What is tire balancing, and why is it important;

The purpose of the balancing is to eliminate any vibration which might be caused by any mismatch between a tire and the wheel. First, you may wonder why there might even exist a mismatch requiring tire balancing when you're buying new tires and possibly installing them on new wheels or even used ones which are in good condition.

To begin with, it is important to realize that the amount of weight difference which could cause vibration can be extremely small. Most tire balancing machines today are set to detect and correct vibration caused by as little as 1/4 ounce. Just 1/4 ounce ... that's less than the weight of the pat of butter you put on your morning toast!

Why this tiny weight can be important is based on the principle that a small force repeated rapidly and frequently can cause serious damage to almost anything.
A car's wheel which is traveling at 60 mph is making approximately, 4 revolutions every second and every one of those revolutions is producing a tiny shake which is passed on to every part of the vehicle connected to it. This means that in just one hour driving, one wheel can deliver more than 14,000 of these little shakes.
People often notice unbalanced tires when they are on the front wheels because the vibrations are transferred through the steering wheel to the driver's hands. These same vibrations are not felt when they are on the rear wheels, but the fact that the driver isn't aware of them, doesn't mean they aren't affecting the mechanical wear-and-tear of the vehicle. This is why it has become a standard practice to balance every new tire at the moment it is installed, regardless of which position it will occupy on the vehicle.
We recommend balancing on 5,000 mile intervals.

(balancing and rotation after every 5,000 miles is a free service all our customers get when buying their tires from us.)