Balancing Your Tires: The Haweka Adapter
By: Bob_98SR5
Written: 3/6/06
Application: All 4Runners

Issues of Balancing and Vibration
One of the more common complaints of 4Runner owners when buying newer, larger tires is balancing them. Many owners purchase larger, meatier tires such as the BFG AT and MTR series, but then complain that they have balancing and vibration issues at higher speeds.

Wherever you choose to buy your tires or have them installed is "Do you have the Haweka adapter?" If you get a pause at the end of the phone, go elsewhere. This is a very common piece of equipment that any reputable tire shop will have, given the popularity of Toyota vehicles.

Hub-centric vs. Lug-centric
The best explanation I could find on balancing 4Runner tires is from our esteemed colleague and S/C guru, Gadget. He says, "The design of the wheels used on the 4Runner are different than most. They are not “hub centric” meaning the hole in the middle of the wheel is not in the exact center. You will never ever get the wheel properly balanced using normal tire balancing equipment. Normal tire balancing equipment uses the center hole to mount the wheel to the tire-balancing machine.

The Toyota wheels used on the 4Runner are “lug centric.” This means that the lugs are the center of the wheel and the lugs must be used to balance the wheels. To do this a special adapter that engages the wheel lug holes must be use in conjunction with a special back side forcing cone to properly mount the wheel to the tire balancing machine.

That special adapter is called a "Haweka" and here is the page sent out by Haweka:



Here's the downloadable version: Haweka Adapter (pdf)

Note that the TSB that applies to using the Haweka adapter is SU002-96.

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