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For the past 15 years I have bought my tires at Costco, simply because they offer free lifetime balancing (and also free lifetime rotation, flat tire repair, road hazard, air checks, and nitrogen) every 5,000-6,000 miles. I buy their Michelin Defender 80,000 mile tires (used to be 90,000 miles), and I am set for a long time.
But is the re-balancing really necessary, assuming I don't hit a curb or pothole?
I ask because I just found out someone said not only did Discount Tire (America's Tire in California) beat Costco's price by $40 for him, they also gave him a $100 gift card. But most tire installers do not offer free lifetime balancing. Paying for it separately would add up to a lot of money over 80,000 miles.
[Update: I just learned Discount Tire also offers free lifetime balancing, rotation, air checks, and flat repair; but not free road hazard or nitrogen. But my question still stands]
If the tires are not out of balance, they do not need to be re-balanced. It wont hurt anything, but it wont accomplish anything either.
You will know when a wheel is out of balance because your tire will bounce up and down like a basketball and your steering wheel will shake when you drive fast.
Discount/America's Tire is a good shop and they sell Michelin Defender's too. You should be able to look them up on both their's and Costco's websites to see who has the best deal.
The only time I have ever rebalanced a set of tires is when Discount Tire couldnt get a set on my Mustang to balance right. Took it to my regular tire place, within 15 minutes they had all 4 balanced right. Only reason I didnt get them from there to start with was I was in a hurry and my regular tire place couldnt get them until the next day, and I needed the car.
If they offer free balancing, can't hurt to do all four.
If it's Free it's for Me
I've been a Discount Tire customer for longer then I care to admit and I'm also
an Executive Costco Member. I just prefer to deal with Discount on my tires as
that's all they do.
I go with the ' Air ' for my Michelin Defender's because of the temperature changes
here as I check the pressure more often then most people do and while they are
cold it only takes a moment to fire up the compressor.
I've never done a rebalance unless there was a noticeable change in driving behavior. Regardless of the vehicle I've always done a front to back swap every other oil change with no issue.
I get all four rebalanced when tires are rotated. They can be slightly OOB, enough to cause uneven tread wear. Don’t wait till the wheels are bouncing or vibrating.
When getting wheels aligned, I always get the tires rebalanced, right afterward. The wheels can be both misaligned and out of balance. With good truck tires costing more than $1k for four of them, it makes no sense to cheap out on routine maintenance.
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