Wheel Balance effect on ABC Pump, Hydraulic Suspension, Strut

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crownhouse

New Member
Joined
Jun 30, 2009
Messages
27
Location
Oxford UK
Car
W215 W140 and W115
HOW DOES BALANCING AFFECT YOUR CAR – and how it can damage your Mercedes ABC hydraulic system parts such as the ABC Pump, Accumulators, Valve Bocks and Hydraulic Suspension Struts.

The sign of unbalanced wheels is a wobbly steering wheel when you are driving above a certain speed – usually above 50 mph. Wobbling of the steering wheel often suggests that your front wheels are unbalanced. However the wobble actually starts from the instant the wheel starts to turn. At speeds below 50 mph the car absorbs most of the vibration through dampening by the weight of the vehicle and component parts, thus masking that there is a problem.

Incorrectly balanced wheels cause damage and premature wear to:
  • Suspension struts - putting a constant pulsing force through them
  • Tyres – damaging the rubber and internal ply
  • Steering components, Rack & ABC pump – loading unnecessarily
  • Rotating parts – Wheel Bearing stress

The benefits of correctly balanced wheels include:
  • Better handling
  • Safer driving
  • Comfortable, smoother ride
  • Longer-lasting tyres
  • Less wear and load on Steering components, Rack & ABC pump
  • Fewer vibrations
  • Better fuel-efficiency

Wheels are balanced on a special machine which rotates the tyre and wheel to calculate the correct balance required. If there is a problem, one side will be heavier than the other. The tyre is balanced by applying a counter-weight on the opposite side. When a tyre is imbalanced, it will rotate asymmetrically, causing wobbles and ride disturbances which will increase with speed. This can in turn knock out your suspension and cause more costly problems.

Conventional balancers cost between £5 - £10 for the correction of each wheel.

Today, I have spent £80 (£20 per wheel) to have the alloy wheels on my W215 Mercedes CL500 balanced using NEW and more ACCURATE technology - The Road Force Balancer – and if you think this is crazy expensive, read on and you will appreciate why.

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I visited IMPERIALTYRES in Swindon who are one of the few centres in the UK that own and offer Road Force Balancing.
Their Address is : Dunbeath Road, Elgin Industrial Estate, Swindon, SN2 8EA
Telephone:01793 531990 and 531997 Email: [email protected]
Opening hours :
08.00am - 05.30pm Monday to Friday
08.00am - 12.30pm Saturday
Closed Sundays and Bank Holidays

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Imperial Tyres also offer the fantastic and accurate Hunter 4 Wheel Alignment which uses four precision cameras to measure the position and orientation of targets mounted to each wheel using Hunter’s patented QuickGrip™ adaptors. QuickGrip adaptors feature spring-loaded arms that grip the tire, eliminating metal-to-metal contact and subsequent rim damage.

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Imperial Tyres ROAD FORCE BALANCER
Road force balancers, in addition to performing a traditional spin balance, measure both the wheel and tire by pressing a large roller against the tread of the spinning tire. The roller applies 1,200 to 1,400 pounds of pressure to simulate the weight of the vehicle on the tire as it rolls down the road.
A computer in the machine, along with various sensors, determines variations of tire stiffness, radial runout and anything in the tire’s construction (such as inconsistencies in the belt package) that would prevent the tire from rolling smoothly when it is weighted by the car. By measuring both the wheel and tire, the road force balancer tells the technician where to move the tire around on the wheel until the effective high spot of the tire (when it is rolling on the car) matches the low spot of the wheel – a more sophisticated method of match mounting.

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Imperial Tyres other equipment also include pneumatic tyre fitting tools and a brake disc skimmer which I will be using in the future.

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This gadget was a surprise – A WHEEL STEAM CLEANING BATH

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Here is my car with all four wheel being taken off so that they can be steam cleaned before performing balancing.

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One of my wheels before being put into the Steam Bath.

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Same Wheel after it has spent 5 minutes in the Steam Bath.

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Old adhesive strips from previous balance weights being removed by a high speed rubber buffer that does not scratch the alloy wheel.

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Old adhesive strips from previous balance weights now removed.

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Wheel loaded on to the Road Force Balancer.

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Wheel coupled securely to the Road Force Balancer.

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Software being setup for Road Force Balancing (Technician – Richard).

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Wheel being measured and setup prior to Road Force Balancing.

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Road Force Balancing in progress.

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Results of Road Force Balancing.

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Close up of Road Force Balancing on a wheel indicating that for optimum balancing the wheel need to be repositioned on the alloy wheel at a specific position.

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White chalk lines on the tyre and the alloy need to be aligned so that the tyre wheel combination are in their optimal position for Road Force Balancing.

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Tyre being repositioned on the allot wheel so as to align for optimal Road Force Balancing.

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Tyre and wheel now aligned for optimal Road Force Balancing.

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Road Force Balancing carried out with results showing that the Tyre Wheel setup is optimally balanced.

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Close up of the Road Force Balance result.

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Road Force Balance report print out of all four wheels Before and After dynamic balancing.

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Car with all wheel Road Force Balanced and put back on.

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Technician (Richard – great guy) torqueing up all the wheel nuts to specification.

My drive back to Oxford was the Smoothest Silkiest drive ever.
Enough said!
 
Do NOT go anywhere near Imperial Tyres!!!!!

A friend of mine had his Mercedes wheel alignment carried out there and they damaged all four wheels when doing the tracking/alignment and afterwards messed him around and he was going to take them to small claims court. They were extremely rude and terrible customer service. Also, the tracking was not done correctly either and they left black oil/grease stains on the interior carpet.

Call me cynical but the above appears to be as a publicity stunt for Imperial Tyres without paying any sponsorship fees on the forum – they would not even permit my friend to enter their worship at any point.
 
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I wonder if they do...Road Force Balancing there...oh it would appear so!:doh:

Tony.
 
I can't see how wheel balance will have any effect on the ABC system since it only operates at a ride frequency of up to 5Hz - well below any vibrations caused by wheel imbalance.
 
Do NOT go anywhere near Imperial Tyres!!!!!

A friend of mine had his Mercedes wheel alignment carried out there and they damaged all four wheels when doing the tracking/alignment and afterwards messed him around and he was going to take them to small claims court. They were extremely rude and terrible customer service. Also, the tracking was not done correctly either and they left black oil/grease stains on the interior carpet.

Call me cynical but the above appears to be as a publicity stunt for Imperial Tyres without paying any sponsorship fees on the forum – they would not even permit my friend to enter their worship at any point.

I've been to Imperial Tyres in the past for front tyres and an alignment on an Audi; driving back home on the dual carriageway I had to almost steer in the opposite direction of where I wanted to go. When I got the car home I discovered they had stripped every thread on the camber adjustment bolts and so every bolt was loose :crazy:. The staff working on the cars were fairly young guys who had their girlfriends hanging around in the garage bays chatting and waiting for them to finish work, very unprofessional I thought, their minds were obviously not on what they were doing. I've never been back and would caution anyone wanting to go there. Things may have improved hopefully?
 
Shameless advertising in my opinion - a friend of the Owner?

Nothing new, anybody else old enough to remember the "on the car" wheel balancers? The operative would sit on a machine akin to a ride-on lawn mower, a motor would spin a roller which was applied to the side of the tyre and spun at around 55MPH.

Had a 2.0 litre Capri in the 80's, (S model in Signal Orange!) with alloys which would only balance on the car. Used to warp discs every 6 months or so too.

With the advent of front wheel drive cars and better off the car balancers, these were consigned to the scrap heap in the early 90's.
 
I've been to Imperial Tyres in the past for front tyres and an alignment on an Audi; driving back home on the dual carriageway I had to almost steer in the opposite direction of where I wanted to go. When I got the car home I discovered they had stripped every thread on the camber adjustment bolts and so every bolt was loose :crazy:. The staff working on the cars were fairly young guys who had their girlfriends hanging around in the garage bays chatting and waiting for them to finish work, very unprofessional I thought, their minds were obviously not on what they were doing. I've never been back and would caution anyone wanting to go there. Things may have improved hopefully?

Well they only damaged his AMG wheels a few months ago.

He had secretly recorded them on his phone admitting full liability for the damage when he challenged them and they had said to send them the bill and then then upon receipt of the quotation they denied being liable!
 
.......and so new technology will try to baffle more brains just to wrench extra money from your wallet for no reason at all .....just like it has done since Kingdom come !!





..
 
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Getting plenty of reaction/advertising though so it has worked in a way!

Tony.

Its negative publictity now though becasue anyone with common sense will not take their pride and joy down to them.
 
Do they not say any publicity is good publicity?

Tony.
 
Do they not say any publicity is good publicity?

Tony.


I can only speak for myself and to me personally pride and reputation is everything. I personally would be ashamed of the above if I was responsible for scamming and upsetting customers and damaging their property in the process and to then have it plastered all over a public forum. Imperial Tyres thought that they were being clever with their tacky advertisement but were not bargaining for the feedback and responses above naming and shaming their dodgy setup.

Also, on pic 1 there are two signs that clearly state “staff only” are permitted in their so called workshop.

PS. Looks like Imperial Tyres have got their own “Michelin Man” mascot with their so called ”Richard the technician” LOL.
 
The post is an advert - he's all over the place with same pics etc.

:ban:
 
The mods don't care so it stays. It has been removed elsewhere.
 
Seems like quite extreme attention to detail yet running budget tyres? :confused:

I'd spend the extra £20/corner on better tyres or towards a wheel refurb personally :thumb:
 

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