Joel 67

I recently bought a set of snow tires for my CTT with 21" wheels on the internet and took them to my local Discount Tire for installation and balancing. The price for 4 tires was in the neighborhood of $175, which I found absurd. They charged me $15 for removal and another $15 for installation, plus something for balancing.

I guess I'll call around when it's time to install the summers, but I'm fairly sure NTB only charged me like 20 per corner last time. What do you normally pay for this service?

garrett376

Go to the dealer if you want to feel good about your cost: they'll only charge a minimum of 3 hours of labor at just $160/hr...

In the long run it's way cheaper to buy these wheels, plus eBay TPMS sensors, and have them ready to go without needing to mount/dismount:

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-alzor-pa...er/620-17~alz/

Joel 67

You are doubtless right on that, wish I'd have seen these sooner!

g8tor20

Tire Kingdom just charged me about $120 to swap out 4 tires (295/35/21) yesterday which I purchased online and shipped to them.

It was like $18 per tire plus tax for mounting / balancing
Then like $8 plus tax for each TPMS
Then $2 plus tax for disposal of old tire

So total came to about $120 for the swap

BenCD

I'm lucky as I live near Lawrence MA-one of the poorest cities in the country. There are LOTS of places, old garages and gas stations that no longer sell fuel(s) and have been bought and turned into repair shops/tire shops.

I had four tires mounted and balanced for $60. I tipped the guys $20 and they made sure that the dots that Pirelli puts on the tires that tells the installer to line them up with the valve stem were all lined up and they didn't put a scratch in any of the wheels.

I won't go to any big place(anymore). I'll buy the tires and bring them to the local hispanic tire shop.

slavie

I'll add my 2c.
Local dealer in NY charged me $45 per wheel to balance 21" tires, and I think the price for installation+balance was $60 per tire. This was AFTER a local shop had installed the tires (at half the cost, or course) and wheels progressively developed vibration at highway speeds to the point that the steering wheel would vibrate at anything above 65mph with only 2k mi on the tires. So I ended up going to the dealer to have the tires balanced on a road-force balancer - the tires ended up with almost half as much weights and vibration issues resolved.

Moral of the story: for any wheel 20 in and above, I'd highly recommend a shop with road force balancing machine. Does not have to be the dealer, but very few shops outside dealers have them. You may get lucky and get your wheels balanced well on a regular machine, but I ended up being the poor man that paid twice.

deilenberger

Even the road-force balancer isn't that useful if the person using it doesn't actually try to optimize the tire/rim positions. Most Porsche rims aren't bent enough to be of any use in locating the heavy point on the tire at the bend (which is what road-force does - simplified..)

I have 21: Nokia summer tires (rarity) - and I had them mounted at Discount Tire, and they tried balancing them twice - neither was successful. I took them to another shop I'd used for years who has the latest Hunter Road-Force machine. Still out of balance > 70MPH. Finally had Porsche do it - I believe they charged $35/tire. PERFECTION (at least up to 100MPH, which is as fast as I've gone with them on..) Since then - I just go to the dealer. They're happy to do them, and they have experience balancing very wide large tires day in and day out.

Just FWIW - I wasted about $120 per wheel trying to get them balanced at multiple other places. The $35/wheel from the dealer was a bargain.

MJG911

having the tires swapped out on my new GT3 when it arrives. Will let you know the cost at the dealership I am buying it from.

AO

ECS tuning had a sale on 19" Alzor wheels a couple years ago. $36/set of 4! Not a TYPO. Shipping was $50! LOL! They are now shod with a set of dedicated CTT Winter tires!

9000RPM

I bought my tires online from Discount Tires Direct and shipped to my house. Brought them to an independent shop and got it mounted/balanced for total of $88. $80 if I'd paid cash.

garrett376

That place needs a new credit card processing company.

AO: that is an incredible deal.

Joel 67

Guessing that's more about not reporting the income than the CC processing fees, but either way it's a good deal!

MJG911

they got me for $465 to swap the tires on my new GT3!!!!! Fawk. I was hoping they would throw it in for free with the sale, but nope. They did give me a $45 PCA discount though.

jbse39

MJG911