Maintenance February 26, 2020
If you own a car, you’ve probably heard about the importance of wheel alignment and wheel balancing. Both of these services extend tire life and improve handling performance, but they shouldn’t be confused for the same thing!
So, what is the difference between wheel alignment and wheel balancing? Keep reading to find out.
What is wheel alignment and balancing?Wheel Alignment
A wheel alignment refers to an adjustment of your vehicle’s suspension (the system that connects a vehicle to its wheels) to make sure the wheels are positioned correctly relative to the road.
There are three types of angles adjusted during a wheel alignment:
Camber: The inward or outward angle of the tire when viewed from the front of the car.
Toe: The inward or outward angle of the tire when viewed from above the vehicle.
Caster: The angle of the steering axis when viewed from the side of the vehicle.
Don’t underestimate the importance of a tire alignment. Without proper alignment, your wheels will resist steering commands and your tires will wear unevenly. Regular alignments will help your tires perform to the best of their ability and last longer.
Wheel Balancing
Wheel balancing refers to an adjustment of any weight imbalances in a tire/wheel. An out-of-balance tire causes a shaky, uneven ride. If left untreated, this uneven distribution of pressure and weight increases the wear and tear on your tires, forcing you to replace them more often than necessary.
To balance your tires, a technician will dismount the wheels from the vehicle and put them onto a special balancing machine. The machine spins the tire at high speeds to determine where there are imbalances. Then, the technician mounts small wheel weights to the tire and wheel assembly to correct the imbalances.
Wheel Alignment
Wheel Balancing
Read: What Pothole Damage Can Do to Your Car
What are the symptoms?Wheel Alignment
Does the sensation remind you of saw teeth?Wheel Balancing
Wheel Alignment
The cost of a wheel alignment varies depending on the repair shop and the vehicle, but it’s typically between $100-$200.
At Virginia Tire & Auto, we use cutting-edge technology from Hunter Engineering to accurately evaluate and adjust the angles of your vehicle’s wheels.
Computerized Alignment service at Virginia Tire & Auto costs $99.99, and Premium Alignment service costs $159.99. Both services come with a 6-month, 6,000-mile warranty.
A Computerized Alignment is fine for most cars, but a Premium Alignment is required for European cars because of their complex steering, suspension and computer systems.
Wheel Balancing
A typical wheel balance service costs anywhere from $15–$50 per tire.
At Virginia Tire & Auto, we offer two types of tire balancing: standard balancing and Road Force Balancing. Standard balancing costs $16 per tire and addresses any up-and-down imbalances. It comes with a 6-month, 6,000-miles warranty.
Road Force Balancing uses specialized equipment to solve balancing issues that a standard balance cannot fix. It costs $32 per tire and comes free with any tire purchase at Virginia Tire & Auto.
And, barring any damage to the wheel assembly, you’ll only need to get a Road Force Balance once in the life of the tire.
Similar to most car maintenance services, there is no absolute answer to how often you should get an alignment or tire balance. There are a lot of factors to consider, including how frequently you drive your vehicle, the quality of the roads you drive on, and the quality of your tires.
You should always check your vehicle owner’s manual to find out what the manufacturer recommends. But, generally, wheel balancing is typically required more often than wheel alignment.
A good rule of thumb is to have your wheel alignment and balance checked every 12,000–15,000 miles or once a year (unless you’ve gotten a Road Force Balance service). You should also get your alignment checked and wheels balanced anytime you install new tires. Doing so will help you cut down on costly repairs and fuel costs and give you peace of mind on the road.
Every tire purchase at Virginia Tire & Auto comes with tires&, our easy-installation and worry-free driving package, which helps you save on wheel alignment and balance services. Tires& includes Road Force Balancing, which is good for the life of the tire, as well as a free alignment check.
For the best alignment and balancing service with industry-leading equipment, trust the tire experts at Virginia Tire & Auto. Drop by your local store for service or schedule an appointment online anytime.
by Mark Stevens
Last Updated on May 27, 2021
Wheel balancing is a very important procedure that prevents the wheels and tires on your car from vibrating while spinning on the road.
Getting a perfect balance calls for the checking of any heavy spots at the point where the wheels and tires meet.
After identifying such spots, the mechanics can compensate for it by engaging a good-sized lead weight on the reverse end of the wheel having the heavy spot.
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Table of Contents
Your vehicle needs rebalancing every time you replace your tires and have them installed on your wheels. In addition, wheel balancing is needed if you change wheels such as when upgrading stock wheels to aftermarket wheels.
If you ever feel your steering wheel shake abnormally while driving, you’ll also want to have your wheels rebalanced. One of the weights may have fallen off the wheel or it could be another problem entirely but wheel balancing never hurts even if it’s just used for diagnostics.
A wheel-balancing machine simply spins the wheel for about 10-15 seconds to determine if the wheel has the right balance as it rotates.
As such, the mechanic can easily identify the right spots to place the weights, which guarantees an evenly rotating wheel on the road.
Symptoms of unbalanced tires include: uneven tire wear, steering wheel vibrations, poor gas mileage, and other things that may cause extra wear and tear on your vehicle. Along with wheel alignments, wheel balancing is necessary maintenance. If you have a bad wheel alignment, the symptoms may be similar.
The average wheel balancing cost ranges between $30 and $100 for all the four wheels of your car. However, it can cost you approximately $10 to $15 per wheel as dictated by your vehicle’s make and model as well as the rates offered by the service provider.
It is worth noting that wheel-balancing services typically have higher costs at car dealers compared to tire shops (Discount Tire, Le Schwab, etc.), Costco, alignment shops, or independent auto repair shops.
For instance, you can have your four wheels balanced at a typical tire shop chain for about $15 per wheel. On the other hand, a car dealership may charge you $20 to $25 per wheel depending on make and model.
A thoroughly complete wheel balancing takes account of tire mounting and tire rotation. Tire mounting is the process of placing the tire on the wheel while tire rotation involves changing the specific locations of individual tires on the vehicle.
Doing this ensures that tires wear down evenly because front tires erode faster than rear tires and such a process can incur an average cost of approximately $3 to $12 per wheel.
For instance, for the four wheels, several automotive repair shops charge an average of $40 for balancing, $20 for mounting and $12 for rotation. Alternatively, they charge an average of $48 for a complete tire installation package including wheel rotation, mounting, balancing and installing a new valve stem for the four wheels.
Occasionally, various tire repair shops as well as dealership service departments run promotional deals and provide discount coupons to car owners.
You should take advantage of these offers to help you save a significant amount of money on car maintenance.
It’s advisable to stick to one or two shops to service your car as most of them usually give coupons periodically to their loyal customers. Furthermore, some tire stores and auto repair shops try to attract new customers by giving them discount coupons on sign up. You can use such offers to cut down the expenses on car maintenance including wheel balancing.
Related: Average Wheel Alignment Cost
Anytime you experience an irregular vibration through your car’s steering wheel irrespective of the speed at which you are driving at, wheel balancing is often the cure for everything to return to normal. Precisely, the unevenly balanced mass in the tire results in constant vibrations and transfers to the steering wheel through the suspension system. This sensation is known as steering shake.
Read also: Average Shock and Strut Replacement Cost
Categories Tires & Wheels Tags balanceAsk a question, get an answer ASAP!
Is it time to switch from winter to summer tires? Come to our car service to change tires by prior online appointment.
Shesteryonka car services are equipped with modern Italian balancing equipment RAVAGLIOLIM and a tire changer CORCHI , which allows tire fitting for wheels ranging in size from 12 "to 30", including low-profile tires and Run Flat tires.
In addition to tire fitting and wheel balancing, you will receive high-quality services for all types of repairs, including puncture and side cut repair, as well as washing and cleaning wheels. Service centers "Shesterenka" have the status of certified services that have the right to perform tire fitting and wheel balancing.
| Name of work | Cost of work | |||||||
| R12-14 | R15 | R16 | R17-18 | R19+ comm.  transport | ||||
| light | implemented | easy | implemented | easy | off-road | |||
| Wheel - remove/attach | 90 | 100 | 120 | 110 | 150 | 140 | 170 | 170 |
| Wheel - balancing | 90 | 100 | 120 | 110 | 150 | 140 | 170 | 170 |
| Wheel assembly | 80 | 90 | 100 | 90 | 130 | 120 | 130 | 150 |
| Wheel - removal | 80 | 90 | 100 | 90 | 130 | 120 | 130 | 150 |
| Wash wheel | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 70 | 70 | 70 | 70 |
| Wheel - inflation | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 |
| Chamber - repair | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | - | - | - |
One wheel conversion (excl. freight cost) | 340 | 380 | 440 | 400 | 560 | 520 | 600 | 640 |
| 4 / 6 wheel conversion (without cost of freight) | 1360 | 1520 | 1760 | 1600 | 2240 | 2080 | 2400 | 2560/3840 |
| Tire - repair (harness installation) | 150 | 150 | 150 | 150 | 150 | 150 | 150 | 150 |
| Tire - repair (mushroom installation) | 150 | 150 | 150 | 150 | 150 | 150 | 150 | 150 |
| Tire - repair (installation of cord patch) | 250 | 250 | 250 | 250 | 250 | 250 | 250 | 250 |
| Tire - repair (side cut up to 3 cm) | 250 | 250 | 250 | 250 | 250 | 300 | 300 | 300 |
| Seat - cleaning | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 50 | 50 | 50 |
| Seat - sealing | 40 | 40 | 40 | 40 | 40 | 60 | 60 | 60 |
| Disc check (balance) | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 |
| Copper grease treatment of the hub (1 wheel) | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 |
| Installing a non-return valve | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 |
| Pressure sensor installation | 200 | 200 | 200 | 200 | 200 | 200 | 200 | 200 |
Please note that the price is indicated in rubles and is valid at the time of publication.
You can get more complete information by contacting the managers of the Shesteryonka service centers.
Certificates of Shesterenka service centers
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State-of-the-art Hunter Road Force machines and innovative Haweka adapters for precision balancing
24/7 With 3 months warranty
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The Tire-Box uses a four-dimensional vehicle wheel balancing system. The data for installing the balancing weights come from not one, but from 4 vibration sensors.
The sensors measure vibrations at different points in the tire at any given time. This allows you to calculate the weight and location of the weight with high accuracy.
Qualitatively carried out balancing prevents deformation, imbalance and premature wear of tires, increases vehicle controllability and reduces accident rate.
ORDER BALANCING
Calculate the cost of balancing Calculate the prices for the balancing service Calculate the cost
This guarantees maximum centering accuracy. In addition, the adapters contact the disk only at the location of the bolt head or nut. Therefore, there is no risk of damaging the disc coating.
We use Haweka's innovative equipment, which allows us to simulate real vehicle operating conditions on the stand for maximum balancing accuracy.
Balancing Absolute wheel weight correction accuracy thanks to state-of-the-art Hunter Road Force balancer and Haweka adapters
Any types of wheels We work with any types of wheels of cars and trucks up to 5 tons
Experts with experience Balancing is performed by qualified specialists certified to work with innovative equipment
The whole procedure takes 10-20 minutes
3 months warranty
We work 24\7
Excellent service and good reviews
Waiting room Comfortable waiting area with free coffee and light snacks
Reviews
Olga Stuchevskaya
Wonderful place! I just changed my shoes here and I am writing from fresh impressions.
Discovered this service a few years ago. Previously, it was serviced by an authorized dealer, and tire fitting was associated with something peasant-dense. But I bought complete wheels (although there is also a tire service here) and I wanted something closer.
I never keep tires at home - I think this savings due to comfort is meaningless, given the cost of car ownership. I am very satisfied, every year Shino Box is getting better and better: quality, accuracy, speed - of course. But it is also a very comfortable place - you have time to drink free coffee with candy while sitting on the sofa (they offered to take it with you - but this is already too much). There are no such flirting with cash - everything is on the card (and for a long time), a pleasant social discount ... And most importantly - you leave in a good mood - which is so important in the nervous life of a driver. Good luck in your business!
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Ars Eny
The place won over with its convenient location, round-the-clock work and high customer focus! I bought a car with a set of summer tires that needed to be quickly folded somewhere - I called on Saturday at 21:30, and at 23:00 I already handed over the wheels for storage.
When I came to change shoes for the summer, they did everything quickly, efficiently and positively in the late evening. For me personally - a person who has every minute counting - the opportunity to do something useful in the late evening is very valuable!
High-quality service combined with a human attitude - this, unfortunately, is not common. And here it is!
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Andrey Ryakhovskiy
Very fast
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Alena P.
Awesome tavern! We punctured a wheel on a three-ruble note and came here! Came by accident, but very happy! Although the full load on changing shoes for the summer, they quickly dismantled and repaired the wheel! Stylish office and library where you can leave and pick up any book! Tire storage available!
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Egor Andreev
If you need a quality tire fitting - you are here.
Able to properly mount a low profile. They balance well. Instead of 100g of loads that were hung, I balanced to zero with 30g.
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Ben Gun
Change tires almost like in formula 1
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Anton R.
Normal person tire fitting - CRM, polite staff, nice design and atmosphere.
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Anna M.
Excellent service! Everything is high quality and inexpensive. The guys do everything quickly - before you have time to drink coffee, everything is already ready. In addition to tire fitting and rubber storage, I do all service work here. I am satisfied with everything!
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Boris Dergachev
Ordered summer tires and alloy wheels.
