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How much should a tire rotation/balancing cost?

54K views 13 replies 10 participants last post by  robnfl 
#1 ·
I just hit the 6k mark, and im due for tire rotation and balancing. How much should I be looking to spend?

Also - what is balancing? I understand the rotation , but is it really necessary to balance the tires?
 
#2 ·
Rotation is good, I wouldn't worry about rebalancing unless there's a problem.

Balancing...think of a ceiling fan. If it's not balanced is sways, wobbles and if bad enough will make clanking noises. Wheel's are the same. If the rotational mass is not equally distributed there will be a vibration at speed. You will feel it in the steering wheel and if bad enough throughout the vehicle. It will accelerate tire wear and could be hard on other components.

So unless you are having vibrations, I wouldn't worry about balancing. I think most places charge about $10-15 for rotating the wheels. Once you buy new ones, dependent on where you bought them and had them installed that store may rotate them for free (I know NTB does).
 
#3 ·
You do not need to balance the tires every time you rotate them.

Since tires are a molded they are not pefect. Balancing is when they take the tire and wheel, put it on a machine and spin it, the machine can detect where in the tire a wobble is. Then then put weights on to counter the wobble.


^^^He beat me too it. :)
 
#4 ·
If you buy your tires from BIG-O they will include a free rotation every time you get your oil changed.

I'm not saying their oil changes are necessarily cheap, but my wifes a coupon clipper and I buy my tires from them so why not?.

So unless you are having vibrations, I wouldn't worry about balancing.
Agreed. Unless you're missing a weight from one of your tires and/or experiencing wobble/vibration I wouldn't be concerned about balancing either.
 
#6 ·
Well I recently did a long run with a set of 285's BFG AT's Same day same time same trip same speeds almost identically equipped vehicles and the dude with the 265's (Same tire) got about 100 miles per tank than me.

SO, I said all that to say this,
I put my factory tires back on and realized the gain of 100 more miles per tank. But a had a serious balancing problem, Air soft pellets, Equal, two balances with weights and no cure.

SO, I go to my friends Stereo shop who also does wheels and he realizes that the machine (A pretty high tech one as he does the big wheel thing) does not have a center cone that fits our Xterra Wheels. So he had a special set of tools that used this kind of hub that coned down on the lug holes and he balanced it that way. That worked! His machine lets you balance it several ways, The weight on the outer part of the inside rim and a stick on inside the rim worked best.

It was like a 2 week dilemma for me, my average travel speed is in the 70's and out of balance is a real bad thing. Equal was not too much of a help. I added 3, 4, then 6 oz's and it ran the same each time, unbalanced after 62 MPH.

Great to be getting 300+ Miles per tank again!

MC
 
#7 ·
I paid 65.00 or thereabouts for a lifetime balance and rotation from discoutn tire.. i get mine rotated and balanced every 7500 or so.. every other oil change...
 
#8 ·
usmc xterra said:
Well I recently did a long run with a set of 285's BFG AT's Same day same time same trip same speeds almost identically equipped vehicles and the dude with the 265's (Same tire) got about 100 miles per tank than me.

SO, I said all that to say this,
I put my factory tires back on and realized the gain of 100 more miles per tank...
MC, your killing me! I so badly wanted to put some 285/75's on my X so I was trying to justify the purchase. Well, with the way gas prices are I really don't want to destroy my fuel economy just cuz I want bigger tires. Well, at least you helped me decide what size...I'm sticking with the 265/75's.

Rob
 
#10 ·
You do realize that going from 265's to 285's lowers the tires rpm at 60 mph. Or think of it this way, the larger donut rotates fewer times per mile and lowers your indicated speed on your speedo.

I'd take the 200 and whatever miles you got with the 285's and multiply that by about 3% to get close to actual mileage. anyhow, you definitely lose mpg with larger tires 9 times out of 10.

I have a set of pretty decent used bfg 285's stacked in the garage but am thinking of trading straight across for some highway 265's since I know I don't want to spend in gas, nor do I want to play with my aero losses with a lift.
 
#13 ·
I don't know anyone that lost 30%, but my guess, there would be two reasons.

S and X models come with 31" tires.
OR comes with 32" tires.

285/75R16 is a 33" tire.

So if you have an OR model, you are only increasing 1" over factory, where as with an S and X you are increasing 2", which will affect it more (still doubt 30%).

The other thing to keep in mind, most people don't think about the other modifications they have done.

I keep a very detailed record of my gas fill-ups. I also keep a very detailed log about mods and maintenance. Because of this, i can actually look at each mod (as long as they were not done at the same time) and tell you what effect it had on my MPG.
 
#14 ·
Muzikman said:
I don't know anyone that lost 30%, but my guess, there would be two reasons.

S and X models come with 31" tires.
OR comes with 32" tires.

285/75R16 is a 33" tire.

So if you have an OR model, you are only increasing 1" over factory, where as with an S and X you are increasing 2", which will affect it more (still doubt 30%).

The other thing to keep in mind, most people don't think about the other modifications they have done.

I keep a very detailed record of my gas fill-ups. I also keep a very detailed log about mods and maintenance. Because of this, i can actually look at each mod (as long as they were not done at the same time) and tell you what effect it had on my MPG.

Yes, I agree that many other mods which add weight or impair the aerodynamics should affect fuel economy. But, there is a very reputable owner on this board who swears that by just increasing tire size from 265/75-16 to 285/75-16 he has lost 100 miles/tank of fuel economy...which is about a 25% decrease.

I guess I'll just have to stick a set of 285/75-16's on my spare wheels and see how it affects my X.

Rob
 
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