first350

iTrader: (24)

Just wanted to let you guys know of a small, but very good, company that does tire changing near 1/2 the cost of any other place I've gone to.

http://www.tightntidyracing.com/Tire_Services.html
cost for 4 tires dismounted, 4 tires mounted and balanced $50. (places like Costco and Discount tire all charge around $100 for this )


owners: Karl and Amy Coleman
location: 16542 115th Ave SE, Renton Wa 98055

It's all done w/in their garage, they have a very nice tire changer (IIRC it's the touchless type [$$$]). They both autoX and are very very competetive...plus they're just nice people.


I had some tires mounted last month, and they did a great job. I really like that they even explained what they were doing, pointed out anything odd they saw (one of the tires that I had flipped on the rims was a bit off)...all in all, they seemed like honest and knowlegeable people.

they're a small operation, so I found it easiest to just drop off my wheels and tires, then pick them up later in the week. But if you call ahead, you can probably get them to do it while you wait.


*I'm no affiliated w/ them and am getting nothing in return for posting this.

drivesolo

iTrader: (6)

I use them too. They do fast work, have state of the art tire mounting gear, are very knowlegeable and are nice people to get to know.

I've been able to get my wheels done while I wait (hung around and chit chated w/ Carl while he worked). If you get them there at the right time, they can do it quickly. They mounted & balanced a new tires on a new set of wheels in about 1/2 hour. They even do the valve steem counter weighing when mounting the tire, normally that cost extra, but they do it for free if you mention that that the wheels & tires combo will be used for racing. Sometimes they'll even attempt the impossible if you have a special request like PDX_racer. Which they were successful at accomplishing.

Like First350; I'm not affilated w/ 'em either. They do a good job for a good price.

Triple8Sol

iTrader: (218)

Very good to know!

PDX_Racer

iTrader: (2)

Yeah, just make sure that if you have some kind of crazy request like mounting 285/30R18s on the stock Track rims that you ask them to mount them in the summertime -- not late winter/spring.

Devil Z

iTrader: (6)

Thanks Peter!

Z33steve

WOW that is awsome. Too bad they aren't a little closer to be, but it would still be worth the drive.

drivesolo

iTrader: (6)

What might be closer to you is FTL Performance. Same business model as TNT Racing, but they're in Kirkland. There prices are pretty much the same as TNT. I use to go to them before TNT opened up shop.

http://www.ftlperformance.com/

warmmilk

iTrader: (5)

ok so back from the dead for this one

i looked up the address on google maps and it looks like they're just operating out of their garage, is that right?

also, when they balance tires, do they use the little wieghts that u glue on inside of the wheels like les schwab and discount tire does? or do they just use the wieght that attaches to ur wheel?

drivesolo

iTrader: (6)

Yeah, it's Karl and Amy Coleman's place. Thier's is a home business operating out of their garage, but by no means anything less than professional in the way they run it.

They use the adhesive weights that go on the inside of the wheel, not the weights that clip onto the rim.

warmmilk

iTrader: (5)

sweet, thanks

PDX_Racer

iTrader: (2)

Karl used to do tires in an earlier life. He's a pro!

first350

iTrader: (24)

+1 and he actually explains what he's doing, so you can get your tires changed and learn a thing or 2

Triple8Sol

iTrader: (218)

Had an appt at TNT today. I realized I met Karl before, I think at the WWSCC SCS event last year. He's a nice guy, works fast, very professional, and awesome prices.

Drewer

iTrader: (4)

Sweet. . .I'll use 'em for my advan/falken setup!

Bleach

I'm glad I saw this now.
I just had four 18's mounted/balanced at Big O a month ago... $100

Tight n Tidy is even closer to me. I'll use them next time.

Triple8Sol

iTrader: (218)

Has anyone on here used FTL before? If so, are they as good as TNT?

drivesolo

iTrader: (6)

I've been to FTL 3 times before. They do good work, I would definately recommend them for the guys in the Northend. Their prices are about the same as TNT, but they charge extra for weight offset-matching (or whatever else it's called) where TNT will do it on request for free. I know for the WWSCC folks TNT will go the extra mile to do it even if it's not requested.

The tire and the wheel each have a spot that it is off balanced at the most. TNT attempts to put them at opposite ends of the wheel & tire match-up so less weights are required to balance it. For 99% of people, the few oz's of weight doesn't matter. But for some it might buy them that .005 sec that they art striving for in autoX.

savvy

iTrader: (1)

i had my 4 wheels done for $25 at town fair tire. That was for 4 dismounts, 4 mounts, and balancing. My jaw dropped when i heard the price, i was expecting like a hundred bucks...but only 25!

Triple8Sol

iTrader: (218)

Unfortunately Karl is out of town and busy until next week, so I went ahead and made an appt with Russ @ FTL for this evening. I'll post up my impressions once I get back.

FTL

iTrader: (1)

We received 3 calls from 350Z/G35 folks today initiated by this thread. So I thought I'd introduce myself (and Marek)

In the three years we've been doing this, we've met car guys and gals from many areas. Lots of track day junkies, some autocrossers, lots of road racers, etc. Common Marques we see are: BMWs, Porsches, Subarus (I own an STi and an E36 M3, my business partner (Marek) owns an Evo and Turbo Miata), Miatas, few 350Z's, S2000's, along with the random truck, family car and minivan.

We're happy to help folks in all areas of the Seattle/Eastside area. One guy used to drive 1.5 hours to get to us. He's since found a local shop with similar pricing.

I did want to make one clarification on the "weight offset matching" mentioned. We are happy to position the tire's lighter side to the wheel's heavy side free of charge.

What we do charge for is a "Match Mount". This is a mode on the balancer that measures & locates the exact heavy point on both the tire and wheel as well as these points' relative weight differences. It then allows one to clock the tire to a specific position on the wheel where these imbalances best counter each other out.

If anyone's interested in the process, here's how it works:

1. Balance tire, note extreme imbalance: 3 to 5 (or more) ounces off.
2. Position Tire where valve stem is at top dead center, hit the Next Step button (machine remembers this information), mark tire 180 degrees out.
3. Move wheel assembly to changer, dismount one bead, spin tire so the mark made at 180 degrees out from valve stem lines up with valve stem.
4. Move back to Balancer, spin wheel/tire assy.
5. Rotate tire 'til valve stem is at TDC again. Hit Next Step button.
6. Machine thinks for a sec, then indicates where you need to rotate the tire to get the best balance between tire & wheel. Mark this position.
7. Go back to Changer, dismount a bead, rotate tire to indicated position, remount.
8. Back to balancer, complete fresh balance process to balance it the remainder of the way.

This can bring a large imbalance of 4oz down to 1.5oz (for example). Then you balance the last 1.5oz out normally. Some people want the absolute least amount of weight possible, some don't worry about it.

Thanks!
Russ