gerry100

Went to get a quote on new Dunlop SP8000 rears for my '86, from my favorite local low cost tire guy-

As expected price per tire was around $105 but-

He wanted $40/per to mount and balance.

Why- he only uses a new robotic space age mounting and balancing machine(expensive I'm sure)on tires like this due to difficulty of mounting this type of tire and wheel damage claims from doing it the old way.

( a few years ago I had the same shop mount 40series/17" tires on my "vette" the old way,the poor tire tech earned his money but got it done w no problem)

Has anybody else heard of this on the low profile?wide rubber? Is this necessary/advisable for the Fuchs?

Thanks as always.

Dan Owens

I have a set on my '84 Targa. The cost of the tire is right but the mount and balance seems quite expensive. There isn't really anything different about this tire over any other tire in the same range that would require "special" service over a proper mount and balance.

Dan O

gerry100

well, the side walls are very short and stiff and dificult to work by hand plus they often mount on expensive wheels.( like my Fuchs)

These are probably driving the shop owner's business reasoning. Whether this holds up to the competition, we will see.

I'll check around.

Targamike

I just bought four new 17" tires through Tirerack and had a local shop mount/balance them. They cahrged me $15/ea. I did call around and got different quotes. One shop said they would only do it on an actual time-used basis because the 17" tires are tough to mount. The shop I brought them to had it done pretty quickly. Incidentally, the shop I used does mostly truck tires (tractor trailer/heavy equipment) They didn't seem to think 17" was tough! BTW, Tirerack was excellent to deal with.

steve911

I bought my tires at tirerack and had them mounted and balanced at a local shop that did a lot of porsche racing set ups and got great reviews - ran me $22/tire to mount & balance.

The $40/wheel sounds high, but ask yourself whether saving $60 - $80 is worth your Fuchs. Wherever you have them done, make sure they have experience with fuchs wheels - you don't want to have them learning at your expense.

Tom

I guess I have to tell my Dunlop guy he doesn't charge enough!! <img src="graemlins/roflmao.gif" border="0" alt="[hiha]" /> I got mine mounted (the "old" way) for $6-8.00/tire. 205/55-16 225/50-16 on 7+8 flat disc's. Didn't seem to have any trouble and I got to help. <img src="graemlins/burnout.gif" border="0" alt="[burnout]" />

Chris Martin

$40/per sounds pricey, but if they do good work, and stand behind the balance job it might be worth it. Just a heads up, a friend mounted the 17" 'ers on my cup wheels and had to manually balance the rears. He said becasue of the offset of the rear wheel it wouldnt fit on his balance machine. If he buys the new machine I am sure my $10/wheel mounting price will go up!

dimitri_P

It's sounds like the "local low cost tire place" is attempting to stay competitive on the tires by charging more for the mount and balance.

It boils down to whether or not you "like" the place.
Sometimes a place we like to spend money on is hard to find and once you do, you are better off paying the higher price if the service and keeping the place in business is worth it