Are Wheel Weights Here To Stay?

[Jammer Six]

I've heard whispers that everything's going to change, and wheelweights are going away.

Googling it, I couldn't find anything about it.

So what's the story?

[3006guns]

Well, here in Kalifornia they've outlawed the use of lead wheel weights due to over 500,000 lbs. of them being lost every year on the roads. As rain passes over them it filters into our ground water and causes high lead contamination levels.

Bull Pucky.

First of all, if we lost 500,000 lbs. of wheel weights on the roads each year we should be knee deep in the silly things. Just how many have you found?

Second, no emperical evidence was presented to back up the data to the best of my knowledge. They created a solution in search of an imagined problem. God bless our Greenies.......they always have to find something to do.

This sort of legislative nonsense is starting to get traction though. I understand Oregon and Washington are not far behind so the days of the lead wheel weight may be numbered. In short, if you come across a "stash" in an older garage or shop hang on to them!

As for doing away with weights entirely, how in the world would you balance a tire/wheel? No manufacturer that I'm aware of can produce such a combination that will be balanced and STAY balanced, hence the move towards zinc and iron weights.

[imashooter2]

Wheel weights aren't going away as long as tires and wheels cannot be manufactured in perfect balance. What wheel weights are made out of is definitely changing and for the most part, already has.

[dmize]

No they arent "going away" but even here in Missouri the new ones we get are made of Zinc.

[Lead Freak]

Most all new vehicles are being produced with steel wheel weights rather than lead alloy. The percentage of steel weights increases with every bucket of weights that I've been collecting in the past year or so. Most of the lead weights that are collected are put on by tire shops and not OEM manufactures.

[Nose Dive]

Agreed. No hope for California. No lead wheel weights, no lead boolits. No hope.

Nose Dive

Cheap, Fast, Good. Kindly pick two.

[mdi]

When I left CA, it had been about 4 years since I found any lead wheel weights. Big tire stores, big box stores, gas stations (yep there were a few that still sold tires), and Mom and Pop tire shops had no lead wheel weights. Big stores said they turned them back in to "corporate hdqtrs" and small shops recycled them them selves (often back to their supplier). That's a big reason (among many) that I left CA. The politics are CRAZY!!

[Longwood]

Agreed. No hope for California. No lead wheel weights, no lead boolits. No hope.

Nose Dive

Cheap, Fast, Good. Kindly pick two.

Thanks for leaving.:kidding:
Possibly that is why I found free wheel weights every place I stopped but one and he would sell them. I told him when i could not get them any longer for free, I may stop in his store again to buy some tires.
"NOT EVEN".
I got over 120 pounds from one guy alone and he has a fifty gallon barrel 3/4 full that i am going to ask for.
Guess what, I will buy my tires there from now on.
I found good lead, solder, Lynotype and pure tin at the recycler every time I went and he charged me 40 cents a pound for it.
I also scrounged free lead from several friends and am looking at a 50 pound pig but he wants a little ($20) money for it. I do him favors sometimes so I will eventually get it for free.

[supertodd]

Southern Oregon is to close to California- all the places around here have been using steel/zinc weights for a couple of years, the last 5 gallen bucket I was able to buy was a lil over half of zinc weights. no one gives lead away in the Rogue River due to the demand to make fishing sinkers for salmon fishing.

[shotman]

lead ones are getting harder to find. the big tire like wally ,sams , sears etc dont use new lead only zinc or steel. Get what you can now
I am in small town and last ones I bought had better than 50% steel/ zinc
zinc is ok for cast if you use steel molds,run light and very hard to size

[wrench man]

Kalifornia has, Washington is doing it, Oregon is right behind, banning lead, I still buy lead weight new, for how long I don't know?, Les Schwab, Oregon's largest tire dealer and third in the nation has been using ZN weights for several years now!?

[fredj338]

Of course the lead ww is going away. the largest tire marketin the USA, Kalif, banned them 2yrs ago. If yo ucna get a bucket form anyone today, you'll be lucky to get 50% lead. In another 2-3yrs that will drop to almost nothing as most tires go about 3yrs. The rest of the copuntry will follow as the ww manuf are not going to make diff ww for diff states. I said it back then, get them while you can, they are going to become extinct.

[William Yanda]

It has spread to the east coast. NY has also banned lead WW's Junkyard wants $35 for a 5 gal bucket-I'm not sure how much Fe and Zn I would find in one. There is a recycler in the city who advertises lead at $1 per lb.

[Jammer Six]

What other sources of boolit material will remain?

[John Boy]

Wheel weights aren't going away as long as tires and wheels cannot be manufactured in perfect balance.
May come sooner than you think ...
http://www.maniacworld.com/The-TWEEL-radical-new-wheel-technology.html

[imashooter2]

What other sources of boolit material will remain?

Range scrap, roof flashing, shower pans and lead pipe, machine footings and counterweights, x-ray shielding, radioactive isotope containers... Lead is everywhere.

[imashooter2]

May come sooner than you think ...
http://www.maniacworld.com/The-TWEEL-radical-new-wheel-technology.html

I don't see that technology being produced in perfect balance.

[Lee W]

They are gone from NY. All I have now is the local indoor range for a lead source.

http://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/73108.html

[Jammer Six]

For the record, there is no such place as "Kalifornia" or "Kalif". Neither of those terms reflect on the state of California.

Such derogatory names are political statements, and I'm interested in wheelweights, not your political gas. I'm out here, not in the political forum, and it's bad manners to bring politics into a non-political discussion.

You don't want to go around with me about politics. So use some manners if you want to talk to me.

I appreciate the answers I got from the gentlemen here, thank you.

[Bullwolf]

What other sources of boolit material will remain?

Recycling lead range scrap is becoming a viable source for lead, as our access to inexpensive lead wheel weights rapidly diminishes.

Medical lead, such as isotope lead used in shielding containers is still a viable option.
http://www.fellingfamily.net/isolead/index.html

I recently tried my hand at melting some lead Dental X-ray film backings here.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?p=1590841

You can also obtain X-ray wall lining lead sheets from medical office renovations, or construction left overs.

Lead plumbing is also popular, roof jacks are pretty large in size. Get on the good side of a roofer and you may be able to get some nice roofing lead cast off kick backs sent your way.



- Bullwolf

[fredj338]

For the record, there is no such place as "Kalifornia" or "Kalif". Neither of those terms reflect on the state of California.

Such derogatory names are political statements, and I'm interested in wheelweights, not your political gas. I'm out here, not in the political forum, and it's bad manners to bring politics into a non-political discussion.

You don't want to go around with me about politics. So use some manners if you want to talk to me.
I appreciate the answers I got from the gentlemen here, thank you.

Your opinion Jammer, but you just took this thread political I think??????[smilie=b: Free country & for now, we are allowed to say what we want, where we want. If you somehow feel disrespected, you are the one with the issue IMO.

[Jammer Six]

That isotope lead looks pretty cool! How do you get a hold of it?

[imashooter2]

That isotope lead looks pretty cool! How do you get a hold of it?

You search out your local radioactive pharmacies and ask.

[Jammer Six]

Are all pharmacies radioactive?

[imashooter2]

Are all pharmacies radioactive?

No, only the ones that deal in radioactive isotopes.

[Jammer Six]

I've been injected with them, but they're a complete mystery to me.

[turmech]

They are not allowed in MD now too.

Shame too, the COWW was perfect for me. Air cooled for standard pistol, water dropped for magnum pistol, heat treated/water quenched for riffle. With range lead now being the most likely replacement for the WW anyone have any suggestions as to how to increase the hardness of range lead?

[gbrown]

I think I need to learn metallurgy, and that is what I intend to do. imashooter2 has a good point. I have plenty of lead, just need to learn to turn it into Lyman #2. My dad was an ironworker (structural steel) and scrounged a lot of lead off jobs for fishing weights. When I first built my reloading bench, (2 drawer file type credenza attachment) I stuck some lead ingots under the bottom drawer for weight. Full of dies and with machines on top, don't really need that. Got it out this morning and discovered at the back was a 30 to 40# roll of sheet lead I had forgotten about. No wonder my grandson and I could only move it a foot at a time from one room to another. With all that in there, probably weighed 250#.

[turtlezx]

new york didnt think banning wheel weights was enough
SO lead sinkers are banned. Also water fowl hunting has been steel shot for along time

gotta start casting up those zinc ww i guess?????????????

[letsmeltlead2693]

Here in Nashville, some of the new cars still have lead on them and even the tire shops still use lead WW.

[yovinny]

Pb WW's are a thing of the past in Illinois, their use was banned this past January 1.
I called or stoped at probably 20 tire shops and 6-8 scrap dealers before I finally gave up.

Tire shops told me that by law, used Pb WW's could only be disposed of to licensed scrap metal dealers and Haz-Mat receipts had to be kept on file, or they were subject to a $25,000. fine.
Scrap metal dealers told me that by law, Pb could only be sold to licensed Haz-Mat businesses, or they were subject to $25,000. a fine.

I havent read the law, but I heard the $25,000. fine quoted by more than a few people I spoke with, so there must be some truth behind it.

[mold maker]

No matter how you pronounce or spell it, the LEFT coast is the breeding ground, of most of the negative political mess, that the rest of us have to deal with.
The whole, lead poisoning the environment, because of lead wheel weights, is a crock of California poo poo.
The only thing being poisoned is, closed minds.

[dragon813gt]

Being able to buy it at the scrap yard is going to go away as well. Ask anyone that replaces windows how much they have to go through if the paint is leaded. In PA you are supposed to be lead certified for this type of thing. The process is infuriating and the fines are extremely steep. With that being said there are plenty of places that still use lead ww and most places still just throw them away.


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[Idaho Sharpshooter]

I hope I do not make any of you sick or angry, but I have a supply (for the forseeable future) of foundry pure lead with a 1.5% antimony content for less than a dollar a pound. I am getting 100lbs every payday.

You should see the stack 1100lbs makes.

Rich

RE: Kali, I go once a year when my StL Cards play the giants.

[letsmeltlead2693]

Is it for sale, if it is, post it in the selling section, as I may be interested.

[1bluehorse]

Does anybody besides me find it ridiculous that to ban lead to keep it from seeping into the ground is in direct conflict from where it comes from to begin with..???? I guess I'm missing something...:-?

[fredj338]

Does anybody besides me find it ridiculous that to ban lead to keep it from seeping into the ground is in direct conflict from where it comes from to begin with..???? I guess I'm missing something...:-?

Nope, everyone else gets that but the liberal tree huggers, EPA & everyone in the Obama admin. Let's change that this year!:groner:

[Jammer Six]

It's bad manners to bring politics into a non-political discussion.

[Sonnypie]

Lead leaching into the ground water.....
Know what else the greenie weenies are up to?
They want your electricity shut off.
That's right.
Those steel towers carrying high voltage power lines...
The galvanizing on them wears off after decades and decades. (Depends on location as to how fast...)
What that is, is zinc. A heavy metal.
Well, the greenies have decided that the zinc is leaching into the ground water from those steel towers. :shock:
So what is putting several billion Zinc wheel weights on the roadways going to do?

Next time you see a tree hugger chain themselves to a tree, let a bear loose.

http://www.bendib.com/newones/2005/march/small/3-7-05-Tree-Hugger.jpg

[ubetcha]

:I just recycle my lead.I return it back into the ground only at a high volicity than it came out. :grin:

[Lead Freak]

What other sources of boolit material will remain?

Banning lead wheel weights is just one step away from banning lead boolits. The ultimate objective is to ban all boolits, beginning with those that contain lead.

[KohlerK91]

Banning lead wheel weights is just one step away from banning lead boolits. The ultimate objective is to ban all boolits, beginning with those that contain lead.

Dont get caught in Kalifornia hunting with lead. Now you must use lead free. Save the condors.

Could you imagine the cost of having to shoot solid copper bullets for target practice?

[bjeffv]

As someone with close ties to the tire industry I can say that eventually lead wheel weights will be completely phased out everywhere in the coming years.