Tire Rack purchase

[derb]

Thought I'd pass on a positive online purchase experience.
I bought a set of tires from Tire Rack this past week and I was impressed with how fast I got them. My order was confirmed on Wednesday via email at 2:16 pm. The tires arrived at my house on Thursday at 2:41 pm. Not too shabby. Shipping by UPS was only $35 for all 4 which I thought was reasonable considering the weight.
Now I gotta find someone to mount them.

[Lil bastard]

They're a good outfit.

Make sure you find a place which will Road Force (or dynamically) balance the tires using a Hunter 97XX machine. Expect to pay $100-$125 to have them mounted and balanced.

Be aware that I've twice had to return tires to Tire Rack because they were too far out-of-round to be properly balanced as measured on a Hunter machine.

I don't know if this was just bad fortune, or if these discount sellers get lesser quality tires than the Mfrs. authorized dealers. Good luck!

[rick3000]

I have also purchased from Tire Rack, and had an overall great experience, and received my 4 tires quickly, with reasonable shipping, like $32.

[yurkope]

I have bought several sets of tires from them. I have not had a dissapointment yet. I always have them shipped directly to my installer to save hassle on my end.

[Dr. Kill]

+1 on the good experience with Tire Rack. I recommend them often.

[tommy986]

Originally Posted by Lil bastard

Be aware that I've twice had to return tires to Tire Rack because they were too far out-of-round to be properly balanced as measured on a Hunter machine.

What brand of tire was that?

[Lil bastard]

Originally Posted by tommy986

What brand of tire was that?

The 1st was a set of Dunlop Sport S 9000 tires. One of them was so out-of-round that the Hunter machine couldn't choose a point on the wheel on which to mount it.

The 2nd were Michelin Sport Pilots, same situation.

Tire Rack didn't put up any fuss, they exchanged the tires. But my project was delayed a couple more weeks in each case.

A word to the wise: ALWAYS use a Hunter 97XX machine to dynamically balance your tires ( also called Road Force) and require that the tech give you a printout for each tire (the machine will provide this). Check this beforehand as some shops don't invest in a printer, if they don't, go somewhere else that has the full Hunter kit. Tires are a pretty big continuous investment in your car. Not getting them right the 1st time can mean hundreds of dollars spent with no return due to premature wear and/or poor driving /handling characteristics, at which point, why buy Premium tires at all?

The same is true if you buy from a Dealer, make sure they use the Hunter machines and get a printout. I wonder how many Dealers just make them work for unwary customers.

I would love to buy some tires from Tire Rack, but they are out of my size- 265/35/19 in PS2's. Couild be a couple weeks or a couple months. They don't know when Michelin will make them again.

[LoveBunny]

I ordered some tires a while back for my Lexus from Tire Rack and I was impressed with how quickly they got there. But then I had to pay to get them put on, and it ended up costing me almost the same beause the Lexus dealer had a special on tires if you bought them and had them mounted at the dealer.

[blinkwatt]

I've ordered 1 tire from them....it was out of round. They sent a replacement in a timely manner but the annoyance of going to the wheel shop twice sucked.