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Mon Mar 08, 2010 7:30 pm

Hi, can anyone recomend a tire shop that will balance 5 wides in Phoenix. Hopefully in the east valley!( Please dont say worthless ass discount either!) THANX

Mon Mar 08, 2010 8:54 pm

Good question. I asked Discount about this recently and they said they could not do it. Time to start calling independent tire shops, maybe the kind that look like they have been around for a while.

Mon Mar 08, 2010 11:32 pm

I haven't had Discount do it in a while but they never had any issue with it in the past.

You could buy an adapter, here's one source:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=373915

Tue Mar 09, 2010 7:38 am

I know it sounds really odd, but if you can't find anyone to balance your tires put 8 oz. of RV AntiFreeze (the pink stuff) in your tires.

As your tire spins, it balances your tires and gets rid of all the vibrations.

I started doing this a couple years ago in my Jeep since I mounted the tires in my garage. A nice side effect of that was as I got off the trail and had mud in the tires, it stayed balanced as the mud came off (it constantly balances). No more vibrations until all the mud had flung off.

Sounds goofy, I know. But it works very well. My tires are wearing normally, and the ride has never been so smooth.

I pour mine in while the bead is popped, but have seen people pour it in through the valve stem (stem removed). Just let the air out of the tire put a hose over the valve stem and pour the antifreeze in the hose (assuming a funnel on the other end of the hose). To get the tire to take the liquid, start jacking up the car. As the tire goes from flat to round, it will suck in the antifreeze. The schrader valve needs to be removed of course.

RV Antifreeze will never freeze, and if you blow a tire or something, it is non-toxic. And it's cheap.

Tue Mar 09, 2010 7:43 am

Karl's Kustom VW has the adapter.

Tue Mar 09, 2010 9:59 am

I remembered I had this guy balance some tires for me when I bought some 165s from him a few years ago
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=757415

He mounted and balanced everything with the purchase.

Tue Mar 09, 2010 6:47 pm

Karl's has been doing them for over 33 years. Go see Bill and you will be very happy.

Wed Mar 10, 2010 12:32 pm

1/2 to 3/4 cup of air soft pellets will self balance a tire too!

Wed Mar 10, 2010 2:31 pm

Why cant you just bolt the wheel to a drum? Or, a lot of older shops can balance on the car.

Wed Mar 10, 2010 2:52 pm

j-dub wrote: Good question. I asked Discount about this recently and they said they could not do it. Time to start calling independent tire shops, maybe the kind that look like they have been around for a while.

America's Tire Co. (Also Known as Discount Tires in some places) in Northern California was able to balance my wide 5 smoothies for my 56.

Wed Mar 17, 2010 5:20 pm

Thanx for all the responses . I had to go to discount to get the tires mounted and then Karl's to get them balanced!

Wed Mar 17, 2010 11:10 pm

vw57drvr wrote: Why cant you just bolt the wheel to a drum?
The drum would have to be balanced first to do that, right?

Mon May 10, 2010 7:07 pm

fifty7dub wrote: Thanx for all the responses . I had to go to discount to get the tires mounted and then Karl's to get them balanced!

Next Time... skip both stops and go direct to Dougs Buggs and Bunnies where they can mount AND Balance them for you.....

Mon May 10, 2010 7:27 pm

http://dougsbnb.com/

:wink: :wink: :wink:

Dougs is the shit... Only Parts House I go to in phoenix.....

Tue May 11, 2010 3:23 am

Get one of these so you don't have to worry about it in the future:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=373915