haweka adaptor for wheel balancing

hi all,

i know haweka adapter is required when balancing 3rd gen toyota tacoma wheels, however is it required to be used when balancing 1gen 6 lug wheels (pic below)? i took my 2002 taco to a tire shop today and they balanced it without the haweka adapter(my chief complaint was when driving in the range of 50 -70 mph the steering wheel is throbbly/vibrating). after balancing problem has not been solved so i started doing research online and learned about the haweka adapter. i called the shop back and asked if they used it and their response was " we have that adapter but that adapter is not needed for your kind of wheels". hence starting this thread to validate if 1. 1st gen wheels (pic attached) require the use of haweka adapter and 2. if the shop is giving me the run around and just dont want to re-do it/do it properly. thanks in advance!

 

That's a new one by me.. I've never heard of that adapter!

I've had the exact same wheels balanced before ... one set from a 98 4runner and 1 set from a 98 tacoma. I go to a hole in the wall used tire shop because they give me a discount for paying cash and (more importantly) they let me stand and bullshit with the tech while he's balancing my tires. I get to see the values on the machine and see him physically add weights and recheck the numbers, the only time I've had issues was on my missus toyota corolla, she curbed a rim and it wouldn't balance right but I was able to see that was the case.


I would trust the shop that did it for you and check other things like driveshaft ujoints.. or if your driveshaft still has it's own balance weights.


Have you lifted it recently? Have other parts of your steering geometry changed? Vibrations can be a major pain in the ass to track down, good luck!

 

No I didn't lift the truck its stock. I replaced the front shocks recently though but am unsure if thats what caused it. Most tire places say alignment isn't going to stock steering wheel vibration and it's mostly due to wheel not balanced. I am interested in hearing from other folks on this forum whether haweka adapter is needed for 1st gen tacoma wheels or not and cross validate what the shop told me. Thanks for your response

 

bump

 

I'll hazard a guess that the Haweka adapter is needed specifically for hubcentric wheels?

 

Right so here I am validating with folks if it applies to this specific wheel and 1st gen. Thanks.

 

This is interesting, I have those wheels w/ 265/75’s Coopers. I’ve had them balanced at 2 shops and both places have a HUGE amount of weights, it shakes over 65 and I’m 100% sure everything else is fine.... hmmmmmm

 

It is needed, especially for the 6lug steel wheels, then it’s a necessity. Most place seem to be able to get the alloys close without it, but you’ll always have better results when it’s used. The problem is finding a place that has it. My local Toyota dealer said they heard of it but weren’t sure they ever had it. It was part of a special tool package every dealer got.

 

here's the technical bulletin about it:

 

On my 96 I needed the finger lug adapter to balance my 15 inch Toyota factory wheels. That’s the only way to get a true balance on the stock wheels. Any other adapter like a cone or such isn’t gonna give a accurate reading and the weights will be wrong.

 

That is the best way to balance as it mimics how the wheel is actually bolted to the vehicle. Hub centered on back and "lug" tight.

But in a practical sense, most shops only use it when they don't want to scratch the paint with the generic cup adapter or there is some usual feature on the wheel face that keeps the cup from sitting flat.

 

I had the worse balance because the cone wasn’t giving them the right way to balance it with weights. The cone makes its very hard to be accurate honestly

 

Yeah, you would think the back of the wheel would need to be flush against something, I imagine a cone on the outside would be ok. Looooooong ago I did tires at Sears, till I ripped off a customer’s minivan tranny pan when I left a lift pad up.... ehhhh I’m sure we weren’t using the “proper” equipment

 

I'm sure it wasn't funny at the time..... At least it was just a minivan.