JMon

Basically the idea is you push this little machine up against the wheel and it really spins it up. But how does it really work? I didn't get to see the mechanics doing the work :(
Can't find much information on the internet about it either. It was some sort of Hoffman Finish balancer.

Closer_2001

My uncle lives in Atlanta and owns 10 various vintage british sports cars, a 911 a Suburban and a Mercedes E320.

He is maniacal about wheels being balanced. He only allows all the car's tires to be balanced using the machines pictured.

Patches

So, where did you run across such a machine? I live nearby and would like to know who to take my wheels to next time I need them balanced. :cheers:

JMon

After much searching I found Butler tire in Marietta. Took them about 1/2 hour to do the 2 fronts. These guys know what they are doing. Let me put it to you this way. My C5 with HREs was probably the cheapest car there. Surrounded by new high end Porsches, Mercedes and BMWs
Very professional and knowledgeable. That is very hard to find in a tire/rim store.
I would highly recommend using these guys for all tire/wheel needs.

66ImpalaLT1

This is a neat idea, but I'd find a shop with a Hunder GSP9700 wheel balancer. It can account for variations in the sidewall of the tire.

Eric

Patches

Thanks! :cheers: :cool: :seeya :flag

Garibaldi

Ah! The Hoffman...

Little wheel spins the tire, wheel, rotor, bearing, etc. Then the technician shines a stroboscopic light on the rotating assembly. This process indicates where the weight should be attached. A good tech :blueangel: would also paint mark a stud and the wheel so that if anyone removed the wheel, it could be reinstalled in the exact location in which it was balanced. I've always felt that this was t he best way to balance suspensions that may be problematic.

Regards,
Garibaldi

Tormania

News to me. Would be nice if there was a place her ein SA with one of those. :yesnod:

AP

Cool Machine .. I have never seen one of those ... I guess my dealer has one of those newer machines ... :lol:

Mag Red Monster

:cool:

alanh

I don't want to rain on any one's parade here, but I would also go with the Hunter 9700 balancer. It will give you a dynamic and static balance and the wider the tires are, the more important it is to have the tires balanced both ways. The spin balancer on the car will only balance the wheel on center, but will not detect a heavy area on the inside or outside of the tire which will throw the spinning center line off. If the spinning center line is off, you could still have some shake in the steering wheel even though the wheel is balanced on center. I've never been very impressed with spinning the wheel on the car as a method of balancing the wheel.
JMO


[Modified by alanh, 4:57 PM 5/17/2002]

Garibaldi

I agree with Alan that a very good off the car balancer is usually all that's necessary. I would like to clarify what I meant by 'problematic' suspensions. And I will admit that my experience may be out of date. Some cars, particularly strut suspensions can still exhibit shake even though the tires and wheels are round and balanced. Porsche (sorry) 911s and 944s were notorious for this. Balancing the whole front suspension takes care of that weird 60-65 mph shimmy. I will amend my original post by saying that there are times when spin balancing will solve balance problems that off the car balancing won't cure. At least that's my experience.

Regards,
Garibaldi

CP

I used to balance wheels on the car back in the '60s at an Esso station I used to hang out at. I guess there is nothing new under the sun.

gmblack3

Grand Turismo East in Atlanta also will spin balance on the car as well.

They do it on a wheel balance machine and then they do it on the car.

I had my 94 BMW 540 done there, no problems at all. The E34s suffer from the 55-60 mph shimmy as well.

They do all kinds of alignments for race cars as well. They can setup your car for AutoX or however you want it. Bit pricey for a C5 alignment $125.

MelloYellow

Hunter GSP9700 Balancer

Locate A GSP9700: http://www.gsp9700.com/pub/search/Findgsp9700.cfm

Smoke-N-Shot

It was a great product for it's time but the new technology today is far superior then it was just a few years ago... The Hunter 9700 balancer is the best out there so that is how I would spend my money :yesnod:

rustyguns

me too in the 70's God we are old !!!!!!

rustyguns

but can you buy a used Hunter 9700 for 40 bucks and do your own at home? I doubt it!

mrr23

on vehicle balancing. i have one from hunter engineering. been doing semi tractor balancing for along time.

http://www.hunter.com/balancer/strobe/features.cfm

mrr23

here's another place using the on vehicle balancer

http://instagram.com/p/oTV6bYsgxY/?modal=true