So I go into my hangar on Saturday and I notice a strip of metal laying on the floor next to my right main landing gear. WTF? I immediately realized it was a balancing weight that had fallen off of my wheel while my plane was parked in the hangar. I pulled the wheel pant off and found the spot where this weight had been attached to, which was right next to the valve stem. And there was an identical weight still attached on the other side of the valve stem as well.
I was going to reattach the one that had fallen off and spoke with an A&P on the field who told me he never puts weights on the main landing gear of Cherokees. My own A&P told me the same thing on Sunday when I finally got a hold of him. Both said I should just fly the plane and if I don't notice any kind of vibration during the take off or landing roll then I shouldn't worry about it.
What's everyone's thoughts on this? Are balancing weights normally not put on the mains? Is the fact that mine had two relatively beefy weights on the wheel a sign that the tire/wheel combo has an inherent out-of-balance issue?
I was going to reattach the one that had fallen off and spoke with an A&P on the field who told me he never puts weights on the main landing gear of Cherokees. My own A&P told me the same thing on Sunday when I finally got a hold of him. Both said I should just fly the plane and if I don't notice any kind of vibration during the take off or landing roll then I shouldn't worry about it.
What's everyone's thoughts on this? Are balancing weights normally not put on the mains? Is the fact that mine had two relatively beefy weights on the wheel a sign that the tire/wheel combo has an inherent out-of-balance issue?
