Did I get Lied to?

I have a 1997 Honda Accord. I is the SE model (a 2 door with sun roof and a
non-vetec engine and custom stock brushed alum. wheels)
Since I'm at 190,000 miles, it was time to get a 3 rd set of tires. (Michelin
MX4V's)
When I picked up the car I noticed that they had balanced the wheels by putting
the big ugly weights on the outside! I knew they weren't like that before and
objected to that. After much discussion they consented to do an aesthetic
balance but warned that it would never be as accurate.
Later as I looked at the new ticket I noticed that they had it down of a "static
balance". I then objected to that and said I had paid for a dynamic balance.
They said that it was not possible to do so if the tires were balanced from the
back. That got me to thinking. And I remembered that when I had the prior set
put on I stood in the shop and watched the man do a dynamic balance.
..
It sound like to me they tried to do a quick, job. Didn't want to redo the
balance work at all. The only a quick freebie static job.
..
I looked at dozens of cars with wheels similar to mine around the parking lot of
the mall after that. Some had weights in the front (mostly older cars) but 90%
did not (none of the brand new cars with stock tires and wheels).
..
Is is possible to do a credible balance job with weights on the back of the rim
only?

 

LL wrote:

yes. they're b.s.ing you. the weights are supposed to be stuck to the
rim just inside the spokes and it balances the wheel no problem.

 

I'll second that (they're either lazy and lying to you or they're
incompetent). By the way, just so other folks can know not to go there,
where did you get your tires?

Eric

 

Yep.

Did you ask for weights on the inside? If not, you're likely to get
them on the outside.

Tain't no big deal. Let it go.

 

They lied, pure and simple. A backside only dynamic balance is done
using adhesive stick on weights inside the rim but as close to the
outside as possible for one plane and all the way to the inside for the
other plane. This has been common aluminum wheel practice for decades
now.


John

 

Agreed - they lied, as Eric said, either because they're lazy or incompetent. If
they charged extra for the balancing, I'd just ask for that money back, and then
take it somewhere else.

 

Thanks to everyone who answered. That's what I kinda thought.
..
I was at a Discount Tire store. They also do business in some places as
America's Tire. After looking around on the web, I got a list and called around
for prices. They beat the competition by about $100 on the set of Michelins. I
just about settled for a set of Goodyears at Sears when the mechanic there
stumbled into the showroom from the shop floor. He looked like his night job
was at a meth lab. So that was out. There I are about 4 local owned outlets
for tires here that I would prefer to patronize but their shops were a mess and
I didn't feel that the extra 100 or more that they wanted for the tires was
justified.
..
I have read the other thread about these Energy Tires. I'm an easy driver and
am willing to accept the limitations the tires may have for the extra mileage.
My MPG dropped by about 3 miles when I replaced the stock tires for a set of
cheap Dunlop. The price of all that extra gas over 50,000 miles was a lot
(aprox. 1725 vs 1650 gallons). Plus the road noise jumped. My first trip out
of town last weekend I found these tires extremely quiet. My 10 y\o car is
still rock solid with not rattles.
..
The tires cost $448 for a set of 4. They also charge $45 for "installation,
balancing, and lifetime spin balancing." Since they lied to me, I really don't
trust them to re-balance the tires. They could just as easily intentionally
unbalance the tires to make their prediction come true that I would experience
vibration if I insisted on a back side balance. So the Lifetime balance really
has no value to me.
..
My plan now is to contact corporate, ask for my $45 back so I can go to a
independent and get the tires balanced. They will likely refuse but the local
manager will probably hear about it. It IS merely aesthetic. So in that I'm
not out that much, its not that big a deal. I STILL got a good set of tires at
a good price.
What is a big deal is that I was treated like a chump. That's pretty
offensive to me.

 

I would be angry too!

FWIW, my favorite way to buy tires is to order them from tirerack.com
and then use a local independent service shop which does not sell a lot
of tires to do the install and balance. Most small shops have tire
equipment even if they don't use it a lot. In fact, tirerack.com's
website has a feature to look up co-operating local installers. This
way I get a great price on the tires and get the labor done by people
who are actual real live mechanics, not the poorly trained monkeys one
often finds at chain stores.

John