Yeah, walmart has the ability to order "good" tires, not just the middle-of-the road stuff they have in stock in stores.
Does anyone buy from Tire Rack anymore? It doesn't seem worth it......
- Thread starter Zack1978
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- 755
Yep…85# a pop…
Falkin WP4’s 285-70x17…E rated
Highway pressure is 36….air down to 17 more often than not
Truck weighs in around 7200#…thus E rating
Walmart had the tires I recently bought at Tire Rack for $15 cheaper each. But Walmart had no "free" road hazard program, just manufacturer's warranty. So TR got the nod. This time.
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I still check them to see if they've got anything on sale, but my last two purchases went through Discount Tire because either the tiny savings wasn't worth it or it was a better deal. I really don't see the advantage anymore.
What I hate is Discount Tire mounters use the 18 volt drill on HIGH with tulip wire brush and wrecks your mounting surface rounding it out. They now seem to be using the same drill on HIGH with a rough 3M pad that does 25% less damage. Since the wire brush wrecked do many rims I bet. LAZY LAZY. I was in the tire business for 2 years mounting tires in a custom rim shop when I was younger. This infuriates me to see the stupidity of Discount Tire. All it takes is a light duty non scuffing 3M pad with very light hand pressure and you have a clean rim mounting face for balancing. It takes 2-5 seconds more to do it right.
slo town
$200 Site Donor 2026
Hacks, all of them.
Personally, I carefully pry off the weight, then I use 3M adhesive remover to soften the adhesive band. Next I use a square oak dowel to scrape off the now softened adhesive band, then I rub off the remaining glue with a 3M adhesive remover soaked rag. Takes me 3 for 4 minutes per weight to make it perfect.
Scott
JHZR2
Staff member
I feel as if the local private places look at what tr will charge and try to be competitive.
GON
$175 Site Donor 2026
Definitely understand the concerns with Tire Rack.
My last transaction with Tire Rack was excellent and worked extremely well.
Tire Rack has high performance Bridgestone tires on a deep clearance, in a not so common size that you needed. I was working OCONUS and my wife is not one to bring four tires into the garage.
Purchasing the tires through Tire Rack, the seller shipped the tires directly to my local Discount Tire. I was only able to schedule 30 days out on Tire Rack. But after the purchase, Discount Tire allows me to reschedule seamlessly online for 65 days out.
Thus allowed me to lock in the purchase and savings of Bridgestone performance tires, and discount tire store the tires for me while I was working on OCONUS.
I arrived back to Conus, went to discount tire where they installed the tires, and new oe tpms sensors.
Could not have been more satisfied with the Tire Rack/ Discount Tire transaction.
My last transaction with Tire Rack was excellent and worked extremely well.
Tire Rack has high performance Bridgestone tires on a deep clearance, in a not so common size that you needed. I was working OCONUS and my wife is not one to bring four tires into the garage.
Purchasing the tires through Tire Rack, the seller shipped the tires directly to my local Discount Tire. I was only able to schedule 30 days out on Tire Rack. But after the purchase, Discount Tire allows me to reschedule seamlessly online for 65 days out.
Thus allowed me to lock in the purchase and savings of Bridgestone performance tires, and discount tire store the tires for me while I was working on OCONUS.
I arrived back to Conus, went to discount tire where they installed the tires, and new oe tpms sensors.
Could not have been more satisfied with the Tire Rack/ Discount Tire transaction.
Not true anymore, that absolutely used to be the case, they literally invented meta data for tires. NOW, however, since being sold, they want page views and social media hits from their goofball video reviews. Their reviews DO NOT include spider charts anymore and are FAR LESS USEFUL. Spiders answer the question "what is the best tire, for the criteria I car about" in less than 15 seconds. I used to use The TR exclusively as I used to do a lot of track events, but I haven't bought a set from them since they were sold to Discount Tire. I use tyrereviews.com now, spider charts are FAR more relevant. The TR user reviews feel lazy and pedestrian and are from what seem to be non-car people now. Reviews on Tyrereviews are from drivers who genuinely seem to be trying to help tire enthusiasts. Tirerack stopped using spider charts as they are now who-res for page views. No one is perfect, but they aren't run by car enthusiasts anymore, and it really shows. There are two exceptions, I do use them for "subjective over the road ratings" but it is a bear to get that data now, as they don't print spider charts anymore, you have to listen to their yammerings on their videos for that. And two: its one of the only places that routinely lists the weight of the aftrermarket wheels they are selling, which is critical. Unfortunately, they sold out, as everyone eventually does. They are better than most other tire retailers, but they are not price competitive anymore. They also have very view sporty Summer Touring Performance tires. They push you to Max and UHP in the Summer category, compromising over the road refinment. If you want refinement, they push you to all season tires. Dude! Tirerack coined the phrase "if you're using all season tires, you're leaving performance on the table"!!! Their core values have changed, and I shop else where now.
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It may still be a good deal if you but rims and tires as they will come mounted and balanced.
The places they hook you up with seem to CC charge $40 to $50 for mountings and balancing.
Walmart is $18.
Years ago Discount Tire would run some good sales on the holidays. And you could save even more by using a Discount Tire credit card.
The places they hook you up with seem to CC charge $40 to $50 for mountings and balancing.
Walmart is $18.
Years ago Discount Tire would run some good sales on the holidays. And you could save even more by using a Discount Tire credit card.
I agree with everything that you noted. It is just a hassle to order from them with no real benefit.
There is a very interesting phenomenon going on here.
When Tire Rack first came into existence, it was not uncommon for tire dealers to have a price that included mounting and balancing. So Tire Rack's price looked really good - until people noticed the shipping charges and tire shops started charging more for mount and balance. It took a while, but that's where we got to now.
The same thing is happening with Amazon. People have become aware of the shipping costs and what is driving everyone to use Amazon is the convenience. The buying public really hates driving and spending all that time to shop. It's so much easier to browse a computer and have the stuff delivered. The fact that Amazon has stuff that a regular store can't stock is a major plus.
When Tire Rack first came into existence, it was not uncommon for tire dealers to have a price that included mounting and balancing. So Tire Rack's price looked really good - until people noticed the shipping charges and tire shops started charging more for mount and balance. It took a while, but that's where we got to now.
The same thing is happening with Amazon. People have become aware of the shipping costs and what is driving everyone to use Amazon is the convenience. The buying public really hates driving and spending all that time to shop. It's so much easier to browse a computer and have the stuff delivered. The fact that Amazon has stuff that a regular store can't stock is a major plus.
The tests are good but the personal reviews are often worthless. "John Doe from Oklahoma drove 100 miles and loves them 5 stars. Jane- 1 star, worst tires I have ever used in my life"
Good thing he didn't see my wheels and tires.
Still useful to me, and not just for tires. Really like their website that allows for tires/brakes etc. to be compared as well as customer rating and feedback. One of the few remaining sites where I can trust the reviews to guide my purchasing decisions. Now I believe they are partnered with Discount Tire so no issues on installation either. although do all my brake work myself.
May not be completely due to laziness…I’d imagine tire techs are flat rate? At least at a dealer and an independent shop I’ve worked at, tires don’t pay ****.
Dealer paid 1.2 hours for tires regardless of how easy or hard they are to mount and balance. That’s 18 minutes a tire.
Independent shop paid 1 hour for tires. That’s 15 minutes a tire.
The mechanic (at least at the delay) already had to fetch the car, test drive it for initial problems, write it up, get parts and tire prices, turn it in. Wait for the job to sell. Pull the wheels, fetch parts, bring parts to the tire changing equipment, bring wheels and tires to the tire area, mount and balance them, reinstall them, test drive it. Park it and turn it in.
Tires aren’t worth a flat rate mechanics time. It’s hard to get them to do a good job. It’s not right but that’s the truth.
Must admit, still young enough to install my own wheels/tires, once mounted on the rims. Variables: are the mounting surfaces properly cleaned without damaging, is a light coating of anti-seize applied to mounting surfaces, are they torqued to the correct spec. on reinstall, and finally are they set to the correct tire pressure?
When I do it the answer, I know is "YES!"
I usually pre order my tires and throw the wheels/tires in the trunk and deliver to the outlet for install/replacement of new tires. Worth two trips and the peace of mind. Also, a great time to inspect brakes, pads, rotors, and calipers when the wheels are off.
When I do it the answer, I know is "YES!"
I usually pre order my tires and throw the wheels/tires in the trunk and deliver to the outlet for install/replacement of new tires. Worth two trips and the peace of mind. Also, a great time to inspect brakes, pads, rotors, and calipers when the wheels are off.
- Joined
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- Messages
- 984
Am I missing something? They have spider chart comparisons for most of their recent test results. It's even better now that you can customize the charts to your liking. Eg:
https://www.tirerack.com/tires/test...drive-report?ttid=349#spider-chart-comparison
https://www.tirerack.com/tires/test...drive-report?ttid=349#spider-chart-comparison
https://www.tirerack.com/tires/test...re-road-test?ttid=348#spider-chart-comparison
https://www.tirerack.com/tires/test...ck-tire-test?ttid=345#spider-chart-comparison
I also prefer to shop at Tire Rack to support the testing that they do and share. Completely changed the tire shopping game for consumers. The unfortunate reality is that thorough testing takes time, money and resources which ultimately translates to higher prices.
I would assume they are hourly as they do 100% tires/rims and some now have an alignment rack. The alignment rack guy might be flat rate. I will ask I work with an x discount tire guy.
First ordered from them in 1995. Las order was for some Pilot Sports for my WRX in 2020.
