tire balancing due to steering shaking
 

took my box to America's Tire Co. for a tire balancing. i went there cuz they were offering life time free balancing, flat repair, rotation (which boxs' dont need) for 69.99. but few surprises.

*they wanted to charge me 49.99 per wheel since it was 19". for one time balancing. :eek:
*they told me i HAVE to get "ride-match" balancing since it was 19". whatever that is. :confused:
*and that they can't offer that life time deal on my car since it was 19".

so i said what the heck, why not, do it. 3 minutes later one guys comes back and tells my rep guys and says "can't work on that porsche, its got a spacer".
so they deny to work on my car. (i have a 15mm hub centric spacer on the rear, got the wheels from a previous 996 owner) they said its their co. policy regards to liability issue.
by now i am pretty up set cuz they act like i did something bad by having original porsch factory spacers. to top it off this little greasy monkey even said " dude, why'd you put spacers?" and walks away. :mad: i am 35 but i look 25 so i am real sick of strange people (kids) calling me dude or man. anyhow, as i was about to walk out, and one guy says, if you didnt have spacers i would do it for you, so i told them my front dont have any spacers so they did that "ride-match" balancing.
that thing took 2 hours. i was watching them the whole time and wow, it was some maticulous balancing. i was glad the guy who was working on the wheels knew what he was doing and wouldnt quit until he got it perfect and i mean perfect. he must have taken off the tires off the wheel at least 3 time to make it perfect. he did such a good job so i tipped him $20. and i guess he was grateful so he goes back in the shop and tells his manager that the balancing machine is little off so i should get my money back (in front of 6~8 different customers) so i got refunded! so i got that ride match thingy for $20!! and my car drives awesome now. that thing is really worth it even if i had to pay 49 per tire. :dance:

"he must have taken off the tires off the wheel at least 3 time to make it perfect."

Yes, this is the way it SHOULD BE done!

Done correctly, it can take 20 minutes per tire, or more!

:D

I'm assuming you did the road force balancing (or dynamic balance) done, right? Did that take care of the problem? I am having the same steering wheel shaking at about 70 MPH and up. I was planning on having the service done within the next few days. Let me know how it worked out please.
David

I bit the bullet and decided to have the road force balance done. The car rides like a dream now. It solved all the vibration problems and is now smooth as glass. It was worth every penny. Just thought you might want to know.

hey yeah Road force balancing is the way to go. I had my new tires put on about a month or so ago and this week, tomorrow, monday going to a place in Silver Spring MD that does that service. most places that I know of around here in Northern VA dont do that. They only balance to 55 and that stinks....

i cant wait to get mine done too. usually get it doen twice a year around here :/