Cheap Tire balancing

[slammedfc]

Any one have a tire balancer ? or know of a cheap place?

thanks

[Kloubek]

Zee tire in the NE. Cheapest place in town.

[slammedfc]

cool thanks man!

[Modelexis]

u wrench
cheapest place in town. :)

[DeleriousZ]

I didn't know that u-wrench had a balancer. cool!

[slammedfc]

Originally posted by Modelexis
u wrench
cheapest place in town. :)

zee tire is cheaper than u wrench.

40$ to mount and balance 4 tires on the car at zee tire. i was shocked.

its 40$ just to balance a set of loose tires at u wrench

[Zero102]

Post up a review of how they did and what you were charged - I need 2 tires swapped and the other 2 balanced on my van and was thinking urban-x but they usually charge me around $100 for that.

[slammedfc]

will do.

[Modelexis]

I call that a tie :D

[black13]

yea nothing beats Zee tire. It's $10 per tire for 16" and under. And $15 for 17' and over. Awesome guys but it's first come first serve so expect to wait around a bit if your not there early.

[CRXguy]

Is balancing $10/tire at Zee even if you bring one? Last time I was there they said it's $10 if you bring a full set.

[gpomp]

Originally posted by CRXguy
Is balancing $10/tire at Zee even if you bring one? Last time I was there they said it's $10 if you bring a full set. $15 if you just have one. All prices are listed on their website

[Zero102]

With these good reviews it looks like I'm headed to Zee this weekend - some clown at big 4 put a big cut in the sidewall of one of my van's tires driving it over something and they won't fess up to it. Good thing I have a couple spare tires in my garage.

[Redlyne_jr]

Check out Jackie Tong @ Zero Limit Automotive.... (he does all my mounting and balancing)

Zero Limit Automotive Ltd
403-277-8782

[Zero102]

I went by Zee Tire today to have the following work done:
2 rear tires swapped for spares I had with me
2 front tires balanced

One of my rear tires got damaged while some work was being done on my van and since I had a spare pair kicking around I just had them both swapped so they matched. I stopped by the first bay that you find when you drive in and asked there - the guy said he had 2 people ahead of me but would be happy to do this for me in 30 minutes. I said okay, i'll grab some lunch and come back. On my way out I found their second bay (I had no idea they had 2 bays) so I dropped in to ask if they were really the same company or if I had found some fake Zee Tire (yeah right). The guy there said that the bigger unit is more for new tires and the other one for repairs, but if I wanted he could do the swap for me in 15 minutes instead of 30 so I agreed.

They were ready for me in about 25 minutes, which was longer than the quoted 15 minutes, but that is fine - I wasn't in any hurry and made that clear to him when he told me the time in the first place.

Once in the shop they put my van on a 2-post lift to remove all 4 wheels at once, then put the front tires on the balancer untouched to see how far out they were I really like that they did this as I wanted to know if they were even out of balance in the first place or if i had another problem to chase down . Both fronts were out by 2.25oz, no wonder I had a shaky wheel at high speeds. When balancing the front tires the younger guy running the balancing machine apparently put the wrong style of weights on. The older guy caught this before I left but he missed changing one of the weights over to the correct style and it later flew off hitting the floor of my van while I was going down mcknight at ~90km/hr.

They swapped both rear tires without any issues and balanced them properly and I took home the undamaged tire (just in case).

While the wheels were off the younger guy went around and sprayed all of my studs with wd-40, and he sprayed enough that it ran down onto my brake discs. That made for one scary stop after leaving the shop and a few really shaky stops as I burned off the remaining wd-40.

All lug nuts were started by hand then tightened with an impact gun. After that was finished they went around with a torque wrench to make sure they were all tight enough. Out of the 20 lug nuts not one budged with the torque wrench so they were all over-tightened. I'll loosen them off and re-torque them when I have a few minutes, I doubt they are so tight that they damaged anything.

While I was at the shop they checked and adjusted my tire pressure - he noticed i was running 42psi on the front tires instead of the specified 35psi and lectured me about it - which I appreciate, many people probably don't understand how important correct tire pressure is. His lecture fell on deaf ears as I prefer mine a bit overinflated as caravans are really hard on the shoulders at stock recommended tire pressures and this evens out the wear. Unfortunately, even after being scolded for running 42psi and being told he was setting them to 35psi I found that the other guy set my rear tires to only 30psi so I had 35psi on the front and 30psi on the rear.

After the work was completed I was charged $42.00, the $40 I was quoted + GST.

All in all I feel like I got a good deal, the weight that came off did no damage that I can find, and since it was only a 0.5oz weight I'm just going to swap the front tires to the back so I don't feel the wobble any more (although it is just very slight). I would totally take my van back there, though any car I really cared a lot about I would probably take somewhere else. They were both perfectly nice guys and the older guy really seemed to know his stuff, though it would be nice if the younger guy was a little bit better trained or more experienced.

[slammedfc]

well, i went to zee tire,

as zero said workmanship was qualtiy but i didnt like the fact that the weights came off on a few of the tires half way to bc.....

made for a shaky 12hr drive.. not much fun.

going in today for a rebalance free of charge hopefully they use the right weights this time

[swak]

How do they make business at $10/wheel?? dunno:

Do they have 8-10 wheel balancing machines spinning and are just pumping them out?

[K3RMiTdot]

i get mine done at urban, but my weights always fall off... -___-

[Zero102]

Originally posted by swak
How do they make business at $10/wheel?? dunno:

Do they have 8-10 wheel balancing machines spinning and are just pumping them out?

I was wondering how they can stay afloat - my van was in there for about 30 minutes for $40 and 2 guys were working on it during that time. By the time they both take something home and you pay the overhead of the shop they must have lost money while I was there...

[n1zm0]

I use a guy for mount and balance who runs out of his garage, has a hoist and everything off southland, has lots of used tires too with good amounts of tread. For future reference I guess : calgary tire shop (http://www.calgarytireshop.com), done within 20 mins kind of place, sticky weights and all too.

I also wondered how this guy stays in business but he has tons of clients plus the amount of used tires he has is is insane. I guess enough people goto him all year round.

[voodoo]

I went to Zee tire today for balancing. Got charged $84. Did I get fucked. It's an A3 if that matters.

[M.alex]

Originally posted by Zero102
I went by Zee Tire today to have the following work done:
2 rear tires swapped for spares I had with me
2 front tires balanced

One of my rear tires got damaged while some work was being done on my van and since I had a spare pair kicking around I just had them both swapped so they matched. I stopped by the first bay that you find when you drive in and asked there - the guy said he had 2 people ahead of me but would be happy to do this for me in 30 minutes. I said okay, i'll grab some lunch and come back. On my way out I found their second bay (I had no idea they had 2 bays) so I dropped in to ask if they were really the same company or if I had found some fake Zee Tire (yeah right). The guy there said that the bigger unit is more for new tires and the other one for repairs, but if I wanted he could do the swap for me in 15 minutes instead of 30 so I agreed.

They were ready for me in about 25 minutes, which was longer than the quoted 15 minutes, but that is fine - I wasn't in any hurry and made that clear to him when he told me the time in the first place.

Once in the shop they put my van on a 2-post lift to remove all 4 wheels at once, then put the front tires on the balancer untouched to see how far out they were I really like that they did this as I wanted to know if they were even out of balance in the first place or if i had another problem to chase down . Both fronts were out by 2.25oz, no wonder I had a shaky wheel at high speeds. When balancing the front tires the younger guy running the balancing machine apparently put the wrong style of weights on. The older guy caught this before I left but he missed changing one of the weights over to the correct style and it later flew off hitting the floor of my van while I was going down mcknight at ~90km/hr.

They swapped both rear tires without any issues and balanced them properly and I took home the undamaged tire (just in case).

While the wheels were off the younger guy went around and sprayed all of my studs with wd-40, and he sprayed enough that it ran down onto my brake discs. That made for one scary stop after leaving the shop and a few really shaky stops as I burned off the remaining wd-40.

All lug nuts were started by hand then tightened with an impact gun. After that was finished they went around with a torque wrench to make sure they were all tight enough. Out of the 20 lug nuts not one budged with the torque wrench so they were all over-tightened. I'll loosen them off and re-torque them when I have a few minutes, I doubt they are so tight that they damaged anything.

While I was at the shop they checked and adjusted my tire pressure - he noticed i was running 42psi on the front tires instead of the specified 35psi and lectured me about it - which I appreciate, many people probably don't understand how important correct tire pressure is. His lecture fell on deaf ears as I prefer mine a bit overinflated as caravans are really hard on the shoulders at stock recommended tire pressures and this evens out the wear. Unfortunately, even after being scolded for running 42psi and being told he was setting them to 35psi I found that the other guy set my rear tires to only 30psi so I had 35psi on the front and 30psi on the rear.

After the work was completed I was charged $42.00, the $40 I was quoted + GST.

All in all I feel like I got a good deal, the weight that came off did no damage that I can find, and since it was only a 0.5oz weight I'm just going to swap the front tires to the back so I don't feel the wobble any more (although it is just very slight). I would totally take my van back there, though any car I really cared a lot about I would probably take somewhere else. They were both perfectly nice guys and the older guy really seemed to know his stuff, though it would be nice if the younger guy was a little bit better trained or more experienced.

That type of experience is worth saving like $20 over a place a like UrbanX?

Wow, you guys are some cheap motherfvckers, that's for sure :nut: :nut:

[gpomp]

Originally posted by M.alex


That type of experience is worth saving like $20 over a place a like UrbanX?

Wow, you guys are some cheap motherfvckers, that's for sure :nut: :nut: $40 vs $100 = $20

[slammedfc]

Originally posted by voodoo
I went to Zee tire today for balancing. Got charged $84. Did I get fucked. It's an A3 if that matters.

40$ is up to 16" no low pros

[voodoo]

Originally posted by slammedfc


40$ is up to 16" no low pros

Ah makes sense thanks.

[M.alex]

Originally posted by gpomp
$40 vs $100 = $20

Indeed :D

I had 2 305/18 mounted and balanced for $40-somethingish at UrbanX... so I just doubled it deducted a few bucks since I thought under 17 was cheaper (or maybe I'm making that up, I dunno, lol)

But still, to not have an appointment, have to go back because it was done wrong (weights coming off like that), improperly torqued, etc...., I would rather pay a few bucks more and have a quality job done.

[Ven]

Originally posted by M.alex
I would rather pay a few bucks more and have a quality job done.

Wow no kidding. That place sounds like an amateur gong show.

Someone paid $40 to get their brake pads contaminated, wheel studs stretched, tires inflated wrong, and a wheel weight to fly off. Good deal.

Absolute shining example of getting what you pay for.

[M.alex]

Originally posted by Ven


Wow no kidding. That place sounds like an amateur gong show.

Someone paid $40 to get their brake pads contaminated, wheel studs stretched, tires inflated wrong, and a wheel weight to fly off. Good deal.

Absolute shining example of getting what you pay for.

I'd imagine studs were probably really stretched - lubricating them with wd40 (which will reduce the friction when tightening) and then hitting them with an impact gun ... yikes :/

[englishbob]

Originally posted by n1zm0
I use a guy for mount and balance who runs out of his garage, has a hoist and everything off southland, has lots of used tires too with good amounts of tread. For future reference I guess : calgary tire shop (http://www.calgarytireshop.com), done within 20 mins kind of place, sticky weights and all too.

I also wondered how this guy stays in business but he has tons of clients plus the amount of used tires he has is is insane. I guess enough people goto him all year round.

I've been using this Guy for a while and have no problems at all and he's priced right.

[CK4500]

I went by Zee Tire yesterday. I had a set of 265/35/22 to mount. I like the fact that the guy was completely honest and didn't waste my time. He flat out said "sorry, I can't do 35's properly, only 40's and up". Very nice guys working there. If you have steelies that need snow tires, for $10 a pop, you can't go wrong.

[n1zm0]

Originally posted by englishbob


I've been using this Guy for a while and have no problems at all and he's priced right.

Yeah Levan is great, I've used him for almost 3 different sets for relatives and myself over the past year, will probably go back there shortly to rebalance 2 of my winters (which he also sold me) before I swap for the season. Also helps that he lives so close and is readily available on short notice.

[Twin_Cam_Turbo]

Originally posted by CK4500
I went by Zee Tire yesterday. I had a set of 265/35/22 to mount. I like the fact that the guy was completely honest and didn't waste my time. He flat out said "sorry, I can't do 35's properly, only 40's and up". Very nice guys working there. If you have steelies that need snow tires, for $10 a pop, you can't go wrong.

He cant do 35s? Those are fairly standard tires...