Yep, you heard me right, SEARS. When I bought my Kumho tires the only place that could mount them on my 17's on a Saturday was Sears. I had the wheels off the car and I carefully supervised, making sure that the correct tires went on the correct rims, making all the sawblades turn the right way and such. The cost of mounting / balancing came with free lifetime rotate and balance. I'm sad to say that it's about that time again. I can easily rotate my own tires but I can't balance them. I've essentially already paid for it, should I let them do it?

It's not feasable to take the wheels off the car, so I guess I would just have to drive it to them. Then I've got to hope they can figure out the special lug nut and have enough sense to realize that they only go front to back, no switching of sides. Am I being overly concerned? Perhaps I should set the MSD rev limiter to about 2000 RPM's before I let anybody touch it?

I wouldn't worry normally but a friend of mine has had a bad experience with this Sears. He took them a car with two types of tires, matched set on front, matched set on the rear. He bought some wheels and had them mount them. When he got done he had matched tires on the same side of the car! There was no way to put the pairs on the same axle or one of each would be turning the wrong way. I probably wouldn't really consider sears, except that like I said I've already paid for the rotate and balance for life.

I have no reason to think the tires are not balanced now, the car is perfectly smooth at all speeds, should I just rotate them myself and be done with it?

 

He he, that's funny! I actually did the same thing before I dropped my car of to be painted. Except I set mine at 3k rpm. Can't ever be to cautious. I used to work as a car porter so I know how tempting it is to go "joyriding" when you have someone elses car in your possession. :blueangel: Anyways, I say rotate the tires yourself and forget about the balancing cause chances are you don't need it. :cheers:

 

Yes. If your running smooth there's no reason to re-balance provided they were correct in the first place.

 

rotate them and be done with it, no use wasting time when they were just done.

 

Go to NTB. Owned by sears and they let you into the bay to watch (supervise). Make sure they put the car on the alignment rack to remove the tires. I go the the one in sugarland because they at least know that much about corvettes.

I would not go to a sears store or any place that I could not go into the bay and watch (supervise).

Ron

 

:iagree: I did the same thing at Sears but I bought the tires from them because they met the price from Tire Rack but I told them the only way I would let them do mine was if I could go back in the shop area and supervise. They wanted my business so they let me :lol:

 

Haven't had to change tires on the vette yet. I was loyal to Sears for the Fiero for years because of good customer service. They did let me drive the car in and on the rack since most people can't find 1st or R on it and I preferred it. They also let me supervise the whole time.

 

aren't the front and rear different size and depending on the tire ( directional or not ) you really have nothing to rotate?

 

you can do a front to back on a 275 40 17, most people wear the fronts faster than the rears so there's some use in rotation.

 

The 92 was the last year that came with the same size tires all the way around as standard equipment. Since I can't cross sides then I'm just left with front / rear. My rears are taking a little bit more wear than the front, hmm, wonder why? In any case it's not TOO bad, but since they are the same size I like replacing my tires in complete sets. I hate having 2 good tires and 2 bad ones, or 2 of a different brand / style. If I rotate them regularly then they will all wear together and I can replace them all at once. Sure it costs more at time of replacement but I only have to do it half as often.

 

How do most people wear the front faster than the rears :confused: You would have to do a lot of track driving for that to happen. My rear tires, if left unrotated probably wear 2x as fast as the fronts. (I don't know why
;) :blueangel: )

 

A little concern is reasonable.

First, those darn security wheel nuts can be difficult. With around 100 pounds of torque, the special little socket can get off center and start rounding the special little nut. Same with putting them back on. I finally removed mine, even after buying a new set, a pain.

Secondly, when replacing conventional wheel nuts, most shops will use the torque extensions in lieu of an actual torque wrench. Not a good idea. Those things can have quite a variance based on gun pressure, technique, etc. My Snap On guy sells em but doesn't let anybody use em on his equipment. I would stick with a good torque wrench.

Good luck.

dlmeyers 90 coupe zf6 3 speed shocks

 

My experience with sears was a nightmare, I went there to get new tires put on, and 4 friggin hours later they had put the saw blades on the back on the wrong way and the right front tire was on backwards. I would just recomend rotating them your-self, I never trust anyone with my baby :D

 

Some really good recommendations here.

I also recommend NTB ... I've used them on a couple of occasions & was very pleased ... mainly since I was "in charge" so to speak.

Don't laugh & don't flame .... but the last set of tires I got were Bridgestone Potenzas. I live in a really small town and a local dealer beat the heck out of Tire Rack plus threw in mounting, lifetime rotation/balance, etc. Also, everyone involved with my car was knowledgeable & treated her with the greatest of care. It also helped a lot that the shop foreman is a good friend. Now the funny part ... it's the local Ford dealer ... and they just happen to have the best shop in town with the most qualified technicians.

 

I waited 45 minutes at Sears just to exchange a battery. Not to take it out or install it, just lift it out of the RV and carry it in. It had to be checked by a Sears "expert" before it could be exchanged.

No more Sears. NAPA can have my business from now on.

 

On my 94 I can't rotate them at all.
The fronts are narrower than the rears and they all are directional so ....

Older Vettes may have the same size all around so the same side rotation is a good idea.

As for tire wear,
I think the fronts may wear faster from takeing highway on/off ramps at 2-3x the limit :D
Plus all the back road cornering.
The backs might go first if you like burn outs.

Just my opinion as I did not sleep at a Holiday in last night.