I had new wheels and tires put on by Discount Tire and now I have a small shimmy at about 55mph. In another post somebody told me to get road force balancing. What is this? Is this something Disount Tire should be able to do or do I have to take it to the dealer? Thanks for all the help.

 

check this out, it explains road force balancing

Hunter GSP9700

 

Only some dealerships will have the machine, its very expensive for them to purchase. The Ford dealership I used to work for would send the vehicles to the local Lexus where they had an agreement to subcontract the Road Force Balancing. Either way your local dealership will arrange for it.

 

Remember also that road force balancing is only as accurate as the balancer and guy on the equipment is. The GSP9700 requires periodic calibration, readings might get skewed if the balancer is out of whack. Might be something worth asking about to whoever does the balancing for you.

 

The Discount Tire location I used to purchase my new rims and tires had the Road Force balancing equipment, and I had them do it as part of my mounting package. However, I can't tell you how effective it is, since my truck hasn't arrived yet!

All dressed up with nowhere to go:

 

Thanks guys. I know they used this road balancer on my wheels, I watched them do it. Maybe they did not do it correctly or something. I guess I will have to take it back to them to have them recheck the tires. It is such an anooying nibble when I drive.

 

Now that's some advanced planning.

 

I am haveing the same problem at about 65 to 80 mph, the steering wheel has an awful shimmy and I have new wheels and new tires? When you spend $1,700 you expect them to be perfect and they are far from it. I am getting them balanced again today!

 

Thumper, can you keep me up to date about what happens with your tires? Thanks

 

I bought a used set of 20" MB Motoring wheels from Discount Tire and had them mount a new set of Nitto tires on them. I specifically requested that they be road force balanced and that the number be recorded for each tire/rim. (You'll want to make sure that all four tires are less than 25 lb.) I had one tire that was 36lb. I took it to a local tire shop (same one that the Ford dealer uses) and had it redone. The technician was able to improve it to be 22lb so it does make a difference on who is doing the work. My range for all 4 tires is now 10-22lb. Even so, I still have a slight nibble at 65+. My original equipment tires (all replaced under warranty) were road forced to be 19 or less. That seems to have minimized the nibble when they on the truck. I don't plan on putting them back on until next winter. Reluctantly, I'm learning to live with this nibble issue.

 

Well I had mine rebalanced and they are alot better only a very slight shimmy, they all balanced out good. I guess these trucks are very picky if someone has a cure let me know!