I've had problems at Discount tire with my tires vibrating like crazy. I've had them ballanced several times but it come right back. I'm using the same Nitos in a few other threads that seem to have been ballanced with success.
I've given specific instructions the use a hubcentric adapter on my wheels and watched the guys mount the tires..... Problem is that I don't know if they are using one or not. What should I look for at the tire shop to make sure they are using an adapter? From what I've seen they use a cone shaped deal on the front of the wheel and a wing nut deal to tighten it down. They used the same setup on a Chevy and a Ford when they did my tires too.
Thanks

 

The adapter looks like this:


The way you are describing, they are not using the adapter.....they are balancing hub-centrically, not lug-centrically.

 

OK thanks. I was just reading up on the subject in other threads. One person says that they are HUB centric then another says LUG centric. It seems to me that the wheels are almost a hybrid of the two. It looks that they use the hub to add streingth and the lug nuts actually center the wheel. Therefore the hub centric way of ballancing will get them close but the lug centric way is the best for the Toyota Alloy wheel????????? (not a tire guy)

 

i just took mine to a shop that has teh lug-centric adapter and its worst than balancing w/ hub-centric. i dont know if the guy did it right or not. above 60mph, it feels unstable and it just wants to swerve.

the way the young guy balanced it was using the same hub-centric cone and w/ the adapter outside lke the picture above.

like this: hub cone>wheel>adapter>fastener.

someone help me out here, its driving me nuts. i dont need another set of BFG AT to be worn out unevenly again.

 

That thread was heavily debated on-bottom line they are lug centric as a hub centric wheel uses the hub to balance off of-yota wheels dont.

You need to find a place that has the haweka adapter and a hunter road force balancer and someone who knows how to use it!

If you still get a vibration-the wheels may be out of round! Take the tires off the wheels and mount ont he car and spin and see!

 

Best thing to do is just watch the wheel as it is being balanced. Often if it is out of round, you can pick up on it visually pretty easily (the wheel looks like it has a lope to it as it spins). Keep in mind that the larger the tires the harder the are to balance. To me a road force balancer, when used properly, does the best job but if the guy is decent, even a standard machine using the hub centric method can balance them fine. Really depends on the situation and the competence of the people you're dealing with.

On a side note, I had one shop balance my Michelin LTXs and there were weights all over them.....another shop did it later and it had no weights on any of the rims. Well, as it turned out, they didn't need any and they are completely vibration free.

 

So I need to call up ol' Discount tire and ask them if they have a Lug centric adapter? I'm stuck with these guys because I get free balances for the life of the tire.
How about inside wheel weights? The ones that stick to the inside of the wheel. I hate the way the ones look on the outside and one flew off last time I had them done.
I'm running stock 2002 wheels.

 

ok here is what you do, take it back to discount have them use the lug adaptor (there is a certain one for the toyota), have them put in on the road force machine. Make sure they take all the weights off before they balance it. depending on how new the tires are, if it goes over a certain weight on the machine (I cant remember the exact weight, its different for "P" and "LT" rated tires.) they need to be replaced with a new one because there is a high/low spot on the tire somewhere.

As far as the weights, puting the aluminum clip weights on both sides is a better balance, but if your going for looks the tape weights on the inside of the wheel will do just as good as long as it doesnt hit on your drums/calipers.

Also make sure they have someone who is experienced with "Road Forcing" do it, not some new guy. I worked there for 2 years and trust me, It takes some getting used to for some of the newer guys.

 

The Toyota factory wheels are hub centric. You don't have to use the bolt plate adapter. They should be back coned not front coned. You need to make sure that they use the right cone. The big cone that looks like a funnel will not work. If you want to use an adapter don't use the haweka, use the coates. It is better because it bolts to the wheel.

 

:pat: Um no...just quit while your ahead.

 

Here we go again.......................................

 

Um Yes, Please provide your support if you think I am wrong. In case you have none try pressing your wheels tight agains your hub, notice that your shank lugs fit perfectly? If your hub wasn't centering your wheel, you would have position your wheel on the hub to install your lug nuts.

It really doesn't matter anyway, The way that the wheel attaches to the hub has nothing to do with the way they are balanced.

 

:pat:

the shanked lugs in fact center the wheel on the hub. i dont know about you, but i cant get my lugs in without holding the wheel pretty straight and tightening them by hand untill it pulls the wheel up tight to the hub.

SEARCH it has been beat to death.

 

Negative. Unless you have have after market wheels

I think you have the evidence right infront of you if you read your own statement:
"tightening them by hand untill it pulls the wheel up tight to the hub."
Sure does sound like you are saying that it centers when the wheel gets tight against the hub.


and just because it has been talked about before does not make it correct.

 

Once again:

http://www.gadgetonline.com/Vibration.htm

Read and learn

 

Dude. Seriously. You're wrong

 

That is funny. You are an expert because you read it on a website. So let me get this straight someone throws up a website and it becomes fact?

While there is no question that Gadget knows his stuff when it comes to super chargers, that does not mean that he knows anything about wheels? If he were to put up a website that said that you could turn water into gas would that make it true? As I understand it, he had a problem once with his wheels and went through some hassle getting it resolved. That is his the basis of his tire/whell education. He has compiled some pretty good information and put it out on a very nicely laid out website, but he draws some erroneous conclusions.

Just because you read something on the internet does not mean that it is 100% correct.

 

:pat:




I'm speechless.

By the way I'm quite sure this will be the most times the "beating a dead horse" pic will get used in consecutive posts...

 

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/show...hlight=balance
From the other thread: That is the truth, the other guy debating with us at the end has no clue as well. If yota themsevles told tme they are lug centric and use thier own adapters on thier machines then I think thier lug centric! I wouldnt have believed it myself had I seen it and got to know a master service tech very well!

Hub centric: as balancing off the hubs by the nature of the wheel design. Anothe rposter in that thread said the lugs cause it to align, which isnt the case at all. The hub fits on the wheel snugly, there is very little play in the wheel. Which means it balances off the hub, you still need to line up the lugs or course and thats irrelevant in this matter.

Lug centric: as balancing off the lug nuts by nature of the wheel design. This kind of wheel doesnt fit snugly on the hub period, it doesnt balance off the hubs, it doesnt even come close to being snug! You put the wheel on and need to maunuver it alot to find the lugs then put the lugnuts on. Even then it doesnt balance truly off the lugs without the aid of the shoulder type lugnuts with washers that actually center the wheel over them as they go 1/4" into the wheel housing.

Take a good, long hard look at a stock 95ish SR5 alloy wheel, notice there is nothing to balance off of except the stinking depressions for the lugnuts/studs and using the lugnuts it fills that gap and makes them center right over the studs.

Then take a good long hard look at a stock steelie, notice it has holes period and does balance off the hubs b/c it fits snugly onthem and has little play. It then uses the conical lugnuts to hold the wheel on. The actual holes (they aint depressions in the rim like the alloy sr5) then fit on the studs and the wheel is quite tight. Put the conical lugs on and it tightens right up-but regardless the wheel is still being held on lugs but also by the hub b/c its snug and by the stud holes on the wheel.

FYI:The hub is there for centreing only and stock yota wheels (except steelies) dont use the hubs to center them as it wont work! Hubcentric a term that is often misunderstood, a hubcentric wheel is a wheel designed with a centerbore opening to match the exact diameter of the hub of a specific
vehicle. Understand a lug centric wheel does not have a centerbore that matches the exact diameter of the wheel! As it uses the shoulder lugs nuts to balance if ott the studs!

The centerbore of a wheel is the size of the hole in the back of the wheel that centers it over the mounting hub of the car. Factory wheels have a centerbore that matches exactly with the hub to reduce vibration by keeping the wheel centered. Wheels with the correct centerbore to the car they will be mounted on are known as hubcentric. Hubcentric wheels take the stress off the lug nuts, reducing the job of the lug nuts to holding the wheel to the car. Wheels that are not hubcentric are known as lugcentric, as the job of centering is done by the lug nuts assuming they are properly torqued down. Centerbore on aftermarket wheels must be greater than or equal to that of the car or the wheel will not physically mount to the car. Many aftermarket wheels come with hubcentric rings that lock into the back of the wheel to center it like a factory wheel, usually made of plastic.

Why is this so tough to understand?????


I will not further debate till you can get me a letter from Toyota that says otherwise. Gimme a break, you came looking for trouble by bumping an old topic to add your 2 cents and now your causing the same situation here.

 

OK, so maybe I missed it because I am not on here as much as I used to be. What are your "expert" qualifications PistonSlap?