Selling new original tires to tire dealer. How much???

[securityguy]

Actually, I've read that OEM car manufacturers get the best, most balanced tires from the tire manufacturers.
Basically they get the most balanced tires which already have the high/low spot marked.

Never have I heard this before and truly do not believe that tire shops get "2nd choice". Be careful what you read and believe on the Internet

 

[DenCoRam]

I've also read that OEMs have their own "version" of tires to their specification, such as softer compound rubber, less tread depth, etc. with the goal being smooth ride, fuel economy, and of course cost. This typically comes up when people talk about short life spans of OEM tires vs. the "same" tire bought from their local tire shop. Not sure on the validity of that notion.

Aside from the tires themselves, I'm guessing a lot of vibration issues after replacement occur due to inconsistencies in installation. The OEM assembly process has a lot of quality control check points where outputs are tested/verified. Your local tire shop is trying to pump out as many installations as possible and don't have (to my knowledge) secondary verifications of the balancing results. It can be a crapshoot based on the experience of the person installing the tires and the level of care they put into their work. Here's some info on what those red and yellow dots on your new tires mean, and where you should expect to see them aligned after installation:

Red/Yellow Dots on Tires (click)

 

[securityguy]

I've also read that OEMs have their own "version" of tires to their specification, such as softer compound rubber, less tread depth, etc. with the goal being smooth ride, fuel economy, and of course cost. This typically comes up when people talk about short life spans of OEM tires vs. the "same" tire bought from their local tire shop. Not sure on the validity of that notion.

Aside from the tires themselves, I'm guessing a lot of vibration issues after replacement occur due to inconsistencies in installation. The OEM assembly process has a lot of quality control check points where outputs are tested/verified. Your local tire shop is trying to pump out as many installations as possible and don't have (to my knowledge) secondary verifications of the balancing results. It can be a crapshoot based on the experience of the person installing the tires and the level of care they put into their work. Here's some info on what those red and yellow dots on your new tires mean, and where you should expect to see them aligned after installation:

Red/Yellow Dots on Tires (click)

Exactly THIS ^^^

 

[JoeCo]

I've also read that OEMs have their own "version" of tires to their specification, such as softer compound rubber, less tread depth, etc. with the goal being smooth ride, fuel economy, and of course cost. This typically comes up when people talk about short life spans of OEM tires vs. the "same" tire bought from their local tire shop. Not sure on the validity of that notion.

Aside from the tires themselves, I'm guessing a lot of vibration issues after replacement occur due to inconsistencies in installation. The OEM assembly process has a lot of quality control check points where outputs are tested/verified. Your local tire shop is trying to pump out as many installations as possible and don't have (to my knowledge) secondary verifications of the balancing results. It can be a crapshoot based on the experience of the person installing the tires and the level of care they put into their work. Here's some info on what those red and yellow dots on your new tires mean, and where you should expect to see them aligned after installation:

Red/Yellow Dots on Tires (click)

Kind of like the falken tires that come on the rams? I love the wildpeak a/t3w's I've had for the last 35k miles or so, and my truck I'm waiting for on order has the wildpeak a/t3wa's. Very curious to see if there is any difference in performance or longevity with the slightly different tire. There is a definite difference in tread pattern on them, with the a/t3wa's being less aggressive looking.

 

[NorthStar]

I worked my way through college in a Costco Tire Shop. The Coats wheel balancers were calibrated every six months...they had a tag on them which showed the last calibration. We always knew if we had someone come back complaining of the ride that it was because their tires were balanced on a machine that was close to the recalibration date. We'd simply rebalance them on the latest calibrated machine and all was good. Some tire shops only calibrate them once a year and small Mom/Pops once every two years.

I always ask to see the calibration date before installation and if they give me the "We can't let anyone into the shop area" excuse then I take my business elsewhere. I've had very good luck with my local Discount Tire letting me verify the date.

 

[Buz]

Balancing isn't always the issue.
For a truly smooth ride you need to index the tire to the wheel to cancel out the 1st harmonic of irregularities between the tire and wheel. (aka Road Force)
Road Force testing/fixing is very much like noise cancelling headphones. You are attempting to cancel out the first harmonic wave.
Simply throwing a wheel/tire assembly on a balancer is not a comprehensive way to diagnose shake/vibration in a vehicle; it's a first step.

 

[NorthStar]

Balancing isn't always the issue.
For a truly smooth ride you need to index the tire to the wheel to cancel out the 1st harmonic of irregularities between the tire and wheel. (aka Road Force)
Road Force testing/fixing is very much like noise cancelling headphones. You are attempting to cancel out the first harmonic wave.
Simply throwing a wheel/tire assembly on a balancer is not a comprehensive way to diagnose shake/vibration in a vehicle; it's a first step.

Of course not but an out of calibration balancer - especially those that see hundreds of tires a week - is typically the tip of the iceberg.

 

[securityguy]

Balancing isn't always the issue.
For a truly smooth ride you need to index the tire to the wheel to cancel out the 1st harmonic of irregularities between the tire and wheel. (aka Road Force)
Road Force testing/fixing is very much like noise cancelling headphones. You are attempting to cancel out the first harmonic wave.
Simply throwing a wheel/tire assembly on a balancer is not a comprehensive way to diagnose shake/vibration in a vehicle; it's a first step.

I always ask for and ensure that Road Force balancing is done on all of my vehicles...especially tires as big as what's on our trucks. If anyone tells you that you don't really need to RF balance, they either don't have the machine or are lazy. ALWAYS get your tires RF balanced!

 

[mophead]

Never been a fan of Goodyear or Bridgestone tires. Most all OEM tires are not normal designs and the auto manufacturers, typically, have minor changes made to the design/construction to accommodate their needs and lower costs. I always remove all OEM tires as my experience has been they are far crappier than what I can purchase and I look for excellent dry and wet traction regardless of what I buy.

If someone is looking for an excellent highway type tire, there is no better choice than the Michelin Defender LTX M/S. For an aggressive tire, I would stick with Nitto Ridge Grapplers (Terra Graplers G2's are an outdated design and don't perform well at all based on the other choices on the market), TOYO AT3, Falken Wildpeak or BFG KO2.

This is definitely where I'm at ↑↑↑

2000 2500 came with Michelin A/S which were narrow (damn skinny) but rode and cornered great, surprisingly good in snow, 50K which I replaced with same. Overall very pleased. 2012 2500 came with updated Michelin A/S. They were 18's and I upgraded to 20" Fuel Kranks w/ Michelin MS2's at less than 500 miles. The A/S's rode pretty good, were smooth straight ahead but too soft cornering. The MS2's were a big improvement all around and fairly good in snow. To be fair I also leveled it and installed a Hellwig's and Bilstein's at the same time. That made a huge difference in cornering and reducing rear wheel hop. 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee came with 20" Goodyear Forterra's. Overall okay and remarkable in the snow, although I'd definitely say the quadratrac was a huge factor. I didn't have any of the issues most owners complained about and got 45k out of them. I replaced them with Defenders and it transformed that Jeep into a completely different animal. It rode quieter (much quieter) cornered fantastic for a nearly 5000# suv, was awesome in wet and snow. It wasn't placebo because I replaced the old worn with new either. It was a very marked improvement. Last Mazda 6 GT. Came with Dunlop SP 5000's. An absolute BRICK for a tire. Mazda was tweeking gas mileage to the max specing these miserable things. Test drove it in the rain. I could hardly pull out without it spinning (even with the traction control on). They were LOUD and understeered to the extreme wet and dry. The dealer replaced them with Continental Extreme Contacts which have been an all around dream. I wouldn't have bought the car otherwise.

I find Tire Rack testing to be fairly spot on. They give the Bridgestone's mediocre marks across the board and compared to others they are quite a ways down the list., with many poor reviews and no snow capability. I have recommended the Defenders to friends and bought them for my wife's Pathfinder. No complaints at all. I will give the Bridgestone's the benefit of the doubt for the ride home and one (1) ride in the rain. My expectations are low though.