Pinky...

I've used the Road Force balancer and while it is a very, very, sophisticated machine, it is not always that accurate. I've found that it will often given different results after repeated testing on the same tire 2-3 times, even with the tire secured properly. Now usually, it is in .25 increments but a difference is a difference.

SRQStingray

It definitely is the tech. I had my new fronts balanced three times. One guy advertised Road Force balancing. The shop owner had no f'ng clue as to how to used the machine, even though it was the top of the line machine. His expert tech didn't know much more. Worst of all, he thought the electric door handles were custom rather than OEM. Scary!!

I have pretty good balance, but still not as good as factory. Very infinitesimal shimmy at 80-85mph.

check6x

A significant point is being missed in this thread. New tires are mounted using some nasty, slimy, slippery crap. When the tire is inflated this stuff dries very slowly. If you hit a pothole or drive fast over rough surfaces the tires will move on the wheel without regard for what machine, proceedure or witchdoctor used in balancing the tire and wheel are no longer in balance.

Some road racers make the tire shop use a clean bucket of water with a few drops of soap in it for mounting. Others mount and balance their own tires. I drive home very slowly and park it for two weks.

BoosterClub

It's a common occurrence at bigger tire chains. They have an outlined list of equipment they have to get detailed by someone that is not physically at the shop. Equipment gets there and no one knows or bothers to train the employees. It doesn't happen at the smaller shops because when they pay 10k for a balancing machine they make damn sure eveyone in the place knows how to use it to its full extent.

I prefer paste. What you are describing happens from an inexperienced or poorly trained techs. The ONLY part of the tire that is supposed to be lubricated is the part farther in from the bead, this part does NOT touch the wheel when mounted. But most techs just slop grease all over the bead and rim. When done properly only about 1/10th of the bead/tire seating surface will have lubricant on it.


That said, even with a fully dry surface you are going to get rotation from hard braking and sticky tires or a high horsepower cars acceleration.

itshervette

Totally agree with you...if Chevy thought they were right for the car, they would have rolled out of the factory with them on.

I purchased a new set of Goodyear Eagle F1 EMT's today. Haven't had one issue with any Goodyear tire, ever; only with the technician who did a poor job on my alignment.

RedVette84

The Hunter Roadforce is the way to go. They showed that the shop that balanced my C-4's tires were four oz. off. They kept telling me that my rims were bent. That's what's great about the Hunter - it can tell you how the wheel is even with the tire mounted.

naples53

Cheap?? Worse balance?? Give me a break!! If I recall, I asked about the best machine!! Not your 2 cents! Something YOU should consider!!

BoosterClub

You said a more expensive tire doesn't make a better tire. I've mounted and balanced tons of tires, and I can tell you that the more expensive tires balance out much better with less wights and less runout where as the cheap ones take a lot of weight and have visually apparent runout almost all the time.

If you don't want to here it, don't post.

I didn't even say your tires were cheap, I don't even know what tires you got for your car, YOU said they were cheap and stated more expensive tires are not better.

StKnoWhere

I've been out of the industry for quite a while but the manufactures used to make second tier tires manufactured from lower cost processes/materials or sorted from brand name manufacturing where lower quality/higher variation tires are split off for different branding. This is especially true for the low cost specialty label tires at the discount boxes.

The Nitto Invo's probably are not in this class and have really good reviews and feedback from everyone using them. It appears to be a newer design so I suspect it is a very lightweight design. Less material = lower cost?

I'd be curious if the OP could post how much weight was used per wheel (inside and outside each rim).

J. Dub

How about in 2017? What is the best balancer? I presume the Roadforce elite?

enventr

Another vote for Hunter Roadforce

PaulEddie

2013 GS I purchased a set of Bridgestone 050 RF from Costco. The car drove like it had square tires. I found a shop that did a lot of new car dealer aftermarket tires and wheels that has a Hunter RF machine, still had the same issue. Went to another shop that checked the tire runout and found 3 of the 4 were significantly out of round. Went back to Costco and they replaced them with Michelins which cured the problem. Bottom line, a incompetent operator with the best equipment still produces poor quality work.