This is the eqpt. used to balance the Michelins I had installed yesterday.
Peter,
Good info, yes that balance system does have te load / road force feature that can be used,
Had a good read on their web page, nice system if the operator knows the system as usual.
Both Heman Powers in Nac and my favorite St Lucie shops use the same balancer per the web page.
Nice having a good smooth ride.
Dave M
We used Hunter alignment and wheel/tire equipment exclusively. Good equipment IF the operator has been well trained and is a thinking person. Trouble with this new computerised stuff is some techs just set things to what the machine says and think the job is done. There is still art & skill in some things like alignment.
Keith
I should have taken a picture of the tech that does the alignments. He's a young guy with smarts. It's "his" machine and the only one allowed to do the balancing (hope he's never sick... :o ). He showed me the entire process on all tires. Seems to be proud of his work and the entire crew was great to work with.
Today I took the Beemer to have the tires checked as I had complained to the shop manager about the weights Costco put on the Michelins last year. They rebalanced all the tires FOR FREE!!!! Now that was nice and totally unexpected. They got my business from now on (eventhough this outfit, Best One Tire & Service, is wholesaler/distributor, they will accept me as a customer from now on).
BTW, the balancing Costco did was off in one case by as much as .75, no wonder I was dissatisfied with the ride. Now it is smooth as silk, and so is Forrest with his new shoes.
Peter,
Thanks for the info with pics.
In the New Orleans area, Crane & Templet Auto Repair Harvey LA, Louisiana, Service, Car, Mechanic, Brakes (http://www.craneandtemplet.com/) also uses the "ForceMatch" system to "Zero out" the tires and Bee Line Precision Equipment for alignments . Looks like the best way to go.
Jerry
Truth is the equipment is no better than the tech using it, years ago, front end mechanics did not have the computer equipment, so they had to know how to use what they had to work with. A balancer, and there are many varieties, all take some experience & education to properly use and have good results, even the bubble balance method worked good if you knew the basics, few tire changers did. There was a fair amount of guessing, past experiences and road testing to get a good handling vehicle. I have driven down the road, open hood, loosen up the A frame and add or remove a shim to get it to handle the road crown etc.
Yes the old days you had to think, today seems different. but with the right tech and good equipment a great outcome is likely.
FWIW
Dave M