I had my dad take my 17'' Rota Actions and 225/45/17 ES 100's to a local shop and they said yeah $195! He told them they were full of crap and took them across the street to the Sears auto Center.......Mount & Balance plus valves $75:cool:

I have had several sets of wheels done @ other places, but $195 is the craziest price.

How much do you guys usually pay?

$195 :eek: I paid $60 for my last set. I strongly suggest you never go there again.

$95 for mount, balance and alignment for mine.

I just paid $140 to my local dealer to mount and balance my new tires. But I have SubaruBucks that I get with my credit card, so I didn't mind the cost, 'cuz it was free.

if you are a member of costco, they mount/balance for $10 per wheel/tire

$40 total :)

I did not go to Costco for my latest mount/balance, my local tire shop charged me $75 for 4 17" tires...

maybe 195 was including alignment?..

otherwise tell them to kiss your arse...haha..

Originally posted by KIMUTAKU
maybe 195 was including alignment?..

otherwise tell them to kiss your arse...haha..

no alignment because my car wasn't even there, just mounting and balancing....I will never go there again! I just think its a crazy price.

I ended up paying 120.00 to mount and balance my 18's. I personally think it was a rip, but I didn't bother shopping around because I wanted to get it fixed immediately lol.

Wes

$195 is crazy, maybe they thought your dad did not know any better. You would be amazed at what tires places do. I was shopping around for some 17" T1-S's and I went to this little place up the street. They qouted me something like $240 a tire! :lol:

No thanks!

Anyways I pay $25 a corner for mine. But the place is good and gaurantees their work. I trust them so its worth it in my mind.

I have had them do a couple sets for me, Volks and Prodrives. Both times have been perfect.

I dont really trust knuckleheads at Discount tire and places like that.

FWIW.

Did that $195 include some sort of free-tire replacement warranty or something?

Originally posted by Kostamojen
Did that $195 include some sort of free-tire replacement warranty or something?

and some vaseline?

anyway...

I paid $34 to have four tires mounted and balanced. Rota Tarmac II (18") with Pirelli PZero Neros.

...@ Costco!
and not a single scratch. with a free re-balance and rotations. :)

RR:D

costco is the best!

well, i have had some high quotes on tire mounting balancing before. You should note that if they do the Hunter Roadforce balancing, it usually increases the price.

The place my roommate and I have gone to lately quoted me over the phone "$24.95 per tire for mounting and roadforce" and that is indeed what they charged me... but then when my roommate went, they tried to charge him $15.95/tire for the mounting and then an additional 24.95/tire for the Hunter...

Luckily, we forsaw this discrepancy and I had my old receipt with me and they honored the other price...

but yeah - you gotta watch these places. They don't make a whole lot on tires thanks to the pricematching they have to do to keep up with Discount, Tirerack, etc, so they gouge the hell out of you on service (especially if you bring in tires you bought somewhere else).

We don't have a costco here:( but Sears does free re-balance and rotations also.

The only reason I went there the 1st time was the best local car stereo store that sells most of the giant chrome wheels told me that where they get theirs mounted and balanced....and they never have any problems with them.

$24.95 per tire for mounting and roadforce
That's about what I pay. Note that in some cases where one or more tires or wheels is slightly out of round--which is pretty common--they'll have to unmount and remount the tires several times (while clocking the tires on the wheels or actually swapping tires from one wheel to another) to achieve the best possible balance and roundness on all four wheels with the least possible weight used. This takes time, and they charge for the time.

I'd rather pay more to have them do that than have a high speed shudder or cupping issues in a few thousand miles.

If your wheels and tires happen to be perfect--lucky you--you can pay $10-15 each to slap them on the wheels and you'll never know the difference.

$195 sounds like the going rate for Roadforce balancing with the Hunter machine. I would only pay to have this done if you have a vibration issue that normal balancing can't take care of. In this case, this machine works wonders.

I have a client who is a classic car dealer and puts a lot of reproduction bias ply tires on his vehicles. These tires are notorious for producing vibrations due to imprecise manufacturing tolerances. The Hunter machine was the only one that could get the roadforce into decent spec with these tires, but he got so sick of paying for the service he just bought a Hunter for his shop.

Joe

All of the local shops that Tirerack recommends for mounting in my area charge $100/four tires. Add the shipping cost to that and suddenly the Tirerack price advantage is diminished to the point where buying the tires from a local Tire Discounters and having a 4-wheel alignment thrown in might not be a bad idea.

I get mine roadforced for free. Just take them to the place and give them to my firend and he does them. Doesn't make me wait either. I have had 4 sets of rims and tires done in the past 6 months by him for free. This includes SS valves and caps and free rebalancing there after. Also have gotten 1 free alignment from him.

Originally posted by subieworx
I get mine roadforced for free. Just take them to the place and give them to my firend and he does them. Doesn't make me wait either. I have had 4 sets of rims and tires done in the past 6 months by him for free. This includes SS valves and caps and free rebalancing there after. Also have gotten 1 free alignment from him.

You owe your friend several six-packs.

Mine were $10 per tire at the local Firestone. Talk to your local autocross nuts to find out the best place to have it done. They go through LOTS of tires and usually require quality work.

-Bryce

I swapped tires between two cars for $111, was junking the one with the good tires, lol. So take half that for a set of 4, $55. That was at Firestone, the cheapest place I found in town. I think it was $12 a tire plus tax. Hehe, just noticed the last post, another Firestone one. Maybe it was $11 dollars, lol.

gentlemen, what your not thinking about is most reputable independant (SP) shops will charge you this kind of rate because there on the hook for doing a good job and will replace your 200 to 500 wheel if they ruin it (gauge it) so its like insurance besides alot of these shops will rebalance for nothing if you have a problem keep this in mind when looking for a inexpensive balancing job

They also wanted me to sign a waiver if they scratched or damaged it they weren't responsible.....

sears puctured one of my tires they were switching between wheels, they had didnt complain about buying me a new 225/40/18 tire that was like $170

Originally posted by Rapid_Roo
and some vaseline?

anyway...

I paid $34 to have four tires mounted and balanced. Rota Tarmac II (18") with Pirelli PZero Neros.

...@ Costco!
and not a single scratch. with a free re-balance and rotations. :)

RR:D

My tarmac II are getting mounted at Costco tomorrow :D

I just had my RA-1's put on my SSR's (replacing Victoracers) - total cost $84.80 - seems to be pretty standard rate these days - a lot of places are charging more for 17" and larger rims (some even for 16").

It's worth it to find a place with alloy wheel experience and the equipment that won't scratch your rims. My local Town Fair Tire has the equipment, but give me such a hassle about mounting tires I didn't buy from them (regardless of the fact that they can't offer heat cycling or shaving) that I don't bother with them any more.

-Keith-

FREE!! But I have a shop...no fair. We usually charge 10-20CAD per wheel depending on tire size and type of tire. Gravel tires are more because they are a bitch to put on, but don't need balancing, also low pro's are charged more.