Balance VS. Road Force Balance

[JT1983]

Ok so I just bought my first Tahoe a little over a week ago and picked up a set of 22" ck 375's w a good set of rubber on 'em. Had a very minor shake at speeds around 45 to 55 mph. Took it to the dealer to have a door lock checked out fig'd why its there I'd have the wheels balanced.

Service guy says, REGULAR balance for $49.00 or ROAD FORCE BALANCE for $99.00???

So I quickly youtubed "Road force balance and watched a minute long video (http://youtu.be/efhgM2TcQpI) that didnt tell me much. I then asked to speak to the service manager who took me back in the shop to show me how the machine worked. He ran the machine through a cycle and showed me how the roller applies pressure to the tire to simulate the road pushing upward pressure on the tire as it spins. Seems like a good idea but I noticed that there was only one balancing machine in the entire shop.

Obviously my next question was, "So what machine do you use for "regular balance" jobs?" His answer, "we use the same machine we just dont apply the roller to the tire why its being balanced". My assumption is that the roller probably does create the ability to better balance your wheel but it seems like a rip off to have to pay an extra $50 bucks to have the roller applied to the tire.

Can anyone give me some insight? Is it worth it?

 

[soulsea]

Well, thinking this through ... perhaps the road force process can reproduce the vibration and remedy it. I've never had it done, but I'm thinking that regular balancing would be sufficient for a new set of tires whereas road force might be better able to deal with an existing set.

However I'm just guessing here so hopefully someone will chime in with actual knowledge.

I know we rotated the tires when we swapped wheels, so I'm also wondering if that may have something to do with the slight vibration.

 

[HOE-N-IT]

The road force balance checks for out of round or high spots on the tire which can cause a vibration. The road force balance is better but a crap shoot if you really need it. I would look elsewhere for a better price. That is high.

 

[dieselp]

I agree on the high price i got it done for $49 but its lifetime as many time as i want.

 

[JT1983]

Thanks! Ive called around to a few places, It seems as though not many places have the road force machine..... Damn dieselp! Lifetime? Was this the dealer or a tire chain? You have a name for the place?

 

[CEN2MENTAL95]

yes...whenever possible ALWAYS GO FOR ROAD FORCE...why is it more expensive?

I'll tell you:

1) the machine is worth 3x the price of a regular balancer
2) the technicians working on the machine HAVE to be factory trained at the dealer/tire shop's cost and the training HAS to be repeated a few times a year.
3) if you ever watch it being done, you'd see why it costs more (more labor, more intensive and it actually involves thought)

 

[booyaltz]

road force balance will certainly take care of the slight wobble.

how much you pay for the ck375's?

 

[sumo]

hey i can tell you about road force balancing. I used it on my truck to take care of a vibration problem. I also done them to customer cars. a regular balance will just measure and balance the tire to the wheel. The RF balance simulates the tire being driven on the road. This is done by a Drum inside the hood of the tire machine. As it measuring, the drum will apply pressure to the tire. Once it done, it can detect if a rim has too much runout that can cause a shimmy. the machine on a RF balance can measure a low spot on the rim and a high spot on the tire or vice versa. It will tell you where to mark the tire and the rim and the person doing the Balance will Dismount the tire and match the marks on the rim and the tire.
This method works wonders because i had many occasions including my winter tires on my truck, the rims had to much runout and even though the tire measured 0 on a normal balance, there was still a shimmy cause of the excessive rim run out. I preformed a RF and match the rim and tire with the bad spots and it made all the shimmy go away.

If your having a vibration problem, id highly recommend this.