Hi! I was wondering where you all get your tires mounted and balanced?

Cheap and good is what I'm after... I'm in New Haven, CT. Hopefully there's some good places nearby, but I can always drive a little ways to get the job done well.

Any experiences or input would be great! Thanks!

I've had really good luck (so far) with Town Fair tire. I happened to know a guy who managed one and he got me really good prices (until he retired).

Since then, I've been using them almost exclusively. I've not had a single complaint for them in about 20 years. They're everywhere, too!

Frank

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1970 240Z

Is there a specific one that you frequent, Frank?

I seem to read some mixed things on the reviews online for various CT locations... Also, how much do they charge ya?

Hey Frank,

Just wanted to probe a bit further on this... do you get your tires/wheels from them?

I am getting my tires from other sources, and it seems like shops are trying to rob me blind for mounting/balancing! I was quoted for $140 from the closest Firestone auto center...

I am also trying to find a place that won't scratch or damage the wheels. Perhaps I need to start looking at small local shops? Any of you guys have a tire machine in your garage??? Are there any shops that are affiliated with CTZCC that does this kind of work?

Back in California, we had a local guy charge us $5 per tire and he never scratched any of our expensive wheels. The "expensive" price was $15 per tire.... Inflation?

Also googling around... will report back if I find anything good!

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Justin
1986 Z31 NA 2+0

I envy southern California because of all the gifted cheap labor there. Half the hotrods are built and sculpted by talent from south of the boarder, who want more business so they keep their prices really low. Not so here, where nearly everyone wants to retire on the next sale.

In central CT, I've found a couple of Town Fair Tires which I trust, one in Hamded c/o Dixwell & Skiff and another up in North Haven behind the Walgreens pharmacy on Washington ave.

Your mileage may vary.

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1970 240Z

Thanks! With every national chain, there seems to be a huge variation between shops, so it's nice to know the specific ones you like.

Also in Calif. it seems like there are a lot more people that work on their own cars. The person we always went to was just an enthusiast that decided to purchase a very nice mount/balance machine for his own purposes (i.e. not a big shop).

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Justin
1986 Z31 NA 2+0

I found a good shop.

Tony's Tires and Wheels
http://tonystiresandwheels.com/

It was pretty painless and their prices are great. The crew is young and you have to explain what you want a couple of times, but they got the job done! I haven't tested the tires I mounted on the road yet to make sure the balancing is correct, but I expect it to all check out. To mount+balance a set of tires, they charged me $50--very fair price! I went back and had another set of wheels/tires dismounted and tires disposed of and it was only $24.

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Justin
1986 Z31 NA 2+0

Update:

I take back my positive comments...

I found my center console was CRACKED today. I had a set of 16" tires dismounted from another set of wheels at the same place. I told TWO people that I wanted the tires disposed of, and even paid the disposal fee.

They drove my car into their garage and did the work. When they drove the car out... I saw that 4 wheels AND 4 tires were crammed into the car. I let them know they were mistaken and we unloaded the tires because I didn't want them. I didn't think the Z could fit this much stuff.

And it can't.

I just saw this morning that there's a big crack in the center console (under the arm-rest where the compartment is). They had put a tire on the passenger seat (in a bag at least) and one behind it. When they tried to shut the door, I bet they had to really slam it to get it to close. This ended up cracking my poor, mint console.

I just emailed them about it... I told them I like their work and their prices, but my car will never roll into that garage again. If I go back I am going to carry them from their parking lot into their garage myself.

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Justin
1986 Z31 NA 2+0

Just throwing this out there....if in my area I can do mounting and balancing at the school....it's cheap, and reliable, and even BMW stops by to use the balancer. (ours is better).