simade

HOW DOES BALANCING AFFECT YOUR CAR – and how it can damage your Mercedes ABC hydraulic system parts such as the ABC Pump, Accumulators, Valve Bocks and Hydraulic Suspension Struts.

The sign of unbalanced wheels is a wobbly steering wheel when you are driving above a certain speed – usually above 50 mph. Wobbling of the steering wheel often suggests that your front wheels are unbalanced. However the wobble actually starts from the instant the wheel starts to turn. At speeds below 50 mph the car absorbs most of the vibration through dampening by the weight of the vehicle and component parts, thus masking that there is a problem.

Incorrectly balanced wheels cause damage and premature wear to:

• Suspension struts - putting a constant pulsing force through them
• Tyres – damaging the rubber and internal ply
• Steering components, Rack & ABC pump – loading unnecessarily
• Rotating parts – Wheel Bearing stress

The benefits of correctly balanced wheels include:

• Better handling
• Safer driving
• Comfortable, smoother ride
• Longer-lasting tyres
• Less wear and load on Steering components, Rack & ABC pump
• Fewer vibrations
• Better fuel-efficiency

Wheels are balanced on a special machine which rotates the tyre and wheel to calculate the correct balance required. If there is a problem, one side will be heavier than the other. The tyre is balanced by applying a counter-weight on the opposite side. When a tyre is imbalanced, it will rotate asymmetrically, causing wobbles and ride disturbances which will increase with speed. This can in turn knock out your suspension and cause more costly problems.

Conventional balancers cost between £5 - £10 for the correction of each wheel.

Today, I have spent £80 (£20 per wheel) to have the alloy wheels on my W215 Mercedes CL500 balanced using NEW and more ACCURATE technology - The Road Force Balancer – and if you think this is crazy expensive, read on and you will appreciate why.


I visited IMPERIALTYRES in Swindon who are one of the few centres in the UK that own and offer Road Force Balancing.
Their Address is : Dunbeath Road, Elgin Industrial Estate, Swindon, SN2 8EA
Telephone:01793 531990 and 531997 Email: sales@imperialtyres.co.uk
Opening hours :
08.00am - 05.30pm Monday to Friday
08.00am - 12.30pm Saturday
Closed Sundays and Bank Holidays


Imperial Tyres also offer the fantastic and accurate Hunter 4 Wheel Alignment which uses four precision cameras to measure the position and orientation of targets mounted to each wheel using Hunter’s patented QuickGrip™ adaptors. QuickGrip adaptors feature spring-loaded arms that grip the tire, eliminating metal-to-metal contact and subsequent rim damage.



Imperial Tyres ROAD FORCE BALANCER
Road force balancers, in addition to performing a traditional spin balance, measure both the wheel and tire by pressing a large roller against the tread of the spinning tire. The roller applies 1,200 to 1,400 pounds of pressure to simulate the weight of the vehicle on the tire as it rolls down the road.
A computer in the machine, along with various sensors, determines variations of tire stiffness, radial runout and anything in the tire’s construction (such as inconsistencies in the belt package) that would prevent the tire from rolling smoothly when it is weighted by the car. By measuring both the wheel and tire, the road force balancer tells the technician where to move the tire around on the wheel until the effective high spot of the tire (when it is rolling on the car) matches the low spot of the wheel – a more sophisticated method of match mounting.


Imperial Tyres other equipment also include pneumatic tyre fitting tools and a brake disc skimmer which I will be using in the future.


This gadget was a surprise – A WHEEL STEAM CLEANING BATH


Here is my car with all four wheel being taken off so that they can be steam cleaned before performing balancing.


One of my wheels before being put into the Steam Bath.


Same Wheel after it has spent 5 minutes in the Steam Bath.


Old adhesive strips from previous balance weights being removed by a high speed rubber buffer that does not scratch the alloy wheel.


Old adhesive strips from previous balance weights now removed.


Wheel loaded on to the Road Force Balancer.


Wheel coupled securely to the Road Force Balancer.


Software being setup for Road Force Balancing (Technician – Richard).


Wheel being measured and setup prior to Road Force Balancing.


Road Force Balancing in progress.


Results of Road Force Balancing.


Close up of Road Force Balancing on a wheel indicating that for optimum balancing the wheel need to be repositioned on the alloy wheel at a specific position.


White chalk lines on the tyre and the alloy need to be aligned so that the tyre wheel combination are in their optimal position for Road Force Balancing.


Tyre being repositioned on the allot wheel so as to align for optimal Road Force Balancing.


Tyre and wheel now aligned for optimal Road Force Balancing.


Road Force Balancing carried out with results showing that the Tyre Wheel setup is optimally balanced.


Close up of the Road Force Balance result.


Road Force Balance report print out of all four wheels Before and After dynamic balancing.


Car with all wheel Road Force Balanced and put back on.


Technician (Richard – great guy) torqueing up all the wheel nuts to specification.

My drive back to Oxford was the Smoothest Silkiest drive ever.
Enough said!

Svengali

Simade thank you for sharing this post especially the pictures. You explained the process so well especially the one called Road Force Balancing. I've never heard of the road force but it makes sense that we would balance with force applied to simulate the weight of the vehicle and against the road! I'll be asking my local wheel guy about this. Thanks

PolarWhite2014

Great write up with super pics. The shop down the street does road force balancing. For me the price doesn't justify the benefit but I'm not putting it down. I'm balanced the old fashioned way and had my car up to 100mph (very briefly on a smooth, deserted freeway. Glad we have those out here in the desert.) earlier today and she was as smooth as glass. If I drove at autobahn speeds often I would certainly have this done. Good stuff. Thanks again.


PW14

simade

PolarWhite
First and foremost, thanks for your feed back.
I will support you and say that if your drive is perfectly smooth, currently road force balancing is a costly outlay (but the benefits are still there).
With premium tires, the manufacturing process is of very high standard and the old fashioned way of balancing usually irons out any subtle imperfections.
However, it is not all the time I respectfully say, that we can all afford to run premium tires. In my case, I currently (and regrettably) wear budgets tires. Such tires occasionally have imperfections (unnoticeable to the human eye) that cause very poor balancing of wheels - this symptom can also be caused by aftermarket (cheap) alloy wheels of low standard .
Road Force Balancing is a solution to these issues but I will advocate that at any time it is always best to fit Premium Tires and Original and/or Premium Quality Alloys in the event of replacement.
Thanks again for your comments and may you continue to have miles of excellent ride with your car