Should always be done when tyres are changed, yes?

Yip.

And the weights should always be on the inside of the wheel where you cant see them too – according to the person who fits my tyres and has done so for the last 20 years. (Just dont go and try and get tyres fitted during the TT because he will be otherwise engaged). 😉

My usual mobile fitter seems to have packed it in, so called someone else who turned out to be a right bunch of cowboys, and said that his balancing machine was broken, it wouldn’t work in the van cos it’s on a slope, and that alloy wheels didn’t need balancing.

Scumbags 🙁

It doesn’t matter if you’re travelling slowly though, so no need to worry, Molly 😉

Alloy wheels don’t need balancing? Walk away. Drive away slowly and carefully, dont exceed 20mph and go straight to Kwik fit / other reputable tyre fitters.

Tempted to do just that bigyinn, even though it’ll cost me more. £27 in fact.

Just make sure they put the stick on balance weights on the inside of the rim, rather than the crimp on ones that are meant for steel wheels.

If you put them on alloys, they knacker the lacquer. Well, they did on mine….

go straight to Kwik fit / other reputable tyre fitters

Lolz. Massively variable Kwik Fit. We have to use them (co car) and the various branches provide widely different “customer experiences” – the last one managed to fail to balance a brand new rear AND it leaked 7psi a week into the bargain. The time before that (same branch), they were brilliant – smooth as silk. The time before that (different branch) they weren’t… <etc>

A good balancing machine will tell you where to put the weights. If it tells you to put them on the outside of the wheel that’s where you put them. Stick on for alloy whether inside or outside.

+1 for Edu – if you’re dogmatically putting the weights on the inside, then your wheels won’t be properly balanced in all directions. If the company you pay to balance your wheels only puts them on the inside, the chances are their machine isn’t good enough to balance the wheel in all directions.

Am I allowed to overtake somebody who’s wheels are wobbling?

A really good tyre fitter will have a really good digital machine, which tells him not only the weight required but whether to put it on the inboard part of the inside of the wheel or the outboard part.

For anybody in the Bury area that means Chris and Hedley at Ainsworth Tyres at the bottom of Ainsworth Road, Radcliffe. Excellent blokes.

After several disastrous experiences and hours of my life wasted I NEVER give my business to the big franchises. All together now: “Ya can’t get thicker than a Quick Fit fitter….”

So, how the hell does one find such a place in Cardiff? I’ve never been able to find decent car mechanics 🙁

How about using Dyna Beads instead of weights??

Just pour in and the job is done. You can also re-use them.

By inside of the wheel he’ll be meaning don’t use clip on weights on the outside face of the wheel. Use stickons as close to the outside as you can. Clip ons on the outside tend to get knocked off on kerbs and cyclists.

“Ya can’t get thicker than a Quick Fit fitter….”

My brother in law managed a branch, think you have to accept that they’re garages, some will be good some will be bad, that’s down to the manager and the technicians, not the blue and yellow sign over the door*.

*and they own a lot of other small chains as well, just the headed paper changes. So even if you avoid QuickFit as a brand, you probably struggle to avoid actualy using them.

So whaddya reckon? Go and have cowboys do it for free, or pay £26 to maybe have it done properly…

http://www.baysidegarageltd.co.uk/

Used these chaps last time I got new tyres (via mytyres online) and they and was impressed by the service. They seemed very knowledgable.

Have it done properly.

With my lease car, we use ATS and again its massively variable, the main problem being lack of stock of the tyres which the lease company specify I.e. the cheapest.

The lads in my local ATS are brill and I go in a few days before to check stock and they get authorisation and I go back a few days later and job done in 20 mins or so.

For my own car. I use a small garage locally behind a petrol station who do basic servicing and MOTs, not the cheapest but about average price, reliable, and they straighten my wheels on the lease car for nothing it one of the learners catches a kerb.

Probably best to ask around locally to get recommendations for a good garage.

Just to clarify, my above post was in relation to this 🙂

So, how the hell does one find such a place in Cardiff? I’ve never been able to find decent car mechanics

Just went to Kwik Fit for a balance.

On the way back I hit 50mph and noticed loads of road noise, a low whine. Crawling down our street to pull into the drive there was clearly low speed rumble and when going very slowly you could feel the individual vibrations like riding MTB mud tyres slowly on tarmac.

Wtf? Tyres were whisper quiet when I took them off. Pressures are between 35 and 38 which is vaguely around normal range. It must be loose wheel nuts surely?

They have taken notice of the rotation arrows haven’t they?

Well – I couldnt’ see any. They are mounted with ‘outside’ on the outside though.

They have tightened your wheel nuts haven’t they? Another favourite is for the nice new weights to fall off as they hit the brake calliper.

Pressures are between 35 and 38 which is vaguely around normal range.

That’s pretty high for car tyre pressure. Cant think of a car I’ve had where I’ve needed to put more than 32psi in.

2.6 bar is written on the inside of the fuel filler cap.

Fair enough – is that the load and speed pressure or the normal driving pressure?

Normal. The higher figure is 2.8 and 3.0. And this is without checking, I know this off the top of my head. So you needn’t worry 🙂

What car is it?

The infamous Passat.

See my Passat had 30psi as the standard tyre pressure.

Horrible and expensive cars when they start to go wrong.

Expensive when you get dodgy local mechanic to fumble around with it and mess it up 🙁 I do love the car though.

For reference black circles fitting centers tend to be rated on their site, most of these are just independent tyre fitters who have a deal with black circles as far as I can tell. Might make it easier to see other peoples views and experiences. There’s one I have used in Milton (near Cambridge) a few times and they have been ace so far so I’ll happily be going back to them as opposed to KwikFit (who once kept my car all day waiting for a brake assessment – tools!)

Yeah our local internet supplied tyre fitter (Alpha and Yapps) is ok, but they don’t do drop-ins

They have tightened your wheel nuts haven’t they?

Kwik-Fit (IME) usually over tightening them. They then use their torque wrench to confirm the nuts are above the recommended torque, instead of leaving the finally tightening to the torque wrench. Great for stretching studs or bolts and shite for trying to get the wheel off with the provided tools in the event of a puncture.

I did mention this to my local Kwik-Fit guys, but they just looked at me blankly mouths agape.