Rebalancing

[jake75]

Goodyear dealer has a special - $24 for rotation and balancing. Is rebalancing a waste of money?

[binary]

Depends on your car. If your tires are out of balance after you've properly inflated them - heck yeah get them balanced. Good price too.I'd say the rotation is best for your tires - but the balancing couldn't hurt.

[jake75]

Is it obvious when your tires are out of balance?

[zionzr2]

not always!!! Ballance issuses usually are noticed as a vibration felt that increases or gets worse the faster you travel sometimes not felt till you exceed 70mph. Sometimes the vibration is only noticed coming through the steeringwheel.I will typically get mine ballanced once a year usually in the early spring.Walmarts prices are really good for such things. hope this helps

[Mavrik]

for people who switch summer to winter tires. I reccommend getting them balanced every time the set is changed.

[Thewhite]

if you have directionnal tires, you won't need rebalancing each time you rotate, except when you will change side (once a year at least), cause you will have to remove the tires from the rims...

[zionzr2]

Quote, originally posted by Thewhite »if you have directionnal tires, you won't need rebalancing each time you rotate, except when you will change side (once a year at least), cause you will have to remove the tires from the rims...directional tires do NOT change sides of the vehicle!!! As for our vibes the OM states the rotation does not change sides even if you do not have a direcectional tire. Of course this debate has already been hashed out in another thread! but I'm just stating what the mannual states!

[Thewhite]

I won't start the debate again (didn't know about it), just saying what my father told me once, and I trust his advice: he's the rep of Toyo Canada for Montreal and western Quebec...

[DavidPIL]

HI,The place that installed my Continental ExtremeContact tires said I only needed to have the wheels balanced every other rotation. Knowing how tough these tires are to balance, I opted to have them balanced at every rotation. For a little more money, I think it's just a good thing to do. My tires currently have 44,000 miles on em and last check, the tire guy said they were wearing fine and should last another 7 - 10,000 before I need to replace em.Now, I think what TheWhite is talking about is remounting the tires on the rims so that they still spin the "correct" direction but are placed on the other side. With the way the camber is set with these cars, this does help spread the wear more evenly otherwise the inside of the tread will wear more than the out.I've had this done twice, flipping on the rims, and both places (A National Chain and a well respected local alignment shop) both agreed it to be a good thing... and my tires, though my first flip on the wheels were slightly more worn on the inside, are now wearing more evenly.Dave

[jake75]

For someone like me who drives 8,000 miles a years I suspect that the cost of actually "demouting" and "remounting" these original equipment Conti tires are not worth it. I was already told they are "cupped" which may explain why them seem to me to be noisy. Better off saving my $$ for new tires. My initial question was really just whether rebalancing was a waste of money - whether tires get out of balance over time. [I am savy enough to understand that if you remount you'd have to rebalance."]

[DavidPIL]

Jake,My comments about flipping were more to zionzr2 and thewhite's discussion, but anyway, you wouldn't have to do that once a year. You could easliy do one regular rotation Front to Back/Back to Front then check the wear. If they're fine, don't worry about it. You tires will last longer if you eventually do the flip with directionals.As for Balancing. Sometimes the clip on weights fall off and you'll never know it unless you feel some wobble in the wheel or in the seat. I don't think it would be extremely noticable. Other things could cause a slight out of balance with the tires as well. Since I drive 25,000+ miles a year, I think the added cost is worth possibly extending the life of the tires. @ 8,000 miles per year, you could still balance them every time since it would only be done basically once a year. No major expense there. $24 for both rotaion and balance is less than what I would pay for a regular rotation. Well worth the money.Dave

[Thewhite]

Quote, originally posted by DavidPIL »Now, I think what TheWhite is talking about is remounting the tires on the rims so that they still spin the "correct" direction but are placed on the other side.ya you're right. I'm laughing so loud when I see a Joe Civic with his rims and tires put on the wrong side...