Do you balance car and pickup wheels?

Yes. The store carries passenger and light truck tires along with the commercial and equipment categories.

Is balancing included with a fitting?

It is standard practice with a new fitting. Confirm when you book so the time is scheduled.

We rebalanced and the shake came back. Why?

Look at the rim. Weights are calculated for the whole assembly, so a wheel that is out of round or corroded at the seat puts the vibration back. Wheel refurbishing is offered at this store.

Can you align the vehicle too?

Not at this location. Alignment is offered at the Billings store, for cars and light trucks and for heavy trucks and trailers.

Tire & Wheel Balancing in Belgrade, MT

Long distances make small faults expensive

A wheel assembly that is slightly out of balance is harmless at town speeds and costly at highway speeds, and Montana supplies rather a lot of the second kind.

What the imbalance does is cup the tread in patches, so a tire that should have run its full life comes off early with wear nobody can explain. On a commercial unit it also takes the casing's retread value down with it, which is a second loss on the same tire.

The vibration is only the symptom. The tread is the bill.

Cars and trucks, same building

This is a commercial store, and it carries all nine Purcell tire categories, passenger and light truck included.

Balancing is one of the services that crosses that line. A pickup, a car, a tractor-trailer and a piece of yard equipment can all be balanced here. What is not offered at this location is general vehicle repair: brakes, oil changes, air conditioning and engine work are at Billings, the other Purcell store in Montana.

When to ask for it

With every fitting, as standard. Confirm it when you book so the time is allowed for.
After a wheel comes off, including a roadside change on a cold night.
When a vibration appears in a speed range and settles above and below it.
After an impact, which in this state usually means a frost heave rather than a curb.

A vibration present at every speed, or a steering pull, is a different problem and points at alignment. Belgrade does not offer alignment; Billings handles it for cars and light trucks and for heavy trucks.

Check the wheel before rebalancing twice

Balance weights are calculated for the assembly, which means the wheel is half the answer. A rim that has gone out of round, or has corroded at the seat over a few winters, will put a vibration back into a vehicle whose tires are perfectly balanced.

What usually happens next is a second balance and a conclusion that the shop got it wrong. Belgrade offers wheel refurbishing, so the rim can be looked at in the same visit and the question closed.

About this store

The Belgrade store is open Monday to Friday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, managed by John Jones, at 246 Briar Pl #2.

See the national tire and wheel balancing page for all 51 locations.