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Would You Buy Tires Online?

If you’re in the market for tires the Internet knows it, and you’ll start to see ads in your feed by online tire stores like Tire Rack and Simple Tire offering amazing deals and making it all look so easy.

Coupons, discounts, free shipping, and a selection of recommended installers in your area ready to receive and install your tires — Sound great, but would you buy tires online? 

Probably not — the reality is less than 10% of tires are bought online. Why?

Tire and auto shops don’t like installing tires or parts you’ve bought somewhere else.

That’s why most of the recommended installers near me are a who’s-who of chain stores and franchises. 

Online tire stores have little interest and no responsibility in how your service experience goes — No matter how good they make it sound, buying tires online is rarely as satisfying as shopping locally. 

Buying tires from a small business means they’re going to be there for you when you have a problem. That’s the whole point of a tire shop. 

I have welcomed customer-supplied tire installations, it’s a great way to meet new people, but you won’t find my business listed on Tire Rack. 

There’s nothing wrong with shopping for tires on the couch, but don’t hit the buy button until you’ve shopped at your local tire shop and read their reviews, because most of the time you’ll pay less, and have a much better experience buying tires locally.

Thanks for visiting, 

Spencer


(As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases)

 

Hunter road-force elite balance

Can’t Fix a Shimmy? Try Road-Force Optimize

If you have an annoying shimmy or shake in your car that no-one can seem to fix, we can diagnose and road-force optimize them.

Every tire and wheel has a high and low spot. 

A standard high-speed, dynamic wheel balance, is where we put weights on the inside and outside of the wheel to correct a shimmy at highway speeds.

There is no measurement for the wheel-hop and this can be annoying at all speeds.

Our Hunter Road-Force Elite wheel balancer goes the extra step.

While checking the dynamic, high-speed balance, a roller comes down on the tire and using 1000lbs of force measures the wheel-hop.

Road-force is measured in lbs and in my shop, anything over 20lbs of road force gets optimized.

Road-force optimization involves spinning the tire’s rotation on the wheel, then re-balancing, something we will do on every new tire we install, including customer-supplied installations.

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customer supplied tire installation equipment

Customer-Supplied Tire Installations

Would you buy tires online and bring them to a tire shop for installation? 

Internet tire stores make it easy and cheap to buy tires, so if you’re a little curious and comfortable buying a coffee maker on Amazon, then buying tires online should be no problem. 

But most tire shops don’t like installing the tires you supply. That’s because in the tire business today, the profits are razor-thin, that they need to sell you the tires to collect the volume bonuses and make a profit. 

Of course, I would love to sell you tires, but I also understand that you might want to buy your own. 

If you’re buying tires online, here are a few tips:

  • Physically check the size, twice! Don’t just rely on the catalogs because there are probably 2 or 3 potential sizes available for your vehicle. 
  • If you’re reading reviews, make sure they live where you do. What does a reviewer from Texas know about snow traction?
  • Forget the “recommended installers”, they’re mostly the chain stores using a $9.95 tire installation like a $9.95 oil change, needing the upsell to break even and beyond.

At Kenwood Tire we’ve been perfecting the customer-supplied tire install since online tire stores began using Corghi tire machines for touch-free tire installations and Hunter Elite wheel balancing equipment with road-force optimization for a smooth ride.

Most customer-supplied tire installations cost $30-40 each, including hand-torquing the wheel nuts and resetting the tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS).

Click here to schedule an appointment.


 


internet tire installation

Internet Tire Installation Made Easy

The Internet makes buying tires easy if you know what you’re looking for. 

With a little research, online tire stores like TireRack, TireBuyer, TireAmerica, and SimpleTire can help you can make a good tire choice, and save you money.

Tire Rack recommended internet tire installer near me
 TireRack’s recommended tire installers near me are mostly chain stores!

The problem with buying tires online is that you need to find someone to install them for you.

At Kenwood Tire and Auto Service, we welcome internet tire installations, no matter where you buy them.

But other tire stores will do their best to make you regret buying your tires online.

How do you think Tire Rack’s “recommended installers”, who are the chain stores and franchises like Pep Boys that you were probably trying to avoid in the first place, will treat you when you show up with your own tires?

The best way to find a professional tire installer near you is to call around, read reviews, and ask for a recommendation.

I also recommend checking out the TireBuyer installers in your area, because they partner with local independent internet tire installers like us.

At Kenwood Tire & Auto Service we’ll professionally install your tires no matter where you buy them. 

Our customer-supplied tire installation includes replacing the tire, high-speed balancing including road-force optimizer, hand-torquing the wheel nuts, and resetting the tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) 

For most vehicles, we charge $30-40 per tire for internet tire installation. 


Stay safe and let me know if you have any questions or comments about customer-supplied and internet tire installation. 

Spencer.