best alignment and tire balancing machines

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Assuming that the best equipment is more likely to give the best results the first time. What machine should I ask my local auto shops if they use?
 
Hoffman from Germany as well as Mitutoyo Japan makes some real reliable and accurate machines.
 
The last motorcycle shop I went to had bungee cords on the wheel balancer!
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I suspect it has to do something with the fact that motorcycle wheels have bearings in them but I found it pretty unusual.

Steve
 
Thanks for all of the advice!

One more question though. Would asking a tireshop what model of equipment that they use be reasonable?
 
quote:

Originally posted by Surprise:
Thanks for all of the advice!

One more question though. Would asking a tireshop what model of equipment that they use be reasonable?


Absolutely. I was having vibration issues with a new set of tires on a car last summer. I finally did some research and discovered that Hunter balancers were highly recommended, and I called around and found a tire shop close by with a Hunter machine.

As a sidebar note, once the tires were balanced on the Hunter machine, the vibration was gone-even at 100+MPH. I liked it so well I took my other vehicles there (Jeeps) and had the tires rebalanced (both were off slightly).

Some shops with websites may advertise the brand of equipment they have on the website.
 
I am an Alignment Ace
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My rule of thumb you are only asking for trouble when installing tires and not checking the alignment.

I concur HUNTER led-sensored machines are great.

Type in the make of the model, it spits out suspension geometries, even better it shows digital captures of where the vehicles caster/etc adjusters are.

This is very useful on vehicles (esp, european, caddilac etc) with there complicated Independent Rear Suspension set-ups.

It also produces a before and after printout.
 
quote:

Originally posted by Surprise:
Thanks for all of the advice!

One more question though. Would asking a tireshop what model of equipment that they use be reasonable?


In the old days, shops used to advertise (such as in the Yellow Pages) what brand of equipment they used, so it certainly would be reasonable to ask. Those who invested in good equipment should be happy to tell you about it!
 
The following site has a link to search for shops which use the GSP9700 in your area with the zip-code.

www.gsp9700.com

I always ask what kind of a machine they have; no prob's, they even show me the machine to prove they're telling the truth.
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