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How good do bubble balancers work?

I would like to be able to mount an balance my 13" and 14" tires myself. I'm considering either buying the equipment, or paying to have them done. Do bubble balancers do a good job with smaller car tires? Or should I just go have them balanced professionally? I know that they don't do as much as far as the spin balancers, but is that really necessary for small car tires? I just don't want to be going down the road 70mph and have the car vibrating all over the place. If it's just one wheel, I can take it in to have them balance it, but definitely not all 4. Any real-life experience input on this stuff would be greatly appreciated. I have 8 13" tires to mount and balance right now, and I found one place would do it for $12.50/ea, or for about $150 I can buy both a manual mounter and also a bubble balancer (which I'll have to do my own mountings from here on out).

Public Comments

1. bubble balancers are intended for off road use, such as tractors or atv's, On automotive use, they should only be used to "rough" balance tires before taking to a shop to proper computer balance
2. Well on today's cars, bubble balance is no longer used Thy use spin balance, a much better way to balance tires today. My advice have it dun by a professional.
3. mount and your self i do that as well then if they shake you can find a bubble balancer fine they work ok but really 12.50 a tire not much balance fronts 25 bucks if your hands shake balance rear if you feel it in butt either way 12.50 cheap bubble balancers do a good job work just find 30 years ago was about all they was back in the late 60's early 70's you can buy a old tire changer i do might by hand old way tire hammer and bars i dont balance unless it shakes
4. Kind of asking how well Windows 95 works next to a modern P.C. With Windows Seven. It will get you to the internet but..... Bubble balancers will get them balanced if you know how to use it but.... Basically antiquated equipment.
5. bubble balancers work very well, with some practice. what they do not do is the dynamic side to side balancing of the spin balancers. you'll balance out the up and down vibration of the tire rotating while driving. but you won't help the side to side shimmy while it rotates ,you may even make it worse!! small 13 inch tires are usually on the narrow side, you can probably get by with a bubble . but spin balancing is far better and will correct the side to side balance as well. 12 dollars a tire is not much to pay for the service you get. smoother rotation, increased tire life, and better ride. if you go with a bubble balancer , put half of the required weight on the inside and half on the outside. personally, i mount tires myself with spoons ,by hand. then take them to be spun. rough balancing is a waste of time since the first step in spin balancing is to remove all old weights. also make sure the tread is clean of major dirt and stones too. if one stone is in the tread, when that stone is flung out the balance is lost! spin balancing is well worth the cost!!!
6. you level it up on the floor, set your wheel and tire on it, lift up a lever then you sit a weight against the rim until the bubble is in the middle then you mark it with chalk, take the tire off the machine and put the weight on the inside of the rim straight across the mark you made then set the tire back on, lift the lever and see if it needs a weight on the other side. i use to work in a tire shop. but your better off to have them spin balanced because spin balancing is more precise.