the Cost of Wheel Alignment and Tire Installation

We purchased 4 new tires for our truck. The service consisted of removing and disposing of the old tires, installing and balancing the new tires.

The new tires were 161 each for a total of 640 plus 8 for new valve stems. Installation was free, but balancing was 36. The fee to dispose of the old tires was 8, and the state tire fee was 5.40, bringing the total to 700. Our state tax is approx 10%, so the final total was 770.

The quality of the service and the tires was very good. We dropped the car off in the morning, and it was ready by lunch. When we left the store, I could immediately tell a difference in the way my truck handled, and subsequently noticed a slight increase in fuel economy.

I think it can be confusing to purchase tires. It can be hard to distinguish between the different tire models, and which features are really necessary.

Overall, I think we got a good value for our purchase. For safety reasons, it is important to have good tires on your vehicle, and while tires for trucks, especially 4 wheel drive trucks, are usually more expensive than car tires, they are often subjected to more challenging driving conditions than just city and highway driving.

I would suggest that anyone contemplating a tire purchase make sure they do a little research beforehand. We consulted a consumer reporting website, and based on their recommendations, created a short list of tire models that would be good choices for our truck.

I would also recommend comparison shopping, online and in person. I got estimates from our local warehouse store as well as a national tire/repair chain. Their estimates were pretty close, but we chose the tire store in order to take advantage of a 6 months same as cash offer on their credit card.

I do wish I had a better knowledge of tires before this purchase. I think that much like the mattress makers, many tire manufacturers sell the same tire with different names to different retailers, which makes it difficult to know if you are comparing apples to apples.