[Allworth]

I am thinking of going to a small local garage to fit the four new tires that I bought on eBay in pairs for a good price. They are nothing fancy, just mid-budget tires. The bigger chains seem to be asking too many questions, such as whether the insurer is aware of a tire change, and more of this sort of nonsense. Also, the fact that I bring my own tires feels like I am robbing them!

So, my question is about a wheel balancing machine. Is this machine really affordable that most local garage, even with a relatively little turnover, can afford to have for a bang-on tire balance?
And the stories about weights flying away after a few hundreds miles...

[Ennoch]

If you're doing enough tyres then the balancing machines will pay for themselves reasonably quickly. They're pretty simple bits of kit and there's no real groundbreaking (or expensive) tech in them. I'd say it's more down to the person using them than it is the machine; if a guy knows what he's doing then he'd be able to do a good job even with something old and basic, and a local garage is a lot more likely to have someone like that in their employ than a big chain place. As to weights, that's down to the quality they use, and my experience is that those can be very variable. There's a powder coater near me who's very active on social media who uses the cheapest, shittest weights you've ever come across. 2/3's of them had fallen off in the back of the car by the time I got home with them in the boot! I ended up taking them to my local guy who for a bottle of wine sorted them out in fifteen minutes for me as it was easier than going back to the powdercoaters and getting the same crappy weights applied.

Basically don't worry, if it's a machine that goes round then it'll likely be fine. Some machines might be better if a wheel or tyre has a lot of 3d shake to them through bends/kinks in the mould etc, but in reality it won't be a night and day difference, just a little less wobbly. That's in the extreme though, I've never had a problem with any cheap machine, just crap fitters.

[un1eash]

Id be more worried about potential damage to your wheels, used incorrectly the tyre fitted can easily dent or scratch your wheels.

[Pentland]

Wheel balancing machines aren’t expensive. You can get them for less than a grand.
However, I imagine there’s probably some liability thing with fitting tyres they didn’t supply. More so with used tyres but new, with the stickers on dunno.

[agentorange]

Originally Posted by Allworth

The bigger chains seem to be asking too many questions, such as whether the insurer is aware of a tire change, and more of this sort of nonsense.

Who died so they got appointed your local H&S representative?

[gac]

Originally Posted by Allworth

The bigger chains seem to be asking too many questions, such as whether the insurer is aware of a tire change, and more of this sort of nonsense. Also, the fact that I bring my own tires feels like I am robbing them!

This just sounds like their way of politely telling you to piss off, IMO. With the prices a lot of garages charge for even budget crap, I think it's pretty much a given that their profit comes from the markup on tyres, not necessarily the fitting costs, so if you're going to just take in four you've bought off Camskill you kind of are robbing them. If I go to Blackcircles I can buy a front Uniroyal Rainsport 5 for my 335d for £161 fully fitted. Kwik-fit is £159.99. That's a £115 tyre from Camskill. If we assume £15 for fitting (which I think is what I last paid) then there's £30 profit per tyre staying in your pocket (and that's assuming that they don't actually buy in from the trade even cheaper than the public can buy from Camskill).

[TodmordenLad]

My local indies will only fit tyres which they've supplied themselves. They changed their approach about five years ago.

[boba-fett]

Garages are getting frosty fitting tyres you bring to them.

For £15 a tyre its just not worth the risk and damage so I see there point.

As stated already my concern with greasy fingers down the road is the damage they can do to a wheel and whether they truly zero the wheel balance. I am fussy about this because I hate the slightest feedback in the steering wheel caused by a Wheel that is still 5g out.

[Allworth]

Originally Posted by Ennoch

If you're doing enough tyres then the balancing machines will pay for themselves reasonably quickly. They're pretty simple bits of kit and there's no real groundbreaking (or expensive) tech in them. I'd say it's more down to the person using them than it is the machine; if a guy knows what he's doing then he'd be able to do a good job even with something old and basic, and a local garage is a lot more likely to have someone like that in their employ than a big chain place. As to weights, that's down to the quality they use, and my experience is that those can be very variable. There's a powder coater near me who's very active on social media who uses the cheapest, shittest weights you've ever come across. 2/3's of them had fallen off in the back of the car by the time I got home with them in the boot! I ended up taking them to my local guy who for a bottle of wine sorted them out in fifteen minutes for me as it was easier than going back to the powdercoaters and getting the same crappy weights applied.

Basically don't worry, if it's a machine that goes round then it'll likely be fine. Some machines might be better if a wheel or tyre has a lot of 3d shake to them through bends/kinks in the mould etc, but in reality it won't be a night and day difference, just a little less wobbly. That's in the extreme though, I've never had a problem with any cheap machine, just crap fitters.

Finding a tyre fitter is quite simple - just look for the dirtiest one in the area. A loong time ago, I observed someone gluing weights onto a tire, only to remove them after another spin and replace them with different weights in different positions blaming the machine. I still have that in mind when going to fit tyres, time to give them another chance.

[Allworth]

Originally Posted by boba-fett

Garages are getting frosty fitting tyres you bring to them.

For £15 a tyre its just not worth the risk and damage so I see there point.

As stated already my concern with greasy fingers down the road is the damage they can do to a wheel and whether they truly zero the wheel balance. I am fussy about this because I hate the slightest feedback in the steering wheel caused by a Wheel that is still 5g out.

There is always some amount of damage when fitting tyres. At this point I am not bothered if it is something that is impossible to notice unless looking at a naked disc. Ride quality is paramount.

[TurboWeasel]

Originally Posted by boba-fett

Garages are getting frosty fitting tyres you bring to them.

They give you the cold shoulder for Black Circles appointments as well

I've noticed the list of participating tyre fitters has reduced drastically in my area over the last year or two.

If local tyre shops were more reasonable with their pricing, we wouldn't need to use online suppliers. No one wants to pay top dollar for tyres any more than they want to pay through the nose for fuel. Plus you have to ring them up, listen to the teeth sucking, "Oh we can't get those in that size" blah blah. It's a faff.

My local Kwik Fit isn't far off Blackcircles pricing now, so I might just use them going forward and avoid all the grumpiness.

[MY340i]

my local one does it £10 a corner. can't complain.