Balancing weight attachment system for a vehicle wheel

A vehicle wheel and tire assembly comprising:

• a generally cylindrical wheel rim, said wheel rim defining an axis of rotation of the wheel;
• a tire supported on said rim;
• a wheel disk fixed to said wheel rim, and including means for mounting said wheel disk on the vehicle;
• and
• a balancing flange extending generally radially inwardly from said wheel rim, said balancing flange being disposed in the plane of rotation of the axial center of mass of the wheel and tire assembly and adapted to receive one or more balance weights for balancing the wheel and tire assembly.

A method of producing a vehicle wheel comprising the steps of:

• (a) providing a generally circular wheel disk having an annular flange extending from an inboard face thereof;
• (b) providing a generally cylindrical partial wheel rim having an annular outboard end portion;
• (c) forming, on one of said annular flange and said outboard end portion of said partial wheel rim, a radially inwardly extending balancing flange for mounting one or more balance weights;
• (d) positioning said balancing flange formed on said one of said annular flange and said outboard end portion of said partial wheel rim against an axial end of the other of said annular flange and said outboard end portion of said partial wheel rim with said wheel disk and said partial wheel rim coaxially aligned;
• and
• (e) securing said wheel disk and said partial wheel rim together to produce the vehicle wheel.