4th try, wheel balance is bad. Need help for tomorrow.

[alext72888]

Hey Guys. I'm getting my wheels balanced for the FIFTH time tomorrow at a local Firestone.

Here's the story.

Purchased some 285/70/17 Firestone Destination AT's at Firestone. Mounted and balanced on my Trail wheels that the truck came with. Drove it around and could hear a vibration noise from the back. Took it back to have rebalanced and they said they "fixed it"

It wasn't fixed. I then took the tires to a local Townfair to have them fix the balance. It was still off because now the front wheels vibrated through the steering wheels.

I came back and had them recheck the balance for the FOURTH time. And still, it's vibrating.



So at this point, I suspect that either no one knows how to balance a wheel, or the tires are defective. Here is what I'm doing.

Tomorrow I am going back to Firestone and they said they will road force balance every wheel and try one last time. If it's still not good they are ordering four new tires and trying again.



Here is my questions for you guys.

1. Do they need to use the lug centric adapter plate even though the trail wheels are hub centric?

2. What are some other things I should watch out for or tell Firestone that would potentially help this process?


I want to insist that they "match mount" the tires through the road force, and maybe give the tire bead a message too to ensure the best possible mount.

I'm also going to ask if they can give me printouts of all of the specs that the machine reads out for the weights used and if any wheel is off by a lot during the road force.

What else should I watch out for when telling a shop to balance these wheels? Maybe the techs are missing some important information and that's why the balance is off?


Thanks

 

[1jzgte]

return the tires if you can.. even if they minimized the vibration to a point.. it'll come back

 

[mrblah]

Hey Guys. I'm getting my wheels balanced for the FIFTH time tomorrow at a local Firestone.

Here's the story.

Purchased some 285/70/17 Firestone Destination AT's at Firestone. Mounted and balanced on my Trail wheels that the truck came with. Drove it around and could hear a vibration noise from the back. Took it back to have rebalanced and they said they "fixed it"

It wasn't fixed. I then took the tires to a local Townfair to have them fix the balance. It was still off because now the front wheels vibrated through the steering wheels.

I came back and had them recheck the balance for the FOURTH time. And still, it's vibrating.



So at this point, I suspect that either no one knows how to balance a wheel, or the tires are defective. Here is what I'm doing.

Tomorrow I am going back to Firestone and they said they will road force balance every wheel and try one last time. If it's still not good they are ordering four new tires and trying again.



Here is my questions for you guys.

1. Do they need to use the lug centric adapter plate even though the trail wheels are hub centric?

2. What are some other things I should watch out for or tell Firestone that would potentially help this process?


I want to insist that they "match mount" the tires through the road force, and maybe give the tire bead a message too to ensure the best possible mount.

I'm also going to ask if they can give me printouts of all of the specs that the machine reads out for the weights used and if any wheel is off by a lot during the road force.

What else should I watch out for when telling a shop to balance these wheels? Maybe the techs are missing some important information and that's why the balance is off?


Thanks

1. no.
2. let them do their job.

If they are going to roadforce your tires, and it doesn't fix your problems, then its a tire issue (if everything else on your car hasn't changed), or less likely, an alignment issue/suspension issue.

 

[alext72888]

1. no.
2. let them do their job.

If they are going to roadforce your tires, and it doesn't fix your problems, then its a tire issue (if everything else on your car hasn't changed), or less likely, an alignment issue/suspension issue.

I did install a levelling kit last month using spacers. Would that somehow cause vibration?

 

[skag1T]

Just went through a similar situation with my 4R. Have the shop road force balance the tires with a GS9700 machine. In my case I had 2 "bad" tires (non-uniform tire material) that could not be balanced. I ended up buying a new set, and everything was solved.

It is absolutely the tires .... They need to find 4 tires that have the material uniformly distributed.

Today is an age of "cheap" and "fast". "Great" is out the door most of the time ...

 

[bamma]

As stated above, the Hunter 9700 is what should be used. Even though Toyota wheels are hub centric, using the Haweka adapter or finger plates will give the 4Runner wheels a much better balance. I went through six rebalances and a road force on my old Tacoma with BFG KOs before suggesting the Haweka. Solved the issue.

If you are dealing with a very good tire technician, it shouldn't matter. And yes, there are defective tires, but if you are having issues on more than one I'd lean towards poor install.

You can search for shops that carry the Hunter 9700 on the Hunter website here: https://www.hunter.com/gsp9700

I would not recommend having tires balanced at a shop that does not carry the 9700.

 

[skag1T]

Agree with bamma. In my area, a bunch of Les Schwab tires shops have the 9700 installed.

Call the shops and ask them. This machine is called GSP9700 Vibration Control System / Road Force Balancer, and it's made and maintained by a company called Hunter.

If people look at you like you're coming from another planet when you ask this question, just ask to talk with their wheel balancing specialist, he should know.