I just bought some used 35" Nitto Mud Grapplers (Going smaller currently have 37" Terra Grapplers). 2 of the tires have a little bit of irregular/uneven wear. Should I have them road forced balanced or is the regular balancing system good enough?????? How do I know if I need road force or regular? They are going on my Excursion. Thanks

 

Probably be best off with road force balancing.

I had to road force balance my (new) BFG AT KOs three times before they didn't shimmy at 45+ mph. Now they're smooth all the way up to at least 90 before I let off the gas. I don't cruise at that speed though.

I'd say get them road force balanced.

-rockstate

 

Right on, thats what I figured. The few places that can do it where I live are charging 200 for mount and RF balance. Thanks

 

I'm a firm believer in the RoadForce balancing, every vehicle i've owned over the past 8yrs has been RF'ed whenever the tires are replaced. I'm also a believer in the Centramatic Balancers, I've had them on my F-350 for almost 3 yrs.

 

I had a set of tires (305/70/16) on aftermarket rims on a Chevy truck. I tried balancing about three times to get rid of some steering feedback. That Hunter road variance machine that I had them done on fixed the problem. That was my only experience with the concept but it fixed the problem I had.

 

Can someone explain what Road Force Balancing is?

 

Road Force Balancing is when the wheel is spinning it applies a wheel that can put up to 1400lbs of pressure on the spinning tire and rim to make it feel as if it's on the truck. Ballenced while driving so to speak.

 

Do you have uneven wear and a shimmy or just uneven wear. I didn't think balancing would have any effect on uneven wear. You alignment would effect that. Either way I have new toyos that I need to get rebalanced because I have a shimmy at 65mph+ but I can't find anyone to balance them!

 

One thing I have found about road force balancing is that it will allow for a marginal tire to be used. The bad spot on the tire can be counterbalanced against the worst spot on the wheel and it kind of evens out.

It does work. I have had several sets of tires road forced and they removed vibrations when regular balancing didn't. A good mechanic can balance just as well with a regular machine though. You just have to watch out for the total weight required. If that is excessive, the tire should not be used. Lots of new tires that are junk are getting used anyways because a road force balancer can disguise the flaws.

The OEM's started using road force balancers a few years ago because they were having to reject so many tires. Wheels sometimes are out of round too. The road force lets them reduce their rejection rate on wheels and tires.

I am not against the road force. Just remember to keep track of the total weight used to get a tire to balance.

 

Here you can search for users of this particular brand of road force balancers.

http://www.gsp9700.com/pub/search/FindGSP9700.cfm

 

I have had my tires balanced with the GSP9700 and it was WELL worth the the extra money. Like riding a sheet of glass.........

 

What is centramatic balancing? I have never heard of it.

 

You put this ring on prior to your wheel/tire and there is oil and small rolling weights in the outer ring that balance your tire when you get to speed by rolling around and offsetting high/low/heavy/light areas of tire/wheel.

www.centramatic.com

 

my main question is, how can I find someone who uses this machine so I can get mine balanced? I can't even find a hunter machine.

 

Use the link posted above to locate a user in your area.