Roadforce tire balancer in GTA?

[lbjgh]

I've got a 2004 Honda Accord and would like to get my summer tires balanced on a Roadforce tire balancer.

The Accord is a great car but the suspension transmits every road imperfection and tire balance problem right through to the steering wheel.

My car originally came with Michelin Energy MXV4 205-65-15" on steel rims. As part of a dealer installed "SE" package the dealer removed the tires from the steel wheels and remounted them on aluminum wheels. The wheels and tires had to be balanced four times by the dealer before the vibration problem was resolved.

There is still a very slight vibration at highway speed that I'd like to fix by balancing the tires correctly.

Does anyone know of a tire shop in the GTA that has a Roadforce balancer and staff trained to use it? Also I'm paranoid that the rims will be damaged by the mounting - remounting and the changing of wheel weights so I need a shop that can do the work without damaging the rims.

tx LBJGH

[Mouse]

They should be able to mount sufficient weights on the inside.

If not, the tires are crap and I would not accept them.

[Carz n Compz]

What speed do you get the vibrations at on the highway?

[Lesster]

Rather than force balancing have you considered on-car balancing? That way the bead is not broken down.
Just a thought.

[lbjgh]

90-115km/h. above and below are fine.
What speed do you get the vibrations at on the highway?

I haven't thought of that. have you had the on-car balancing done?


Rather than force balancing have you considered on-car balancing? That way the bead is not broken down.
Just a thought.

[Rustynut]

Check your major tire dealers, ask if they have the road force balancer.
One firestone tire dealer here in london has one, I know I wasted 90 bucks on their balance. Ended up taking the car back to the Hyundai dealer who also has the road force balancer and was finally happy to be rid of the vibration.

Road farce balancing is only as good as the tech doing the proceedure as I found out after returning 3 times to firestone with the same problem which wasn't cured until Hyundai's tech did the job. I too have alloy wheels with micheling hydro edge tires, these alloys need to be weighted inside and near the outside of the rim for a good balance.

Very few left out there are shops that balance right on the car, the best in my opinion.

[Dr.Dan]

There's so many drawbacks to 'on car' balancing... that's why you don't see anyone with this old equipment anymore...

All it takes is unbolting and tightening the wheel again and you're out of balance again :gaa:

LBJGH, if the wheels you have on the car are not hubcentric, you'll never get them 100%... they'll always keep going out of balance as they always move around slightly on the hub..

If your wheels aren't hubcentric, you should look into centering rings to make them fit tight to the hub.

[Rustynut]

There's so many drawbacks to 'on car' balancing... that's why you don't see anyone with this old equipment anymore...

All it takes is unbolting and tightening the wheel again and you're out of balance again :gaa:

LBJGH, if the wheels you have on the car are not hubcentric, you'll never get them 100%... they'll always keep going out of balance as they always move around slightly on the hub..

If your wheels aren't hubcentric, you should look into centering rings to make them fit tight to the hub.
That is true enough but it used to be policy to mark the stud nearest the valve stem to reposition the wheel as it came off to prevent that.

What ever the balancing method, it is only as good as the tech. I said before that I found that out by experience and still had the vibration after 3 attempts to balance the wheels using the road force machine. I even insisted they use the centering rings in place to balance the wheels the last time and still ended up going elsewhere.

[lbjgh]

Thanks Dr. Dan, I've noticed my snow tires (on the stock rims) are out of balance too so I don't know if the tires just aren't being balanced properly.

The aluminum rims are factory as far as I know so I don't know if I would need centring rings. Aren't they just needed with aftermarket rims?

Also I don't think the centre cap on the aluminum wheels have ever been removed... how can they spin balance the tire and rim with the centre cap on?

One other thing, when I looked at the tires on the rims I noticed that the red dot on the tire did not line up with the valve stem (see picture). The wheel weight looks like it's used to offset wheel imbalance in alignment with the red dot??






LBJGH, if the wheels you have on the car are not hubcentric, you'll never get them 100%... they'll always keep going out of balance as they always move around slightly on the hub..

If your wheels aren't hubcentric, you should look into centering rings to make them fit tight to the hub.

[Rustynut]

Thanks Dr. Dan, I've noticed my snow tires (on the stock rims) are out of balance too so I don't know if the tires just aren't being balanced properly.

The aluminum rims are factory as far as I know so I don't know if I would need centring rings. Aren't they just needed with aftermarket rims?

Also I don't think the centre cap on the aluminum wheels have ever been removed... how can they spin balance the tire and rim with the centre cap on?

One other thing, when I looked at the tires on the rims I noticed that the red dot on the tire did not line up with the valve stem (see picture). The wheel weight looks like it's used to offset wheel imbalance in alignment with the red dot??
Not usually required for factory rims/wheels only for aftermarket wheels are centering rings needed.

As for the center cap not being removed, there isn't any way to mount the tire/wheel on a balancing machine without removing it, so if the wheels were balanced the center cap has to be removed to provide room for the shaft and locking nut to the balancer.

[lbjgh]

K, tx Rusty. PFAFF PORSCHE in woodbridge has a Roadforce balancer so I may take my summer wheels and tires there before I mount 'em this spring.


Not usually required for factory rims/wheels only for aftermarket wheels are centering rings needed.

As for the center cap not being removed, there isn't any way to mount the tire/wheel on a balancing machine without removing it, so if the wheels were balanced the center cap has to be removed to provide room for the shaft and locking nut to the balancer.

[Rustynut]

Lbjgh, a shop like Porche should have techs that know what they are doing so that shouldn't be a concern but be ready to drop about 25 bucks per wheel for the job.
I paid that at Firestone then got a bit of a discount. After 3 attempts I had to have it redone anyway.
Don't be shy if not satisfied ride their donkey until you are!
I didn't follow my own advise and just gave up on them after the 3rd time but I was just too peeved to continue:gaa:

[Dr.Dan]

I didn't want to assume that were factory Honda wheels since you said they were installed at the dealer level... but since they are OEM wheels, they should be hubcentric ;)

For 'on car' balancing, I know about making one lug so the wheel in in the exact same place as before, but it still doesn't hold a true balance once loosened / tightened ...

Problem with most balancers is that they are set to the closest 1/4 oz... not nearly as close as it should be.
Ask if they can do a 'high accuracy' balance which goes to 1/16th oz.

As for your pic; well, most guys never bother lining up the dot with the valve stem... not even from the factory :mad:
None-the-less, a balance *should* correct all that anyways.

Winter tires always have an 'out of balance' feel to them... due to the large amount of blocks of rubber... driving down the road with them will always shake at a certain speed. RoadForce balancing might improve that allot, but I have no personal experiance with it, so I can't say... but that's what it's supposed to do ;)

Personally, I suspect the MXV4's are continally 'moving' inside and throwing the balance off. They were one of many that Nissan used on 'touring' car packages... and we always had customer complaints about them...
I know they're made by Michelin, but I've never liked any of their OEM tires other than the ones they made for the police cars ($$$)

Is there any chance that once the tires are OK for a short time after balancing, then they are out again?

[Rustynut]

Dr Dan, have you heard of using balancing powder for car tires as they do with heavy trucks?

It sure makes a difference on the big rigs, but so far I haven't found any formula for passenger tires as to the amount of powder they need.

[Dr.Dan]

It's been tried many times and it's never worked... believed to be the diameter of the wheel/tire.
It actually causes inbalance conditions...

They've also tried a liquid version that didn't go over too well either... although it was allot better than the powder.

I know they're using it in those big mobile crane tires... don't know if it's really any better than the powder though :rrg:

[Lesster]

[QUOTE I haven't thought of that. have you had the on-car balancing done?[/QUOTE]

I haven't personally, but in my work I have processed many warranty claims for balancing to address customer concerns with vibrations. Often the on car balancing at Queensway Collision in Kitchener fixes the condition. The force balancing is done locally by Stedelbauer Chev-Olds in Kitchener.

We seem to find an ever increasing number of tires that just can't be balanced. I can't remember hearing of that very often 5 years ago, but it is fairly common now. Don't know if it is just the tires supplied with the new vehicles or if it is the same story with tires sold as retail.