How much do you pay to get tires mounted?

25$ per tire.

Toyman01 + Sized and said:

wvumtnbkr said:

Toyman01 + Sized and said:

Doing it at home. Definitely worth it. 

You around tomorrow?  I'll pay you to put on /help me put on 245 15 on 10 inch wide wheels.

 

Seven too fore 858 o67 fiver.

Are you gonna be at cmp for champcar this weekend?

 

Tied up tomorrow afternoon but Thursday would work. I'll shoot you a text tomorrow afternoon, or if I forget, hit me up at Ate 4 Tree, Fo Fo 2 Fo 7 3 six. 

 

Thanks bud!  Needed to get them done today.

36$ for the pair with new valve stems from discount tire 

In reply to wvumtnbkr :

Sorry about that. Save my number and hit me up next time. 

I just went through this and ended up buying a used in great condition Hunter tire machine and a Greg smith WB11 wheel balancer.  I have 9 cars one of which is a V8 miata that goes through rear tires and another that is a spec miata that goes through all four.  But the biggest reason was not having to deal with my local tire store d-bags any more.  It seemed like lately there was always a fee, prices kept going up or they couldn't mount a tire because the rim was .5" smaller in width then recommended in the their system.  The final straw was when the guy told me that the small nail in the CENTER of my tire might have went through the side wall and if he removed the tire to check it, he would not be able to reinstall it - but could sell me a new tire.

It was the only car thing that I had to rely on someone else to do for me because I didn't have the tools.

Bought my own equipment.  Its worth it but not because of the money you save (mine equals about 120 tires to break even...) rather it is the time saved , especially when dealing with old,  classic and race cars.  Switching tires, installing old ones for body work reference, ETC.  That savings I think brought the break even down to about 40 tires. 

My machine is an older Hofmann unit, bought used. There's no second or third arm, so any tire less than 40 or 45 sidewall is questionable as to whether or not I can actually do it. That's fine though, because I mostly play with old cars.

What's really nice is I no longer mess with rope plugs, I use plug-patches instead. Not a lot more money, and they hold up remarkably well.

The guy on US1 in New Smyrna Beach south of Canal St. Does it for around $15 but the tire prices are great. I got a set of Conti for my Volvo XC-70 dirt cheep. Nice people. They replaced a valve stem on a tire they didn't sell for FREE. Where do you gt that!

I had a set replaced last fall on the BMW in Nags Head NC and I balked at the price. I think it was $130 for all four. I asked if they could mount my tires and he gave me one price and then asked if I wanted them balanced too and quoted $130. Sheesh. I've got a local guy who'll do much cheaper but he said his machine might scratch up my aluminum wheels and he didn't want to take the risk.

Floor space can be an issue. I like cars in my floor space so the rimclamp and balancer go up in the loft.  I have enough vehicles that it makes sense to do it myself.    With the big tire machines upstairs i still have room for all the cars, trans jack, and engine hoist on the floor.

In reply to Toyman01 + Sized and :

No problem!  Thanks for responding!

I saw your resp9nse on this thread and remembered you were close so I figured I'd give it a shot!

On topic...  discount tire was awesome.  Cheap ($18 per tire with valve stem).   They also have a cool email system that let's you know when it is done.

$50 per wheel at a local private shop - not a chain.  Expertly done.  No scratches.  Great high speed balance.  Replace the TPMS sensor only when needed. 

I sourced used Chinesium units on Craigslist & FB Marketplace within the last year: an old Eagle TC-950 tire changer for $250, and 5-yr old Atlas WB11 balancer for $450 that included motorcycle wheel adapters. The tire changer had a massive air leak, and his wife "demanded" he sell it to regain garage space for her new SUV -- so I was able to talk him down from $700! I've become VERY popular with my Lemons teammates... but my buddies bring treats, replenish supplies (wheel weights, tire valves, etc.), and occasionally buy me stuff to feed my toolwhore addiction.

I paid $35 per tire last month at a chain store. I had a guy near my old house that would do them for $20 and I would give $100. He was great, I'd drop them off and a day or two later he would have them done. no surprises, no extra fees, just a good job. I have a friend that has a tire machine but I don't use it often enough to be efficient so it's cheaper to pay.

I don't know why I forgot to mention this but my local Llantara will do all four for $60.

I certainly want my own equipment - I had found a nice tire shop out in Seattle area that did all my race tires, car tires, trailer tires, etc - mount and balance $20 or less each tire.

Moved back to MI and didnt have a source - our air compressor guy at work says he's part time at a tire shop, just mention my name & they'll take care of you.  took 4 brand new 15" race tires and 15" rims over there - took forever (like 2 hours in an empty shop) and charged me $200(!) bucks.  "since you know so&so, you got a deal, its usually way more..."
 

uh no thanks, I got 7 sets of other tires I'll take elsewhere.

Can the chinese tire machines do 20" 35 series tires?

In reply to Kendall_Jones :

They should but it will be a tight squeeze between the arm and the wheel. I do 35s on 18 x 9.5 wheels fairly often for the G35 and usually just push the first bead on because it's easier than fighting the tire between the arm and wheel.  

In reply to JG Pasterjak :

I have a Ranger (looks like an older R980XR) that I picked up a couple years ago from a shop that was upgrading. I use that, along with a pair of "Bead Clamp Drop Center Tool" from amazon and a harbor freight bubble balancer. Between the DD, project cars, and race cars, it paid for itself very quickly. 

A buddy with a shop is nice enough to let me use his machine and balancer so when I mount tires I usually throw him and $20 and bring him and the guys a case of beer. When I do that I end up disposing of the takeoffs at discount for $2.50/tire so I end up at $50 all in for a set. If I don't have time to make it out to the shop I'll go to the nearby independent tireshop where they charge $20/wheel for mount/balance/disposal. At drift events, a few guys bring tire machines out and charge $10/wheel to mount but no balance as its not necessary for drifting.

Between drifting and HPDE track weekends I go through enough tires that I could probably justify getting at least my own mounting machine just based on cost and convenience alone and probably will eventually.