They don’t do this at Discount tire. I have watched them at several locations. They never break a bead and shift a tire on a wheel to lower road force. My last mount job they did tell me my road force numbers after the wheels were on the cat and they were quite high (20+) mbut they made no effort to lower them. They have the equipment…they don’t have the time or desire.
This has been my impression as well; they are just too busy. When they say they will force match if it's "too high", they can't provide a threshold. LT tires may be a bit higher I understand. I talked to another gentleman at a different DT, and his thoughts were that we like it to be under 35 for an LT tire.
Yes, like I said - as long as it doesn't exceed there max they stop.
I had some General's that went back on warranty (long story). P265/75R16. The ones that went back were 40+
Completely understandable, that would sour me as well! I find vibration on the highway to be one of the most annoying things; main wants these days are quiet and comfortable.
Same issue on my 2000 Deville. The good enough road force balance at Discount Tire still had a slight shake at 70mph plus. Most shops and probably customers dont care too much about perfection.
“their maximum” is WAY ABOVE what Hunter recommends for road force. On my low profile high performance tires … above 20 is unacceptable. Discount tire would not break the bead and shift the tire. I went to a wheel repair shop that DID measure the wheel, break the bead and move the tire as the machine indicates…all 4 now below 10 and SMOOTH.
Until Discount showed up there were no hunter machines here at all. I called all around. I would be happy to pay shop time for a proper balance.
$80 is less than we got for a regular spin balance when I was at a dealership and that was 12 years ago. When we road forced with the intention of matching the tires and moving them on rims, we made the customer aware that was above and beyond a regular spin balance. We typically got 2 hours of labor approved. If road forces were fine, we only charged them regular balance. Pretty sure a regular balance (and rotate if needed) was about $120, road forced and matching the tires was billed at 2 hours and back then we were like $125 an hour…can’t imagine what they’re at now.
Savings is not pulling the old weights off to throw away until the balancer tells you it’s out of balance. Most techs pull weights immediately as almost any wheel/tire is out of balance. If you didn’t pull them first, then you’re spinning it 3 times. If you pull the old weights first, you’ll only have to spin twice. When you’re probably only making 0.8 hours or so to rotate and balance tires, you’re going to go as quick as you can and not make that third spin if you can help it.
That's why I always pull all weights before I get new tires.
Yes, the hunter machine will print out the specs. IF the shop puts paper in it.
