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Hunter's Road Force Balance ?

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Old 06-22-2008, 08:16 AM
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Hunter's Road Force Balance ?

Anybody had this done to their 8 ?

I read about it and it seems that the reviews are pretty positive.

Oh also, for those who have coilovers. When you realign everything, which Hunter Machine does the shop have? cuz I've been to 2 shops. but they still cant correct my *pulls to the right when its suppose to be straight* problem

Im planning to go to a shop in queens with Hunter GSP9700, reviews are *so far so good* from this place. Great Bears Tire & Auto in Queens. Hope they can solve my problem.
Old 06-22-2008, 10:49 AM
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What sizr wheel and tires do you have?
Old 06-22-2008, 12:06 PM
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When does the car pull to the right? Mostly when coming to a stop? If so, you are probably experiencing tramlining which is not uncommon with this car and with worn road surfaces.

The GSP9700 is basically a wheel balance machine (http://www.gsp9700.com) so it is unlikely it will solve a "pulls to the right when its suppose to be straight" problem. That sounds like an alignment problem vs. a wheel balance problem.
Old 06-22-2008, 06:23 PM
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you do realize that all roads are sloped to the right for water drainage, right?

try testing the car in the middle of the road.
Old 06-22-2008, 10:43 PM
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Originally Posted by Razz1
What sizr wheel and tires do you have?
I have a set of Mazdaspeed Version II wheels, its same size and offset as OEM.

Originally Posted by Go48
When does the car pull to the right? Mostly when coming to a stop? If so, you are probably experiencing tramlining which is not uncommon with this car and with worn road surfaces.

The GSP9700 is basically a wheel balance machine (http://www.gsp9700.com) so it is unlikely it will solve a "pulls to the right when its suppose to be straight" problem. That sounds like an alignment problem vs. a wheel balance problem.
I read about it b4 I made this post. GSP9700 is a wheel balance machine. but there is something called Road Force Balance that like 50 ppl swear that it actually helps.

I never heard of it of course, thats why I ask :P

hmm its not only when I stop, I cant even get it to go straight without turning the steering wheel slightly to the left.

I've been thinking about Alignment problem, I've been to 2 places, they both said its already *as straight as it could*. but its still doing the same thing. They even checked the wheels and nothing were bend.

Originally Posted by kersh4w
you do realize that all roads are sloped to the right for water drainage, right?

try testing the car in the middle of the road.
I tried it in every single lane

Im going to go to this place tomorrow and see what they say, seems like a pretty good place.
Old 06-23-2008, 09:22 PM
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I just had my new wheels mounted with the Hunter Road Force balancer. Definitely worth the extra drive.

The place where my Dyno was done had this machine. I have the Enkei RP-F1 18 x 9.5 and Falken RT615 275/35 tires. The first tire had a road force balance of 2lbs (really good) the 2nd and 3rd were 4lbs. So far so good. The last one was 25lbs. Crap. What the machine does is tell you how to reposition the tire on the rim to change this figure. With some adjustment and remounting, it was reduced to an acceptable 12lbs. (Max limit is 15lbs accroding to Hunter)

Why is is supposed to be better

Without a Road Force Balance, you only get a static balance. A static balance is great until the tire is riding on the road. The road force measures how the tire and rim combination works when on the road. If I only did a static balance, eventually I would have noticed the tire vibrating. Even at 25 pounds it only needed 1.5 oz on the outside and 0.5 oz on the inside.

By changing the tire relative to the rim, you use less weight and get a much better real world balance.

Off topic, the new rims and tires are awesome. I definitely notice a big difference in grip. The tires do make more noise, but it is not too bad.
Old 06-23-2008, 09:55 PM
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I went to the shop today. they *fixed* my *pull to the right* issue.

the guy there I think his name is Milan ? he is a really nice guy.

He explained that most shops out there never bothered to check for camber/caster angle. even it might show as out of spec.

From the paper, they readjusted pretty much everything, the front toe(both sides), Front camber, caster, were WAY out of range. something wrong with the rear sides too.

now my car can go straight ! lol !

I forgot to ask about the Road Force Balance, but I never had any virbrations so maybe I save them for my winter tires (b4 I mount them)

Last edited by nycgps; 06-23-2008 at 10:00 PM.
Old 06-24-2008, 06:44 AM
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Good to hear you are now "straight"
Old 06-24-2008, 10:41 AM
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Originally Posted by Go48
Good to hear you are now "straight"
rofl !!!!! Im straighter than Straight ! hahaha


hmm, I wonder is the Road Force Balance really that *good*

most people said its a night & day differences ...
Old 06-24-2008, 10:51 AM
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Originally Posted by nycgps
hmm, I wonder is the Road Force Balance really that *good* most people said its a night & day differences ...
Yes, IMO it is "really that good". For example, I've had the system indicate that the weight distribution of a tire was so bad that it was really impossible to balance. But it can do much more than that as you probably know if you visited their web site.

BTW, in that specific case, TireRack overnighted a replacement tire without batting an eye.
Old 06-24-2008, 11:00 AM
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Hmm, but I already have my tires and if I want them to *road force balance all 4*, its probably gonna cost me another 30 bux for each to *re-balance*.

I guess I'll wait till winter comes, then I will remount my set of winter tires b4 I put them on.
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