My H2 rims finally showed up, so I ordered my tires up. As far as I know, Kaltire is the only one that deals with Nokian tires here, so thats where I went. Seeing as I quit the one in Airdrie rather abruptly and the manager was a dick, I won't go there for tires. Went to the one in the Marlborough mall. Took them 2 and a half hours to mount, balance and install 4 tires. I don't remember it taking much more than 45 minutes to do that, and that includes dismounting the originals. Get on the highway, and I get what I assume is death wobble (driving on square tires is what I was told). Pull over, make sure the nuts are tight. Notice they put the wrong weights on the back rim, and the front one has two weights about 8 or 10" apart. Don't know whether one slid or they did that intentionally. And one of those is the wrong weights too!

When I got my Nokians put on the dually, I went to the store on McKnight. Took them SIX hours to install them on new wheels. Again, no dismount required. Took them FOUR hours to do my free rotate and balance when I had a vibe from the rear. After those 4 hours, I still had a vibe. They grouped the weights together between the two wheels. I went home, took the wheels off and had to rotate the outer duals and it miraculously went away.

I'm just frustrated here. I could've put those new tires on quicker with spoon bars quicker than they did with a tire machine!

 

Haha ouch, have you ever tried Togo tires? Their a really small shop right by chinook. I brought my old bimmer there and they had new tires mounted balanced and installed in around 30 minutes, I couldnt belive it. And best of all, they were the cheapest around.

 

I am with you on the tire shops Tate.. However, Dons Tire in Red Deer fit me in one morning with a flat repair, in and out in 35 min..

 

Hi Tate,
I've always had good service at Kal-tire in Crossfield. They'll even follow up with free rotations on a dually! Try to find that anywhere else.Talk to Calvin or Brad and tell them I sent you. You should do well if they remember me.
Andy

 

Tater, I got the hook up here at Kal Tire in Red Deer. I know it's a long drive but I buy everything there and our company does massive amounts of sales/repairs there. Tell me what you need/want and I'll do my magic. The manager is my neighbour, not one of those that hates loud diesel trucks either!!!

 

Tatar, Tater, Tarer....

Get some of these: http://www.counteractbalancing.com/

I have been running these for a couple of years now. No hammer weights on the wheels is a GOOD thing.

 

i've had great luck with 'country tire' in the prairie winds bus park area. best price i could find on tires in sig, and they shipped them down from edmonton the next morning and were installed by the same afternoon. one of the few places that will give you a better price with cash! i will go back for my next set, even if it is out of the way a little bit.

jason

 

I told them I wanted beads, this store doesn't do them apparently. I know the kal tire in Airdrie we did them, but was usually in steer tires on semis. Depending on how this vibration goes, I might try swapping some wheels around, see if ti gets better or worse. If that fails, then I will be going back to them and get them to find me beads and put them in. Maybe I can just go back there and do them myself. Its been 5 years, but I'm pretty sure I can hack it in less than 150 minutes.

Jamie, I will remember that when it comes time to skin some 22" alcoas. Hopefully I won't have to buy tires for a good number of years otherwise.

 

10-4 good buddy...

 

Another vote for Counteract. I have run them in my 35s for years-otherwise you end up with weights halfway around the wheel. You can get them at either Alberta Sales or Raynard Auto Supply in Calgary-I have bought from both.

Last few sets of tires on my truck I have just bought cash and carry and mounted myself. PITA-but with a couple of extra homemade tools it's doable. I am going to buy a used rim clamp tire machine one of these days as I am getting lazy in my old age.

Jason

 

How much are these little beads worth?

 

You would ask that wouldn't you? I can't remember-which is pathetic seeing as I bought some about 6 weeks ago. Right in around $10/bag I think-1 bag per wheel. There is a chart on their website which tells you the amount you need-then you buy them in premeasured bags that also have a new valve core and cap in the bag.

HTH
Jason

 

Im getting the Counteract beads from B Line Automotive in St. Albert. I think he was charging me like $8 a bag. Real simple to install just have them throw the bag in before they mount the tire.

The Innovative Balancing beads are supposed to be real good but I cant seem to find them anywhere in Canada (or at least I couldnt when I was looking for them):

http://www.innovativebalancing.com/

 

I used to go to Kal Tire for years but the big "City" Kal tire shops are terrible. I have had numerous issues my last visits there a few years ago.

It's like car dealership, you talk to an unskilled service advisor at the front desk and then who knows who is doing the work in the back shop.
During one of my Kal Tire issues, the kid in back shop who swapped my tires around wasn't qualified to sweep the shop let alone run a tire machine.


I prefer the smaller shops where you can actually talk to the owner who will likely be doing the work.

Likely the smaller Kal Tires are better.

I have been going to TK's Tire near Unlimited Performance in the S.E. It's a small messy shop of skilled guys with top quality tire machine and balancer.

..Joe

 

Nice things about the balance beads is that you never have to re-balance. They keep the tire balanced through wear or lost treads from offroading. I am going to have to do that the next set I get.. Sick of mixing my coffee full time.LOL..