The steering hums along Aston Webb Boulevard past the hospital and settles again in Bournbrook. That gap is exactly what an unbalanced wheel does, and the balancer is brought to the car in B29.
Selly Oak's open running is the A38. Aston Webb Boulevard sweeps past the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and the retail park, and the Bristol Road carries on down towards Northfield, both giving a car the steady cruise at which an out-of-balance wheel starts to resonate. The knocks behind it come from the side streets: speed cushions on Tiverton Road and Dawlish Road, terrace kerbs taken at an angle while hunting a permit space, a weight lost in a pothole.
No depot trip is involved. The fitter lifts one corner where the car is parked, takes the wheel off and runs it on the balancer in the van, which reports how much weight each rim edge is short of and at what point. Weights go on, hidden behind the spokes on alloys or clipped to the flange on steel rims, and the wheel is spun a second time to confirm before being torqued back.
A Bournbrook permit bay with your voucher showing, a driveway in Selly Park or Weoley Park, a quiet stretch of Dawlish Road, or the far corner of the Battery Retail Park. Bus lanes on the Bristol Road and the boulevard past the hospital are out.
| Near | Selly Oak station, University of Birmingham, Queen Elizabeth Hospital |
|---|---|
| Typical arrival | A long run from London: allow 2 to 3 hours |
About wheel balancing nationwide → · Wheel balancing on the Selly Oak page
Worth doing: a tyre just fitted, a tyre put back after an internal repair, a wheel that has met a pothole on Harborne Lane. Not worth doing: a car tracking towards the gutter on the Bristol Road with the wheel held straight, because the answer there is alignment, a job Rescue Tyres leaves alone. Scalloped, patchy tread wear hints at balance. Wear down one shoulder alone hints at geometry, and the fitter says which plainly.
Wheel balancing in Selly Oak, Bournbrook and Selly Park. Call 07473 720871.
