Abstract: A noise-reduction system for a vehicle wheel assembly which is comprised of a usual rim and a tubeless pneumatic tire having a pair of sidewalls and bead areas mounted thereon. A plurality of flexible, non-self-supporting pieces of cloth or other sheet material are attached to the rim or are attached to the bead areas and extend therebetween, preferably at equally spaced intervals, and form baffles within the annular air chamber of the wheel assembly to reduce noise by changing the characteristics of the sound waves created within the wheel assembly. When the wheel assembly is stationary, the baffles collapse on the rim, and when the wheel assembly is rotating, the baffles move outwardly by centrifugal force and substantially conform to the transverse cross section of the air chamber to obstruct the movement of acoustic waves traveling with the chamber to reduce tire noise.

Abstract: A portable machine for testing on site the uniformity of a tire or other components of a tire/wheel assembly. A compact rigid frame has a base formed by a plurality of longitudinal and transverse frame members for supporting the machine on a planar surface. A box-like subframe is mounted on the base and supports a mounting plate for the tire/wheel assembly. The mounting plate is slidably mounted on a pair of slide rods extending upwardly from the subframe. A road wheel and drive motor are mounted on the base, with the motor being mounted within the subframe and the load wheel being located beneath the tire/wheel assembly mounting plate. An air spring raises and lowers the mounting plate for placement and removal of a tire/wheel assembly thereon. A loading mechanism applies a force on the tire/wheel assembly mounting plate to forceably move a tire into contact with the road wheel, and is measurable by a first load cell.