So my local mechanic said that you cant do a RFB on new tires as they have to be driven at least 500 miles before it can be of benefit. Is there any validity to this statement, has anyone else been told this? If this is true then all the tire shops that offer RFB on new tires are wasting our money!

 

I don't buy it. Road force balance puts approx. 1200 LBS pressure on the tire and will essentially or try to match the high spot in the tire to the low spot in the wheel. Driving a tire without balancing 1st may effect the conicity of the tire itself or give erroneous readings.

 

IMHO - Road Force balancing is only useful if you start out with an out-of-round rim. The idea is to put force on the tire to find any hard spots or high spots, then rotate the tire on the rim to match it to the bend in the rim. Since German car rims are about perfectly round - there is nowhere to move the tire that will improve it.

The dynamic (spin) balance the machine does is good - and in the hands of someone who knows what they're doing will result in well balanced tires. But finding the someone who knows what they're doing is actually rather rare. In my case - the only successful balancing I can get on my 21" rims is the dealership. Even using TireRack recommended tire installers didn't result in a correctly balanced tire.