Good Tire Shop in St. Louis?
4th Gear
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 343
Likes: 0
From: St. Louis, MO
Originally Posted by Killerbee
First...runflats give a harsh ride.
Second...runflats are expensive.
Third...runflats don't grip as well as performance tires.
Why would you not want a more comfortable ride that grips better and is much less expensive to replace? For the price of 1 1/2 or 2 runflats you can have 4 new performance tires.
The downside is that on long trips you should carry a small spare on the floor behind a front seat. In town a runlat repair kit will do.
Your alignment is probably off from hitting a pothole and therefore you wore out the tire that is not in alignment. Get an alignment, new performance tires....maybe some lighter rims, and a road force balance on those new treads. You will be thankful when you feel the difference.
Try one of the shops mentioned earlier in this thread and they will take good care of you.
Mick
Second...runflats are expensive.
Third...runflats don't grip as well as performance tires.
Why would you not want a more comfortable ride that grips better and is much less expensive to replace? For the price of 1 1/2 or 2 runflats you can have 4 new performance tires.
The downside is that on long trips you should carry a small spare on the floor behind a front seat. In town a runlat repair kit will do.
Your alignment is probably off from hitting a pothole and therefore you wore out the tire that is not in alignment. Get an alignment, new performance tires....maybe some lighter rims, and a road force balance on those new treads. You will be thankful when you feel the difference.
Try one of the shops mentioned earlier in this thread and they will take good care of you.
Mick
3rd Gear
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 169
Likes: 0
From: St. Louis, MO USA
A road force balance is a more detailed form of tire balancing done on special road force balancing equipment. For some cars...like the Miata...which are very sensitive to the balance of the wheels (shimmy when not perfectly balanced) road force balancing is necessary for a shake free smooth ride. Have the company that you get the tires from do your alignment and wheel balancing as they will be warranting the tires and you don't want there to be any doubts that you could have done more to decrease the odds of a repeat tire problem.
I forgot to mention that the run flat tires are also very heavy and any weight you can remove from your wheels and/or tires will make for better handling and accelleration. Good performance tires will weigh less than run flats.
Mick
I forgot to mention that the run flat tires are also very heavy and any weight you can remove from your wheels and/or tires will make for better handling and accelleration. Good performance tires will weigh less than run flats.
Mick
4th Gear
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 433
Likes: 0
From: Near The Gateway Arch
New Tires
One word of advice is to go from 205 to 215 on the tire size and it will open up a lot more choices. Make you tire decision based on usage. Will you be doing a lot of track days? Daily driving, rain & snow ? All these weigh in.
After reading the "tire rack" web site for several hours and going thru all the reviews, I ended up with General "exclaim" UHP, a great overall tire, it was wonderful in the rain at the dragon, and it is even light snow rated. Check it out. I purchased ,mine from Keith Emory at the Autotire store at Manchester and Galoway. He really takes care of club members, so if you go to him make sure you mention you are a member of the MINI Club.
One last thing, you won't believe the difference in the ride on NON run flat tyres.
Motoring down life's ever changing road, not afraid of losing a filling,
After reading the "tire rack" web site for several hours and going thru all the reviews, I ended up with General "exclaim" UHP, a great overall tire, it was wonderful in the rain at the dragon, and it is even light snow rated. Check it out. I purchased ,mine from Keith Emory at the Autotire store at Manchester and Galoway. He really takes care of club members, so if you go to him make sure you mention you are a member of the MINI Club.
One last thing, you won't believe the difference in the ride on NON run flat tyres.
Motoring down life's ever changing road, not afraid of losing a filling,
4th Gear
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 343
Likes: 0
From: St. Louis, MO
Originally Posted by zinful
One word of advice is to go from 205 to 215 on the tire size and it will open up a lot more choices. Make you tire decision based on usage. Will you be doing a lot of track days? Daily driving, rain & snow ? All these weigh in.
After reading the "tire rack" web site for several hours and going thru all the reviews, I ended up with General "exclaim" UHP, a great overall tire, it was wonderful in the rain at the dragon, and it is even light snow rated. Check it out. I purchased ,mine from Keith Emory at the Autotire store at Manchester and Galoway. He really takes care of club members, so if you go to him make sure you mention you are a member of the MINI Club.
One last thing, you won't believe the difference in the ride on NON run flat tyres.
Motoring down life's ever changing road, not afraid of losing a filling,
After reading the "tire rack" web site for several hours and going thru all the reviews, I ended up with General "exclaim" UHP, a great overall tire, it was wonderful in the rain at the dragon, and it is even light snow rated. Check it out. I purchased ,mine from Keith Emory at the Autotire store at Manchester and Galoway. He really takes care of club members, so if you go to him make sure you mention you are a member of the MINI Club.
One last thing, you won't believe the difference in the ride on NON run flat tyres.
Motoring down life's ever changing road, not afraid of losing a filling,
2nd Gear
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 125
Likes: 0
From: St. Louis, MO
I don't know the guys name, but I had a terrible experience at this Autotire location that others here liked.
Although they advertise a free alignment check, they were not happy when I wanted to see the test results before authorizing the $70 alignment. There is only one reason I can think of that this guy is 100 percent sure I'm going to need his alignment. I was buying a set of tires, so it wasn't like I was asking them to put the car up on the lift for free.
I of course wanted my wheels aligned, but I wasn't sure I wanted it done there.
I walked. Now I need to find someone else with the tires I want as well as a GSP 9700 wheel balancer.
Although they advertise a free alignment check, they were not happy when I wanted to see the test results before authorizing the $70 alignment. There is only one reason I can think of that this guy is 100 percent sure I'm going to need his alignment. I was buying a set of tires, so it wasn't like I was asking them to put the car up on the lift for free.
I of course wanted my wheels aligned, but I wasn't sure I wanted it done there.
I walked. Now I need to find someone else with the tires I want as well as a GSP 9700 wheel balancer.
Check out Northwest Tire and Auto. Straight shooters, professional, fair prices (not the cheapest but Autotire is a example of what cheapest gets you)
Locations in Maryland Heights, Chesterfield and Fenton I believe it is
Locations in Maryland Heights, Chesterfield and Fenton I believe it is
2nd Gear
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 125
Likes: 0
From: St. Louis, MO
This may explain what happened to the Autotire in Ballwin. Keith Emery moved to the Autotire in St. Charles on Mexico Rd. Good. Now my negative comments don't have to contradict the previous advice. I don't know Keith, but on SCCA forums he's known for being helpful and doing custom non factory spec (when desired!) alignments.
2nd Gear
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 55
Likes: 0
From: Cardinal Nation
Local Autotire stores in the STL area sold out to a national chain. Not the same company or customer service that people came to expect. Look up Keith though, he has supported the local club community with advice, service, and sponsorship.
2nd Gear
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 125
Likes: 0
From: St. Louis, MO
Northwest Tire does seem to be very familiar with the use of the Roadforce balancing GSP 9700. They charge $100 extra to do it, and I'd question anyone who didn't charge extra, 'cus there is a lot of extra work involved in doing it right.
Not the cheapest but they will do it right
My two cents on Northwest in Maryland Heights...I had them fix two TPMS sensors on my new 18 inch wheels, the first time they did it, excellent job. The second time the wheel now has a big nick in it and also has clamp marks on the inside. All of which I'm not happy about. I don't understand what is so difficult about this process and if I bring my really expensive wheel in, why can they not ensure they don't scratch it. The wheel was dismounted so all they had to do was remove tire, change TPMS sensor, and reinstall tire and balance...is this really that hard? So good luck is all I have to say as it really depends on the person that ends up doing the job and how much he really cares about doing the job right.
I'd bring it right back to em' and get it done right
When they installed my new 18" wheels and tires last spring they called me up and told me immediately after they scratched up one of the new rims owning it and they already had one ordered that was there the next day. Done
When they installed my new 18" wheels and tires last spring they called me up and told me immediately after they scratched up one of the new rims owning it and they already had one ordered that was there the next day. Done
Neutral
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 10
Likes: 0
From: Edwardsville IL
New to the area and from I'm reading it sounds like no more runflats for my clubman ? I need to get a good all season tire for the St Louis weather and go to Keith at AutoTire in St Charles . Am Should I buy from Tirerack or Autotire ? Thanks
Last edited by DeniseJCWClubman; Dec 26, 2009 at 06:14 AM.
Welcome to St. Louis Denise!
Going to St. Charles from Edwardsville is a little out of the way. Perhaps someone could chime in with a metro east tire shop?
Not sure of your autotire/tirerack question
Going to St. Charles from Edwardsville is a little out of the way. Perhaps someone could chime in with a metro east tire shop?
Not sure of your autotire/tirerack question
Neutral
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 10
Likes: 0
From: Edwardsville IL
Need to buy tires
I am staying in St Louis until I close on my house in Edwardsville January . Just moved here from Johnson City Tn .. Wasn't sure from the readings if I was going to find Keith at AutoTire to purchase new winter tires or order from TireRack ? At first I was going to the Mini Dealer :( all this tire stuff makes me nuts 
I have continentconti procontact on my mini now . Any suggestions accepted . 
Denise
I have continentconti procontact on my mini now . Any suggestions accepted . Denise
Last edited by DeniseJCWClubman; Dec 26, 2009 at 06:21 AM.
2nd Gear
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 125
Likes: 0
From: St. Louis, MO
I would use tirerack to read reviews on the tires you are considering, then order the tires you choose from a local dealer. I personally would then look at gsp9700.com and click "locate a gsp 9700" to find a dealer who can road force balance the tire wheel combo.
Also, tires seem to always be a trade off between tread life and performance, and between all season traction and road noise.
Also, tires seem to always be a trade off between tread life and performance, and between all season traction and road noise.
2nd Gear
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 55
Likes: 0
From: Cardinal Nation
I would look at the Toyo Proxes 4. Ultra high performance all-season tire. Zisser and Telle are two local shops that will take care of you. Outstanding handling and low noise for A/S.
http://toyotires.com/tire/pattern/proxes-4
Motor On!
http://toyotires.com/tire/pattern/proxes-4
Motor On!
6th Gear
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 4,556
Likes: 0
Lois
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post