i noticed something interesting with my 17 inch aftermarket wheels & tires. it seems like they are weighted towards the front of the wheel, so therefore it would always tip over to that side when i try to balance it. otoh, the stock wheel + tire will stand and not tip over all day. would this unequal weight bias towards the front of the wheel adversely affect handling or anything else...?

 

Just speculating, but after the rim is bolted to the axle, issues of "tipping" / weight distribution are moot. Assuming the wheel is solid and rigid, any point along the wheel front to back will behave the same by function of being anchored to the axle.

The only performance difference would be how much weight is radially distributed from the center of the axle (a la more rotational inertia). But I don't think front to back on the rim would matter at all.

 

the weight is biased to the front of the wheel because that is how the offset is set up, if the wheels were really deep and had large lips, they would be biased to the rear of the wheel.