Tire Rack recommended installer

Art,
I use Mark Morris on Larkin/Bush st in SF.they have done an excellent job for me with me 348 and now my F355.Recently send a friend with a 360 for tires and did a great job,inside weights perfectly balanced and no scratches on the rims.Ask for Chris.

Cal

 

Art- I never let anyone but me install my tires, and do so with either a torque wrench, or a torque-limiting socket.

The idoits with 400lb-ft impact guns just ram 'em on there, can bend rotors at best, and snap wheel bolts at worst.

 

Art - best guys in the bay are Five Point Tires in RWC on El Camino and Woodside Road. Mark Lewman is the owner, has been there for ~40 years (the shop) and they are top notch.

--Dan

 

Also check out Custom Alignment. They do great work.
Custom Alignment-Balance
(650) 961-5311
2599 Wyandotte St
Mountain View, CA 94043

 

I'll second this suggestion - worked on several of my cars, always do very good work and know their stuff.

 

Top notch shop. But call because they are usually booked up and may not take walk-Ins. Not sure about tires but alignment is usually a week wait.

 

So here are a few things to look for in a tire shop.

1. What balancer are they using. I prefer the Hunter GSP9700. Reason being this is a load force machine. There are several companies out there that make a load force machine I have used the Hunter for some time and find it works very well.

For those that dont know a load force machine messures the amount of weight a wheel and tire exert on the road. This is differant than just a balance issue. The best way to explane it is if you take a wheel and you move the hub form the center to on side. The wheel will rotate on this new axis but as it spins if you look at the tread you will notice that it moves up and down. Now if you just balance the wheel it will spin with out having a heavy spot or comming to rest with the longest distance form the axis to outer edge down. What the Hunter dose is messure how much your wheel moves up and down or how much weight is thrown around. THe machine will then have the tech rotate the tire on the wheel to get this "weight" as small as it can. Also you want to know what kind of weights the tech is going to put on your wheels. "pound on weights are ok for steel wheels but you really want stick on weights. They wont come off if put on right.

2. What kind of mounter are they using. once again I like a Hunter product here. What you want to look for is a machine that has no metal parts that come in contact with your wheels. IE: Ever look in your wheel and see 4 little indents in four places on the wheel evenly spaced. This is caused by a machine that uses 4 claws to hold the wheel in place. The best machines us rubber pads to hold the wheels. Also look at the head on the machine. THe head is the part of the machine that is used to get the tire off the rim. Good machines us a plastic head. Also a thing to note is dose the tech use plastic guards on the bar used to pry the tire off the wheel. ( this is very important for you guys with painted wheels this bar unproteced with plastic with chip your paint very easily)

3. The last bit of info I can give you is look at the machines the tech is going to use if they are dirty and cover with crap and other things they will not work as well as if they are clean. This also brings up the point of "If its dirty and dosent hold the wheel in place and the machine slips could the tech scratch my wheel?" Answer is yes. If you are able to watch the guy doing the work look to see he isnt " chasing weights" what this means is he has put weights on the wheel in 2 places one is the inner most edge of the wheel the other is the outer most edge. For those of you who dont like to see weights ont he outside of the wheel the weights will be at the back of the spokes or face of the wheel as close to the outer most edge as you will let them be. ( the farther out the better the balance) If after the first set of weights ( 2 places ) is on and the tech respins the wheel ( dose a balance check ) the machine dosent read zero you want the tech to start over. Take all the weights off and start from the begining. IF he just adds more weight he is weight chaseing and thats bad.

For more info or info on alignments feel free to PM me.

 

Wheel Works, 1499 Franklin Street (at Bush), San Francisco 94109 (415-346-2300), did an excellent job replacing the original Goodyears on my 328 with Bridgestone Potenzas, including balancing and alignment. They direct-ordered the tires but matched the Tire Rack prices.

Note that if you have a 328, there is a thread here about the advantages of slightly upsizing the tires from original. i did this and am extremely pleased with the result.

 

Do you have the capability to dismount, mount, and balance tires? That's what Art is looking for.

Gary

 

I just throw them in the truck, I don't even let them see the cars anymore. (Art metnioned not fitting the 360 on the lift, another problem aleviated, just toss 'em in the van

 

Good idea!

Gary