going in 5 years' time.

A "tyre balancer" or "tyre balancing machine" is a term often used by motorists and workshop owners to describe a wheel balancing machine. While many people search for tyre balancers, the machine actually balances the entire wheel assembly, including the metal rim and the rubber tyre that is fitted, and this ensures a smooth rotation at high speeds.