[rant=on]

So I get home to find my brand new Yokohama A032R race tires have arrived thanks to Tire Rack. I load them in my truck along with my Rota Torques with worn out Pilot Sport Cups on them and head down to the Orangevale America's Tires.

me: "Hi, I'm here to get some tires mounted and balanced."
dude: "Let's see what you've got..."

me: "I need the A032R's mounted onto these wheels and balanced."
dude: "Where did you get these tires?"
me: "Tire Rack" (it's stamped on the outside of the tire as "Heat Cycled by Tire Rack"
dude: "Well, its' not going to be cheap."
me: "How so? Last time I had this done it was less than $60"
dude: "Well, there's a lot of risk for me to do this work. What happens if I damage your wheel. I would have to pay to replace it."
me: "I see. What would have happened if I bought the tires here?"
dude: "Mounting and balancing would have been free."
me: "You're assuming the same risk. You still have to mess with my wheels and I guarantee you don't have the profit in your tires to cover even one of these wheels."
dude: "That's different though."
me: "Huh?"
dude: "$150 for mounting and balancing"



dude: "You should have bought the tires here."
me: "You don;t sell A032R's."
dude: "I could have got them for you."
me: "Could you have had them shaved to 4/32" and heat cycled?"
dude: "No."
me:
dude: "You should have bought the tires here then mounting and balancing would be free. Of course I can't touch Tire Rack's pricing."
me: "I thought America's Tires matched Tire Rack's pricing."
dude: "Do you want them mounted or not?"
me: "See ya."

They don't realize just how much business they just lost. My truck needs new tires and I will be damned if I buy them there. Previously I had bought all of my tires from those bozos (with the exception of race tires which they don't even carry).

Ugh.

[rant=off]

Anyone know a good, relatively inexpensive place to get tires mounted and balanced? The other shops in town are $75-$100.

 

I feel your pain man... it seems like it all comes down to who you end up talking to at shops like that. If they're an asshat, you get nowhere... if they're cool, you're golden.

Up here in Reno, all our tire hookups have slowly been bleeding away... we used to have place that did $8/per M&B, but they decided to try and rape my roommate on a brake job (long story) so I won't bring my business to 'em (and AFAIK they've since gone outta business). We used to have a Discount Tire Direct warehouse here in Reno, and they've moved to Vegas, so that's yet another hookup gone. TireRack's got a warehouse here, but they don't mount and balance unless you buy rims and tires as a package.

So, it seems like the best we got is a BigO that charges $92 for 4 tires M&B after tax and fees. With prices like that, I could buy my own mounter and balancer and charge my friends $10/tire and have the equipment paid off in a year considering the number of tire swaps we all do each season.

 

dude, that sucks.

I think an SRIC peep works for a tire place.

Batto. IIRC...

 

Yeah, they tried to charge me $30 a tire last time I wanted to mount my Toyos.

SS needs to start a tire mounting service.

 

A: That sucks....

B: It is funny they should mention how if they damage your wheel they will have to pay for it. I had America's Tire doing one of my free rotations (I purchased my tires there) and they set one of my rims face down on shop floor scratching the hell out of it. When I drove back 5 minutes after getting home they claimed I hit a curb and that they aren't responsible for it because I couldn't prove they did it...

as a fun side not I just got my WRX out of the paint shop today only to find a new and Humoungous door ding in it. Again, they don't think it happened while at their shop so time for a call to the dent wizard.

 

Pops-A-Dent.

 

Do you have one of those? does it work?

 

Like Magic!!

 

Sure it works. If you want two dents to match your one.

 

Tripletts ****

 

Maybe if I ding it enough it will fly farther and faster, you know? Dimple it like a golf ball?

 

What you need is speed holes.

 

What are you waiting for? I'll give you $11 per tire.

 

put a dimple on each side like it's smiling.

 

I wish I could find a cheap place. I had to spend $80 last time I needed it done.
I got really spoiled by my Costco hookup, I think I counted about 40 sets of tires done in all.