Your complete guide to Road Force® balancing – what it’s all about

Goldwing has been the proud owner of a state-of-the-art Hunter GSP9700 Road Force® balancer for almost 20 years now. Originally, we were one of the first shops in Ottawa to have it; more importantly we were the first to properly understand how it is used. We’re always working hard to maintain a high level of workmanship and customer service.

If you’re already familiar with Road Force® balancing, you probably understand the long list of benefits over standard tire balancing. For those of you who don’t this article will walk you through all the details; from the basic definition of tire balancing to the advance problem solving capabilities of the Road Force machine.

First, we’ll need to know what exactly tire balancing is. If you’re already familiar, feel free to skip ahead.

What is tire balancing?

Tire or wheel balancing, is the process of evenly distributing the weight of the entire wheel and tire assembly, around the axels of a vehicle. The process minimizes vibrations for improved comfort while driving, and to extend the longevity of your tires.

Rarely are wheel and tire assemblies the same weight all around. Tires often come with slight weight imbalances from the manufacturing process or compounds found within, while rims may be imbalanced due to imperfections in the manufacturing process or from damage cause by driving through various road-hazards.

During the mounting process a skilled tire technician works to offset these differences, then fine tunes the weight displacement by using wheel weights to effectively “balance” the wheel and tire assembly. A slight imbalance can easily lead to hard vibrations, specifically at higher speeds. The vibrations can be felt while steering and if left unaddressed, will lead to costly, irregular tread wear and premature wearing of your vehicles suspension components.

What is Road Force® balancing?

Roadforce® Balancing is our favourite method of tire and wheel balancing. It uses advanced equipment and technology, like our Hunter Road Force® machine, to simulate real-time driving conditions during the mounting process. It’s technology measures weight imbalances and the stiffness variations of a tire, often referred to as Road Force Variation (RFV).

How does it work?

  • The equipment forces a pressurized roller (mimicking various road forces) to the tire while it spins.
  • The technology identifies uneven spots in the tire or wheel assembly.
  • The system computes optimal positioning to minimize vibrations
  • The system identifies any components that need to be replaced and recommends appropriate solution.

Key benefits of Road Force® balancing

  1. Improved comfort while driving: detecting and correcting issues like RFV, will drastically reduces the amount of vibrations felt by the driver of the vehicle.
  2. Longer tire life: properly balancing tires has been proven to minimizes uneven tread wear, which extends the life of your tires.
  3. Better performance: implementing Roadforce® technology leads to smoother handling, particularly while driving at high speeds.
  4. Diagnosing difficult problems: Roadforce® technology identifies issues like bent wheels, improperly mounted tires, and other imperfections that standard tire balancing fails to recognize.

What problems does Road Force® balancing solve?

  • Persistent, uncomfortable vibrations while driving
  • Uneven tread wear on tires
  • Structural imperfections of your tires or wheels
  • Improper mounting issues

How does Road Force® differ from standard balancing?

Standard tire balancing is the plain-jane process of balancing a wheels and tire assembly. Unfortunately it only accounts for weight distribution, ensuring the tire and wheel spin evenly. Road Force® balancing, on the other hand:

  • Simulates and measures dynamic road forces often experienced while driving.
  • Addresses both balance and structural issues, like variations in tire stiffness.

More about standard balancing,

Standard balancing was great for balancing older steel wheels that use weighted clips on the outer and inner lips of the rim to help distribute the weight. However, your typical wheel style is changing, from a traditional dual-lip steel wheel to more aesthetically pleasing alloy wheels, only one lip (opposite the wheel’s face).

A standard balancer is not ideal for measuring the exact amount of weight that needs to be applied to the inner lip of a wheel. Since every set of rims is different, the offsets are different. Even with different wheels from the same manufacturer.

For example, the wheels on a BMW 3 series have a different offset than those on a 5 or 6 series.

These differences create the following issues:

  1. The technician performing the wheel balancing has to setup the balancing machine twice.
  2. With most alloy wheels, weights are applied behind the spokes. Standard balancing does not consider this difference as the machine has no way to tell exactly where that is.

A traditional, standard balancing machine will only know the diameter of a wheel, how wide the wheel is, and how far away it sits from the sensor. All standard balancing can do is look for slight variations to the roundness of the wheel and tire assembly. Weights can only even out a side-to-side wobble (lateral run out) or an up and down wobble (radial run out).

What is missing? The amount of force the tire can throw off.

That’s where Roadforce® balancing comes in.

ottawa-balancing roadforce-balancing-ottawa ottawa-tire-balance
This is a traditional tire balancing machine. Note it lacks a roller and the comprehensive weight management arms found on the Hunter GSP9700.

More about Roadforce® balancing,

When balancing with a Hunter Road Force® machine we are able to tell the machine the width of the wheel, the diameter and exactly how far the wheel sits from the sensors, and where the spokes are so we can hide the weights.

When in use, a roller will apply more than 1000 lbs of pressure to the wheel while it’s spinning. This simulates how the wheel will act when on the road with the entire weight of the vehicle. The roller measures the amount of weight the tire can throw off while it is spinning. This is what we mean when we say “road force”.

Road force is present in new and old tires – sometimes, even more so in new tires due to either it’s stiffness, lack of stiffness, or potential weak spots in the sidewalls of the tires.

By reading the run out of the wheel and tire assembly in conjunction with the road force measurements, the Hunter Road Force® machine will assist with a perfectly balanced tire and wheels assembly, every time.

While the Road Force® is taking measurements, it looks at both the rim run-out and tire run-out ,to see if they are within a specific range of tolerances. If the wheel and tire assembly is out of range, there are other tests needed to determine if the excessive road force was caused by the rim or the tire. In most cases, rotating the tire to a different position, or even putting the tire on a different rim will eliminate excessive road force.

At Goldwing, many of our customers will report having the smoothest ride they have ever experienced – after balancing done with Road Force® technology vs a standard balancing machine.

What about Road Force® advanced problem-solving capabilities?

Road Force® provides workable solutions to tire and wheel challenges that go beyond the scope of standard balancing. By simulating real-world driving conditions, it can easily identify and resolves common or complex issues like structural imperfections, road force variations, or mounting misalignments.

Take a look at some of the problems the machine solves:

1. Real-World Simulation

  • Applies pressure to the tire and wheel assembly to mimic real driving conditions, identifying vibrations or imbalances not detectable by standard balancing.

2. Identifies Road Force Variation (RFV)

  • Measures and corrects variations in stiffness or inconsistencies in the tire’s structure that can lead to uneven tread wear and annoying vibrations.

3. Pinpoints improper mounting Issues

  • The machine can detect improper alignments between tires and wheels, optimizing their positioning to reduce imbalance.

4. Detects structural imperfections

  • Locates bent wheels, irregular tires, or other imperfections contributing to a rougher ride or diminished handling and control of your vehicle.

5. Minimizes persistent, annoying vibrations

  • Further resolves issues that remain with standard balancing, this ensures a smoother, more comfortable driving experience.

6. Enhances handling and safety

  • Improved vehicle stability and control, particularly at high speeds while highway commuting, by eliminating any sources of vibration and imbalance.

7. Reduces premature wear on tires and suspension systems

  • Balances the assembly to minimize uneven wear, prolonging tire life and ensuring consistent performance of your vehicles suspension system.

8. Customizable solutions

  • Custom solutions for balancing each tire and wheel assembly, offering a level of precision far beyond that of traditional balancing.

9. Improves diagnostic accuracy

  • Functions as a diagnostic tool to locate complex problems, like wheel hub imperfections or inconsistencies in a vehicles suspension components.

10. Increases customer satisfaction

  • Solves problems which customers do not realize are tire-related, like steering wheel vibrations, offering them peace of mind and a better driving experience.

Frequently asked Road Force® related questions,

Is Road Force® balancing worth it?

Yes, having your tire and wheel assembly balanced using Road Force® technology can improve your comfort, safety and handling while driving, plus save you money. Properly balancing your tires can extend their life and reduce premature damage done to your suspension system.

How long does Road Force® balancing take?

If no major issues are present, the Road Force balancing process typically takes around 2-4 hours. The amount of time needed can change if the machine detects any issues that require further attention.

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