That factory balanced feel on replacement tires

[Crunch]

I'm about 5000 miles from needing new tires and want to get as close to factory balanced as possible. What's the best way to get there? I searched the forums and read that finding a shop using the Hunter GSP 9700 machine could do it. Is that correct, or will I need to take it back to the dealer, or is it a lost cause and I'll have to live with ? More than likely I'll be going with the same Michelin LTX A/S tires that came with the truck.

 

[Tim]

I would say any REAL tire store would have a much better balancer than a dealer.



If your tires are almost worn out and haven't been re-balanced I don't think there's any degree of factory, "feel" that you're missing.

 

[CPG]

Good tire balance

Crunch, I have good balance service by Big O tires. They computor balance & are very accurate. They have a nationwide tire service and stand behind their work. They rotated all my tires on my 04 for the first time & checked the balance while they were off. Felt better than factory afterwards.



Chuck

 

[JCleary]

Computer balancing really doesn't mean much.



You need to have the tires balanced with a road-force variation machine, like the Hunter you mentioned.



If a tire isn't round, it could be balanced perfectly and still vibrate. The Hunter machine will match the high spot of the tire with the low spot on the rim, insuring equal ground pressure as the wheel spins. That, coupled with weight balancing, gives you that "factory balanced" feel.



Most dealerships don't have this machine, but good tire shops do.

 

[yogibear]

Try the bal. beads, I'm sure you will be happy with it!!!

You won't have to bal. every time you rotate either.

I've used them for over 200K now, and no problems.



Larry

 

[bfull]

I'm not saying you should go there but most Chevy dealers have that road force balancer. But any good tire shop should be able to give you a good balance

 

[Buffalo]

Balancing Beads

You might want to do a search for balancing beads. There is a company whose name starts with "Innovative". I believe they sell "round ceramic" beads. You need to get on there website. There is a lot of interesting information on it.



It's a one time deal and the weight is at the outer periphery of the tire, not on the wheel. It also balances the tire, wheel & hub assembly.



It looks good on paper!



Joe F. (Buffalo)

 

[Buffalo]

One other thing.



Buy the Michelin's or the B. F. Goodrich Rugged Trail A/T's. The BFG's are made using Michelin's engineering.



The tire stores that sell Michelin all say that it's their best, most trouble-free, easiest to balance tire.



Joe F. (Buffalo)

 

[Crunch]

Thanks for the input on this. I found out that the Hunter GSP9700 is common in my area and the dealership where I bought my truck uses one. In fact, it seems like several dealerships for all makes use it, as do the name brand tire stores. I try to maintain a good relationship with my dealer's service department with the hope that they will cut the slack in my direction on minor stuff and close calls. If the price is reasonable I'll buy from them. If the price differential is big, I'll go with Discount Tires or some other tire store. I'm pretty sure I can get the same tires from the dealer after they upgraded someone else's truck with different/better ones.