Should I only DEMAND a Road Force tire balance?

[Vern_in_IL]

I got two local tire dealers, and one is touting his Road Force tire balancer, but his prices are slightly higher than the other shop.

Other shop does not have a Road Force. I really don't understand how they work, compared to a traditional tire balancer.

 

[SatinSilver]

Donald was talking about it yesterday:

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/4149316/Re:_Road_Force_Balancing#Post4149316

IF the tech knows how to use it is the big question otherwise might not make a difference. It's great at solving vibration issues it seems.

 

[Doc8404]

Originally Posted By: Vern_in_IL
I got two local tire dealers, and one is touting his Road Force tire balancer, but his prices are slightly higher than the other shop.

Other shop does not have a Road Force. I really don't understand how they work, compared to a traditional tire balancer.


Huh?
One shop doesn't have it, so you can't demand it.
The other shop has it and does it.
So who are you demanding from?

 

[PolarisX]

He could demand the other shop get one. I'd watch that if filmed.

 

[Kira]

One prob is that sometimes regularly balanced wheels (normal spin balancing) are fantastic.

Now you'd have to have the "...ahhh, you don't need that..." conversation with the dealer who doesn't have a RF balancer.

 

[eljefino]

There's a chance that the road force people won't balance in "road force mode" unless you come back complaining or stand at the window staring them down.

 

[Donald]

What kind of rim? If steel it may not really matter. If alloy then the RF balance may be better if done properly. Probably best to get the RF balance done when the are not busy so they are not tempted to just balance it the normal way and move on to next tire.

 

[Rolla07]

Id base it on experience. The most random places seem to have been best in my experience and Im pretty sure they dont have roadforce balancing machines. If the balancing works fine the first time, I dont care what machine they used.

 

[gizzsdad]

It's kind of a tough call. A properly balanced wheel can spin up zeros and still be out of round. The Hunter machine is the most likely to possibly remedy this by telling the tech how much to rotate the tire on the rim to minimize the force imparted by the out of round assembly.

My experience is that most techs don't even bother with checking the road force numbers unless the customer complains about a vibration. This often only happens with an out of round assembly, which the techs think takes too long to break bead, rotate and remount.

 

[eljefino]

Originally Posted By: gizzsdad

My experience is that most techs don't even bother with checking the road force numbers unless the customer complains about a vibration. This often only happens with an out of round assembly, which the techs think takes too long to break bead, rotate and remount.


Remember the manager wants to "make numbers" and get tires sold, mounted, and out the door. If someone comes back for a road force rebalance the whole experience still meets his metric and the one the company set for him. If a tech "dawdles" and a customer drops $500 across the street that's bad news for the whole shop.

Every tire shop is a discount tire shop. If you find one that rocks, pay them what they ask for.

 

[edwardh1]

this is true