I'm hopefully pulling the trigger today for my Winter Tire and Wheel set from DiscountTireDirect and they have lots of option on checkout:
• (4) Certificates for Repair, Refund or Replacement
for Hankook Icebear W300 $13.50$54.00• TPMS Sensor w/Free Mounting & Balancing
(Change TPMS Options)
$49.00$196.00• Wheel Installation Kit
for MB Wheels Mesh X $45.00$45.00• Ride Match System/Road Force
$10.00$40.00
Do I need the Road Force Balance? Do I need the Wheel installation Kit?
I'm opting to live with out the sensors for the winter season.
BTW I'm going with MB Mech X 16"x7 with Hankook IceBear 205-50-16.

Just looking for opinions. Thanks.

 

What do you do with the car?

If you do consistent high speed driving, road force balancing is necessary. For other normal everyday driving, I think it is nice to have because it does eliminate shimmys at highway speeds.

I think the wheel installation kit is for the TPMS. I generally find that unnecessary to replace the parts in the TPMS, especially on a 2009.

If you do not have the sensors, there is an irritating yellow light that is on all the time which I have learned to ignore.

 

I use the car mostly for commuting. Lots of twisties and switch backs with a few flats. So Spirited driving mostly, makes getting in the car worth it. So it seems that the road force balancing may be worth it. I actually have TPMS on my 15's but have not reset it in months... not sure why.. so I am actually living with the annoying yellow light.

 

I've never had road force balancing done on my wheels, and haven't run across an issue at high speeds on the "track". It works well for tire & wheel combos that have somehow ended up being difficult to balance. Do it if you think it'll give you the peace of mind.

 

IMHO & experience - yes.

I've had a few wheel balance headaches over the years - but not since discovering road force balancing (also at Discount Tire). Now - never a problem. It's just a far more sophisticated way to balance a wheel, and virtually guarantees perfect results.

Lots of info here...

http://www.gsp9700.com/pub/features/how.cfm