Airsoft tire balancing - my story

[keep0njeepin0n]

i dont see how they can offer lifetime balancing unless its paid for in advance like Darky said. otherwise arent they loosing money on labor. an offroad tire goes outta balance quite often from wheeling it. weights come off, radials stretch and tires get chucked.

Think about it from a business standpoint....I'll balance and rotate your tires free for life if purchased from me....then, while I have your wheels off, I'll inspect the brake linings, measure rotors/drums and compare to OEM specs, inspect tie rods/ball joints shocks struts for leakage/excessive play. If the tires are wearing funny I'll recommend an alignment.....do I need to keep going?

 

[RoyalXJ]

Think about it from a business standpoint....I'll balance and rotate your tires free for life if purchased from me....then, while I have your wheels off, I'll inspect the brake linings, measure rotors/drums and compare to OEM specs, inspect tie rods/ball joints shocks struts for leakage/excessive play. If the tires are wearing funny I'll recommend an alignment.....do I need to keep going?

guess i wasnt getting the big picture. considering i mount my own tires, do my own alignments and everything else.

 

[muddeprived]

I've had mixed results with balancing beads/airsoft. They aren't 100% but they do work on certain tires and with a certain amount.

 

[Talyn]

Think about it from a business standpoint....I'll balance and rotate your tires free for life if purchased from me....then, while I have your wheels off, I'll inspect the brake linings, measure rotors/drums and compare to OEM specs, inspect tie rods/ball joints shocks struts for leakage/excessive play. If the tires are wearing funny I'll recommend an alignment.....do I need to keep going?

Firestone doesn't do a free inspection when they balance the tires or check alignment under the lifetime plan.

 

[DanMan2k06]

This.

So yea a 5k oil change and rotate/balance only pays 1.2. But while the tires are off, I'm gonna sell you front and rear brakes on your GX470 (3.0 an axle), hopefully find a nail in your tire and "repair" (plug) it, another .4, which takes literally 2 minutes. And then to top it off sell you the Zmax menu service package, which is a bunch of retardede additives but pays another .5 just to dump in the engine.

So you walk out the door with an 8.1 hour service when you only came in for an oil change and balance. Any of these plans where they have lifetime balancing for the life of the tire, are getting made up in with other items sold. Maybe not on your rig, but 90% of the population doesn't drive a Jeep with 37's on it, and buy the lifetime rotation just because their tires weigh 120lbs a piece

 

[Begster]

Any shop I've been to that offers road hazard warranty. It's not free, but you pay maybe $30-40 up front and get lifetime flat repairs and balancing.

Town Fair Tire wouldn't offer me a road hazard on my Toyo MT's.

 

[CumminsJeep]

I run 8 or 10 ounces of airsoft BBs in my 35s and I only have a very slight vibe around 45mph. Im sure if i added another 2oz, I would be fine.

 

[imprezkid]

What would u guys run in a 315/75/16 bfg a/t. I would just take to a shop but i have a plug in the side of one and im sure they won't touch it, although for as much as i drive it on the road im not worried.

 

[keep0njeepin0n]

Firestone doesn't do their customers justice by performing a free inspection when they balance the tires or check alignment under the lifetime plan. So when you're tires get worn out and your wheels fall off because your ball joints should have been replaced months ago or your brakes start grinding and the calipers lock up (I've seen it), you get to go back and fight with them about why they didn't tell you before. Why are my tires wearing when I'm always getting it aligned? What do you mean, my ball joints are bad...I've had 3 alignments done here and nobody ever told me anything about that!!!

Fixed it for ya!

 

[Talyn]

Actually, I don't care if they check anything unless I ask them to. Actually, I prefer not to have someone poking around under there. I know how to check suspension, steering, and brakes and replace items when necessary. For the price I paid for lifetime balancing and alignment I am very happy with it. It can be done at any Firestone, and they tell me its for the life of the vehicle, not the tires. I'm not sure that is correct, but they have done if for two sets of tires with out another lifetime fee.

If you can't tell for yourself when components are failing, then maybe you should put the wrench down, sell the XJ and but a Honda. Or just stop driving all together.

 

[79gmcjimmy]

man that would suck if your tire came off the bead it would be a airsoft shotgun

 

[keep0njeepin0n]

Actually, I don't care if they check anything unless I ask them to. Actually, I prefer not to have someone poking around under there. I know how to check suspension, steering, and brakes and replace items when necessary. For the price I paid for lifetime balancing and alignment I am very happy with it. It can be done at any Firestone, and they tell me its for the life of the vehicle, not the tires. I'm not sure that is correct, but they have done if for two sets of tires with out another lifetime fee.

If you can't tell for yourself when components are failing, then maybe you should put the wrench down, sell the XJ and but a Honda. Or just stop driving all together.

I have the capabilities to do anything I want to my vehicle myself, however, most of america does not have that same luxury, therefor making a courtesy inspection that much more valuable. I have plenty of customers that do their own repairs, but I still give them the courtesy to let them know if my guys found anything out of place...who knows, maybe they hadn't seen it last time they were under there. I truly do care about my customers, whether they have me fix it or not, I want them to know. They appreciate it, and I've never had anybody complain about me doing a courtesy inspection. Stuff is a lot easier to see on a rack vice in the driveway on a creeper.

 

[Talyn]

Thats nice.

 

[Turfzilla]

I was not impressed with my air soft experiment either.

I had 35" MT/R mounted on steel D windows with traditional weights. Two tires had 3-4 oz on them, the other two had 7-8 oz on them. The jeep rode fine. But they were clip on weights and I knew they would get moved around or knocked off eventually.

When I switched wheels to an alloy wheel I decided to give the air soft a try. I used the method of : 1 oz of pellets for ever 10# of tire + 2 oz extra. So, in my 70 # tire I put 9 oz of air soft pellets. Rode like crap, could barely keep it on the road at 40-45 from all the shaking. Tire vibrations shook my TB loose!!!! That added to the problem.
So, I added two more oz. No change. So, i added two more oz. Still no change, shook like crazy at 40-45 mph. I was up to 13oz in my front tires. ENOUGH!

I also noticed after "rolling" stops or big bumps at 25mph or so it would be even worse. I guess on the rolling stops the pellets were not completely resetting and on the bumps they were getting knocked around

I looked up on the Hunter site for local shops that had the machine to do the "road force" balance. $10/tire later with stick on weights on the inside of the wheels it rides smooth! Do mess with air soft IMO. I did a lot of research and no one ever said anything negative about air soft. That is the only reason I am stating my opinion here. AVIOD AIR SOFT - They did NOT work for me.

As far as the other balancing powders ect.... I have a friend that swears by the equal stuff. He has 39.5" Irocs that he can drive all day long on the road at 75-80mph. Your milage may vary!

 

[cal]

I was not impressed with my air soft experiment either.

I had 35" MT/R mounted on steel D windows with traditional weights. Two tires had 3-4 oz on them, the other two had 7-8 oz on them. The jeep rode fine. But they were clip on weights and I knew they would get moved around or knocked off eventually.

When I switched wheels to an alloy wheel I decided to give the air soft a try. I used the method of : 1 oz of pellets for ever 10# of tire + 2 oz extra. So, in my 70 # tire I put 9 oz of air soft pellets. Rode like crap, could barely keep it on the road at 40-45 from all the shaking. Tire vibrations shook my TB loose!!!! That added to the problem.
So, I added two more oz. No change. So, i added two more oz. Still no change, shook like crazy at 40-45 mph. I was up to 13oz in my front tires. ENOUGH!

I also noticed after "rolling" stops or big bumps at 25mph or so it would be even worse. I guess on the rolling stops the pellets were not completely resetting and on the bumps they were getting knocked around

I looked up on the Hunter site for local shops that had the machine to do the "road force" balance. $10/tire later with stick on weights on the inside of the wheels it rides smooth! Do mess with air soft IMO. I did a lot of research and no one ever said anything negative about air soft. That is the only reason I am stating my opinion here. AVIOD AIR SOFT. As far as the other balancing powders ect.... I have a friend that swears by the equal stuff. He has 39" Irocs that he can drive all day long on the road at 75-80mph.

..it didn't work for you, so avoid it? ..and yet in the same paragraph you endorse going with equal?


at least you qualified your own lack of credibilty there.

 

[Turfzilla]

Your a effing genius! I never endorsed Equal.

What exactly have you added to this thread with your post?

I simply stated a real life experience that I had with the air soft method. Avoid it? duh - did you even read the post?

 

[GrimmJeeper]

..it didn't work for you, so avoid it? ..and yet in the same paragraph you endorse going with equal?


at least you qualified your own lack of credibilty there.

 

[GrimmJeeper]

Do mess with air soft IMO. I did a lot of research and no one ever said anything negative about air soft. That is the only reason I am stating my opinion here. AVIOD AIR SOFT - They did NOT work for me.

As far as the other balancing powders ect.... I have a friend that swears by the equal stuff. He has 39.5" Irocs that he can drive all day long on the road at 75-80mph. Your milage may vary!

Your a effing genius! I never endorsed Equal.

What exactly have you added to this thread with your post?

I simply stated a real life experience that I had with the air soft method. Avoid it? duh - did you even read the post?

lol wut

 

[yossarian19]

lol wut

Minor technicality. He only SEEMS to endorse Equal - but look closely and he doesn't come out and say "my friend runs it so you should do" only "my friend runs it and it works" I'm paraphrasing here.

Anyway - I'm glad I'm not the only one who had a negative airsoft experience. I guess its like dating dudes: not for everyone (but enjoy it if it works for you)

 

[Xtreme XJ]

So Turf were the alloy wheels new, were there weights on there along with the pellets ? You stated that you had weights AND the pellets on the first set, I thought I read SOMEWHERE that you should use just the pellets.

I truly don't know I'm just curious... I've always thought it was a cool idea, but I've yet to try it.

Curt