A wheel balancer is a piece of shop equipment that helps a technician ensure the tire/wheel assembly's weight is even and balanced, so it rotates smoothly once mounted onto the vehicle. Once the balance is checked and any points of imbalance established, the technician then can add wheel weights to correct any issues.

A computer wheel balancer spins the wheel and determines the locations and amounts of vibration. The computer splits the tire into two halves and measures both lateral and radial forces on each side of the tire's center. Weights are added to each side of the wheel to correct the imbalance.