I am gonna have to buy 6 tires within the next month or so because the ones on my AutoX / project are worn out and I have blizzaks on my daily (Bought it that way). I was wondering what would work out cheaper, and if Tire rack, where do you guys get them installed?
I found that if you look for the places that Tirerack recommends for installation (it's on their website) you can get the same tyres for not much more
Just look up the tires on each and there's your pricing... I recently got 8 tires and rims swapped around and only had 4 of them balanced and cost me about $60 at Pomps. The pomps did look more like a fleet place/tire storage place and it was out on some back road... I might have gotten the 'did on my lunch break' fee.
dkarthik wrote: I am gonna have to buy 6 tires within the next month or so because the ones on my AutoX / project are worn out and I have blizzaks on my daily (Bought it that way). I was wondering what would work out cheaper, and if Tire rack, where do you guys get them installed?
The Belle Tire I go to will order from Tirerack if it is not something they can get. I've been considering driving to Tirerack to have them install tires, but they charge $25 a tire. Walmart is really cheap for installation especially if you don't get balancing.
Holy info Batman, off to the bat-computer to do some research. Thanks all!
Does anyone buy tires and NOT have them balanced? I bet most places would charge you the same if you balance them or not, and if you don't have them balanced I bet your warranty would be void.
I figure balancing them is cheap insurance.
no balancing????????? 
I've heard of people not balancing their race/autocross tires, because with decent power and lotsa grip, you can spin the rim inside the tire anyway, rendering the balance null and void.
In reply to DrBoost:
Balancing is adding mass. That is a good reason not to get R compounds for autocross balanced. Even the RS-2s I didn't get balanced the last time I had them mounted were fine up to 60 mph or so. Actually Walmart refused to mount those because they were so worn. They are fine with not balancing, but they were sticklers for tread depth.
http://www.walmart.com/cp/Tires-Services/495845
$5 a tire for mounting.
Balancing is adding mass.
Lolllllllll
i always balanced a new track tire, but if i was flipping a used one with chunks all over it i'd scrape as many chunks off and just see how badly it checks out, usually not balancing it as it'll change in the first 5 mins of driving.
Y'all spend hundreds for your fancy wheels, the same for performance tires then find the cheapest guy you can with the worst worn out equipment & wonder why wheels get scratched & bent & tires get torn up. Sheesh!
I go local, they were over $15 cheaper all said and done than any online retailer. That and they're way nicer.
Anyone shopped town fair tire? The price you see is what you pay mounting and balancing is included.
I have heard really good things as well as horror stories about them. One in particular comes from a good friend. His sisters car is on the lift with tires unmounted and all of a sudden there is an extra charge for something tire related that is advertised as free. The way I see it nothing is free you are just not being told you are paying for it.
Since I have access to mounting and balancing equipment I really only look for the best price. BTW $25/tire for mounting and balancing is not that bad a deal when you think about it. Depending on the tire and rim combo and if you take the time to clean the rims and the mounting flanges you can spend well over an hour on a set of four.
I don't think i've ever paid more than $60 to mount and balance a set of 4 tires. Including dismounting and disposal of old tires.
Tire Rack is about as cheap as you'll find them, except on Michelin. Some of their tires are only marked up about $7 from their wholesale, and since they buy tires in quantities of thousands, they're pretty cheap.
Discount Tire Direct and Tire Rack are always the two cheapest in my research, but I MUCH prefer Tire Rack for their experience. They have an entire fleet of BMW 3-, 5-, and SUVs and the salesmen are required to constantly test new tires. They have a dedicated autoX track and dirt/rally/4x4 track on the property to test tires. If you're ever in South Bend, its worth a visit for the dime tour.
curtis73 wrote: Tire Rack is about as cheap as you'll find them, except on Michelin. Some of their tires are only marked up about $7 from their wholesale, and since they buy tires in quantities of thousands, they're pretty cheap.
See my previous comment - they were remarkable more expensive. Moreso when shipping was considered, than the place down the street.
I'm a fan of Discount Tire. They will price match or beat any other deal you can find. They mount and balance for around $50. They do free patches and rebalance tires even if you bought them somewhere else.
I may get the "good" treatment a little easier because every time I'm in a Discount Tire the first thing they do is ask for my phone number and pull up my account and see that I spend a minimum of $2000 on tires every year. I've even ordered Hoosier slicks (not R-compounds) through Discount Tire. They also do things like pay me for my "good" used tires instead of charging me a disposal fee.
My advise is to TALK to your local Discount Tire (or whatever local tire place you want to deal with) and tell them what you need and ASK for a good price. They can get a lot more tires than what they have on the website and they can be very flexible on price.
modernbeat wrote: I'm a fan of Discount Tire. They will price match or beat any other deal you can find. They mount and balance for around $50. They do free patches and rebalance tires even if you bought them somewhere else. I may get the "good" treatment a little easier because every time I'm in a Discount Tire the first thing they do is ask for my phone number and pull up my account and see that I spend a minimum of $2000 on tires every year. I've even ordered Hoosier slicks (not R-compounds) through Discount Tire. They also do things like pay me for my "good" used tires instead of charging me a disposal fee. My advise is to TALK to your local Discount Tire (or whatever local tire place you want to deal with) and tell them what you need and ASK for a good price. They can get a lot more tires than what they have on the website and they can be very flexible on price.
I have found this to be true as well. When I find something online that I want I will print out the add ans take it to Discount and work from there.
I have been treated very well by them.
I've always been a Tire Rack customer. Bought probably 8 or 9 sets of tires from them. But I recently bought new tires for my Miata. Got the Hankook Ventus. Even though there isn't a Discount Tire near me, they offered free shipping. Their price was $2 more per tire than Tire Rack, however it would have cost me $45 to ship the tires through Tire Rack. I went with Discount and saved $37. I'm not sure if the reps at Discount are tire experts, but they provided great customer service.
I had the tires mounted at my local town garage...cheaper than any place Tire Rack would have recommended to me.
+1 on Discount Tire in Boulder. They recently dismounted and trashed two old race tires gratis....
Only warning: They are wicked busy on Saturdays...
Rog
No Discount tire here, unfortunately.
I shopped locally first then ended up using Tirerack due to price. In the end it saved me $80 (after paying $85 for mounting). Granted, I am probably missing out on free rotations, flat repairs etc. for that $80.
I was pleased with the shop that did the mounting and for my next set of tires I will start with that shop.
FWIW - The vehicle has TPMS. I could not find anyone locally that would mount all four for less than $80. One shop quoted me $173! Said something about "TPMS re-learning labor charge".
I'm happy with tirerack. Only thing to look out for is shipping. I got my last set of tires from them because they had them cheaper than what they would cost thru my local shop. After shipping and all it broke even, if I knew that I would have just had the bought them thru the shop.
I mount my own tires, so Tire Rack is my first choice. Especially since they are major sponsors of every forum, magazine, and event that I enjoy. Second choice is my local race shop, but that's mainly to get Toyos.
I bought one of the cheapo HF manual tire changers... and Do my own work.. paid for itself the first time out... Love that tool... just a couple modifications and it works awesome... Have the matching HF "balancer" Works fine for what it is... anything that needs driven really fast... most tire places balance unmounted wheels for little to nothing...
You'll need to log in to post.
