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Road Force Balance - worth it's weight in gold

Discussion in '2nd Gen. Tacomas (2005-2015)' started by Silver_Taco, Mar 2, 2010.

  1. Mar 2, 2010 at 4:16 PM
    #1
    Silver_Taco

    Silver_Taco [OP] Senior Member

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    So, I didn't want to mention it but I had some terrbile vibes after getting the lift installed last week. Somehow mentioning it here makes it more of an official problem. :rolleyes:

    The lift was finished Friday night. It drove like a truck.... but then there was a grinding feeling in the pedal (I attributed it to the tires) ... there was a slight vibration in the wheel - again, blamed the tires.

    Sunday morning went out for coffee and had a whirrring noise from driver's side front tire. silent...silent ... whirrrr, etc.

    Read for hours on the forum and found many with Diff replacements, cv problems, "oh shit" me thinks. Stopped at the dealer to get some prices - "there's nothing we can do for you - you lifted it, all bets are off"... I got the prices, gave pedro the one finger salute and headed home.

    today on way home from work, stopped at Mr. Tire to have it lifted so I could check the wheel bearing ... might as well check balance as well. $35 to check them, $60 for road balance. Well, makes more sense to just road balance them and away it went. 1.5 hours later I drive away and it drives better than when I bought it. I can't say enough about the OME lift now that I can actually feel the true outcome. Sorry to ramble but, shit, I'm a happy man. :D

    Roadbalance those 33"s!
     
    dk_crew, medic2230 and 10trdtaco like this.
  2. Mar 2, 2010 at 4:18 PM
    #2
    badguybuster

    badguybuster Well-Known Member

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    Cool. I will try that too.
     
  3. Mar 2, 2010 at 6:01 PM
    #3
    HARDSHELLTACO

    HARDSHELLTACO HoofHearted

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    McLovin
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    x2 on the Road force balance- It friggin rocks.

    I didn't know until now how to describe what my truck is doing. I have the silent..whirrr..silent..whirrr..silent..you get the idea. Anyone else have this!
     
  4. Mar 2, 2010 at 6:07 PM
    #4
    akyota

    akyota Well-Known Member

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    God that is a huge fear of mine!! Get it lifted and one mile down the road something breaks, take it to the stealer and they say sorry its lifted!!!! This threads making me think again bout the lift. Any thoughts???:confused:
     
  5. Mar 2, 2010 at 6:10 PM
    #5
    DIVERMAN

    DIVERMAN Well-Known Member

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    whats the "road force balance" ?
     
  6. Mar 2, 2010 at 6:11 PM
    #6
    08pretaco

    08pretaco Well-Known Member

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    Don't think just do
     
  7. Mar 2, 2010 at 6:17 PM
    #7
    Silver_Taco

    Silver_Taco [OP] Senior Member

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    LOL ... I've heard this before. Don't worry yourself so much. Get the lift installed by someone that knows how to do it - get the TIRES installed by someone who knows how to do it. Ask specifically for road force balance ... while balaning, they apply simulated road force with a big steel roller.... extremely accurate.

    I'm nothin if not meticulous about my truck and wouldn't take a risk with lifting it - I did the research and it worked out. Go for it, you'll look at stock height tacos and smile, smile, smile. :D
     
  8. Mar 2, 2010 at 6:18 PM
    #8
    kylek250

    kylek250 Well-Known Member

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    pioneer stereo, nittos, buckshot rims, debadged, rhino lined skid plate, 2in lift kit, aux bed lights, painted emblem, tinted windows, k&n
    the road force balance, or ride match. will measure the wheel and tire on the balancer, and then give instructions to the technitionon where to rotoate the tire on the wheel. this will pick the best wheel/tire alignment to give the best ride. it really works. i do it all the time. however it depends on the tires. Some tires dont need it ie: most michelins. Some tires it will not help. ie most m/t tires. However it will help on most with ride. hope this helps
     
  9. Mar 2, 2010 at 6:19 PM
    #9
    Silver_Taco

    Silver_Taco [OP] Senior Member

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    Hardshell, your truck still doing it after balancing?
     
  10. Mar 2, 2010 at 7:01 PM
    #10
    Taco93

    Taco93 Well-Known Member

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    I had a vibration in the stearing wheel at about 70 miles an hour as well as the annoying silent .... whirrrr... silent... whirr....so I decided to get the Road Force balancing done. Vibration is still present and so is the whirrr.....silent....BS. Even though the tech said that all 4 tires balanced up. Let me know if you ever discover the cause of this silent whirrr BS.
     
  11. Mar 2, 2010 at 7:24 PM
    #11
    Silver_Taco

    Silver_Taco [OP] Senior Member

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    There's some threads about it on here. Search for something like "front diff bearing" ... most guys find it's either that or a wheel bearing I believe (assuming you're talking about front - driver's side seems to be the most common)
     
  12. Mar 2, 2010 at 7:36 PM
    #12
    Taco93

    Taco93 Well-Known Member

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    Oh, and I forgot to mention, the tech said the rear tires are cupped...Would this cause this problem?
     
  13. Mar 2, 2010 at 7:39 PM
    #13
    HARDSHELLTACO

    HARDSHELLTACO HoofHearted

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    Yes- I don't think it is a balancing issue. My truck used to have a bad steering wheel shake and vibes at around 55 mph. Road force balance took care of that but i have had that silet whir shit all along. I told them to check the wheel bearings when they balanced the tires and he said everything looked tight. However i did not get the feeling they look ed at it to hard. They kind of blew me off when i asked them about it. Maybe someone should make a new thread on this issue if it is more than just a couple of people.
     
  14. Mar 2, 2010 at 7:43 PM
    #14
    HARDSHELLTACO

    HARDSHELLTACO HoofHearted

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    Word of advice: Make sure they use an adapter to bolt your wheel to the balancer. The adapter bolts to the lug holes. Balancing the wheel on the center hole does nothing for our trucks since they are lug centric. Also look into getting lug nuts with a shank. Check this out: http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/wheels-tires/59552-procomp-7089-hubcentric-not.html#post1094853
     
  15. Mar 3, 2010 at 1:35 PM
    #15
    Silver_Taco

    Silver_Taco [OP] Senior Member

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    well, as it turns out, road force balance can blow me.... it's good to have it done but didn't solve my problem. Still same thing from Driver's front tire area. So, seems the only fix - after reading through hours of threads - is a "diff replacement" ... unbelievable. Surely someone has replaced the bearing in the Diff. If no one posts I'll start a new thread.
     
  16. Mar 3, 2010 at 1:38 PM
    #16
    Earlicious83

    Earlicious83 Well-Known Member

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    im having the same problem let me know if you find anything.
     
  17. Apr 1, 2014 at 5:43 PM
    #17
    el taco loco

    el taco loco Well-Known Member

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    Boy, have I ever played that tune over again and again in my head! 1800 miles and a lift kit, then it's Pedro givin' me the one finger salute at the stealership! :rant:
     
  18. Apr 1, 2014 at 5:58 PM
    #18
    asuchemist

    asuchemist My Hamstrings Hurt!

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    I had to road balance on my other vehicle. Had to scratch and claw to have them do it though. Turns out my wheel was out of round so they could do nothing for me :(
     
  19. Apr 1, 2014 at 6:24 PM
    #19
    smd3

    smd3 Well-Known Member

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    It's not clear in your post, so I'll add it here: Road force balancing machines place a roller against the tire while measuring the balance, simulating how the tire acts on the road.

    All modern balancers clearly show the technician where to put the weights.
     
  20. Apr 2, 2014 at 11:30 AM
    #20
    ahb1989

    ahb1989 Member

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    Actually both of you are correct:), smd3 you are correct in "All modern balancers clearly show the technician where to put the weights", but what kylek250 was saying (trying) is that modern road force balance machines do what you said, they place a roller against the tire while measuring the balance, simulating how the tire acts on the road, but instead of simply telling the tech where to add weights it can "mark" the tire and wheel, telling the tech to break the bead from the tire and the rim then physically rotate the tire on the wheel to lessen or sometimes eliminate any weight(s) to be added.

    Ive seen some non road force balancers be able to do this, but not very many.
     

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