[Simple Man]

Originally Posted by 400 4spd.

I ordered 3 or 4 sets of tires last year, all through Walmart.com with no shipping fees. Besides lower pricing, I can take my wheels there and get free mounting with a balance costing $12. I stopped using Tirerack when the shipping got ridiculous, then I had to pay $20 per tire for mounting and balance at a shop much further than W.Mart.

I'm lucky, Tire Rack is about 5 minutes away if I don't get stopped by a train. And have a few relatives employed there.

[Ben M.]

I've got 2 local tire shops that I work with and they both have been able to competitively match or slightly beat Tirerack on pricing and once shipping is factored in, it's cheaper to just take the car\wheels to those guys. I'm also one of those weirdos who would rather pay a few bucks more and support a locally owned mom & pop store rather than give the business to Wal-mart or Discount Tire - I started going to the one non-chain quick lube place in town exclusively once Jiffy Lube opened up last year to keep them open too. It helps that the places I go do good work too...

For my money and personal experience, it's hard to beat Hankook for 14" & 15" tires in pricing and longevity. I've got 2 sets of 15" tires from them on my wagon and Lemans and both are doing great after 3-4 years of regular use on the wagon. I liked Michelin tires when they were more available on my older stuff, but they always cost a lot more. I must admit I haven't bought 14" tires in a few years so I'm not sure what is made still...

[Formulajones]

I have my own touchless pneumatic tire changer and electronic spin balancer so I'm always shopping around online for tires.

There are a lot of times I end up at Tire Rack, but sometimes I find a better deal at a handful of other online retailers. It depends, some days Tire Rack is cheaper, while others may have a cheaper price initially, some of them tack on a hefty shipping charge making them not such a great deal anymore. So it just depends on who has the better deal that week for me.

I've tried local stores near me but I've never found any of them that can beat the online prices I've found. Especially when they try to dictate the sizes be all the same or some other odd loop hole for the sales they have. For instance, Big O is having a sale right now, buy 2 and get 2 free, but.....they all have to be the same size, and it's only for certain brand tires, and you have to pay them to mount, balance etc...you can't just take them out the door.
None of that works for me so I move on.

Walmart and Sams Club are the only places that have beat some online prices for me (but not always), and they let me take the tires out the door.

[Chief of the 60's]

What is a "touchless" tire machine?

[Formulajones]

Doesn't touch the rim, so nice painted wheels or aluminum wheels don't get scratched.

I used to have the old school style pneumatic changer from about the 1960 era, worked good, but was a little rough on nice wheels, even when being careful.

[Chief of the 60's]

Then how does it hold the wheel when the tire is being mounted?

[Bills Auto Works]

I also have a Snap On "touchless machine" that name is a bit of a misnomer though as it does touch the rim during dismounting & mounting (not while unseating the bead though). It clamps one of two ways :

#1 is 4 little arms nuematically spread outward pushing against the inside of the rim.

#2 you can start in the outward position with those arms, hit the button & they come in to grip the rim just inside the bead area.

I have done everything from the most expensive aluminum wheel to dually wheels with never a scratch. I just took the old tires off my 64 GP 8 lug wheels so I could paint them yesterday with no problem.

I don't have a computer balancer. I have Centra-Matics on the dually & use counter-act balance beads for most everything else. I do still have an old bubble balancer left from our gas station in 1982!

God Bless
Bill
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/...closed.614419/

[mgarblik]

Originally Posted by Chief of the 60's

Then how does it hold the wheel when the tire is being mounted?

I haven't heard my changer called "touchless" but it is almost. It's a rim grip style. A Coats 50-60E. It grips the bottom of the wheel from the inside or outside with plastic slip-over covers on the 4 clamps. So it does protect the aluminum pretty well. Every now and then with an extremely low profile tire and stiff sidewall, the plastic jaws will slip off the rim. It's a PIA when that happens, but doesn't hurt the wheel. On the top side, the "duck" as it's called, the part on the vertical column that you pry off to remove the tire and push under to mount is made of nylon. They are soft and protect the wheel but don't last very long. I have to replace mine at least once a year. Then the pry bars have plastic slip over covers that protect the wheels too. You just have to be careful. Every now and then, I will scratch a wheel. The most difficult as a class of wheels are the plastic clad chrome wheels used allot by Chrysler and Jeep. You have to be very careful because the plastic outer part is brittle and can gouge, crack or break off entirely if your not really careful. Plus they are not repairable and quite expensive. How do I know!!

[SRR]

I have a Coats 10-10 and a bubble balancer. It's crude but works well on steel rims especially dually wheels. It's quite the work out! Got it for free so I can't really complain. It is an air hog though, anything less than an 80 Gallon 2 stage and 120 psi...good luck!

[Chief of the 60's]

Originally Posted by Formulajones

Doesn't touch the rim, so nice painted wheels or aluminum wheels don't get scratched.

I used to have the old school style pneumatic changer from about the 1960 era, worked good, but was a little rough on nice wheels, even when being careful.

Originally Posted by Bills Auto Works

I also have a Snap On "touchless machine" that name is a bit of a misnomer though as it does touch the rim during dismounting & mounting (not while unseating the bead though). It clamps one of two ways :

#1 is 4 little arms nuematically spread outward pushing against the inside of the rim.

#2 you can start in the outward position with those arms, hit the button & they come in to grip the rim just inside the bead area.

I have done everything from the most expensive aluminum wheel to dually wheels with never a scratch. I just took the old tires off my 64 GP 8 lug wheels so I could paint them yesterday with no problem.

I don't have a computer balancer. I have Centra-Matics on the dually & use counter-act balance beads for most everything else. I do still have an old bubble balancer left from our gas station in 1982!

God Bless
Bill
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/...closed.614419/

Originally Posted by mgarblik

I haven't heard my changer called "touchless" but it is almost. It's a rim grip style. A Coats 50-60E. It grips the bottom of the wheel from the inside or outside with plastic slip-over covers on the 4 clamps. So it does protect the aluminum pretty well. Every now and then with an extremely low profile tire and stiff sidewall, the plastic jaws will slip off the rim. It's a PIA when that happens, but doesn't hurt the wheel. On the top side, the "duck" as it's called, the part on the vertical column that you pry off to remove the tire and push under to mount is made of nylon. They are soft and protect the wheel but don't last very long. I have to replace mine at least once a year. Then the pry bars have plastic slip over covers that protect the wheels too. You just have to be careful. Every now and then, I will scratch a wheel. The most difficult as a class of wheels are the plastic clad chrome wheels used allot by Chrysler and Jeep. You have to be very careful because the plastic outer part is brittle and can gouge, crack or break off entirely if your not really careful. Plus they are not repairable and quite expensive. How do I know!!

Yeah, people in the industry call them "rim clamp" machines. There is no doubt that they "touch" the rim. I thought there was some new fangled tire machine on the market that I have not heard about.

I have a Hoffman tire machine and a Snap-On spin balancer.

[Chief of the 60's]

Originally Posted by SRR

I have a Coats 10-10 and a bubble balancer. It's crude but works well on steel rims especially dually wheels. It's quite the work out! Got it for free so I can't really complain. It is an air hog though, anything less than an 80 Gallon 2 stage and 120 psi...good luck!

LOL. I had a 10-10 for decades. Cannot kill them. I would still be using it if today's wheels weren't so freaking huge.

[Bills Auto Works]

[QUOTE=Chief of the 60's;5998476]LOL. I had a 10-10 for decades. Cannot kill them. I would still be using it if today's wheels weren't so freaking huge.

That is gospel! You cannot kill them! When we closed the station in '83 I took mine with me & used it up until about 4 years ago when I got the chance to buy this Snap On from a friend.

I guess Formulajones should have said " It doesn't touch the pretty part of the rim!" LOL

God bless
Bill

[Chief of the 60's]

[QUOTE=Bills Auto Works;5998480]

Originally Posted by Chief of the 60's

LOL. I had a 10-10 for decades. Cannot kill them. I would still be using it if today's wheels weren't so freaking huge.

That is gospel! You cannot kill them! When we closed the station in '83 I took mine with me & used it up until about 4 years ago when I got the chance to buy this Snap On from a friend.

I guess Formulajones should have said " It doesn't touch the pretty part of the rim!" LOL

God bless
Bill

Snap-On is a Hoffman

[mgarblik]

Originally Posted by SRR

I have a Coats 10-10 and a bubble balancer. It's crude but works well on steel rims especially dually wheels. It's quite the work out! Got it for free so I can't really complain. It is an air hog though, anything less than an 80 Gallon 2 stage and 120 psi...good luck!

That's the EXACT machine I learned on in 1973-1974 era. The gas station where I learned closed decades ago and that machine was moved to a race engine shop where it still see's occasional use! I don't think in over 40 years of service and tens of thousands of tires changed on it, any parts needed replacement. Incredible. It was a major factor in why I bought a Coats rim clamp machine for myself. My 15 year old factory refurbished machine cost about 1 1/2 times as much as a new Chinese machine. I am willing to bet it will be changing tires long after the new Chinese machine is made into a Bud Light can.

[coonhunter70]

Look no further, I beat these daily on rock roads/chipandseal roads very tough and surprisingly smooth riding. Fixing flats is a rarity

https://www.bridgestonetire.com/tire/duravis-r500-hd

[fyrffytr1]

Originally Posted by coonhunter70

Look no further, I beat these daily on rock roads/chipandseal roads very tough and surprisingly smooth riding. Fixing flats is a rarity

https://www.bridgestonetire.com/tire/duravis-r500-hd

I appreciate the reply but, I can get the Michelins for 20.00 a tire less. And, there is a 70.00 rebate so that would make it $37.50 less per tire. But, they do look like some reliable tires.

[mgarblik]

Originally Posted by fyrffytr1

I appreciate the reply but, I can get the Michelins for 20.00 a tire less. And, there is a 70.00 rebate so that would make it $37.50 less per tire. But, they do look like some reliable tires.

This is the kind of response I hear often and it does speak to Michelin quality. Customers will almost always go the Michelin route if: 1. they plan to keep the vehicle a long time to get their full use from the tires. 2. The Michelin tire they want isn't 50% more costly than their 2nd choice. 3. They currently have Michelin tires on the vehicle and know what they will be giving up. My only complaints concerning Michelin are: 1. much higher cost, (sometimes) 2. tendency for sidewalls to crack before tread wears out 3. browning of sidewalls on some models 4. not the best dry traction in all cases and models. So it's impossible to say Michelin tires are the best in every size, model and situation. But as a single tire brand, they are hard to beat IMO. There are allot of good tires out there.

[GT182]

Originally Posted by fyrffytr1

There are no stores in driving distance of me that sells Continental tires. They do look like a nice tire though.

From what I've seen, Continentals don't last all that long, and to me are a big waste of money. I had a set of Bridgestone tires on an every day driver 1 ton GMC van and they lasted me a little over 30,000 miles.

[68lemans462]

Hankook dynapro is a great tire - far superior to the Michelin

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[fyrffytr1]

I do have Michelins on my truck now. They are almost 5 years old but my problem is not the sidewalls cracking rather it is the tread itself coming apart in small chunks. I estimate there is still about 50% tread left.