wheel balancing

CJFusco · CJFusco's Garage

one of the weights fell off one of my wheels, and i'm not sure where it originally was...

where can i get a wheel balancing done for cheap?

AFJuvat · 07-29-2003, 08:32 AM

A lot of tire places will do 4 wheel balancing for something like $30.

Could probably talk them into balancing 1 wheel for $5 - $10. Hint, ask them to do it if you jack up the car and pull the wheel in the lot so all they have to do is balance it - that way you aren't waiting for a lift.

AFJuvat

CJFusco · CJFusco's Garage

ok i went into Town Fair Tire and the guy told me that i need to buy two new front tires because they are H-rated and my rear ones are V-rated. Was he telling the truth, or just trying to substitute a balancing for a tire sale?

If I do need to change the front ones, I will just put my old tires (from the bent rim and its counterpart) onto the 2 new rims.

Mark_944S2 · 07-29-2003, 12:02 PM

You don't have to have front and rear the same rating, but all the tires have to be equal to or better than the manufacturers recommendation - which is in turn based on the cars top speed.

H rated sounds a bit low for a 944 - what does the handbook say for the speed rating?

Mark

CJFusco · CJFusco's Garage

i don't know what the handbook says, but i hardly ever drive the car on the highway (i don't like highways), and when I do I keep it under 90, so I really don't think this is a huge issue.

I figured this guy was just trying to sell tires; here's a basic transcript of the conversation:

CJ: "Hi I need a wheel balancing."

Town Fair Tire: "Yeah? When was the last time you had an alignment, you probably need one of those too."

CJ: "No, I had an alignment in May. I need a wheel balancing."

TFT: "Oh. Um. Is this your car?"

CJ: "yeah... see one of the weights came off the wheel, and I figured I might as well make sure that they are all correctl..."

TFT: "Oh look at this. You have two different speed ratings on this car, guy."

CJ: "Yeah. So? The front two are the same and the back two are the same."

TFT: "That is very unsafe. It will affect your handling and man-oo-ver-a-bill-it-ee."

CJ: *rolls eyes* "yeah?"

TFT: "Oh yeah. You need to buy two new front tires to replace these H-rated ones. I don't want to read in the paper about an accident with a white Porsche, ya know?"

CJ: "yeah. well, I have the old tires that match the rear ones at home. I can just mount those."

TFT: "Oh, well I have the new Pirellis in stock. I can have them mounted within the hour."

CJ: "ok, look, i'll think about it (real meaning: i'll see what they say on Pelican)"

This guy, trying to upsell new tires as an alternative to balancing (!?!) loses the $40 sale for balancing in the process. What a jacka$$.

VT944 · 12:36 AM

I happened to have my manual here on my desk, and it's pretty vauge reguarding replacment specs, just the old "Porsche recommends replacing tires with the same size/specs etc... as the original tires" statment.

At one point they do mention VR rating, but it looks like more of an example on how to read a tire than anything else.

the guy is selling you a load of S*#T. Ideally, all four tires would be identical, but if the tires are all the same size/tread, you should be fine. Even if the tread is different front to back, it's not a big deal.

If you lived in Montana and hit 130 regularly I would be a little concerned. Driving normally, especially around town, just let the tires wear their normal course and replace them with like tires in the future. A little higher than a "H" rating wouldn't hurt...

The exception to the above is NEVER MIX BIAS PLY AND RADIALS!!!

But I'm sure you don't have bias ply on your 944, or you would be tar and feathered and abolished from the forum forever!

Seriously, do you do a lot of interstate crusing, and how long have you had the tires on the car???

ronin · 07-30-2003, 12:50 AM

seems that most 944s were delivered with VR tires

justin · justin's Garage

The tire guy is just filling you witha bunch of $hit,he saw a Porsche and thought $$$,go somewhere else,or just take the wheel off at home and take it to somebody.

CJFusco · CJFusco's Garage

VT944 - I don't do a lot of interstate cruising... i rarely have to use the highway; the advantage of living in CT and knowing the back roads.

I discovered that I had a bent rim about a month ago, and I bought a pair of cookie cutters to replace this rim... since i didn't want a hassle, I just left the tires on the new rims and mounted them on the front of my car. The original 2 V-rated tires are in fine shape, so if I had to re-mount them I could. The front tires are slightly smaller than the rear ones... i think the difference is 215/60 vs. 215/65... no biggie.

All in all, the car drives fine, doesn't pull at all, but the steering wheel shakes a bit at about 70mph... hence the missing wheel weight, hence my attempt to get a wheel balancing done. Stupid Town Fair Tire.

Mark_944S2 · 07-30-2003, 07:36 AM

In that case personally I would take the car in, get your V rated fronts mounted on your new wheels, and get all 4 balanced. Should only cost 50 bucks.

V rated tires are a bit tougher than Hs, stronger plys etc. Worth it if you drive hard even on those back roads.

Mark

CJFusco · CJFusco's Garage

i am going to do that, but not at Town Fair Tire! You try to rip me off, you lose my business forever!

944 boy · 07-30-2003, 01:39 PM

Wow... I went to a local tire place and i got charged $12 for both front tires. They took them off balanced them and replaced them in less than 20 min. I also recently got a tire taken off for free no questions asked. THis is all from a big chain too. Big O tires.
As for the tires, any tire rep. will say never to mix them, but if you know how its gonna respond there isnt too much to worry, just try to find a better store next time.

-Greg