Road Force Balance Recommendations?

[fletch301]

Purchased a new set of BFG KO2s (275/70/18) for my LX470 beginning of October from 4 Wheel Parts out in Pelham and had vibration issues at speed right from the beginning at around 65mph. Tires were balanced and I had an alignment from 4WP at time of purchase. This is my first experience with ATs and I was coming from Michelin Defender LTX M/S, so at first I just thought it might be a function of the E rating on the KO2s or that it would go away. It did not.

Finally had a chance to take the truck back to 4WP mid-November so they could re-balance the tires. They performed a "dynamic balance" this time (as opposed to a "static balance" the first time) but after driving the truck post-balance, the tech at 4WP said that he could tell my tires have some "runout" and one or more appear to be out of round. The vibration is still there at speed. 4WP is telling me they have experienced this a good bit with new KO2s but that they can't do anything about it on their end. They said that I need to have the tires road force balanced and the printout from that process should prove that there is an issue with the tires. Once I have that done somewhere (and pay for that service), and if the printout shows there are issues with the tires, THEN 4WP will assist me in contacting BFG for warranty replacements. Not happy with 4WP and their refusal to stand behind the new products they sell. These tires appear to have been faulty from the start.

All this to say, anyone have a recommendation for an area shop that does road force balancing and is good with hard-to-solve tire issues? A quick google search for Birmingham shops resulted in Saab Tire downtown and Vulcan Tire in Trussville. I'm guessing Tire Engineers, etc. could do it but I haven't called around to the chain stores yet. Anyone have any experience with Saab or Vulcan?

 

[girupb]

I had issues with the Goodyears that came new on my last Silverado. Edwards was able to road force balance the tires and get the runout specs and Goodyear replaced 3 of 4 tires. I also used them to take care of the wife's Hyundai's tires at the time. All that to say that Edwards Chevy on 280 can/will do what you need done.

 

[fletch301]

Thanks Brent. Would like to avoid a dealership if possible since I'm likely not going to recoup the cost to do the road force balance. Was hoping for a lower cost solution (assuming Edwards will charge the usual mark-up for services).

 

[bamabrock]

I suggest you call BFG directly.

 

[Mrtwooooo]

My experience with road force balancing machines is that the shops that have them probably don't know how to use them. All they know is that it spits out a number and if its higher than normal then oh well. To me the entire point of road force balancing is to use it in conjunction with the tire mounting machine to get the tire placed correctly on the rim to minimize weights used so ultimately give you a better balance. If you've got a tire that is too out of balance or a rim that's bad then road force balancing isn't going to help you too much.

If your tires are out of round and it can be proven then I would take them back to where you bought them from and let them deal with it. If its four wheel parts then they should stand behind their products. A KO2 is a nice AT tire in my opinion and shouldn't have those issues.

 

[Land Speeder]

Who are you talking to at 4WP? Taylor the manager? Or maybe Terry the master tech? I know the entire staff personally there and they've helped me beyond my appreciation. I may could head down there one day during lunch and talk with them, or even show up with you one day... That's free and worth a shot?

 

[fletch301]

My experience with road force balancing machines is that the shops that have them probably don't know how to use them. All they know is that it spits out a number and if its higher than normal then oh well. To me the entire point of road force balancing is to use it in conjunction with the tire mounting machine to get the tire placed correctly on the rim to minimize weights used so ultimately give you a better balance. If you've got a tire that is too out of balance or a rim that's bad then road force balancing isn't going to help you too much.

If your tires are out of round and it can be proven then I would take them back to where you bought them from and let them deal with it. If its four wheel parts then they should stand behind their products. A KO2 is a nice AT tire in my opinion and shouldn't have those issues.

Thanks for the response. My understanding (for what it's worth) is that 4WP wanted me to have them road forced balanced with the expectation that the process would provide proof (the runout specs) that one or more tires are out of round so they could then turn that evidence over to BFG and get replacement(s). I didn't get the impression that they expected the road force balancing to actually solve the issue. I've contacted BFG directly and am waiting to hear back. I've also contacted Saab Tire downtown and they seem very knowledgeable re: the KO2s and road force balancing. I'll report back on my experience if I end up taking the truck to Saab for the RFB.

 

[fletch301]

Who are you talking to at 4WP? Taylor the manager? Or maybe Terry the master tech? I know the entire staff personally there and they've helped me beyond my appreciation. I may could head down there one day during lunch and talk with them, or even show up with you one day... That's free and worth a shot?

Thanks Eric. I've spoken to several different folks over there and I really appreciate your kind offer. I actually just got off the phone with Taylor since posting the response above and he was very helpful. Will report back with next steps.

 

[Zjohnsonua]

@fletch301, sorry to see your troubles. Where did this end up?

 

[fletch301]

@fletch301, sorry to see your troubles. Where did this end up?

I have an appointment at Saab Tire this Wednesday to have them road force balanced. The holidays put me behind and it wasn't critical because I haven't had to take this vehicle on any road trips. The issue occurs at 60+ mph. Will report back on their findings or any conclusions. If I can identify one or more tires that are out of round through this process, I will have BFG replace through 4WP. Warranty replacement has already been approved by BFG for all four tires, but if I can narrow the issue down to one or more tires, it may save me from having all 4 replaced and running a higher risk of the same issue with a new set.

 

[Zjohnsonua]

Sounds good. Out of curiosity, what's Saab's rate to do the balancing?

 

[fletch301]

Quoted $25/tire with lifetime road force balance at that price. These are 33" KO2s. I think they charge less for smaller tires.

 

[fletch301]

Quick update: Took the truck to Saab on Wednesday for road force balancing. They could only get one of the four KO2s to balance within industry specs with their road balance machine. Two of the tires were WAY off. They recommended replacement. I've been back in touch with 4WP and they're going to credit me for the KO2s and I have a set of Toyo Open Country ATIIs on the way. Couldn't find anything negative about the ATIIs here on the forums and experience seems to be generally positive.

It's really surprising to me that everyone in tire sales/maintenance with whom I've spoken while having this issue has told me that KO2s are terrible and this is a common problem with them. I know there are some people on MUD who have had problems with them, but I bet more than half the people reading this (1) have KO2s and (2) are happy with them. Maybe BFG has changed its manufacturing process or something? Regardless, I'm steering clear after this experience.

Last note: I recommend Saab Tire for anyone having similar issues or needing any tire work in general. They gave me a ride to work in the morning, walked me out to the road force balance machine when I came for pick up and cycled through all the screens while talking through all the resulting specs with me, removed my old undersized spare and mounted a new/used spare @BamaHeel gave me on my spare rim and put the new spare back in position. After all that, they wouldn't let me pay them anything since they weren't able to get the KO2s to balance. As soon as I get the new tires on, I'm going back for another road force balance just so I can pay them something.

 

[McDowra]

It is really interesting to me, we have about 10k on our KO2's and are really happy with them. Sorry you are having problems

 

[bamabrock]

I have 55k on mine but I've heard a lot io these issues with them. I'm probably going with a more aggressive tire best time. Maybe KM3s or the falken MTs

 

[Land Speeder]

I've had maybe half a dozen sets of KO's whether they be the KO's or the KO2's. I've always heard this about them, and I would bet that I've experienced it, but I've always just adjusted the air pressure and realized I'm running a 33+ tire that I am rock-rashing them myself.
While I feel your pain in wanting a smooth ride, I think there is a happy medium in looking aggressive but riding good, and the KO really has never let me down in that regard. Of course, I've run Thornbirds, bias iroks and TSL SX's on the road... so everything is relative...

 

[Land Speeder]

And hey. At Least you ain't trying to smooth out a set of Thornbirds...

 

[Zjohnsonua]

A little off topic, but it felt worth mentioning...

Another side of this coin is that we see more tire balance problems these days due to online ordered tires. Tires purchased from a physical retailer with a deeper supply of tires on hand hide this problem from the customer more often than not since they'll pull a tire that wouldn't balance and replace with another from their stock.

 

[fletch301]

While I feel your pain in wanting a smooth ride, I think there is a happy medium in looking aggressive but riding good, and the KO really has never let me down in that regard.

This was more of an issue of my truck shaking violently at 65+ mph. I knew I was going to have a rougher ride with 33" ATs than I had with smaller Michelin Defenders, and I could live with a rougher ride if it didn't feel like the truck was going to come apart on me. Love the way the KO2s look but didn't get a chance to test them in the mud. Hopefully the Open Country ATIIs will look as good.

 

[Land Speeder]

This was more of an issue of my truck shaking violently at 65+ mph. I knew I was going to have a rougher ride with 33" ATs than I had with smaller Michelin Defenders, and I could live with a rougher ride if it didn't feel like the truck was going to come apart on me. Love the way the KO2s look but didn't get a chance to test them in the mud. Hopefully the Open Country ATIIs will look as good.

I think you'll be just as happy with the Open Country AT's on the trail. I've seen them excel there and would buy them if given a good opportunity.
I don't blame you one bit. You're making the right decision.