Technical Hunter on the car wheel balancer

Looking at this unit on Market Place. Guy thinks it's 220 3 phase. The data plate is worn and the info isn't readable. Anyone know if they were ever 3 phase. The one I used back in the day was 220 single phase. TIA.

 

We had a similar one at work that was 220, but not 3 phase. It would spin a 11R22.5 bus tire over 50 mph!

 

The one I found might have a smaller motor but looks to be a 110 unit.
I'll have to check the tag, its a little older than that one.

 

The one we had at work was single phase 220 to spin up truck tires.
The unit also came with a vibration sensor with a magnetic pickup and a strobe light.

This one has the wheel adapters (14-15-16?). but is missing the calibrating unit that attaches to the wheel adapters. It’s red or silver, round and has a shaft out from the center with four round thimbles that you move while spinning up the tire to balance it. It snaps onto the wheel adapters. Useless without it. But if you’ve used one you’re aware of that.
The Hunter Engineering site doesn’t show this balancer, or parts.

If you use one, be VERY CERTAIN that the wheel adapter ring is SECURELY attached to the wheel. The mounting material can get hard or broken and allow the ring and calibration head to leave the wheel at speed, taking your kneecap out if it’s in the path.

 

He has the balancer plate/calibrating plate as well as what he referred to as an RV adapter. The clip on adapters are probably 13", 14",and 15" cause that were the most popular sizes back then. It would be nice if one was 16" so I could use it for the wide fives on my '39 p/u.

 

The one I used for 20 yrs was indeed 220 3 phrase.

So I'd say that if the seller says it's 3 phase I'd believe him...

...

 

The one I used in the 80's was 220 and I believe 3 phase.

 

One way to tell, a single phase unit will usually have a three prong plug and three phase will have a four prong plug.

 

Thanks for all the replies. It's a really good price but it sounds like it is 3 phase which is a deal killer.

 

There are phase converters to go from single to 3 phase. Now you know as much as I know about them.

Phil

 

Guy sent a photo of the plug. 4 prong. And yes I've heard about converters but for as little as I would use the balancer way to much of a h***le. Too bad because at 50 bucks it was a good deal and not that far away.

 

The one that was local was single phase. No 3 phase in that building. Think it was 110v but not sure

 

I've got two 110 units that I picked up over the years.



This one won't handle a very wide tire though.


I first learned to use these in a high school auto shop when I was 15 in 1962.

 

You guys should do a “how to” video for us un informed. I know the general way to use it but have yet to see a good detailed tutorial from beginning to end. I have a dial o matic (I believe) which looks the same with 4 adapters I bought for $50 at LARS a bunch of years ago. I did see a Hunter head unit in its own case at an antique mall around here for $175.


BTW, I have seen those hunters that are 3 phase but they have large motors/rollers for bigger trucks I would ***ume.

 

the electronic phase converters available today are really pretty inexpensive in the scheme of things...
a 7.5 HP one is under $200 ...but it is easy for me to spend your money and use your storage space....
for perspective, the last two tire/wheels that I took to a tire shop, the attempted balance was ninety five bucks and was a fail

 

Back in the day Hunter had a couple of versions of this balancer. 110/115/120 volt unit 4 p***enger cars and light trucks and another unit 4 big trucks of the day. I worked at a dealership that had both. The " truck-guy" had the 220volt unit

 

All this modern technology, phooey! Back when bubble balancers were the thing, I managed some pretty good results with one of them . I will say that I was impressed watching the Goodyear guys at a NASCAR event mount and balance a set of tires in about 5 minutes. I think it only took two revolutions per tire to balance them.

 

Thanks @themoose

Hello,

When this pale yellow 51 Oldsmobile two door sedan first parked on our driveway, it was a very cool looking car. But, it did not handle very well as a stock car. So, we took it to a wheel balancer/alignment shop that used the “on the wheel” balancing machine.

Each end was jacked up, the machine rolled up under the tire and with all of the attachments, spun until the weights were placed. He did both front wheels and aligned the front end. When he drove the 51 olds around the block, he was satisfied that it was balanced/aligned. On the road back to our house, the Oldsmobile sedan tracked true and it was almost hands off for a straight line motion.

When the 58 Impala showed up, after the first set of tires and rims were changed, the whole front end got the same machines to set up a true balanced/aligned front end and it drove as straight as any car on the road. During this time our dad also went to the same guy for a front end balance/alignment on his new 57 Buick Roadmaster sedan. All of the mentioned cars had the individual Hunter wheel balancer for on the car balancing.

Even the Flathead powered 40 Ford Sedan Delivery got the full front end treatment for our long distance road trips without any tracking problems.

At the time, that was the best way to balance the front wheels. But, it still required an excellent skilled mechanic to do the good job for straight line driving on the cars.

Jnaki

Luckily, later on, when we got our project 327 powered 40 Ford Sedan Delivery, it had a m***ive run/stop/handling problem and so this young mechanic from our previous front end work had just moved to our area of So Cal.

He worked on the front end of the sedan delivery and used the Hunter Individual Tire Balancer until it ran fine on the streets. But, for his technical skills and knowledge, after a couple of trips around the block, he decided to use his new off the car wheel balancer and that put a finishing touch on the balancing problem. He had just installed the off car balancing machine and it did not take him long to see where the weights were needed, inside and out.

The introduction of the off car wheel balancers arrived at most shops, the individual Hunter on car balancers took a back seat. Although being trained on the use of those old on car balancers went a long way, until they were gone, due to the pinpoint, off car digital wheel balancing machines in tire shops all over the USA.

It was the best thing that happened to our 327 powered 40 Ford Sedan Delivery for 6 years of ownership and driving all over So Cal during our photo shoot days… YRMV
Our almost weekly road trips back to Long Beach to help out our mom with papers and normal around the house good housekeeping was our goal. My wife liked to drive the 327 powered sedan delivery due to it handling so well on surface streets along the coast or even the freeway back home. The regenerated front end with the expert balancing and alignment made the ride outstanding all the way back to the Westside of Long Beach and back. YRMV

Note:
All of the years after high school, the 65 El Camino had the total front end regeneration, the tire shaving on even new tires and balancing/alignment process. Its history for long road trips up and down the california coast line and inland deserts was perfect due to the quality work by the knowledgeable young expert mechanic.
125k worth of road trips made driving wonderful...