OK, why would Discount Tire NOT equip all their stores with RoadForce machines?
First, most vibration complaints come from the southern part of the US. When road are subjected to freezing and thawing, they tend to heave - making a car bounce around a bit - to the point where it becomes difficult to sort out if the tire is vibrating or not.
Second, most tire manufacturers will not accept tire returns based solely of RoadForce measurements. Not only can the machine give false negative results (that is indicate a tire is bad, when it isn't), their is a wheel involved that can influence the results.
Plus, it is possible for the tire to not quite be fully seated and indicate high RoadForce. I've seen assemblies improve by 1/3 just by making sure enough mounting lube was used.
Further, each vehicle has its own level of sensitivity. Some are quite sensitive and some aren't. Drivers, too, have different levels of sensitivity.
What the RoadForce machines are really good at doing is diagnosing which tire wheel assembly is causing a vibration. Once a problem has been identified, the RoadForce machines are extremely helpful in sorting out which is the offending assembly.
So that's why Discount Tire might not require that type of machine in ALL of its stores.
First, most vibration complaints come from the southern part of the US. When road are subjected to freezing and thawing, they tend to heave - making a car bounce around a bit - to the point where it becomes difficult to sort out if the tire is vibrating or not.
Second, most tire manufacturers will not accept tire returns based solely of RoadForce measurements. Not only can the machine give false negative results (that is indicate a tire is bad, when it isn't), their is a wheel involved that can influence the results.
Plus, it is possible for the tire to not quite be fully seated and indicate high RoadForce. I've seen assemblies improve by 1/3 just by making sure enough mounting lube was used.
Further, each vehicle has its own level of sensitivity. Some are quite sensitive and some aren't. Drivers, too, have different levels of sensitivity.
What the RoadForce machines are really good at doing is diagnosing which tire wheel assembly is causing a vibration. Once a problem has been identified, the RoadForce machines are extremely helpful in sorting out which is the offending assembly.
So that's why Discount Tire might not require that type of machine in ALL of its stores.
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