Mounting & balancing new tires

[Shaun @ Tru6]

I'm getting new winter all seasons for the BMW. And will be doing new tires or restoring rims on a couple of cars next spring. Taking $25 to $50 cost per tire out of the equation, convenience is also a strong reason to get a Harbor Freight tire installer and add the hacks that make it work pretty well.

Balancing I'm not so sure on and getting a used FBMP balancer tips the scales back a little to having it done professionally.

Anyone successfully mount and balance tires?

One of tons of videos on the topic. The fact that I can bolt one to my shop floor vs a palette helps in the decision to just get one.

[stevej37]

Looks like a nice outfit....easy to see why you would want it bolted to the floor.

[afterburn 549]

This works for me. They can be picked up cheaply, do not take up much space.

[onewhippedpuppy]

I personally will not have tires balanced on anything less than a Road Force balancer. Spin balancers are easy to get wrong enough that you’ll have high speed vibration. The HF tool is cool but if you can’t get a good balance, you’re still taking it somewhere.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Matt, I've never needed road force balancing which goes to $100/wheel with installation, for my 21" Cayenne or 18" BMW or the 15" and 16" 911s. But don't think the bubble is going to work.

The problem is $500 Coats, etc. balancers on FBMP are there for a reason, they need or will need calibration. I am going to see what that cost is.

But if I'm $700 all in for professional mounting and balancing, that's a no brainer for me. If the balancer is $1K alone, it starts to get muddy fast.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

But then this seems attractive

[onewhippedpuppy]

Part of why I switched from my nearby Firestone store to Discount Tire was too many balancing go-backs at Firestone. Discount Tire uses the RFB for everything at no extra cost. Though there could be a Firestone incompetence factor as well, and Discount Tire is awesome.

I’m hardcore DIY until I die, but the cost of good tools and the space required has always kept that stuff out of my garage. I would LOVE a big press though, one large enough to compress struts.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

No Discount Tire here.

The Harbor Freight 20 ton press is cheap and relatively compact.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Next time I do a suspension overhaul I might make that investment. I hate spring compressors with a passion. I don’t have a huge garage so I have to be tactical with my space.

[Scott Douglas]

When Dad finally gave up on the air ride system in our '59 Pontiac wagon, we went to a junk yard and found a Pontiac we could pull the springs out of.
When we got home we compressed them by using his Travelall and plumbers tape to get them down to size. We learned a lot as kids growing up with a Dad who liked to do as much DIY as possible.

[DaveE]

I do my own motorcycle tires but I’m not doing 35 aspect ratio Porsche tires.

[KFC911]

I might just take two right side 15" Fuchs to the DT down the street this afternoon .... this "blizzard" has given me the opportunity to do so....

Such a timely thread

I've never used them before.... thanks!

[Zeke]

Having worked in a tire shop in college days and an astute observer of famous Bonneville balancer Nate Jones, I know that the old fashioned balance on the car tire balancing is the ultimate system as a last step to prove that the rotating mass of brake rotor, hub., etc. are all in the equation. Before mounting the wheel ass'y Nate will use a dynamic balancer to distribute the weights on either side of the vertical weight centerline.

More important years ago than today, mounted tires are also shaved to perfect roundness. Also tires change shape at different speeds due to imbalance of the carcass itself, hence the road force method. However, spin up floor balancers for balancing on the car will catch that and shaving can help. It's a process that is well worth $50+ per wheel. You will save on tire wear that recovers your expense if you drive normally, not to mention wear on suspension.

Only if you can mount the tire vertically and find the offset weight centerline can you place weights on the inside and out to achieve dynamic balance. A bubble balancer can't do that and should be only used for things like trailer tires or to pre-balance if you want to go to the trouble.

[KFC911]

The four Pirellis were only 1900 from TR ... I'd like them to be perfect ... or clo$e enough ... and don't want any scratches from a monkey either.

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

Part of why I switched from my nearby Firestone store to Discount Tire was too many balancing go-backs at Firestone. Discount Tire uses the RFB for everything at no extra cost. Though there could be a Firestone incompetence factor as well, and Discount Tire is awesome.

I’m hardcore DIY until I die, but the cost of good tools and the space required has always kept that stuff out of my garage. I would LOVE a big press though, one large enough to compress struts.

Road force is the way to go. My 911 like all G body 911s have sensitive suspension. I could never get a tire shop to do a proper perfect balance for the 911.

We have a local Porsche repair shop that has a new state of the art road force balance machine. It is $60 per tire, but to have zero vibration at any speed from slow to 125MPH (On Talladega Super Speedway) there is just no vibration.

[vash]

no. like Pho...I figured it will never be DIY.

[911 Rod]

I only get new tires every couple of years so no way I'm going down this rabbit hole!
Balancers complain about the rear wheels on my 996TT so I would lose it trying to do them.

[afterburn 549]

What truly is missing in today's shops is the tire truer , and a machine that does rotors/drums with the wheel.
I remember the machine slid under the wheel, spun it up and pointed to where to put the weights. (early 1970s)
Tires do get out of round and need to be shaved back to it .
When Michelin's radials first came out, they lasted a long, long time .
How long?
I sold them with the car, 120K on them !!!
They still had tread left and had been trued up once.

[javadog]

I'd never want to mount a tire but I used to balance all of the ones that went on my fast cars because I as better at it than Joe Tireshop.

Doubt I'd throw the money at buying my own equipment, now that I've culled the herd.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Tires ordered. Researching the installation kit tomorrow and ordering that. Really looking forward to this.