If you're feeling frustration going down the highway because once you get above 55-60 your C5 starts shaking or vibrating after you've had your wheels balanced a second time then it's time for something else. I bought brand new CCW 505A wheels and Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires and had just that problem. No fun not being able to drive at 80 like everyone else.

Well I decided to try road force balance after reading pro's and con's about it.I made an appointment at my local wheel specialists shop and brought it in. Well when I picked the car up they told me two of the tires were spun on the rim 180 degrees to get it to balance, I forgot what they called it. Paid the $140.00 for the 4 wheel road force and left for my drive home. Naturally I had to check out what they had done so up onto route I- 95 I went. Brought it up to 105 on three different tries and no shaking or vibration at all. Well worth the money.

On a side note I was having a similar issue with my 2005 GTO but not as bad, Took it to the same place the following week and got the same excellent results. All the way up to 115 and smooth as silk. I'm so pleased I decided to give road force balancing a try.

 

Good for you, had no idea it was that pricey.

 

Firm believer here too. I have a Jaguar and I had a vibration above 50mph that I could not figure out (new tires, new susp parts, and 4 wheel aligned).

I Paid $110 and they road force balanced on a new Hunter machine. Made a world of improvement! I suspect my problem was actually the new (Cooper) tires and not the wheels or car.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WpNsa3bFhU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nswttgUKstk

 

The shop I go to for tire mounting, charges an extra $10 per tire for the road force balance, so instead of $20 per tire it's $30. They have the latest tire mounting equipment, which is why I go there. Don't want my 20 year old Fikse's messed up and to be smooth at >100 MPH The first time I had to get a tire serviced on the Vet, the place had the tire machine that left impressions on the inside barrels of the rim. I was able to sand and polish them out, but you learn quick about those special little things that these cars need.

 

The right equipment, along with a competent tire tech, can make all the difference. Great that you got you car’s ride smoothed out.

 

Thanks for the tip. How does road force balancing differ from regular balancing?

 

$35.00 per tire seemed fair to me.

This place had the new Hunter also.

Yes these guys were very competent and explained to me how it works.

 

Is it really road force balanced or just more accurate way of the same old same old?

What I mean is to truly match the correct position for a "road balanced" tire and wheel 99x out of 100 the tire must be unmounted and moved around to the sweet spot on the rim. IF the tire shop does this then you actually have road balanced gear instead of a standard balance a guy used a Road Balance machine without completely doing the job 100% as intended.
Just sayin, unless you ask you may not get what you paid for

 

Interesting, thanks for posting

 

Well from what they showed me the hunter machine puts another wheel up against the spinning wheel and crates force on the tire which the computer tells the tech where to put the weights.

It was done properly, I watched it being done.

You're very welcome. It was well worth the money far as I'm concerned.

 

First off, if the tire needs to be rotated, it does NOT have to be "unmounted". All that needs to be done, is deflate the tire, "break" the beads loose, and simply rotate the tire with respect to the rim. If, for some reason, the tire needs to be "flopped over" on the rim, then yes, it needs to be dismounted.

HOWEVER......with tires that have directional tread patterns, this can be difficult, as the tire has to remain in a specific orientation on the rim, so finding that "sweet spot" could become quite tricky. Depending on whether it's the tire or the rim that's causing the issue, it could involve swapping the tire from one rim to another.....which can also get quite tricky, as many cars these days have staggered sizes, which will limit how much "juggling" you can do, to get the ultimate set-up.

 

[QUOTE=ZigZag;1602296039]Well from what they showed me the hunter machine puts another wheel up against the spinning wheel and crates force on the tire which the computer tells the tech where to put the weights.

Cool thanks for the info!

 

[QUOTE=ZigZag;1602296039]Well from what they showed me the hunter machine puts another wheel up against the spinning wheel and crates force on the tire which the computer tells the tech where to put the weights.



It was done properly, I watched it being done.

Watch the end of the video where they talk about (re)moving the tire

 

[QUOTE=Hary Gahtoe;1602299046]great video. Thanks for posting!

 

[QUOTE=Hary Gahtoe;1602299046]Yes I had watched that video before I made my appointment. If fact it convinced me that doing that would make a difference. And yes they did rotate two of my tires that were quite off.

 

As a part of my Cadillac store we had a tire/wheel/custom shop attached that did a fairly large volume business. We continuously were having balance complaints on our tire/wheel combinations we sold and on new vehicles directly from Cadillac.

I bought one of the early road force balancers and a very automated tire changing machine. The training to familiarize the installers was rather easy and they became very adept at using the machinery very quickly. The number of problems we were able to solve amazed all of us and we were sent a number of problem vehicles even from other dealers to find the source of the problems.

One of the things we learned very quickly was the quality of the manufacturing of new tires could often be suspect. While the balancer offers a method to cure many balance problems by indexing the high and low spots and the light and heavy spots...there is a limitation. There are definite parameters of where the balance problem can be corrected versus replacing the tire or wheel. I would strongly suggest that when buying new tires or wheels, you should always have them road force balanced and be assured they conform to the specs necessary for proper balancing. Shops without the necessary equipment most often just to the best they can and send product out the door that should be replaced from new.

 

I also do it on my 4runner - guys running mondo tires have big problems too....

 

I "sort of" did that back in the 70s, when I was bustin' a LOT of tires, and all we had was a "bubble balancer". Over 2 ounces of weight needed to balance, then break the tire down and rotate it 180*, re-inflate, rebalance. If the weight was still needed, then "split" the weight, and put half on the "back side" of the rim. Usually worked out pretty well, for the time....