thank you, Moody Blues!

Had more fun at Discount tire!

Several weeks ago I sent two tires and wheels down to them via a neighbor to get mounted+balanced.

I didn’t specify the dot thing, assumed they would align the lightest portion of tire with the valve stem/tps sensor since all they needed to do was look at the tire and rotate a bit prior to adding air. Assumptions always bite me in the ***. They came back mounted with no regard to the dot (lightest area). One had 3.5 ounces the other had 2.5 ounces.

They were not smooth and the other day I went by and had them rotate the tires on the rims and balance. When finished one required zero weight and the other has .5 ounce of weight. I always feel that less is better!

Unfortunately I also had them balance the rear wheels/tires and now my butt gets vibrated.

I really question if the balancing machines are serviced often enough for them to be accurate.

Done ranting…almost!

The steering wheel that once was carmel colored along with the door grab had a very nice brake dust black color applied at no additional cost.

Life is still good.

wj

 

I've often wondered how frequently and how accurate balancing machines were. I've had mixed results over the years. Some vehicles seem less sensitive to balancing issues than others. I've never spoken with anyone about the factory balance dots. Most of the time, I've had success with chain stores charging $25 per tyre. With the X150 though, I've always had it done at a mate's exotic car shop, because of the care given to the wheels and tyres. As for Land Rovers, my current Disco 4 with 19" genuine Rover wheels has never had good results at the chain stores and I've only had good results at the main dealer which ends up costing about $50 per tyre.

 

Not only are the balancing machines not that accurate (I.e. they have an accuracy tolerance band), but also they are supposed to be zero calibrated periodically (like at the start of every day) and they’re often not.

 

I have always felt that the on-car wheel balancing machines which we used to use in the UK in the 1960's were a better system although more time consuming so I recently phoned all the tyre fitters within 20 miles of my home to see if anyone could do an old-style on-car balance as I had a special requirement. The vast majority of fitters had no idea what I was talking about although a couple of guys who were my sort of age did say that they knew what I was referring to but hadn't seen one of those machines for 30 or 40 years. Such is progress!

Richard

 

I usually ask the tech if he could calibrate the balancer right before mine are done. I've never heard a "no". It takes about two minutes and attaching a balance rod twice.