My summer wheels and tires are at my parents' house 100 miles away, but I am going home in two weeks to swap out my winter tires (my dad has a hydraulic lift, so I always go see them when I need to do car work). However, the summer tires haven't been mounted and balanced yet, and I was hoping I could have my dad get that done before I come home. My question is:

What does the tire shop need to perform the mounting/balancing besides the tires and wheels? Do they need the hubcentric rings and lugs, or not? I assume having them do the balancing without the actual vehicle shouldn't be a problem, right? After all, Tirerack.com ships wheel/tire combos that are premounted and balanced.

Thanks

 

I assume the lug nuts are not necessary. The hubcentric rings probably aren't going to be necessary either. They really probably just need the wheels and tires to perform the balancing.

 

If you purchase tires and wheels from Tirerack as a package deal, you should not have to worry about getting them mounted and balanced unless your alignment is off to begin with. Or unless their is a big difference in the tire size. All you have to do is put them on and your set.

 

The tires were purchased from Tirerack. The wheels were purchased used and without tires. Actually, they have never had tires mounted to them; the guy bought them from Tirerack without tires and never got around mounting tires to them, then sold the wheels to me at $600 below what Tirerack sells them for.

The wheels are 17x7.5 SSR Competitions and the tires are 235/45/17 Fuzion ZRi.

Don't you think they need the lugs and hubcentric ring to mount the wheel to their balancing contraption and make sure it is centered?

 

i don't think lugs are needed. i took my wheels seperate from my car to get balanced and they had no problems. hub rings i don't know, mine are permenantly in my wheels. i don't suppose they have different hubs to swap into their machine anyways though

 

Just bring the wheels and tires to your tire shop of choice, tell them to use stick on wheel weights and figure out what kind of valve stem you want(you can't lose with a short black regular valve stem). There is no need to bring hub-centric rings, lug nuts, etc..... Be cautious about any shop that charges less then $10 each, but expect to pay much more(some shops charge $30+ each for high performance mounting and balancing). If your particular and want to make sure it gets done properly ask what type of equipment they have, if they mention Hunter, Corghi, John Bean Corp(aka JBC) or coats your in the clear; other wise shop around a little. Lastly if the place looks like a shit hole, it probably is, if you don't trust the way they maintain there place, I surely wouldn't trust them with my custom wheels and tires.

Good luck!

 

Thanks Tireguy! We'll consider the matter closed