Costs for Mounting and Balancing

[aerostar]

I got a quote from an indy shop to mount and road force balance 4 tires for $270...

It's a highly reputable shop and they do great work / tuning but I'm not sure this is a good price. I don't want to get my wheels damaged at a crappy shop, either.

This seems a bit high... should I be going elsewhere?

[xxTHIR13ENxx]

I pay about $25/wheel at my local shop.
Some brand shops (PepBoys, for instance) do it for $30/wheel or so.

$270 equals $67.50 a wheel. More than double what I'm quoting above, which seems in par with Dealer prices. I would shop around some.

Google Reviews is a good way to distinguish good shops vs. meh.
Good luck.
- Leo.

[ejw2011]

I had my 4 wheels mounted/balanced using the hunter road force as well at $200. Those at $25-30 per tire is not balanced with hunter. $200 is a lot of money but I've not found many shops with hunter equipment. You get what you pay.

[BMWILUVU]

Originally Posted by aerostar

I got a quote from an indy shop to mount and road force balance 4 tires for $270...

It's a highly reputable shop and they do great work / tuning but I'm not sure this is a good price. I don't want to get my wheels damaged at a crappy shop, either.

This seems a bit high... should I be going elsewhere?

I pay $25/wheel for Hunter Road-force balancing. You are being overcharged. $20 for Hunter non-road-force but I always go for road-force.

[blaster3500]

That is crazy high. I pay around $15 to mount a roadforce balance at a local Toyota Dealership. Discount Tire charges $25 to mount and balance.

[oolas3]

I pay $30 a tire for road force mount and balance.

[ewicky]

I posted on E90 forums that I took delivery of an automatic tire changer machine and computerize dynamic wheel balancer this weekend. They work great! I haven't bought tires in a few years. I got a few quotes and all the shops in my area wanted at least $20 for mount and balance. And most of them didn't included lifetime or even one complementary re-balancing. Now I have the ability to change tires whenever I want, repair my own flats even on Sunday, do true 4- and 5-way rotation schedules even with directional tires, unlimited free re-balancing, and if I wanna do a burnout or drifts I can slap on a set of worn tires first. Re-balancing from commercial shops is surprisingly uncommon, despite the benefits and necessity. Every worn tire I've tested so far has been badly out of balance.

[overcoil]

I don't think $45 per wheel is too much.
A good shop with experience won't scratch your tire or tear your bead.
Then there might be a tire disposal fee if changing out old tires.
And I think I read recently they're now using a plastic flexi weight wheel weight.
Some shops actually have a hydraulic stand that prevents the wheel from dropping onto the dust shield.
And tires are heavy and dirty, so if the tech gets a good salary or if a low price at the cashier a nice tip to the tech.

[aerostar]

Originally Posted by ScottSinger

I don't think $45 per wheel is too much.
A good shop with experience won't scratch you tire or tear your bead.
Then there might be a tire disposal fee if changing out old tires.
And I think I read recently they're now using a plastic flexi weight wheel weight.
Some shops actually have a hydraulic stand that prevents the wheel from dropping onto the dust shield.
And tires are heavy and dirty, so if the tech gets a good salary or if a low price at the cashier a nice tip to the tech.

It's $67 a wheel. Lol

[fanatic1]

Dealer in Southern California mounted/balanced 4 tires for 120 bucks!

[overcoil]

Originally Posted by aerostar

It's $67 a wheel. Lol

If it were 20 inch $3000 / wheel then yes. If they were using touch-less.

On an 18 inch wheel $67 would have me looking elsewhere.

[Groganrocket]

Discount tire where I’m located uses hunter eq and they only charge $20 a tire.

[Ant_tc]

Our shop charges $25 each to mount and road force balance with a hunter balancer. Price seems kinda high even if it is a reputable shop.

[Alan l.]

usually about 125-150 to mount and balance either 20" or my 22" wheels at a local corner shop.

[bagekko]

My place has all the latest equipment with the touchless mounting system and hunter road force balancer, they charge $25 normally or $30 for very low profile tires.

$270 is outrageous

Originally Posted by ScottSinger

If it were 20 inch $3000 / wheel then yes. If they were using touch-less.

On an 18 inch wheel $67 would have me looking elsewhere.

[DadVibes]

Anything over $150 is a rip-off, IMO.

I say that as I just recently gave Discount and Les Schwab chances to win my business by getting quotes for tires + mounting/balancing with them. Both of them quoted me $230 - $270, just to mount and balance. And that's even if I bought the tires from them directly, which had laughable mark-ups over Tire Rack's pricing.

So, I went back to my normal go-to procedure of ordering tires from Tire Rack and calling the local mobile mount/balance shop to setup a time for them to come do it, right at my house. They quoted me $140 and they come TO ME! Not to mention, in my experience, they are much more cautious with ensuring they don't scratch/damage wheels, like I've experienced with those other shops.

Anyway, long story long... I'd definitely price around, if I were you. $270 is just robbery.

[SYT_Shadow]

really depends where you are in the country

In the NY area I can't get a quality job on 18" wheels for less than $150.

[Geez3]

I recently went thru this myself.

If going to a Indy shop that wrenches on your car be prepared to pay their hourly labor rate unless they have flat rate tire mount charges.

Going to a tire shop, you get a tire tech to accomplish the job and aren't paying master tech prices, and have flat rate.

My last install was for a good Indy shop with Hunter RoadForce while they were doing the alignment. I have also used rim shops that are used to handling expensive wheels do mounts. I feel like paying more for a bit of convenience and a little more confidence might be worth it.

[bagekko]

Mobile mount & balance!! Damn wish someone like that was around me. I buy all my tires online and my local place treats me well as I bring many sets to them a year to do. The shop manager always jokes I am bringing my own meat to the BBQ. Tax was always a big factor in the price diff, but those days are gone so I may purchase more tires through them going forward.

Originally Posted by S4toM3

Anything over $150 is a rip-off, IMO.

I say that as I just recently gave Discount and Les Schwab chances to win my business by getting quotes for tires + mounting/balancing with them. Both of them quoted me $230 - $270, just to mount and balance. And that's even if I bought the tires from them directly, which had laughable mark-ups over Tire Rack's pricing.

So, I went back to my normal go-to procedure of ordering tires from Tire Rack and calling the local mobile mount/balance shop to setup a time for them to come do it, right at my house. They quoted me $140 and they come TO ME! Not to mention, in my experience, they are much more cautious with ensuring they don't scratch/damage wheels, like I've experienced with those other shops.

Anyway, long story long... I'd definitely price around, if I were you. $270 is just robbery.

[allinon72]

That's a shining example of an M tax. If you rolled in with a Jetta with the same request, there's no way it'd be $270. Tell them to blow it out their ass and go somewhere else.

[DadVibes]

Originally Posted by bagekko

Mobile mount & balance!! Damn wish someone like that was around me. ...

The convenience really is amazing. And their pricing is just icing on the cake.

[agentrnge]

Recently payed $35 a wheel for mount and balance in north NJ. I had already mounted TPMS/stems in the new wheels when I dropped them off. This was an indy tire shop with some random track-prepped cars they were working on as well in the bays. Offer full corner balancing and such. In the past I went to an ETD or something-chain and asked about getting a pair of tires mounted, and they wanted $65 a wheel ( back on my e39 with 18x9 rears ). I laughed and walked away.