Do you know someone in Michigan who still has this machine? Thanks

Your gonna have to call local tire shops.
The on car balancer is called Hunter "in tune" tire balance machine.

I last seen one at a tire shop in Lantana Fl.

My Pontiac had Crager s/s wheels and had a bad vibration.
This Lantana shop- had one (as I had called and they told me no one
there knew how to operate it. I went there and I demonstrated on my
car how it worked. They were amazed how easy and simple it was to
operate as well as how well it worked!)

Look here to see it:
http://www.hunter.com/company/history/

There is also a hunter on-car strobe balancer that SOME old school shops
still have.
Look here:

Good luck finding one as well as somebody to operate it!
(thank god for old school auto shop in high school!)

Check the old vintage repair specialists, I'm sure they could refer you to a shop that has one.

Even in Bakersfield which is old car mecca in central CA, only 1 place had one for doing the reproduction tires on my '56 Vette. The old guy really knew his stuff too.

We had one of these in our automotive technology dept. in college (mid 80's). Haven't seen one in use since. There's certainly an art to doing it. But they make a hell of a missile when they come off a rim at speed.

Thanks for the tips guys. The 50 year old machine at my local frame shop has apparently died. It was very similar to the one in the video. I well check the vintage shops for the CEMB L88 Mode, the one they sit on for the procedure. Belle tire used their GSP-9700 Straight Track for the new set but I spend most of my driving at 70-80 and after 18 years in this car I can feel the diff. Then there's a lot more tire to balance using 235/70R/15. A little more cushion for these old bones.

can someone tell me what the benefit of this machine is? wouldnt a modern roadforce balance on a hunter machine be better?

Sure...... With these old on vehicle balancers your not only balancing the tire and wheel but the rotor/drum and all, they make for a much smoother ride.

The old man I worked for back in the early 80's had two machines like this;



I was the only one he trusted and taught me how to use them, I NEVER had a balance complaint for the 6 years I used them. He sold the shop to another guy and that left me the only one that knew how to use them.

I quit to relocate further north and a year later went back for a visit, that's when I learned he had thrown both machines and all the accessories in the freak'n dumpster. Damn that was a shame...... I'da took em in a heartbeat !

no doubt i see what you are saying. but if THAT is the sole benefit of this type of balancing and if it was that crucial/made that much of a difference, im wondering why it has become pretty much obsolete.

Do you want that 10 pound steel monster clamped via set screw to your alloy wheels?

When cars only had steel rims (for the most part), and those rims had a generous lip on which to clamp the 3 or 4 set screws that dug into the rim to hold it in place at speed, then life was good. And even then, those things would come off at times.

When I was in school, that tool was kept around to diagnose problem cars that std. wheel balancing could not fix. But it was not a main-line tool.

The ones I used had no set screws and they didn't weigh 2 lbs., they were a light weight steel frame with rubber embossed on the outer frame that contacted the inside lip of the rim. There were two levers across from each other you pulled out to retract the outer edge/ring, also there two thumb adjuster across from the levers.

You would pull the two levers out then slide the adapter into the wheel, adjust the two thumb adjusters to get the tightest fit then push the two levers in which would further expand the outer ring for a tight no damage fit.

Yes..... I had one come off once at speed, it shot right out my bay door and spun across four lanes of traffic while jumping the center median with a chain link fence across the street stopping it. Luckly it didn't hit a passing car or cause any damage to the balancer unit it's self......

im not so much questioning the tool itself, im sure that could be improvised to work with larger aluminum rims. im questioning the claim that balancing the rim on car is that much better and gets a better balance than the more modern machines.

After using these on vehicle machines and having tires balanced with these new fangled machines, there's no doubt in my mind I could get better results if I still had one......

That old school machine is the BEST..............BAR NONE !

The reason they are not used is a lot of folks are DUMB not to mention that
old school balancer take more TIME.
Also the new machines are designed so a monkey could use them
NO SKILL involved at all..........................

After some research I see that it's a shop with the Model CEMB L-88 balancer that I'm looking for. You Tube well show you what this looks like. So with 200,000 highway miles on this same '84' I've become accustom to this much smoother ride. Still can't find that shop.

maybe im narrow minded or just am missing something. normally things that are the best arent "discontinued" or obsolete... i know there is more than one way to skin a cat but it doesnt make sense to me that something that is "better" is no longer used.

the claim that the old is better because it takes skill to use it is silly. who cares if new machines are easier to use? why werent the old machines developed and refined over time to become easier to use? to me it looks like they were revised and developed into the machines we have today.

todays drums and rotors are balanced and in check out of the box. balancing on car to remove vibrations that may be coming from other worn out components is not the right idea. yes back in the day manufacturing was not what it is now and things werent always perfect out of the box. but now they are

Both the above, you obviously haven't experienced what myself and other older folk have with these "old school" machines verses these new fangled machines.




Happens all the time with all sorts of things, in the name of being easier and or faster...... Which doesn't always mean better......

i respectfully disagree. i work in the industry and never once had an issue with a road-force balancer from hunter, the ride is smooth as can be. so other than riding on a magic carpet idk how one can improve on perfect.

for a machine that can balance a rim easier, faster and with greater accuracy seems to me to be good reason for moving on. think about this, IF such machine is so valuable and great why dont specialty shops have them on hand with operators that can work them? how does this machine take into account for imperfections in the tire ? what about the actual force the road puts on the tire when loaded? what im saying is todays machine have more features technology built into them to get a near perfect balance on any rim and tire regardless of size, if there is an additional vibration the suspension and driveline needs to be fixed.

"its better trust me im old" just doesnt make sense with no ground to stand on

Nuff Said.......

Hi Rob, I jsut signed up for this forum just to write you about your On A Car balancer. I just picked up a BEAR. I have a manual for 1984 on Models 350 366 377and 388. This one doesn have levers or handles on the side instead it has one paddle wheel lock on each side of the drive wheel. I read the manual which shows that you attach it to 3 or 4 lugs depending upon lugged rim. I have not used it yet, but every thing I read is that you will get a better balance with it on the car involving all wheel components, especially knuckle and hub,bearing, plus worn parts if not yet replaced. I was wondering if you knew of some good videos to watch, all i keep finding are the strobe units. I also understand that they can be used on a floor dolly that allows the weight of the car to sit upon the wheel as well for even a more road handling balance. I do have to find the dolly to do that. If you have any manuals or anything to add, just send it my way. I have balanced tires on the snap-on, hunter, and coats, but unless you want to spend thousands, you can get the same results with this unit. Okay laters