Anyone own the Hunter Road Force Balancer?

[Joe Marconi]

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[xrac]

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[GobblesAuto]

I am looking to purchase the Hunter Road Force Balancer and wondering if anyone has one and would like feedback on it. Any help will be appreciated.

 

I have one. I like it but don't sell many road force balance jobs. Comes in handy when hunting a problem.

Can be used to build value in your tire sales but it is hard to get customers to pay more because of the road force balance. A good balancer is probably sufficient for most jobs. I feel like it does a great job but won't bring in tons of money. Could be our lack of sales ability also. My opinion is if you want to own the best buy it, if you are expecting to increase revenue dramatically becasue you have it don't expect that.

[ATLAuto]

I've used the machine many times ... it adds roughly ten minutes to the tire job due to the increased amount of time waiting for the road force arm to swing down. The machine also costs 2-3x more than a traditional balancer.

 

The industry is divided on these. From what I have gathered, Discount Tires does not believe in them and no longer keeps them in their stores. Kauffman Tire, however, will not build a store without a Road Force in it.

 

Anyone have more input here? We will be buying one or the other shortly.

[xrac]

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[xrac]

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[ATLAuto]

Discount Tire here opened two years ago and they have a road force balancer.

 

Looks like I am mistaken, in that case. Have you seen any issues with your current balancer that would necessitate the Road Force?

[xrac]

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[Jeff]

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[AutoFantic]

One situation, I bought a used Hunter GSP9700 Roadforce balancer and used it on a 21" Rim setup running low profile tires. The wheel was a stock setup from the factory (Mounted and balanced from factory). When driving at freeway speeds (approx 65-75) there will be periodic vibrations with the vehicle. I thought it may be the road. I drove on different lanes and different freeways (asphalt and concrete). Threw the tire on the balancer, no problems... The wheel was balanced. I enabled the roadforce on the machine, and it complained that the Roadforce variations were high for one of the wheels (approx 26 lbs). After match mounting the tire to the wheel, it reduced it down to 12 lbs. I match mounted the remaining wheels and and re-balanced. I test drove the vehicle again. The vibrations were gone. I personally believe it makes it difference, but more prevalent with larger rims with lower profile tires. Trucks/SUV have more tolerance than sedans than sport cars. If possible, I try to reduce the roadforce variation to under 15 lbs. The machine has a maximum setting of 26 lbs, but I think it is more for sedans. Trucks/Suv are higher.

 

Just my .02.

 

[mmotley]

The dealership I worked at (just a few months ago), all they had were Hunter road-force balancers. Everyone who worked there pretty much used the road-force feature on every balance... Especially when putting on new tires. It really doesn't add that much time to a balance either. I'm gonna guess it adds about 15 seconds per tire to measure road-force.

 

Like AutoFanatic experienced, I have seen cars with vibration issues at highway speeds and the tires would balance just fine. Checking the road-force however would show you they all needed to be adjusted.........One important caveat to this, however. When checking road-force on new tires, sometimes you can get a false reading. I remember certain Michelin tires would show 90+ lbs of road-force but wouldn't experience any type of vibration during driving. Chuck em back up after driving on them for maybe 2 miles and the road-force readings would come back down to normal... Was it just flat-spotting or something similar, I dunno? Just FYI.

 

Anyway, more times than not, it was helpful and kept us from getting chewed out for vibration issues with brand new tires. Or helped quickly identify the source of a vibration that you otherwise wouldn't be able to find... If nothing else, it keeps you from sending customers to the 'other shop' to get it fixed

[nmikmik]

I have never used one myself, but here is a pretty extensive review from the actual user/customer.

http://www.355nation.net/forum/reviews/16385-review-hunter-gsp9700-road-force-wheel-balancing.html

The problem for me is the cost, from what i have seen, around $10k more (new) than a regular Hunter balancer

You'd have to put lots of tires through it at reasonably inflated price per balance, to make it worth the money imo.

Now I understand why AutoFantic considers this to be a good deal:

 

"If you are willing to pay for shipping, this is a good deal on this unit.

 

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sfv/tld/4075179435.html

 

I have seen several of his products that he refurbishes... He also has a 30 day warranty."

Edited September 26, 2013 by nmikmik

[Jmazur]

In keeping withe the general tone of this post, I have used a Hunter RF balancer and think it does a great job, especially for vibration issues. When i worked at the dealer, it was great for condemning brand new tires that were causing a vibration. I do own one in one of my shops now, and most of the time it is used as a regular balancer. The only time the road force is used is if diagnosing a vibration issue, or when mounting tires on one of my vehicles . They are a good tool to have, but you wont generate huge $$ from one.

[xrac]

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[Jeff]

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[xrac]

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[Spence]

We have owned road force balancers for 10+ years now. Wouldn't think of mounting a tire/wheel combo without it. The oppertunities to find and correct issues is many. One of the best ROI of any piece of equipment I have seen.

[Joe Marconi]

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[Jeff]

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[xrac]

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[ATLAuto]

For me this is a nice to have can't afford item.

 

I don't know how yall feel about used equipment, but I've seen quite a few of these 2001-2006 Road Force balancers reconditioned with new spindles and screens on Craigslist for $4000 - $6500 with warranty. Still pretty expensive, but it beats paying $14k for one.

[Spence]

 

I don't know how yall feel about used equipment, but I've seen quite a few of these 2001-2006 Road Force balancers reconditioned with new spindles and screens on Craigslist for $4000 - $6500 with warranty. Still pretty expensive, but it beats paying $14k for one.

 

There are at least 4 or 5 generations of Road Force Balancers. The range of years you post are of the 1st and 2nd generation. Though better then other brands new balancers in my opinion. The 1st gen I would pass over. The 2nd and 3rd could serve you good. With lateral force then you would be in pretty good position

 

As far as the cost goes I'm not sure you are considering this expense properly. There are profitable and non profitable expenses. I put this one into the profitable category.

[ATLAuto]

 

There are at least 4 or 5 generations of Road Force Balancers. The range of years you post are of the 1st and 2nd generation. Though better then other brands new balancers in my opinion. The 1st gen I would pass over. The 2nd and 3rd could serve you good. With lateral force then you would be in pretty good position

 

Spence, could you elaborate on this a bit more? What are the differences between the various generations?

[Spence]

 

Spence, could you elaborate on this a bit more? What are the differences between the various generations?

 

Sure Wes,

 

The 1st generation had a small roller then the later versions. I believe it was 4 or 5 inches in diameter. Don't hold me to that but what I can do is measure the diameter of mine tomorrow and let you know. The later versions were almost twice the diameter. The lateral force was an option. It can not be added to an existing model even of the same generation. Well worth the extra money to have that option.

[ATLAuto]

Thanks, Spence.

[oktire]

The other part you are missing is the smart weight feature. I keep track of the weight use on both the hunter and coats machine we have the road force does save you money in wheel weights. I love mine and don't we don't give the customer options they get road forced if I have to take the time to do it again its a loss of revenue. just my two cents. we don't have a problem with spending that kind of of money on a toolbox or scanner why not a balancer?

[mspecperformance]

Bringing this back to life... I believe my next purchase is going to a RF Balancer. I currently have all Bosch equipment and I am a Bosch Service Center. Long story short I have had about enough with Bosch equipment! Currently my balancer is down due to faulty calibration. Also our alignment machine seems to be acting up. Ever since I've gotten my Bosch equipment we have had issues. I have never been fully confident with them and my lack of alignment and tire sales show it. Hell even my top of the line Bosch tire machine let's me down more often then not! Btw we have to try to service all our own equipment because there is no Bosch tech local to us. Very upsetting considering I have a lot of $$$ tied up in this stuff however I had a alignment customer just today that we attempted 4 alignments on 3 different days. Tons of labor hours wasted along with looking terrible in front of the customer. Also had a thumping vibration issue with a customers car we ended up tearing his whole suspension apart come to find out it was a faulty tire. Ugh!!!!!

[mmotley]

I don't have much experience with other brands of balancers, but I know when I was using a hunter RF balancer, we fixed a lot of vibration issues that other shops couldn't fix. I'm saving up for one right now. New is expensive, used are hard to find.

 

Had a previous shop owner stop by my place just yesterday and he pretty much told me not to buy anything but a RF balancer. He worked at a huge local tire shop...

Edited September 25, 2014 by mmotley

[AutoFantic]

This guys seems to always sell used Hunter RoadForce GSP9700 balancers. Not sure if he buys them from shops and sells them newer models. This is the 2nd generation. He may ship. Not a bad price.

 

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/tld/4679916519.html

[mspecperformance]

I'm past the phase of buying used equipment. I want the latest and greatest with full support. Years of frustration trying to save money. Just charge what your service is worth, do an excellent job at it and let the pros worry about repairs etc. Financing is an amazing thing lol

[ATSAutomotive]

Sorry to hear about all your problems with your equipment. I own a Ranger tire machine and balancer and they have served me well. I recently picked up a 2nd gen RF balancer a few months ago for $1300. Just keep your eyes open.

[alfredauto]

For us the added setup time and upfront cost were big negatives. We balance thousands of tires a year with no problems with the regular coats balancer.