Balancing tires on 96-02 Haweka vs Hunter flange adapter?

[Jason B]

If you've ever had your tires balanced on a 96-02, you know it can be frustrating as your truck will shake if a lug centric adapter isn't used. There was even a TSB out from Toyota saying the Haweka adapter must be used to eliminate vibrations, etc. My local shop has the new Hunter machine with "Hunter" lug centric adapters with the fingers and I'm wonder if this will work as well as the Haweka version adapter?

Anyone know?

 

[J-money$$$]

No clue man, good luck. My tires are always out of balance lol!

I think im just going to use airsoft pellets in the tires......

 

[TheDurk]

If you've ever had your tires balanced on a 96-02, you know it can be frustrating as your truck will shake if a lug centric adapter isn't used. There was even a TSB out from Toyota saying the Haweka adapter must be used to eliminate vibrations, etc. My local shop has the new Hunter machine with "Hunter" lug centric adapters with the fingers and I'm wonder if this will work as well as the Haweka version adapter?

Anyone know?

Can´t say for sure, but my local guy whom I have dealt with for 20 years looked at the TSB and said he did not have the Haweka but had every adapter Hunter ever made for the RoadForce machines and guaranteed it would be smooth. He was right. Smooth up to 92 mph--as far as I was willing to push it--and I was shimmying at 75 on the old CrossTerrains with 75K on them. These were Michelin LTX MS2´s on stock 16" inch ´99 rims. If you trust your guy and he will stand behind the work, I´d do it.

 

[Jason B]

Also wondering if I need the Haweka if I have aftermarket wheels. I forget?

 

[jrm]

Hunter GSP9700

rip'd this from a tundra forum. pretty much sums it up.

I examined the site shown below as Toyota Balancing Problems (http://forums.vmag.com/suv4run0499/messages/3295.html). There is a misconception there that is discussed at some length. To quote:

"Toyota does have a big problem with making the wheels round. Now matter how well they are balanced, the truck will not ride smooth if the wheels are out of round. The only way to fix that kind of wheel problem is to replace the wheels."

I have nine Toyota alloy wheels on my Tundra and Sequioa. One is the Sequioa spare, which has not been on the road yet. The eight in normal use, I have "force matched" on the Hunter GSP9700. This machines measures the radial and axial runout of the wheels at the mounting surface of the tire. The maximum runout I measured is 0.003". That's THREE THOUSANDTHS of an inch. That, friends, is ROUND for a wheel.

But, I digress. It is worth understanding just what the GSP9700 does, which just might change your thinking on round wheels.

The GSP9700 models the tire mounting surface on the wheel as a "hoop" that is round, but possibly off-center relative to the mounting hole in the center (or the center of the Haweka lug adapter). It models the loaded rolling surface of the tire as a "hoop" that is round, but possibly off-center relative to the tire bead. It allows you to mark the "phase" of each, such that the tire can be busted loose from the rim, rotated on the rim to match the marks, then re-inflated. This puts the "high spot" of the tire force "hoop" matched with the "low spot" of the wheel "hoop". The net road force variation is minimized that way. It's not necessarily zero, but it's minimized.

What's the catch? If the wheel has NO runout, then the wheel "hoop" is centered, and the road force variation caused by the tire cannot be improved. So, a LITTLE bit if radial runout is actually a good thing IF you use the GSP9700 to force match the tire with the wheel. But, if you don't use the GSP9700 and you have a really good tire, it actually CAUSES road force variation.

The bottom line? Use the GSP9700. It will make the wheel/tire combination as good as it can be, and it will tell you if it's not good enough, so you can find and fix the cause.