In reply to Claff:
I just had some 215/70-15 tires and aluminum rims that were on the car removed, dismounted, mounted new tires and balanced for $8.50 a tire. Another place wanted $20 a tire for the same thing. I also had loose 195/50-15 tires on aftermarket aluminum wheels dismounted, mounted 205/50-15 tires and balanced for $7.50 a tire.
Ranger50 wrote: I'm paying $20 for a set of 4, but I am also mounting and balancing them myself.
Why so much? 
The g/f's recycling center takes old tires (8 per trip) so I don't pay disposal fees and take the old tires with me. Except for my truck (only one set of wheels), I always bring loose wheels and tires to the shop. NOBODY installs wheels on the cars except me.
I've paid between $50 and $120 /set over the recent years. $50 was from a local place in NJ that used to be managed by an auto-x guy. The $50 came from doign a 2-1 deal since I brought in 2 sets to be mounted. He said I made life easier since everything was loose and they didn't have to put a car on the lift. Plus, I'd brought in a bunch of other tires to be mounted previously.
However, a friend through our MINI club in PA does mounting and balancing as well, so I decided to throw him some business. ~$100 a set.
We've been having problems with vibrations in the MCS lately, so the last sets were done at another local NJ shop that has a Hunter Road Force balancer. $80 for balancing alone. $120 for mounting and balancing. Cured the MINI's vibration for a little while, but now it's back.
When I get a shop built, mounting and balancing machines are on the want list. It's not just the cost, but also the hassle of hauling them to a shop and either waiting or having to go back to pick them up.
I'm also a fan of the shops that do race alignments. After all the bad experiences I've had at the franchised chains & big boxes, it's well worth the peace of mind.
Just called Pep Boys (in Brooklyn):
Me: How much is it to mount and balance a set of tires?
PB: Your own tires?
Me: Yep.
PB: $90. They're 19's right?
Me: No, 14's.
PB: Oh, then $80
bravenrace wrote:Ranger50 wrote: I'm paying $20 for a set of 4, but I am also mounting and balancing them myself.Why so much?
Standarized cost of having other people look the other way.....
$40-$60 at Kan Rock Tire. They do good work and sometimes I get a better deal.
unevolved wrote:corytate wrote: (unless you're running like some 35 profile tires or something ridiculously tight like that)I'm not exaggerating when I say at least half of the tires that come through our door are /35 or /30. OEM Porsche sizes, or 275/35/18 on BMWs.
mmmmmm not that fun lol
I've had to do a few of what I consider "weird" setups, like 205's on 8.5" wheels (for a ford ranger?) and 265 on a 7.5" wheel, and 1 set of 35 profiles, which weren't fun on our antiquated equipment (but we are getting new equipment soon supposedly)
we get a few bmw's and merc's in, and we've had a few hodas that were wearing 235/40/17's like what I've got on my car, and a saleen foxbody with 40 profiles, but most of what we get is typical middle of the road daily driver stock equipment.
Matt B wrote: I'm also a fan of the shops that do race alignments. After all the bad experiences I've had at the franchised chains & big boxes, it's well worth the peace of mind.
That's true... the first shop I went to (E.G. Tire) was well know for a few years as a good place to go in Central NJ for personal-spec alignments as the manager was an autocrosser (they would also corner-balance). Unfortunately he has since left, but I believe the new manager will still cater to the enthusiast.
In reply to Ian F: Hopefully the new guy will be as cool as the last. Good to have a shop like that, because they certainly don't seem common.
The road race/autox alignment shops also have the added benefit of doing things to your desired specs. Many of the chains refuse to do anything other than a factory-spec alignment. I know I'm getting a little OT from tire mounting here, but it does play into garnering an actual relationship with a shop, which can go a long way to making (my) life easier.
For example, the shop I prefer here in the ATL, Gran Turismo East, did some suspension-clunk detective work free-of-charge for me. Spent some real time under the car, with me there, to help me figure out what was going on. They didn't do it because I'm a low-baller off the street though. I don't mind paying them good money for good work.
Mounting+balancing charges are enough to make me want to look for used tire machines every month or so. Used tire mounting+balancing machine prices scare me away from such a proposal for about a month or so.
It's a vicious cycle.
Bryce
DuctTape&Bondo wrote: I have a small local shop that does mine, $12.50 a wheel mounted and balanced for 18"s, walmart, which is closer to me, doesn't do anything over 16".
Hunh. My walmart does 18" wheels. However, they will not do my wheels/tires without TPMS sensors on my MS3 though, so I can't bring them there.
Also, be warned:
I had a different walmart drain 1.5-2 quarts of oil out of the Pontiac while getting new tires mounted and balanced. Apparently some guy in the shop saw it up on the lift, and figured it was in for an oil change before he got stopped. It was a customer who stopped him, not another employee. And thenthey weren't going to tell me and/or fill it back up until said customer informed me and I bitched.
Discount Tire here in Denver is really good about mounting. They charge $5 a wheel. Ballance is expensive, but I don't ballance autocross tires. These guys have treated me so well I've started talking to them about ordering my tires. Turns out they can order R compound tires. Shoot, just makes sense.
I have acces to a tire machine, but after doing it a few times I've decided that's a service I'm willing to pay for, especially with race tires. Those things are hard to mount.
amg_rx7 wrote: Anytime you pay for people's service and expertise, you usually get what you pay for. The good shops will charge $25 a wheel minimum and will have a higher end tire mounting machine and won't totally screw up your nice looking wheels mounting and balancing the tire. The lesser shops will scratch up the wheel, mount the tires incorrectly sometimes (think directional tires), half ass the balancing and hammer on the cheap lead weights instead of using the glue on weights.
OR you pay $25 Dollars a wheel and they still do a half A** JOB 
I Hate living in Mississippi sometimes. It's hard to find people that take pride in their work.
I'd pay 25$ a wheel just to have them show me how to use the machine once and let me do my own wheels. But I can understand liabilities and such.
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