Road Force Balancing experience?

New tires and wheels on the truck yesterday. 255/85/16. Absolutely love the look more than I can say. That being said, this morning on the way to work on I66 it started shaking BADLY at about 60mph. The tires I took off also shook at speed but I’m pretty sure some of the weights had fallen off on some of the washboard roads. Got the new tires and (used) wheels mounted at NTB or Mavis. Same company but some have different branding. One of the wheels has no weights. Others have a huge amount. I’ve read about road force balancing and how it’s necessary. I guess my question is have any of y’all had good success getting a road force balance to eliminate shake and vibration? I mean the whole truck shakes. ALOT. Steering wheel and seats both. Feels unsafe almost. I know I should do alignment to but thinking of starting with road force.

 

Road force balancing is more of a tool to optimize the wheel/tire assembly for a smooth ride. If you have a crappy tire and a perfect wheel (or vice versa) it’s only good for diagnostic purposes. It’s not a magical balance. You may have a tire or two with excessive road force, the balancer will help figure out what needs to be done.
You mentioned no weights on one wheel….not very likely a 31” (or larger) tire will be balanced and not need any weight.

 

That was my thought. No way it was perfectly balanced with zero weight on a 33. Hopefully the guys at this shop are a little more skillful and the machine can show them a little more. I don’t need perfect glass smooth but I need better than what it is now haha

 

Maybe the tech was in a rush and forgot to balance that one wheel?

 

I had a previous set of tires road force balanced and I felt like it helped a little, but it was expensive and probably not worth the money in my opinion.

I’m sure the results are much different from tire to tire though.

 

It could be the case. I’ve heard mixed things about NTB. That being said it was Sunday and I wanted to get them mounted on the rims. They got me in so I went with it. Also not sure if they often deal with sort of more aggressive taller tires. Maybe they do but probably more often road tires etc. could have to do with it.

 

I got a price of $125. Probably way too expensive. Im willing to give it a shot as I need the truck to get to work but its not very drivable in its current state unless I putz down the interstate at 55 it may be more of an issue than just tire balance, I’ve done some extensive reading on here about issues others have had, wheel bearings, warped rotors, carrier bearings. But it seems to be more in the wheel tire. We will see this afternoon!

 

You absolutely do not need it. It is a gimmick. A qualified tech can balance your wheels without the need for the extra expense. I would be concerned with a wheel with a lot of weight and one with none.

Undoubtedly the road force fan boys will chime in because they don't understand that pressing a drum against your tire is by no means a replication for the real world. It's really as simple as this that millions of wheels without this gimmick being used so clearly it isn't needed.

Are your wheels hub centric or lug centric? What tires? Are the wheels new as well?

 

If the wheels were used, one may be bent. I always had good experiences with road force. As usual, it all depends on the person doing the work.

 

You know, good question. I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed when it comes to this stuff especially the question of hub or lug centric. They’re take offs but didn’t have many miles. 16x7 steelies. Same style as spare. RTX brand. Prolly not the best things ever. The tires are Yokohama Geolander MTs, 255/85/16.

 

Yep, I eventually had the needle bearings replaced with the ECGS product and THAT made a big difference.

 

It’s just a 2wd (don’t y’all at me for the tires I know they’re ridiculous for a 2wd but they do seem to perform well on light off road terrain and they look amazing haha) so I’m not concerned needle bearing wise. Any other parts or hiccups you went through to help with the vibrations and shakes?

 

Could it just be the tires? If you’re not used to mud tires, the ride can be jarring at first. I used to run the g003’s. Felt like you were on tank treads at low speed.

 

I can see the smiley face on the right front. That is clearly a tech that didn't know what they are doing. Even with steelies, that looks like a lot of weight and you would never want to put that on the front.

There are a couple of things it could be.
1. In some steel wheels, the center hole isn't always the center. If the wheels are lug centric, then they should use the bolt plate adapter. At minimum they should use the correct cone. There is a special cone for toyota wheels.
2. The wheels could be bent. They look new, but you never know. This is where a skilled tech comes in. They can see this.
3. The tires didn't seat properly on the wheels. This happens when a tech doesn't use enough lube. In theory, the bead should self center. If you don't have enough lube, it can end up off center. It doesn't take much for a problem.
4. The tires are not round or has a heavy spot. This happens sometimes. Not like it used to, but is possible. When you see that much weight, you should mark where the weight is. Break the tire down and rotate 180 degrees on the wheel. Use lots of lube and air it back up. If the weight drastically decreases, you know it was a bad mount. If the weight is close to the same 180 degrees opposite, you know it is the tire. Weight stays the same in the same place, it is the wheel.

5. This is my immediate concern. Did you get new lug nuts that are correct for the wheels? You might have some serious problems if you don't have the correct lug nuts.


These are the troubleshooting steps necessary to sort the problem. A dopey tech can do some of these with a road force, but the problem is the balancer doesn't take all these factor into consideration.

Can you get an up close of the hubs?

 

I ran mud tires prior to these. It’s not the usual mud terrain vibe, it’s a whole truck SHAKE. Like stuff jumping around in the cab. I’m fine with the regular mud terrain roughness but not this haha. Maybe one of them isn’t round?

 

As far as lugs go I think I did the right thing. They are the lugs used on the steel wheels, these are steel wheels that are essentially the spare. An acorn style or conical I think it’s called. How can I be sure this is correct? Sorry for my incompetence

 

That’s certainly possible! Yokohama has the best customer service I’ve ever experienced from any company. I’m sure if it is out of round, they’ll get you a new one.

 

Rotate them and see if the shake follows.

 

No need to apologize. We are all here to help and helping people learn makes it easier for everyone

The lug seat is what is important. Acorn describes the shape. The taper and how they seat is what is important. Wheels have specs that the lug nuts need to meet. Typically after market steel wheels use a 60 degree conical. OE wheels can be different. Correct fitting lug nuts are important beyond not seeing your wheel fly off because they backed out, but also in centering the wheel if your wheels are not hub centric.

 

Hmm so the RTX steelies despite being “factory replica” may have a different requirement? Took the ones off my SR steel wheels and used them. I looked into it but couldn’t find any info on if different ones were needed and what they would be. I guess they also could be not torqued evenly. I would prefer my wheel not fly off hahah