Could be apples vs oranges but on my 27 Ford street rod I have found that tire pressure has a huge effect on my front end. Running to little pressure would cause it to go into a big time wobble with the tires bouncing like rubber balls. An increase of 5 psi would make a big difference, in fact eliminating the problem. Of course this is a car with a solid front axle but if you have any further problem try altering your tire pressure.

Pete

Greg, thanks for the note.  I had the rearend rebuilt a few years prior to all of this, and they checked the axles then, so those were good.  Problem was traced to a tweaked front hub.  Bad hub ruined set of tires too, so a new hub, bearings and 4 tires and all is well, even a year after the fact. 

Ron Grove

Wauconda, IL

I read a recent posting in CITI news letter that Guy in FL was having the same problem ... he went through all the same things as you did ... he found the problem to be the left rear axle was not straight / bowed ... he ordered a replacement and it was not straight either ... long and short he installed a good one and it fixed the problem.

  Greg

Fact is roadforce balance is another diagnostic tool.Nothing can be more frustrating than having a problem and not knowing where to go with it.In this situation there are tools at your disposal and a solution to your problem.With regular balancing you only get a static balance,but with roadforce you accually get to see the amout of force being applied to the road while spinning it on a machine.This also tells you if it is a tire or wheel problem.I can understand the question of cost,but understand it is an expensive piece of equipment,and it does serve a purpose.I deal with tire problems every day in arizona heat and you will too as climate changes affect us everywhere so this problem is coming your way too.That is just a fact of life.Jim in az

I can tell you absolutely NOT true.  In fact, we ahve taken our daily drivers back to the place that did the tires on the ford and noticed an improvement even on what were well balanced tires.  I saw the machine and how they used it; regular balancing equip cant compare.

Having said all that, I think it does depend on what price you can find it at locally vs. the problem you are chasing.  Every other local shop around here charges $50+ PER WHEEL to do RF balancing.  At that price, I would be reluctant to jsut do it every time vs. conventional balancing.  If however, you had a vibration or nibble you were trying to fix, it would be worth the $.  But honestly, at $15/wheel that i found from this one shop, there is no reason NOT to do it.  Im only worried they will figure out how much cheaper they are and raise there rates!!

Ron Grove

Wauconda, IL

Hi guys!  Well, I figured Id add an update to my saga.

Talked to coker; they said to send in old tires and they will check to see if they will warranty them.  They said that they probably would after i described all we had been through.  I said i cant be without tires while they get them and try to figure out, and after discussing with them, I ordered 4 new "radial classics" from them.  Interesting side note, the cust serv rep indicated that these tires are much lighter than the Coker Classics that i had.  Reading between the lines of some of his comments, it would appear that they had many, many issues with people getting the coker branded tires to balance out, so IM optimistic that these will work out better.

So had the 4 tires road force balanced, and it turns out all 4 rims were fine.  So far, all seems to be fine.  If i look closely, i feel like i can still see a slight fender oscillation on the pass side, but i cant tell if that is what i had before or just cowl shake due to road variations, etc.  It doesnt seem to be rhythmic, which it was before, so fingers crossed.  Car finally feels smooth at highway speeds (for the first time ever).  Im just keeping my fingers crossed that this is really fixed, and not just masked temporarily by the new tires,e tc.... we will see.

So bottom line, I replaced:

Pass front hub

Both front wheel bearings (inner & outer, with races)

4 rims

4 new tires.

Hoping the root cause of all of this was the bent/tweaked front hub.  Bummer is I replaced 4 rims that were probably fine; probably better because they were the FoMoCo rivited center sections, and the replacements are welded.  Supposedly better for radials,e tc. 

I do want to say a HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who weighed in and offered suggestions & help!  You all have no idea how much I appreciated all of the help!  THANK YOU!!!!!!!

PS - look for the OE rims on ebay or let me know if you are interested.

Ron Grove

Wauconda, IL

Had a med/low speed steering wheel oscillation, so I measured the runout on all my original steel wheels. Turns out, one front hub was a little bent also. By mounting the low side of a wheel (best tires on front, so wheel choice limited as I did not want to remount) to the high side of the bad hub, all oscillation GONE!



Unfortunately, since tires are out-of-round (balance neglect) and stiffer shocks installed, even with re-balancing, on a windy day I get some fender-shake at 60mph+.

6 VOLTS/POS. GRD. NW INDIANA

My local-yokel tire dealer claims the Hunter "Road Force" deal is just a marketing gimmick. Though he has an axe to grind (likely can't afford the Hunter machine), you have to wonder?

6 VOLTS/POS. GRD. NW INDIANA

Diamond offers many choices. The easy-clean wide whitewall they vulcanize to the backside of virtually any tire gives you a wide option (brand/speed rating/tread wear/etc.). Since I put so many miles on my car, I may opt for an upgraded combo next year, as I have already worn out their base/vintage tires before the standard age limit (6-7 yrs.).



P.S. Should have been more attentive re: regular balancing. Tread not totally gone, but out-of-round road vibration compelling replacement, as tire shaving expense not warranted at this stage of wear (does anyone even do that anymore?).

6 VOLTS/POS. GRD. NW INDIANA

Wow, hello, John! Good to see you here- Now I can ask you stupid questions on the computer as well as the telephone! J/K... /Duck

BOO- YA!!!