Road Force Balancing

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camrydriver111

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Has road force balancing ever solved any vibration issues for you that regular balancing couldn't?

Whenever anyone has vibration issues it is usually suggested by someone to do a road force balancing. Is this based on actual performance of road force balancing or perceived value?
 
Usually if I have a vibration that cannot be solved with regular balancing I go get the tires RFB'd and usually it turns out that one or more of the tires is out of round. So far I have been pretty lucky and only had to get two sets of tires RFB'd and 4 out of the 11 tires that I tested were found to be out of round.

The value is that when you pay $400-800 for a smooth riding set of tires and you end up with a shaky ride you have the ability to go back to the company and say "Hey, you sold me a cruddy tire and I have proof." otherwise they will just say "All our tires are tested my a $2M machine before they leave our factory and we would never let a bad tire out the door. - Pirelli"
 
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+1. I go for the RFB right out of the gate.
Also, I bring dismounted tires to my RFB guy and he reduces the price. He's a good guy.
The RFB cash goes right to his employees as tip money-I've seen it.
 
Yes. I had the new tires on a former car vibrate. Tire dealer rechecked and tires were in balance. Had second place check and they also said balance was ok. Heard that my local Ford dealer had a Huntet RFB machine and took it to him. The balance was way off, but the tech was too lazy to do the job. All kinds of excuses on why he did not want to do the correction. They told me "tires no good, take them back." Took a trip up to Rochester (Henrietta) NY and had Dunn Tire do the RFB. Machine did everything but talk 😝. Machine even told the tech which corner of the car to place each tire. Problem solved. Ride was smooth as silk. When I returned to Florida, I raised [censored] with the Ford dealer as I had paid him good money. He gave me a free oil change.

Dunn Tire in NYS is great.

If you do get a RFB anywhere, make sure they do the correction (break bead, move tire) and not just the check. (Like my Ford dealer did).
 
great, thanks. looking for the same answers.

the Hunter site isn't that great.
Looking around 13440 and 13501 and I see there is a StraightTrak icon for dealers, but doesn't say much about it.

Is that different than others? Car doesn't wander or anything, just vibrates.
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/4130452/Re:__Vibration_cause#Post4130452
 
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After fitting new rims and a set of Nokian WRG2's several years ago on my Forester, Hunter Road Force balancing cured a [highway speed] steering wheel shimmy that regular spin balancing could not.
 
RFB has solved an issue with my tires in the past. However, I wonder if it is right to do it with brand new tires though? My last set of tires I put on my truck were flat spotted or just out of round when they were first put on. I left the tire shop, got on the highway for my 10 mile drive home and almost turned right around to have them taken off and balanced again. I decided to just bring it back the next day. By the time I drove all the way home, and back to work the next day they were as smooth as they should be. I wonder if I would have RFB right out of the box if it would have made it smooth to start, then gotten worse?

Just a thought.
 
Originally Posted By: DriveHard
RFB has solved an issue with my tires in the past. However, I wonder if it is right to do it with brand new tires though? My last set of tires I put on my truck were flat spotted or just out of round when they were first put on. I left the tire shop, got on the highway for my 10 mile drive home and almost turned right around to have them taken off and balanced again. I decided to just bring it back the next day. By the time I drove all the way home, and back to work the next day they were as smooth as they should be. I wonder if I would have RFB right out of the box if it would have made it smooth to start, then gotten worse?

Just a thought.


good thinking. both vehicles' tires should be used enough by now.

The Hunter.com site wasn't very helpful figuring out who has the latest machine. So I emailed my local sales rep listed on their site and he pointed me to the only location with the Road Force Elite....making an appointment soon.
 
First, as a tire engineer, I have used the Hunter Engineering GSP9700 as a diagnostic tool. I have used the unit extensively.

However, it is not a *Go / No Go* type of thing. The operator has to understand what info is being displayed.

So to try to answer the question asked (and the part not asked!): I would use the unit to help diagnose a problem tire and/or wheel vibration. I would not seek out a unit unless I actually had a vibration that normal balancing couldn't fix.

But the unit can be very helpful in diagnosing what the problem is (or isn't).
 
When I buy new tires, or just buy one, I always have them run it on a Hunter RFB machine. Over the years I've been running about a 15% failure rate - the RFB machine identified bad tires right of the shelf.
 
Originally Posted By: CapriRacer
First, as a tire engineer, I have used the Hunter Engineering GSP9700 as a diagnostic tool. I have used the unit extensively.

However, it is not a *Go / No Go* type of thing. The operator has to understand what info is being displayed.

So to try to answer the question asked (and the part not asked!): I would use the unit to help diagnose a problem tire and/or wheel vibration. I would not seek out a unit unless I actually had a vibration that normal balancing couldn't fix.

But the unit can be very helpful in diagnosing what the problem is (or isn't).


thank you. Two different shops checked balance (and also alignment).
 
Originally Posted By: LoneRanger
After fitting new rims and a set of Nokian WRG2's several years ago on my Forester, Hunter Road Force balancing cured a [highway speed] steering wheel shimmy that regular spin balancing could not.


Same here with my set of WRG3. Had a vibration when they were installed at a regional chain shop, they tried to fix it, helped some but still not 100%, so they sent me to a larger shop in the same chain that had a Road Force balance machine, which the first shop did not.

One of the wheels needed several weights to balance but eventually they fixed it so the shimmy is so slight I have to 'try' to feel it. First time I had tires that far out of balance on install, but surfing around I found it's fairly common with Nokians.

Definitely worth a shot if you have issues on install.
 
On the Trailblazer, it was silky smooth with the previous tires, then got a new set of Continentals and at been vibrations ever since for the past 18 months. Discount Tire balanced them 3 times and road force balanced them the last time. It may have helped a little, but there's still a vibration. I'll take it back again.
 
Like so many things, the quality of the action depends on the skill of the operator of the machine.

Smoky
 
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
On the Trailblazer, it was silky smooth with the previous tires, then got a new set of Continentals and at been vibrations ever since for the past 18 months. Discount Tire balanced them 3 times and road force balanced them the last time. It may have helped a little, but there's still a vibration. I'll take it back again.


Shock or other component on its way out? Perhaps some slight imbalance made worse due to something else not being up to snuff.
 
I don't think they always match the high spots and low spots of tires/wheels.

Do you have to ask to have that done?
 
The Hunter is a great balancer, and I wish I had one, if only the find occasional bad apple in the bunch, but an expensive diagnostic tool for sure. Although one difference between the RFB and the real world is, it's using a small 14 inch diameter to measure the tire, compared to the diameter of the earth, which is almost flat.
 
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I've always wondered about another potential problem, that no wheel balancer can check under load, at 80+ MPH. If you had a perfectly round, balanced wheel, and had a round tire, but it takes
an excessive amount weight to balance out a heavy spot in the tread of the tire. I would think the centrifugal force of many pounds from the surface of the tire, would cause that section to stretch outwards, thumping the road, and eventually wear it out round, and then be out for balance again?
 
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