road force balancing and stick on weights
 

what do you think of road force balancing? vs regular speed balancing? and what about stick on weights on the inside of the wheels as opoosed to the regular weights clipped to the outside?

vehicle is 2012 tahoe and suburban.

Stick on weights are that much cleaner. Road force is a great idea. A brick can be balanced however it will not roll smoothly, it will hop. No wheel and no tire are perfectly round. So even if the tire is balanced it could hop thus causing a vibration. The road force machine measures the out of round of the wheel and tire assembly. If the assembly has a high road force number the machine can then measure the out of round on the wheel. It will then show where to turn the tire on the rim (match mount) for the most true assembly. If you get it done tell them to match mount any tie with a road force reading over 15.

MDTAHOE,

Can you provide more information on what you mean by "tell them to match mount any tire with a road force reading over 15"? What is a normal road force reading vs a high reading? Is a high road force reading worst for the Wheels or the tires?

I am planning on purchasing Michelin LTX M/S2 (265/65R18) and 18" KMC XD Series Chrome Crank wheels at TireRack.com which offers free Hunter Road Force™ Mounting and Balancing. I will be having them shipped to me and really don't want to get a defective Wheel or tire (i.e. higher Out Of Round to acceptable standards).

Thanks - Tony
2007 GMC Sierra (new body style) Short Bed Crew Cab

new tires have to be driven on for at least 1000km before road force balancing. The tire plies have to "relax". A good tire that hasn't been driven on may fail roadforce if not driven on first.

It is great technology if diagnosing radial tire variation and tire pulls (if it has straight trac features).

match mounting in the simplest of terms is aligning the low spot of the rim with the high spot (stiffest part of the sidewall) of the tire to minimize radial tire variation.

I definitely agree with the "break-in period", though I generally accept a couple hundred miles. One other thing is, that you should keep the cold inflation pressure at 1-2% below maximum during that period, to get things settled. Once the tires have stabilized, THEN go with the conformation of roundness and RF Balance.

I reluctantly accept the interior stick on weights. Mainly because the standard clip on's are double ugly on a nice set of rims. :rolleyes:

We road force all new tires at work (if the customer wants them done (it costs extra)). So does Tire Rack (they know more about tires the anyone on any forum). I do agree the the tires need to "break in" however the road force number will only get better as the tire wears in (gets softer). Tire Rack will send a new tire and pick up the defective tire at no cost to the customer on any new tire with a road force reading higher than 15. It cost more money to have them road forced after they have been balanced as the weights may need to be removed if the rim runout needs to be measured or the assembly is match mounted because they have to be balanced again.