Balancing your tires costs between $10 to $18 per tire, on average. Total tire balancing costs depend on your vehicle, how many tires need balancing, location and the service provider you choose.
Factors that influence tire balance costs
Because tire balancing is one of the most inexpensive services a mechanic can do, you may not get substantially different quotes between shops. But if a mechanic quotes you more than $50 to balance one tire, look elsewhere.
Here are three factors that affect the service cost.
- The number of tires that need balancing. Tire balancing costs are usually calculated per wheel and tire combo. If you only need one tire balanced, you’ll only pay for one.
- Your physical location. Many car repair services have regional pricing, so you may pay more in an urban area than a rural one. Because tire balancing is a low-cost service, the difference may be negligible.
- The mechanic providing the service. You can usually expect to pay more if you get your tires balanced through a dealership than if you go to a national tire chain, warehouse store or independent shop. You’ll usually pay less if you go to the same provider where you purchased and installed your tires.
What is tire balancing?
It’s difficult to manufacture a perfectly round tire, and any irregularities in their construction will cause the wheel to shake or wobble at higher speeds. When you buy a set of tires it is routine to have each tire balanced to correct these small imperfections. However, due to wear or harsh driving conditions, one or more tires might need to be rebalanced.
Tire balancing is the process of compensating for the weight of each tire on your vehicle, adding small weights to the inside and outside of each wheel to counteract any discrepancies as you drive.
If the weight of your tires and wheels is unbalanced, the car may shake, wobble, bounce or vibrate. Unbalanced tires can reduce the grip on the road and cause uneven wear, which makes driving less safe and shortens the life of your tires.
To balance your tires, a trained technician will place each wheel-tire combination on a special machine that’s hooked up to a computer. The machine spins your tire and identifies areas where the weight is unbalanced, which tells the tech how much weight to add and where.
Once they are done, the tire should spin evenly, both on the machine and your car.
If this sounds a lot like fixing a wobbly ceiling fan in your house, that’s because it’s basically the same process.
There are two main types of tire imbalances.
- Dynamic imbalance is due to unequal weight on both sides of the wheel and tire, causing a side-to-side wobble.
- Static imbalance happens when there is a heavier or lighter spot on a tire, causing a vertical bounce as the wheel turns.
Tire imbalance can also be caused by uniformity issues, such as imperfect tread, rotor and axle imbalances or a being mounted onto a wheel incorrectly.
How often should you get your tires balanced?
A general recommendation is to get your tires balanced every 6,000 miles or so, which is roughly how often you should be rotating your tires.
If you begin to feel any vibration through the steering wheel, or through the suspension system, you should have that wheel balanced as soon as possible. Keep in mind that it might be difficult to determine which wheel is out-of-balance.
When you rotate your tires
Rotating your tires involves moving them from one position to another to encourage even wear across the tread. You can balance your tires at the same time, especially since the technician will already have your vehicle on a lift and have the tires removed.
After getting new tires or wheels
Balancing a new set of tires or wheels ensures the new tires are installed on the wheels correctly and that nothing is amiss right out of the gate. Many tire shops include mounting and balancing in your installation service, sometimes for free.
After fixing a flat or swapping out for your spare
If you get a flat tire and either have it repaired or switch that tire out for your spare, consider balancing at least that tire.
If a weight is added or removed
Weights can get shifted or knocked off of your tires if you hit a curb, drive through rough terrain, take your vehicle offroading or drive on uneven roadways for long enough. If one or more of these weights moves or falls off, it’s wise to get the tire rebalanced.
If your tires are in need of balancing, you will probably notice some of the following signs.
- Vibrations or wobbles in your steering wheel.
- Loud road noise like a growling or humming from your tires.
- Uneven tread wear.
- Bouncing or vibrating through the floorboards or seats at high speeds.
How to save on tire balancing
Balancing your tires is a relatively low-cost service, but any savings you snag can add up. Here are some tips to help save money.
Use the shop that sold you the tires
Many shops that sell tires provide tire balancing at a discounted price, or possibly for free, for the lifetime of those tires. Before you pay a local shop to balance your tires, see if you have any perks through your original retailer.
At Walmart, for example, you can pay $16 per tire for lifetime balancing when you get new tires installed. At retailers like Discount Tire and Costco, tire balancing is free on any tires you purchased and had installed there.
Combine services
You may get a discount on a tire balancing service when you combine it with other related services, like a tire rotation, wheel alignment or new-tire installation.
Compare estimates
Though this is a low-cost service, it’s still wise to call at least a few shops and ask about pricing. Price shopping could save you a few dollars, and it might help you find a new favorite mechanic. Keep an eye on the newspaper, your email and mailbox for any coupons or discount offers.
FAQs
-
Can I balance my own tires?
-
Is tire balancing the same as wheel alignment?
Stephanie Colestock is a seasoned writer specializing in personal finance. With over 14 years of experience, she crafts insightful and accessible content on a wide range of financial topics, including insurance, credit and debt management, banking, investing, retirement planning, and household finances.
Her bylines appear in top-tier publications such as TIME, Fortune, MSN, Forbes, USA Today, Money, Fox Business, and CBS. Stephanie’s deep understanding of complex financial concepts and her ability to communicate them clearly have made her a trusted voice in the industry.
When she’s not writing, Stephanie enjoys helping individuals make smarter financial decisions through her engaging and well-researched articles.
Annie is a writer and editor at Jerry with more than a decade of experience writing and editing digital content. Before joining Jerry, she was an assistant assigning editor at NerdWallet. Her past work has appeared in the Associated Press, USA Today and The Washington Post. Her work has been cited by NorthWestern University and Harvard Kennedy School. Annie served as a spokesperson for NerdWallet during her time at NerdWallet and has been featured in New York Magazine, MarketWatch and on local television and radio stations.
Previously, she worked at USAA and newspapers in Minnesota, North Dakota, California and Texas. She has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Minnesota.
Phil grew up fixing lawn mowers, motorcycles and cars. He began his journalism career as a night police reporter in Chicago and Denver. Moving to Los Angeles, Phil ghost-wrote several how-to books about car buying. He then was hired by the consumer automotive site Edmunds.com where he worked as an “undercover” car salesman. This led to a series of articles called “Confessions of a Car Salesman.” Additionally, he wrote DIY articles about car maintenance and repair and took high-performance driving lessons on race tracks in Nevada and California. Later, he wrote a syndicated automotive column for Nerdwallet. He recently he authored the book Electric Cars: How to Get Rolling Today. For Jerry he will use his experience to help car owners make smart decisions about driving, repairing and maintaining their vehicles. Phil lives in Long Beach, Calif., and still enjoys turning wrenches and helping his son change the oil in his 2016 Mazda3.
