New tires and always a balancing issue @ Discount Tire

Discount Tire is a victim of their own success. With the higher volume something has to give. Toyota had that problem a few years back too. Still not a problem other than your time. DT is where I get my tires and usually have excellent service. I've had a few instances where service suffers but rare with this company.

I just bought a set of the Cooper AT3 4S for a F150. So far so good but I've only been a thousand miles. Balanced well and are really quiet.
 
Have had similar balance/quality issues with Discount Tire. I have gotten to where I will carry my tires in and leave specific instructions for how to how I want the weights done and that the wheels are in great shape with no bends, scratches, etc, etc. I clean the wheels inside and out and even remove the old weights and old tape weight adhesive (3M Adhesive Remover). Had worked the past couple times. But this last time I did the same and even reminded the counter-person that the tires are marked with the outside to be sure that they are mounted correctly. He looked at me like *I* must be stupid telling them how to do their job. Low and behold, when the tires where done, one was mounted backwards. "Don't know how that count have happened!" And then the balance was off. I brought them back and insisted I wanted to watch them balance. All except for 1 of the tires was >.5oz off. The "Tech" insisted that nobody could feel that and they were fine and within company policy. After speaking to the manager and advising him that balanced is not the same as within .5oz of balance, he rebalanced them himself and RF'd them as well. I think 1 tire needed turning but the others were low numbers. Balanced to 0oz. Big surprise, they ride nice and smooth.

Oh, and he did calibrate the machine before balancing. Basically put the machine in calibration mode and use a set of weights to tune it. Only took a minute to do. No reason they shouldn't do that every day.

I haven't decided for sure, but I think my next set of tires will be someplace else. I'm tired of the games...
 
My last new tire purchase from Discount tire required 4 visits and a third party opinion to figure out one of 4 had obvious structural defect. No road force was gonna correct it and I'm still pissed I had to return 4 times for resolution. The replacement tire they ordered never arrived and I need up ordering a completely different set from another manufacturer. They tried hard both times to push their in-house versions of national brands and that was super annoying. From now on I'm almost certainly going to go with a retailer much closer even of it costs a few more bucks. The hassle of driving 50 miles round trip to their store several times in a week is worth more than the high fives and "yeah-bro" the millennials working there offer.
 
DT founder and owner passed away in April of 2018.

Bruce Halle, Discount Tire founder and Arizona's richest man, dies at 87. Bruce T. Halle, the founder of Discount Tire, Arizona's wealthiest resident and a prominent philanthropist, died Thursday morning at age 87, according to the company.
Like many businesses once the founder leaves or passes away the quality of product of service usually takes a huge hit because the new
owners or management don't give a darn about what the founder created!
 
Are any of you old enough to remember the old Hunter spin balancers? Those things were cool. An experienced tire person could get your wheel assembly nearly perfect. Those things were electric powered and the wheel assembly was balanced on the vehicle. They could get the wheel assembly up to a pretty high speed.
 
I'm a 25-year customer of DT, and I've always been "relatively" pleased with the results of each visit. Yeah, I've had to return for a re-balance a few times, and on two different cars, raised h*ll because they damaged expensive, painted alloy rims. To their credit, though, they always repaired them.

This latest experience, though, began about two weeks ago. I've been running Pirelli Scorpion Verde Advantage II tires on my 2014 Buick Enclave, and totally loved them - smooth, responsive, great gas mileage, and they never failed to balance well. Noisy as h*ll, but great tires otherwise. Due to Covid, over the following 3-4 years I only put about 30K on them (I'm retired and have few occasions to drive long distances). They carried a 65K treadwear warranty, but they wore down to 4/32nds during that time. My DT Store Manager gave me a prorated mileage credit on 4 new Scorpion Advantage +3 tires, a newer version of my other Pirelli's. They were great, but only under 60mph. Above that, they vibrated the whole car. The same store rebalanced them twice, including road force balancing, without improvement. The store manager then installed a second set of the same tires. But, after the initial balance and one rebalance, the vibration was still there. Today he installed a set of Michelin Defender LTX tires on the car, but they vibrate just like the two sets of new Pirelli's. I'm at a loss, and so is the store manager. My original Pirelli's ran perfectly smooth the day DT replaced them. After that, it's been nothing but vibration.

Tomorrow, I'll be visiting a different nearby DT store. I called that store manager today and described the issue in detail. He offered to put the tires through their own inspection and balancing, so I will just have to go from there. My immediate suspicion is that the first store has either a balancing equipment problem, or a balancing personnel problem. At this point, it's impossible to determine which. I'll post back after this second shop does their thing with these Michelins.
 
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Are any of you old enough to remember the old Hunter spin balancers? Those things were cool. An experienced tire person could get your wheel assembly nearly perfect. Those things were electric powered and the wheel assembly was balanced on the vehicle. They could get the wheel assembly up to a pretty high speed.

Oh, yeah! I certainly remember those Hunter machines. It was almost comical to watch installers futz with the dials/rollers on those things to smooth out the tires. Overall, they seemed to produce good results, although the guy had to really know what he was doing in order to get there. Unfortunately, I seem to recall that they weren't at all accurate for rotational speeds above 65mph (that was a long time ago), so today they would be useless.
 
Local Les Schwab has done me right the many times I've been there for tires and rotations, they are a new store with all the latest balance machines, just had some tires put on my daughters 20 KIA Soul, says the ride is super smooth compared to the original Goodyears the took off. ;)
 
Les Schwab . . . I've seen their stores while traveling, but there are none in my part of the world. Even if there were, I would refuse to shop there. The company name is just too similar to the Earl Scheib paint shops from more than 50 years ago. That company was the laughing stock of their own industry. "$29.95! Any Car, Any Day!" They'd hire a kid straight out of high school shop class, hand him a sheet of 200 grit sandpaper, and tell him to prep the car. The only tools the "paint master" had were a $3.00 brush and a gallon of Sherwin Williams. Earl wouldn't even give him masking tape. "H*ll no. That sh*t costs money. Just eyeball it!" "What? You want that paint oven baked? Trust me . . . it'll be okay. It'll air dry in about a week. Just keep it outa' the rain for a while." Old Earl made a fortune, but he was the butt of every joke about that whole sleazy business.
 
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Les Schwab . . . I've seen their stores while traveling, but there are none in my part of the world. Even if there were, I would refuse to shop there, because the company name is just too similar to the Earl Scheib paint shops from more than 50 years ago. That company was the laughing stock of their own industry. "$29.95, any car, any day!" They'd hire a kid straight out of high school shop class, hand him a sheet of 200 grit sandpaper, and tell him to prep the car. The only tools the "paint master" had were a $3.00 brush and a gallon of Sherwin Williams. "What? You want that paint oven baked? Forgetaboutit. It'll air dry in about a week. Just keep it outa' the rain for a while." Old Earl made a fortune, but he was the butt every joke about that whole sleazy business.
Earl was a personal friend of my father. Along with willy shoemaker and Carol Shelby.

If you wanted a $29 paint job that's what you got. He had other pricier options if someone wished.

I have seen some decent paint jobs roll out of earls shops. It was up to the customer to decide what level of work they wanted.
 
I'm a 25-year customer of DT, and I've always been "relatively" pleased with the results of each visit. Yeah, I've had to return for a re-balance a few times, and on two different cars, raised h*ll because they damaged expensive, painted alloy rims. To their credit, though, they always repaired them.

This latest experience, though, began about two weeks ago. I've been running Pirelli Scorpion Verde Advantage II tires on my 2014 Buick Enclave, and totally loved them - smooth, responsive, great gas mileage, and they never failed to balance well. Noisy as h*ll, but great tires otherwise. Due to Covid, over the following 3-4 years I only put about 30K on them (I'm retired and have few occasions to drive long distances). They carried a 65K treadwear warranty, but they wore down to 4/32nds during that time. My DT Store Manager gave me a prorated mileage credit on 4 new Scorpion Advantage +3 tires, a newer version of my other Pirelli's. They were great, but only under 60mph. Above that, they vibrated the whole car. The same store rebalanced them twice, including road force balancing, without improvement. The store manager then installed a second set of the same tires. But, after the initial balance and one rebalance, the vibration was still there. Today he installed a set of Michelin Defender LTX tires on the car, but they vibrate just like the two sets of new Pirelli's. I'm at a loss, and so is the store manager. My original Pirelli's ran perfectly smooth the day DT replaced them. After that, it's been nothing but vibration.

Tomorrow, I'll be visiting a different nearby DT store. I called that store manager today and described the issue in detail. He offered to put the tires through their own inspection and balancing, so I will just have to go from there. My immediate suspicion is that the first store has either a balancing equipment problem, or a balancing personnel problem. At this point, it's impossible to determine which. I'll post back after this second shop does their thing with these Michelins.
I went through a similar issue with DT. A few years back, when I still had my Miata, I had to go back FIVE times. (The Miata is especially sensitive to minor imbalances, being such a light car.) Anyhow... the "kicker" to the whole story was that the first DT store had a machine that wasn't calibrated correctly. They really tried everything.
After the fourth attempt, I told them I would go to another store. Yup.... that did the trick. Soooooo... It's gotta be either a bad machine, bad technician, or...if you really unlucky, both!
 
Les Schwab . . . I've seen their stores while traveling, but there are none in my part of the world. Even if there were, I would refuse to shop there. The company name is just too similar to the Earl Scheib paint shops from more than 50 years ago. That company was the laughing stock of their own industry. "$29.95! Any Car, Any Day!" They'd hire a kid straight out of high school shop class, hand him a sheet of 200 grit sandpaper, and tell him to prep the car. The only tools the "paint master" had were a $3.00 brush and a gallon of Sherwin Williams. Earl wouldn't even give him masking tape. "H*ll no. That sh*t costs money. Just eyeball it!" "What? You want that paint oven baked? Trust me . . . it'll be okay. It'll air dry in about a week. Just keep it outa' the rain for a while." Old Earl made a fortune, but he was the butt of every joke about that whole sleazy business.
Just tell us how you really feel. :LOL:
 
I went through a similar issue with DT. A few years back, when I still had my Miata, I had to go back FIVE times. (The Miata is especially sensitive to minor imbalances, being such a light car.) Anyhow... the "kicker" to the whole story was that the first DT store had a machine that wasn't calibrated correctly. They really tried everything.
After the fourth attempt, I told them I would go to another store. Yup.... that did the trick. Soooooo... It's gotta be either a bad machine, bad technician, or...if you really unlucky, both!
Yeah, I'm about to test that theory. One of the things that pushed me to that decsion was when the original store manager said, "Ya know, we've had problems with some GM trucks (my Buick Enclave IS NOT a GM truck), After three sets of tires on one of them, the guy went to his dealer, who told him his transmission was bad." I simply responded "Oookay then." :rolleyes:
 
Les Schwab . . . I've seen their stores while traveling, but there are none in my part of the world. Even if there were, I would refuse to shop there. The company name is just too similar to the Earl Scheib paint shops from more than 50 years ago. That company was the laughing stock of their own industry. "$29.95! Any Car, Any Day!" They'd hire a kid straight out of high school shop class, hand him a sheet of 200 grit sandpaper, and tell him to prep the car. The only tools the "paint master" had were a $3.00 brush and a gallon of Sherwin Williams. Earl wouldn't even give him masking tape. "H*ll no. That sh*t costs money. Just eyeball it!" "What? You want that paint oven baked? Trust me . . . it'll be okay. It'll air dry in about a week. Just keep it outa' the rain for a while." Old Earl made a fortune, but he was the butt of every joke about that whole sleazy business.
Ahh, Earl Scheib, boy do I remember that sleazy outfit in San Diego in Mission Valley. I remember his commercials. “I’ll paint any car in any color…” then it was $49.95 and so forth. Of course, they would paint over road debris, flys, and anything else that was on your car. 🤣
 
Yeah, I'm about to test that theory. One of the things that pushed me to that decsion was when the original store manager said, "Ya know, we've had problems with some GM trucks (my Buick Enclave IS NOT a GM truck), After three sets of tires on one of them, the guy went to his dealer, who told him his transmission was bad." I simply responded "Oookay then." :rolleyes:
When I was in high school my dad had an ongoing problem with his Honda Accord. Smooth as can be at low speeds, idled fine, it was smooth on the highway, but around 30-45 mph it would start vibrating. Badly. Rattle the doors, windows, dash... everything. Power through up to about 50 mph or higher, and it smoothed right out.

It was the transmission.
 
I'm a 25-year customer of DT, and I've always been "relatively" pleased with the results of each visit. Yeah, I've had to return for a re-balance a few times, and on two different cars, raised h*ll because they damaged expensive, painted alloy rims. To their credit, though, they always repaired them.

This latest experience, though, began about two weeks ago. I've been running Pirelli Scorpion Verde Advantage II tires on my 2014 Buick Enclave, and totally loved them - smooth, responsive, great gas mileage, and they never failed to balance well. Noisy as h*ll, but great tires otherwise. Due to Covid, over the following 3-4 years I only put about 30K on them (I'm retired and have few occasions to drive long distances). They carried a 65K treadwear warranty, but they wore down to 4/32nds during that time. My DT Store Manager gave me a prorated mileage credit on 4 new Scorpion Advantage +3 tires, a newer version of my other Pirelli's. They were great, but only under 60mph. Above that, they vibrated the whole car. The same store rebalanced them twice, including road force balancing, without improvement. The store manager then installed a second set of the same tires. But, after the initial balance and one rebalance, the vibration was still there. Today he installed a set of Michelin Defender LTX tires on the car, but they vibrate just like the two sets of new Pirelli's. I'm at a loss, and so is the store manager. My original Pirelli's ran perfectly smooth the day DT replaced them. After that, it's been nothing but vibration.

Tomorrow, I'll be visiting a different nearby DT store. I called that store manager today and described the issue in detail. He offered to put the tires through their own inspection and balancing, so I will just have to go from there. My immediate suspicion is that the first store has either a balancing equipment problem, or a balancing personnel problem. At this point, it's impossible to determine which. I'll post back after this second shop does their thing with these Michelins.
As Jack Benny always said . . . WELL!!

Went to the new DT shop this morning. Three tires required an additional 1/2 to 3/4 ounces of weight. The fourth one asked for a whopping 2.5 ounces!! Afterward, I drove the car 60 miles round trip at mostly 75mph on excellent freeway surfaces. The vibration was mostly gone, but there was still a little bit at 70-80mph. This second store manager asked me to report back with the results, which I did. We talked about it and agreed that I would drive for a week hoping the tires settle completely into the rims, then re-evaluate. That's where things now stand. I have to say that both store managers seem do be trying their d*mndest to find a solution to the vibration issue. I couldn't ask for more support than they're already providing.
 
As Jack Benny always said . . . WELL!!

Went to the new DT shop this morning. Three tires required an additional 1/2 to 3/4 ounces of weight. The fourth one asked for a whopping 2.5 ounces!! Afterward, I drove the car 60 miles round trip at mostly 75mph on excellent freeway surfaces. The vibration was mostly gone, but there was still a little bit at 70-80mph. This second store manager asked me to report back with the results, which I did. We talked about it and agreed that I would drive for a week hoping the tires settle completely into the rims, then re-evaluate. That's where things now stand. I have to say that both store managers seem do be trying their d*mndest to find a solution to the vibration issue. I couldn't ask for more support than they're already providing.
I'm a loyal DT customer myself. They do a great job. At this point, it could be the tires as I've learned some brands are just better than others when it comes to this issue. I went with Michelin tires on my Buick and they are like glass. Hope you get it sorted-out!
 
As Jack Benny always said . . . WELL!!

Went to the new DT shop this morning. Three tires required an additional 1/2 to 3/4 ounces of weight. The fourth one asked for a whopping 2.5 ounces!! Afterward, I drove the car 60 miles round trip at mostly 75mph on excellent freeway surfaces. The vibration was mostly gone, but there was still a little bit at 70-80mph. ......
what were the road force numbers?
 
Are any of you old enough to remember the old Hunter spin balancers? Those things were cool. An experienced tire person could get your wheel assembly nearly perfect. Those things were electric powered and the wheel assembly was balanced on the vehicle. They could get the wheel assembly up to a pretty high speed.

There is a place in Louisville... Tonys Brake and Alignment that still does that....and also shaves tires too...
 
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