New Hennessy/BADA website promotes steel wheel weights

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (May 15, 2014) — Hennessy Industries Inc.'s BADA brand of wheel weights has launched a campaign promoting the advantages of steel wheel weights.

Dubbed “8 Is More Than Enough,” the campaign highlights eight reasons for steel's superiority over other alternative materials such as zinc, lead- and mercury-based wheel weights.

“Our industry understands that lead wheel weights will eventually be phased out across the U.S., so naturally the next question is, ‘What is the best alternative to lead?'” said Kevin Keefe, vice president of marketing for Hennessy.

“With this campaign, we relied on straightforward facts to tell the story of why steel wheel weights are a better choice than zinc wheel weights, the other emerging alternative to lead.”

The “8 Reasons” — covered in depth in a new video on YouTube — draw from a study conducted by an independent, third-party laboratory, combined with readily known and accepted industry data, according to Hennessy. A key finding from the study, and possibly the most compelling of BADA's “8 reasons,” is weight variance found in zinc weights due to “porosity,” the company said.

Of the zinc wheel weights tested, La Vergne, Tenn.-based Hennessy claimed 30 percent were below accepted industry standard for weight accuracy, with some as much as 20 percent below their stated weights. The test also showed that 100 percent of BADA steel wheel weights tested were within the acceptable margin for weight variance, the firm added.

Mr. Keefe said the independent lab “found the tested zinc wheel weights had inconsistent weight due to porosity, which occurs during the casting process when pockets of air are trapped inside the wheel weight body and make it lighter than designed.

“Porosity isn't an issue for BADA steel wheel weights because our weights are formed from a solid piece of steel rather than cast in a mold, resulting in a more accurate weight, every time.”

Weight variance can lead to improper wheel balancing, BADA said, and that requires shop owners to apply more weights, costing more money and reducing productivity. Weight variance also can leave customers without properly balanced wheels, increasing the amount of customer comebacks, according to the company.

BADA outlined the following key reasons it claims “steel is proving to be the best alternative to lead,” such as:

1. Superior fit

2. More one-spin balances

3. Environmentally friendly

4. Recyclability

5. Easy application

6. More cost-effective

7. Higher corrosion resistance

8. Accuracy of stated weight

More information on the Eight Reasons campaign and BADA steel wheel weights is available on the BADA website.

Hennessy makes COATS, AMMCO and BADA products including tire changers and wheel balancers, brake lathes, lifts and wheel-balancing weights.