I agree with you. I have 4 Hunter machines and none have met my expectations.

From worst to best: Roadforce Elite balancer. Got it several years ago shortly after it came on the market. What they didn't want us to know is that WE (the customers) are the guinea pigs. That machine acted up about as often as it worked right. It would lock up, refuse to print reports, and probably some other smaller things I've forgotten. Several software updates later, it HAS improved, but the basic funtionallity is still lacking. You can balance a wheel right down to zero, remove it from the balancer, put it right back on, and it will usually ask for different weight. What's with that?? Was it actually balanced the first time??? On larger wheels/tires it never calls for the correct weight, so you have to try to outguess the machine. Also the roadforce feature is pretty much a hoax. It has NO IDEA what shape the rim is. The only thing it knows is how round the assembly is, based on the roller contacting the tire. All other measurements are calculated by camaras and are seldom acurate. It can't even tell how many spokes a wheel has, because it brings up a picture after you spin it and almost never does that picture look like your wheel.

Next: Halkeye aligner. This one is a bit better. It's probably the easiest aligner on the market to use. But I don't like the tire clamping targets. They just don't seem very precise. Also I have a bit of trouble with steering wheels being off center after a toe adjustment. A little detail, sure, but that's probably the number 1 thing a customer will notice. "Ever since you aligned my car..." We also have Hunter's alignment rack, which is supposed to link with the machine and unlock turnplates, etc. It worked for maybe a few months then quit.

On the rack itself: It's a fairly solid lift so far, but I have one major gripe. This is a scissors lift with two seperate runways connected only by the air jacks between them. So Hunter has the bright idea that they need a leveling system to keep them raising and lowering at the same speed. That would be brilliant if it actually worked. But it doesn't. The two sides are constantly overcorrecting, both while lowering and raising the rack. The locks click at the same time only by accident, and the vehicle on the lift tips back and forth. I don't think a car could actually tip off, but with larger vehicle like RVs and busses, the swaying is very pronounced.

Lastly the tire changer. Not sure how it compares to yours. Mine is the leverless one but not automatic. So far it hasn't been horrible but there's a steep learning curve and the thing is just underbuilt. the mount/demount head breaks easily on bigger tires.

Sorry for the long post, but just in case you needed someone to second your opinion, here you go.

James Kuhns
Owner/Technician
Auto Tech Solutions
Chatham, New York, USA