4 New Tires - $80

[redpoint5]

I was going through my receipts today and found one from 2004 when I bought 4 new tires, mounted, balanced, and warrantied for $80.40 for my 1996 Subaru Legacy. The tires were dirt cheap to begin with, and then I asked if there was any sort of student discount, and the manager gave me 10% off.

I probably had punctures repaired 4 times while I owned those tires too.

What's the deal with tires these days? It seems they used to be cheap, and now you can't get out of a tire shop for less than $400 unless you buy used.

[rmay635703]

Laws regarding foreign content on tires along with minimum markups and “dumping “ retaliation got rid of the $35 fleet farm specials folks enjoyed from the 80’s through the early 2ks

[redpoint5]

So, the bulk of the cost is markup? I'd have thought the bulk of the cost was in materials, and that those would be relatively equal among geographic locations.

I'd be curious to see a breakdown of the price of a set of tires nowadays.

Another recept I just found from 2006 shows 4 Bridgestone Dueler AT Revos 285/75R16 out the door for $806. Not as great as a deal on my Subaru tires, but I bet I'd have a difficult time finding large truck tires mounted/balanced, and with road hazard warranty for $200 each.

[fusion210]

I went to Walmart last fall to have two I've already bought mounted and balanced because they used to be cheap.
Nearly $50 with disposal of two tires.


Forget doing that for another 30 years. I bought a Hazard Fraught manual tire changer for $30 after coupon. It will damage wheels other than steel though. But people are innovative.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85-K8Qi4UTA

Someone sells a really nice stick for mounting/dismounting but it's expensive.




Throw in a balancing set and you could be ahead pretty quick.

[Stubby79]

Got told, when I was pricing out a motorcycle tire, that it was because of the cost of oil that tire prices have skyrocketed.

Actually, I got laughed at...after telling them what I paid for a cheap tire 15 years ago.

[redpoint5]

I'd like to do my own tire changes with balancing, but I either don't have the skill or the right tools to do it without damaging aluminum rims. I recently changed the front tire on my motorcycle, and it took like an hour on 4 different occasions for me to finally figure it out, with a little scuffing to the rim.

What I'd really like to experiment with is using antifreeze as dynamic balancing media.

[freebeard]

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=BBs+for+tire+balancing

I thought one uses BBs for that. It looks like that's not good for low profile tires.

[roosterk0031]

I used counteract balance beads in the Impala with Nitto SN2 winters left on year round and got almost 50,000 miles out of them with no problem(225-60-16), had walmart balance the new ones at $11 each. (new beads about $7 a tire).

The 2010 cobalt (195-65-15) has counteract with Nokian WRG3 with 53,000+ on 2 of them and 30,000 on other 2 working fine.

I reused some counteract in Nokian Entryes on the 09 Cobalt, bad results. Don't know which to blame, beads or tires.

Tried some Airsoft on a used set of Hankook I-pike (195-65-15) winters on rims I got for the 09, no weights on them when I got them so added 3-4 oz of airsoft bbs. Worked fine.

I started with dynabeads (motorcycles) but found counter act are cheaper. I orders some this fall then decided to switch to spin balancing. I think I have 8 4 oz bags I've never even opened the package.

HF tire changer works pretty well, the shackle that attaches the bead breaker is a weak spot I had to reinforce. The motorcycle attachment I guess is worth it, I wasn't too concerned about scratching my rims. People swear by the No-mar bar but seems pretty expensive, I guess if I cared about my rims it might be worth it. That's why the Rogues get done by others.

Walmart won't take old tires anymore if you don't buy new tires from them so I now have to take them to the landfill pay $7 or 8 each and drive 50 miles vs $1.50-3 walmart/shops charge so that cuts into the savings of ordering online. State taxes on online purchases starting 1/1/19 will also cut into the saving. I might be done changing my own once I get the beads out of the last 5 tires.

PS: I should add that I currently have 3 new spun balanced tires on my 09 and one with beads, first time not all beads in years and it drives much smoother than it has in years. Is it the new tires or spin balancing I don't know.

[redpoint5]

Yikes, $8 each to dispose a tire and a 50 mile drive? I'd have a tire burn before I did that, or simply bury them somewhere deep enough that I'll never plow over them.

I guess that's what explains how tires end up in rivers. If disposal were reasonably priced, or reasonably convenient, I'd expect less bad behavior.

[Frank Lee]

When ex-GF dumped me I gave her a nice set of worn-out tires for xmas, thus avoiding the yuge Cali disposal fees.