Took my car into Ron Price (aka Wrong Price Subaru) in SSF b/c my steering wheel was vibrating at 70+ MPH and gets worse as I drive faster. I was told by another shop that it may be my wheel bearings so that's what I told Wrong Price. The technician at Ron Price told me that it couldn't be my wheel bearings b/c he didn't hear any noise from them and told me that it was a flat spot on my tires from possibly skidding (which I don't recall doing). He said that he balanced the tires, etc and it should be better but I should be getting new tires instead. I have read that flat spots can cause vibration in the steering wheel and that Roadforce balancing can usually eliminate or minimize this vibration. I have Michelin Pilot Sports with some decent tread left and it would be a pity to just toss them and buy new tires if I can get this fixed. Anyone know of a place in SF, Peninsula or South Bay that knows how to properly Roadforce balance tires, forcematch if needed (move highpoint of tire to low point on wheel), and doesn't cost an arm and a leg?

Also, if you have any experience with flat spots on your Subaru, I'd like to hear your experience as well. TIA!

 

BTW, I'd like to point out that my experience at Ron Price wasn't the best. Customer Service is obviously not one of their core competencies. Perhaps good help is hard to find or that all 40+ year old guys in the car business get grumpy.

 

You'll have to cross the San Mateo Bridge, but...

My buddies at Speed Inn in Hayward have the latest Hunter balancing equipment, which does (amongst other things) Roadforce balancing

Speed Inn
21310 Cloud Way
Hayward CAA 94545
510-259-1464

Open Tues-Sat, 10-6

(right around the corner from Gino at GBMotorsports if you've been there).

 

By roadforce balancing do you mean Ride Match Balancing? If so, any americas tire could do that for you.

 

Not all America's Tire have the Hunter Road Force balancing machine, so if you are going to go there, call first. Plus, almost all of them don't have a tech that knows how to use it correctly. Of course, you're not supposed to know that. And from what I've seen, during the time I worked there with a guy that did know how to use it, it basically was a waste of $60 (I think we charged $15/wheel). Not only that, but if you have sports tires that like to stick to the bead, well, you're gonna have some pissed off techs.

IMHO, if a free balancing doesn't fix it, neither will a road force balancing machine. All it really does is measure the heaviest part of the wheel and the heaviest part of the tire and tells where to mount the tire on the wheel to require the least amount of weight to balance it correctly.

 

Lol very true, I ride matched my wheels a little while back and it was a major PITA.

 

no need to toss the tires, I'll take them off your hands.

 

Yes, I suppose we are all talking about the same thing. On Hunter's website they called it Forcematching. Anyhow, yes, forcematching is when the machine tells you where to mount the tire on the wheel to minimize the weights needed and also minimize the runout so the tire spins on the wheel with as little vibration as possible. I've read that many people have done it with success in eliminating the flat spots in the tire so I'd rather give that a shot than spend much more on a new set of tires.

 

I'm no tire genius (or any kind of genius) but wouldn't shaving them slightly fix it too?

 

shave em

 

Where can I have my tires shaved? From what I've read, places will not shave used tires.