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[nukezero]

I got a set of Michelin PSS installed and wanted to get road force balanced at America's tire. Two different shops told me that it isn't necessary for these tires and it would be a waste of my money. They said they'll do it but its not worth it especially with these tires that are not likely to be out of round or something.

Now I don't know about you but if they wanted to make money and jerk me around, shouldn't they have pushed me to do it??

But instead both shop managers told me that its not necessary at all.

However, I know that when my tires can from the factory, it had a white sticker dot on it which I found out was the high point of the tire. I discovered that this dot needs to match the valve stem of the wheel to balance out the tire. Also they may have been road forced at the factory and put in those stickers.

So let me know if it is worth it. I don't really get any steering wheel vibrations but the drive does seem to be less smooth. Like very minute chassis vibrations at freeway speeds. I'm wondering if even road force could fix this.

[VMRWheels]

A Roadforce balance isn't necessary if you're not experiencing any vibration issues, it's simply a different method of balancing. Sometimes, you'll hear about a wheel that doesn't want to balance on a normal balancing machine. If that's the case, a Roadforce balance will sometimes fix the issue. Since you're experiencing very minor vibrations, a Roadforce balance may fix the issue. However, it easily could be many other contributing factors.

[mlifxs]

Agree with VMR Wheels. Try regular balancing first. If you have vibrations, go back and have them balanced again (they should do it for you for free if you immediately have problems). If regular balancing keeps failing, then maybe try road force.

I've had two tire changes since my orig tires. One set tires were fine with regular balancing, the second set could not completely balance, so I eventually went with road force to correct.

[asus389]

All of the above is true, you may not need it. But if you are having a vibration problem I'd go back and insist they do it. Its one of the only "objective" ways to find a bent wheel or a tire with a manufacturing defect. If you have a bad tire, it needs to be discovered within a short period of time for the mfgr warranty to cover replacement.

In general, I have found with America's Tire/Discount Tire that they are allergic to their Hunter Road Force balancers. I have had a hard time getting them to use it, even when I was having obvious vibration issues, and even when I was willing to pay extra. Not sure if they aren't trained on how to use it, just don't want to take the time, are afraid of having to warranty more tires, etc... I'm guessing that on most family cars with soft suspensions, road force balance isn't necessary unless the tires are really bad. But on my BMW I have found it make a big difference.

My last set of tires from them I had to return 3 times due to bad vibrations before I could convince them to use the road force machine. They subsequently found 2 of the 4 tires they sold me were bad from the factory and I had a bent wheel. Had they just road forced them to begin with we would have figured all this out in one visit and I would have been a happy customer. Instead my time was wasted with 3 return visits.

[nukezero]

I just road forced my two front tires today. Because life is short and I'm curious if it's all hype or a rip. I got Brand new Michelin Pilot Super Sports 18s.

The runout was 0.007" roughly and they got it down to .004". They said this number is so small, it wasn't even worth road force balancing. They said it has to be around 0.14" to feel something. But they agreed and rotated the tire on the rim to a better position. Everything else checked out fine, lateral runout and such. So my rims aren't bent or anything.

On the freeway at 90MPH, I'm getting slightly less vibration now. Either it is just psychological or it really is better. I don't know. Would I spend the money again next time? It's not that it's THAT much more in costs... but it does feel better knowing that your tire and rim are physically balanced in the best arrangement possible...

[Rmk392]

it's not the uniform its the player

..I been to high end shops with their "fancy" machines that couldn't get my tires balanced right. Then I went to an older shop with a guy with a lot of experience who got it right