Tire balance aneurism pending - Haweka in NC?!?!

[CPR]

I'm having a hell of a time getting my GWSA's balanced on my '08 and I'm at the end of my rope.

I've spent close to $400 trying different dealers and local shops that claim they have the right adapter to balance my wheels, but none are the Haweka brand.

I've called Haweka in Cornelius, NC and they can't locate any dealers that have the correct adapter.

Help me Obi Wan. Does anyone know of a dealer or tire retailer in NC or southern VA that has the Haweka adapter?

My next option is to go back to the lighter Cross Terrain that seemd to balance fine, even without the Haweka adapter.

 

[martini]

I'd be interested to know too, subscribed.

 

[CPR]

I can tell you where not to go - Cox Toyota in Burlington, Rice Toyota in Greensboro and Fred Anderson in Raleigh. I've either called or had my tires improperly balanced at those locations. Discount Tire in Greensboro and Burlington don't have it either.

A lady at Haweka checked around and apparently there are no Toyota dealers in NC that have the correct Haweka adapter. I find this odd, since they're SUPPOSED to have them based on a TSB.

 

[martini]

I recently got new tires at Discount Tire in Cary the one at 55/high house and had them road force balance mine to try and avoid the terrible experience I had last time I got tires from Merchants. It was similar to your experience had them rebalanced by multiple places and they never were smooth always had the steering wheel shake (one of the places was also Fred Anderson). I don't think discount tire I went to had a special adapter either, actually they had never really done a road force balance either or not many because the guy said to me, "you want what? This should be fun for the guys in the back". I'm happy with how they turned out though they did a good job.

 

[newemi]

Could you guys explain this a little for me.

I had Goodyear silent armors put on my truck a while back. Two of them never balanced up quite right despite me going back to Discount Tire several times. They just claimed that the two wheels were slightly out of round, and that I must of hit some big potholes. It's always bothered me, but never been bad enough for me to be concerned.

 

[CPR]

Search the forum for Haweka and lug centric. Our wheels need a special adapter to properly center the wheel on the balancer. Without it, it's very difficult/impossible to properly balance the wheels.

I too had Discount Tire try to balance mine. They even replaced two of the tires under warranty. I think the heavier tire exacerbates any imbalance, while my original Crossterrains were more forgiving for some reason. I have 30K on the silent armors and they have never been balanced properly. It may just be that the GWSA tires suck. I'm not terribly thrilled with mine.

This issue is frustrating enough that I probably won't consider Toyota for my next vehicle. If their dealers can't stock the correct parts to maintain their vehicles, I have no use for them.

 

[KB084RUNNER]

Find a shop with this machine. Hunter GSP9700 Wheel vibration Control System solves wheel vibration and tire pull problems that balancers and aligners can


...worked fine on mine. Just went thorough this with NTB and now they are paying me $200 to refinish 2 of my wheels. Have the guy index the tires on the wheels with the Hunter machine and then balance.

 

[KB084RUNNER]

Toyota of North Charlotte
13429 Statesville Rd
HUNTERSVILLE, NC 28078
Phone: 704-875-9199


Has a Hunter machine and should be able to balance them. They are 5 miles away.

 

[CPR]

I appreciate the advice, but that's the machine my dealers used. No luck. Either these tires are crap (which some tire dealers have alluded to), or you really do need the Haweka adapter. I'm off to buy some Cross Terrains or LTXs. Apparently Goodyear is having some internal union issues and I have to assume it's affecting their products.

 

[KB084RUNNER]

I appreciate the advice, but that's the machine my dealers used. No luck. Either these tires are crap (which some tire dealers have alluded to), or you really do need the Haweka adapter. I'm off to buy some Cross Terrains or LTXs. Apparently Goodyear is having some internal union issues and I have to assume it's affecting their products.

Did they index the tires on the wheels? BTW, I am running Michelin Latitudes which are very good for cruising.

 

[CPR]

Supposedly, although I've had them remounted 2 or three times. I'm at the end of my rope and tired of wasting time. I'm writing the Goodyears off at this point.

 

[KB084RUNNER]

Supposedly, although I've had them remounted 2 or three times. I'm at the end of my rope and tired of wasting time. I'm writing the Goodyears off at this point.

I had some Yokohamas that were so out of round they replaced them. Take them back to Goodyear and make them give you a new set. Tire Rack replaced my Yokes & paid for balancing.

 

[Nuke]

I had to prove to a # of shops that they needed the correct adapter. After having a shop balance my tires without the adapter (at THEIR insistance that it would be fine), I insisted that they put the tire back on the balancer. All 4 tires came up as way off-balance. They rotated the tires around the machines spindle about 90 degrees and got totally different out-of-balance values. After reperforming the balance with the adapter and finally getting all zeros, I dared the tech to turn the tire 90 degrees from it's previous position on the balancer. He did and it still read zeros. They were embarassed.

 

[Skiman254]

I'm glad to know i'm not the only one with this problem. I put Michelin LTX AT2's on mine and they still shake, so did the coopers that were on there when I got it. I get oil changed at Town and Country but not a fan of Toyota of N. Charlotte, but I might be willing time try them out. Anyone on here had tires balanced there? Or Town and Country?

 

[gm350reratliff]

CPR- scribe a mark across the rim and tire to ensure that the tires are not rotating on the rim. I've seen a few different Goodyear do that. Personally, I've had bad luck in the past with balancing goodyears and bfgs. I still run bfgs on my silverado because they work good.

 

[JG1911]

In my experience, some places have no idea what you are talking about, yet they have the adapter and just don't know it. I printed the .pdf out and took it to a chain tire place, got a funny look from the desk guy, he went out into the bay and rummaged around, came back with the adapter... problem solved.

If your local dealer doesn't have the adapter, you should really talk to the service manager about it, then hit the GM if the SM blows you off... Call Toyota as well. The dealers are supposed to have it, I know the two closest to me do and they are required by Toyota to have it.

 

[martini]

What's the TSB number? I searched and only found a 3rd gen TSB about the Haweka adapter.

 

[Big Red 82]

NTB in St. Louis chipped all 4 of my wheels when performing an alignment. What is wrong with those idiots? What wheels do you have and how did you refinish them? I have the 5 spokes on a 99.

 

[ARK_SWAMP_RIDER]

I remember seeing CJ3FLYR having the same issues with the SA's. His would balance out great for a while, but after a couple hundred miles they would be out of balance. He switched to some Toyo's I believe and hasn't had a problem since. His suspicions were that the tire was rotating on the rim, which was also alluded to earlier in this post.

Do you notice the problems immediately, or does it take some time before noticing they are out of balance?

 

[chitown40]

Just food for thought. My local Discount Tire does have the Haweka adapter as well as a Hunter Road Force capable machine. I believe it is Discount's policy to rebalance your tires when they rotate them (free of charge if you buy them from Discount).

I'm really surprised that people buy tires from the dealer and NTB. Both are overpriced and often times have no idea what their doing. Discount Tire, at least specializes in wheels and tires, and while occasionally you might find a poor retail location, the majority of them do quality work and stand behind what they do. They are national and offer price-matching (if you work the manager a bit).

No, I don't work for Discount Tire, but I found they give the best service and the best bang for the buck.