Going rate for tire mount/balance

Just got my R1Rs off the UPS truck. Tried taking them to our local BJs and they refused to mount tires that weren't bought at BJs, which was pretty frustrating.

I think the last time I did this with the local Goodyear/Firestone store they charged me over $100 for mounting/balancing, and that sounds really high so I don't want to repeat that.

What's the going rate for mounting/balancing nowadays, and what are the recommended chain stores for that sort of thing?

Walmart (unless you are worried about them beating the crap out of your rims). I can get old tires uninstalled, new tires mounted and balanced for $50. Anywhere else would be $120.

I would try and find a recommended tire installer from the folks where you got the tires. All else, find the local shop that does race alignments. Its time to build some local relationships. You might consider:
1. Buying your DD tires from whatever shop eventually does the race tires (what i did)
2. Getting the local race shop to align your car after they mounted the race tires. (what other people have done)
3. Find a local shop and be a 1 time tire mount customer for whatever they charge and be in a similar spot the next time you order race tires.
4. Got to a track day where the hoosier/goodyear/michelin tire mounting guys are, have them mount it (what i have done as a crew member)

Seems like around 20-25 per wheel around here including the disposal fees and other crap fees. I can totally see where it could go over $100, some places even charge more depending on the size/profile.

This is one area where it pays to shop around and talk to people. There are still some hidden gems but you gotta dig.

I'm paying $20 for a set of 4, but I am also mounting and balancing them myself.

Sucks that BJs would not mount them for you. Have you gone looking for a tirerack recommended installer?

SupraWes wrote: Seems like around 20-25 per wheel around here including the disposal fees and other crap fees. I can totally see where it could go over $100, some places even charge more depending on the size/profile. This is one area where it pays to shop around and talk to people. There are still some hidden gems but you gotta dig.

This. I have done this several times each with 2 different local shops. One of those shops now offers to get whatever tires I want through Tire Rack at the same shipped cost I would pay + $50 to mount and spin balance all 4 tires.

I have a small local shop that does mine, $12.50 a wheel mounted and balanced for 18"s, walmart, which is closer to me, doesn't do anything over 16".

Tuffy's mounted and balanced mine for $15 a wheel (15").

There is a reason I go out of my way to get all my local tire needs taken care of by radial tire when I can.

Not only do they sponsor the local SCCA autox series but they take good care of repeat customers.

Saturday of Memorial Day weekend I drove my Miata to a local shop, Monro Muffler. On the Miata was Panasports with worn Bridgestones. Along with me I brought 4 factory Miata rims with Kuhmos mounted. I left the car and the rims so the shop could take their time or put time sensative projects ahead of me. What I wanted was Kuhmos to Panasports, Bridgestones disposed. Done for $73.06 with tax included.
For about $18 per corner I got a two tires unmounted, one re-mounted and balanced. I thought it was a good price.

My local shop charged $120.oo which included $20.oo for old tire disposal.

Around here it seems to be $80-120 for a set of 4.

But one of the local places sells Falkens at such a good price (and of course include M&B) that its the same or a bit more expensive to get online then take in.

But that only seems to ring true for Falkens, at this one shop, otherwise, it's always been significantly cheaper to get online.

Thankfully I'm going to run FK-452s on the E30.

these prices sound very high to me.... but it's been quite a while sence i've done anything with tires...

in panama city I used a used tire guy... he rarely was busy (i made sure to go at off peak times lol)... i'd typically buy the tire from walmart or tirerack (depending on what car it was... I gave up on used tires after a few to many failures)... he was awesome... he was cheap and i was in and out quickly... the walmarts price wasn't bad but they always had a 2+ hr wait lol...

when I moved to the pensacola area I had ordered a set of tires from tirerack and I jacked the car up and pulled the wheels and then ran the tires and wheels down to walmart and had the tires swapped/balanced/disposal for about $15 as recall (2 of em) so cheap and no worries about them messing something up/dropping it off the lift

We charge $100 for a set of four dismount, mount, balance, and dispose. That's a tad on the high side, but that's because we have to charge the same fee for everything from Spec Miata tires to 911 Cup Michelin slicks.

We charge a c-note for a winter/summer tire changeover, more if the wheels are goofy, the tires are lower than 50 series, it needs special weights, or the owner is a knob.

I realize Md is too far away for the following to be of any benefit but ....

I have a local shop that the owner tells me to take care of the tire changer... he's being paid by the hr so the $20 - $40 I hand him is his alone (depends on how many and how hard to do)

I also get my alignments there, buy my DD tires there ( with never a squawk about price) and send as many buyers to him as I can...

it helps that the pres of our local a-x club is the alignment guy

Take them to a local used tire shop that has a no touch mounting machine.If you don't know what that is its a machine that does not touch the wheel.They will charge 5-10 bucks and that includes speed bal. I have all my race car tires done there(for the past 3 years) and never a issue.They do just as good as the high price stores.

$1.50 per tire disposal fee, $20 for all four balanced, mount is another $20 i believe. valve stems are $2 each. walmart prices off the top of my head (sad that I can't remember the prices where I work.
oh and now that walmart is starting to sell chrome wheels and crap like that, we're getting new machines with decent plastic guards to prevent scratching wheels. The people at your walmart are idiots anyway if they cant do it without scratching your wheels (unless you're running like some 35 profile tires or something ridiculously tight like that)

$15 a corner at my local shop. There is a local tire superstore that does it free with tire purchase.

Good to know the going rates. Just got my Star-Specs in the mail today

moxnix wrote: There is a reason I go out of my way to get all my local tire needs taken care of by radial tire when I can. Not only do they sponsor the local SCCA autox series but they take good care of repeat customers.

Radial Tire was the first place I called when I was given permission to get R1Rs, but Paul there said he had none and didn't think he could get his hands on some for a while. He's the one who suggested I go through Treadzone.com if I needed them sooner rather than later.

We've got seven cars here with at least two more sets of tires on the radar for the near future purchases (MSM and MGB) and I'll be giving Radial Tire a call for those when the time comes, just to make up for this. Just wish they were a little closer to home.

FWIW I got the tires mounted tonight by Pep Boys for $42, and I took the old tires home with me (someone might be able to get some use out of the old RE01Rs, if you think you do, speak up). Wasn't concerned much with how the wheels might get treated since they were kinda ugly to begin with. I'm more curious about whether they got the balance close to right.

I had my slicks mounted at walmart, but they made me sign a waiver because they didn't have enough tread depth to be street legal.

Anytime you pay for people's service and expertise, you usually get what you pay for.

The good shops will charge $25 a wheel minimum and will have a higher end tire mounting machine and won't totally screw up your nice looking wheels mounting and balancing the tire.

The lesser shops will scratch up the wheel, mount the tires incorrectly sometimes (think directional tires), half ass the balancing and hammer on the cheap lead weights instead of using the glue on weights.

corytate wrote: (unless you're running like some 35 profile tires or something ridiculously tight like that)

I'm not exaggerating when I say at least half of the tires that come through our door are /35 or /30. OEM Porsche sizes, or 275/35/18 on BMWs.