Tires have changed over the years. So have cars. And one of the more common problems that we find with automobiles in general has to do with tires. You see, tires change from being a tall tire, that’s the way they used to be. The distance from the edge of the wheel up to the curve of the tread used to be quite a distance and it was relatively flexible. Today, tires are much lower profile. The distance from the edge of the wheel to the top of the tread is less and the sidewall is much stiffer. This means that minor problems can be transmitted into the car and you feel things a lot more than you used to.
Road force balancers measure the force variation and runout of the whole wheel and tire assembly. It also measures and can distinguish between the radial and lateral runout of the wheel and tire individually, providing a more accurate account of the variant forces at work. This information is then used to determine what steps to take to compensate for any inconsistencies which can be simply adding weights or even remounting the tire and wheel to minimize the overall runout. A variety of factors might cause ride vibrations. Standard balancing, match mounting and road force balancing only address a few of the possible causes of ride discomfort.
Most people believe rebalancing the tires can solve excessive vibration alone. While that’s part of the solution, balancing isn’t always the answer. So you have to go a step further. We have to road force balance to determine the flexibilty and stiffness of the tire.
The roller comes out against the tread of the spinning tire. It applies 1,200 pounds of pressure to simulate the weight of the vehicle on the tire as it rolls down the road. Now a computer in the machine, and sensors, sense variations in the tread. Stiffness, or the tire isn’t completely round, or anything that would prevent the tire from rolling smoothly when its weighted by the car. That is translated into a road force reading. The lower the road force reading, the better the ride quality of the vehicle!
