[Kmeleon]

Anything I should be on the look out for when it comes to mounting and balancing tires on my 1LE?

Approx how much should I pay to remove old tires, mount new tires and balance if I bring just the wheels and tires to them?

Are chain tire places ok? Or should I find a little shop that specializes in performance tires and balance?

Obviously it goes without saying I don't want my wheels messed up, any special machine I should be asking if they have?

School me please.

[kropscamaro16]

about $20-25 per tire is normal



i used to go to fancy ones but found out discount/america tire does just fine work and if they screw up a wheel they will pay for it just make sure to inspect them before/after if you care about your wheels

[2SS Capt]

Find a Discount Tire with a "Touchless" machine, not all locations have them but your local Discount Tire should be able to point you to one of their locations in your general area that has the touchless machine.

[SSDan]

I also have had good luck with Discount Tire. They also use Road Force Balancing which is the best way to get the tires balanced.

[HCI2000SS]

Another vote for road force balancing only. Definitely a big no to places like Walmart, Sam's Club, etc... Any place that sells food,, cloths,, and whatnot is probably not best for tires lol. Been there and done that

[kropscamaro16]

Originally Posted by HCI2000SS

Another vote for road force balancing only. Definitely a big no to places like Walmart, Sam's Club, etc... Any place that sells food,, cloths,, and whatnot is probably not best for tires lol. Been there and done that

yup i had my michelins on my cruze put on by sams club omg idiots


took 4 guys just to get the tpms sensors reset and the psi on all 4 tires the same haha it was comical

[Kmeleon]

Thanks guys, I don't have a discount tire.... I'm in Allentown PA. But I can call around and find who has a touchless machine and road force balancing.

[HCI2000SS]

Originally Posted by kropscamaro16

yup i had my michelins on my cruze put on by sams club omg idiots


took 4 guys just to get the tpms sensors reset and the psi on all 4 tires the same haha it was comical

Not surprised at all. With Walmart they put 2 tires on backwards (inside marking facing the outside) then they balanced it all wrong. Took it to Discount for the road force balancing a week later, and they said whoever balanced these were way off. Friggin morons lol

[sr71bb]

Originally Posted by Kmeleon

Thanks guys, I don't have a discount tire.... I'm in Allentown PA. But I can call around and find who has a touchless machine and road force balancing.

OK I am going to give you youngsters some help here (LOL). Go to this link below and put in your zip code and find the hunter SERVICE & PARTS guy contact for your area.

THEY will know which dealers have the HUNTER touchless tire installer because they install the damn things:

https://www.hunter.com/contact/

[kropscamaro16]

Originally Posted by HCI2000SS

Not surprised at all. With Walmart they put 2 tires on backwards (inside marking facing the outside) then they balanced it all wrong. Took it to Discount for the road force balancing a week later, and they said whoever balanced these were way off. Friggin morons lol

haha sounds about right also i knew a girl that went to drive through oil change place that didnt even put a new filter on her car and it blew the motor within like 10 miles

[cdrptrks]

Discount Tire because my wheels were not perfect when I bought the car and road force balancing is included for about $85 total for the set of 4 if I bring the wheels and tires in loose.

I always ask them to be careful with the wheels and take pics beforehand and they still have done some minor damage that I hide with touchup paint. They may make it free or offer to repaint/refinish the wheel if you point out damage that they caused. It highly depends on who is doing the job and how experienced/careful they are. I had one tech mount a tire backwards after I told the counter guy that they were directional but I caught it and they fixed it. I also had one tech not remove the old wheel weights which I pointed out and they corrected it. Once one of their machines was set to normal balance mode not using the roadforce roller but I noticed and they redid a proper road force balance.

If I had bought the car new it would probably be worth the $200 per set that several local places charge for touchless mounting with roadforce balancing to avoid dealing with Discount Tire and having to watch/check them to make sure they are doing it properly.

Remove your old wheel weights before going in or provide them with a plastic putty knife and/or plastic razor blade to reduce the chances of them scratching the wheel barrels with a metal tool while removing the old wheel weights.

I did notice more vibrations the one time that I didn't get a roadforce balance...New Orleans shops charge a huge premium for it or their roadforce machines are broken. There are no Discount Tire stores in the city.

I have also proactively replaced new wheel weights in the same spot after balancing to prevent them from falling off later when they are crooked and overhanging a raised lip or applied on top of old foam/adhesive residue that wasn't removed. A lot of people don't have much attention to detail but these things matter when you track the car due to the high speeds and high wheel temperatures.

[cdrptrks]

I also provide these black wheel weights to blend in with the wheel color better and I use a sharpie on the edges of the white foam beforehand. They haven't fallen off yet even after hard track use getting the wheels extremely hot which can be a problem with cheap wheel weights according to my research. These have the best available 3M adhesive according to my research but it is a pain to get rid of all of the old foam when you remove them.

https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/c...576FEBLK&pos=0

Edit: A heat gun and plastic razor blade followed by Mothers R3 and more scraping with the plastic razor blade seems to be the best way to remove the old adhesive/foam or goo gone plus scraping if it was left on the wheel for a long time before removal.