Date:         Thu, 13 Oct 2011 21:23:20 -0700
Reply-To:     Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      More about tires...somewhat early ..sort of Friday
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I wanted to get my new Hakkapellittas mounted today after they came UPS in
just one day from Santa Cruz to near Portland, Or.  So I called around to my
local tire places and found they all wanted about $15 per tire to mount and
balance....and that included a tire disposal charge...I think around $5 per
tire.
  When I was pricing tires at these same shops, they told me the cause of
almost double prices for tires in just two years was that the raw materials
cost had risen dramatically.    I know for a fact that Les Schwabb Tires,
with their company headquarters just about 50 miles from me in Prineville,
Oregon...they load all the worn out tires into the same trucks that bring
the new ones and they take the old ones and melt em for the rubber, use it
over again.    In Baja, when they pave a road, they simply doze-out a pit on
a hillside and set up a place where gravel trucks can drive under the outlet
for this pit.....then they burn old tires and the melted rubber funnels into
the gravel trucks.....instant blacktop!

  So why do tire shops try to charge us to 'dispose' of used tires when they
obviously have value and are re-constituted into more tires to sell us
again?

  I also used my own tire changer and balancing device....I got a fixture
for manual tire changing from Brey-Krause Racing...a simple old style clamp
fixture that I took to races with me in my car hauler trailer...that way I
was not dependent on trackside tire services to change my racing tires and I
could always count on getting the right tire on the right wheel, etc etc...A
little more work, but perfectly adequate.  The van tires are a lot easier to
change than a 12.5" Goodyear racing slick!    I use a simple bubble
balancer.  I was skeptical of this, when I first saw the trackside guys
doing my race tires at Thunderhill park .. and driving it in the next race
at 180mph with perfect balance on the wheels....
Who needs all those fancy computer controlled machines with flashing lights
and automatic brakes?   Who needs all those power-assisted air clamps and
automatic tire irons?

  So I saved about  $60 bucks and a trip to town by doing my own tires.  Now
I have to find someone who'll give me some cash for my 'take-offs'...with
rubber  being "so expensive" now a days (grin).
   The brand new Hakkas on the rear really make the van track well....I had
one of the passenger-rated freebie Hakkas on there and one that was almost
bald....big difference....just waiting now for the Hankooks to show in the
morning...

  Don Hanson