arcticZ51

Got my winter tires/wheels this week. Installed them this evening and everything seemed fine until I hit the highway and got the car above 50mph- severe vibration!

Feels like either really bad balancing or an out-of-round tire(s). I'll know tomorrow as I have a Hunter Road-Force balance appt at a local shop. Tire Rack is going to fit the bill.

Regardless- it's just irritating to have to go through the trouble of getting them re-done when they are supposed to be hunter balanced from tire-rack. Just wanted to vent and give you guys a heads up about their wheel/tire packages.

Racer

Well, I would like to give a heads up about the three sets of tire/wheel packages I have bought from Tire rack. SUPERB, FLAWLESS and of course, best price on planet. Just being honest.

arcticZ51

I'm glad your experience has been good. Mine is mixed. A previous set I bought several years ago for my STi were flawless. Then a set of tires that I had mounted to existing rims were bad- ie out of round.

kedar

did you order winter tires for your vette or another car? please provide more details: tire and wheel combo.

i recently ordered pirelli sottozeros (non-runflat) for my vette from tire rack and had them shipped directly to a local tire shop to have mounted on a second set of wheels w/ tpms sensors. i have not installed the winter tires on my car yet, but so far i am very pleased.

arcticZ51

Yes those are the exact tires. I got them on the satin silver (Gunmetal) ZR1 replicas. I love the tires/wheel combo- just disappointed I have to go have them rebalanced.

LS WON

You can always go to your local Costco and special order the tires. Then the tires go to Costco and you just bring in your car.
The techs there are Michelin certified

vdaddy

I have purchased several sets of tires and wheels from Tire Rack and their service has always been the very best. One of the sets did come with a front tire bead not fully seated. I seated it but had to take it to a local shop to be rebalanced. When I let Tire Rack know, they sent me a credit worth several times the cost of rebalancing.

SloChicken

I have been using tire rack for some 15 years. No problems whatsoever. U can always use tire rack's price to get a price match from Discount tire if you prefer.

AORoads

if you bought wheels and tires and then installed them, are you sure those little timmerman clips are removed? 2 per wheel, I think, on wheel stud.

Marc V.

If you bought aftermarket wheels, they probably don't have the recess on the back around the lug holes.

Make sure you remove the little metal clips on the wheels studs. They are just used on the assembly line to hold the rotors on.

I agree that Tire Rack has always had exceptional service and quality.

Movin' Up

I've used them for almost 10 years and no major issues. But, if there is one, I just call them and they fix it. Last winter wheels I got for my wife's suv were directional and one of them was not facing the right direction. I called tirerack and they were going to reimburse me for my troubles (I think it was $25 or 40 to have it redone at a local tire shop). But, my local tire shop (discount tires) did it for free. I called Tirerack and told them my problems were fixed, and they still gave me a $25 or $40 credit to my account.
So, give them a call and see what happens. You may end up paying out of pocket up front, but may get reimbursed from Tirerack.

LS WON

How does Tire Rack compare to America Discount Tires?

PCMusicGuy

Discount Tire price matches to tire rack around here. I've used both for tires only and have had no problems. To the OP, Good luck sorting out the vibrations.

hoobedda

The ZR1 replicas WILL be affected by those clips....Just ask how I know Tire Rack sells ZR1 replicas?? I bought some Gram Lights/Michelin Pilots for my wifes Acura a few years ago and the service was superb....

Boomer111

I have had vibration issues with after market wheels for C6. Tires were balanced but still had high speed vibrations. Turned out to be problem of mating of wheel cone to car hub. Only 1mm difference but it had an affect.

dpigguy

plus my dealer did the same so it pays to shop around!

LS WON

So then just go to the one that is most convient to you or has the specific tire you want.
The one t hing I noticed that neither one offers free wheel balancing with the rotation like Costco does offer both of these services together for free.

arcticZ51

UPDATE: All the tires themselves were fine (ie no out-of-round ones in the bunch)

The balance, on the other hand, was terrible. One of the front wheels wasn't even balance- zero weights whatsoever.

A Hunter "Road-force" balance on all 4 solved the issue and now it drives like butter at all speeds. Very disappointed with Tirerack- they really dropped the ball on this one.

gunterwalker

Glad you got it fixed.

Vet

My experiences with Tire Rack have been excellent. No issues whatsoever.

It would seem very unusual that they'd forget to balance a wheel. That sort of thing probably happens less than 1% of the time. Mistakes happen. You just got unlucky I guess. I wouldn't be too upset with Tire Rack. They sold you good tires, and I'm sure they'll reimburse you for the balance, really not such a big deal.

When I ordered my last winter set from Tire Rack, I got them a few days after I ordered and I didn't even pay for express shipping. I was very happy since they arrived just before a snow storm. Now that's awesome service. Everything came packed nice. I stuck `em on the car and wound it up to about 90mph for a brief spell, smooth as butter. Everything perfect. I'd buy from them again.