IIRC, they only spun 'em once. At discount, they spin until they are
done. OTOH, I had to NTB tires that were so bad, no one could balance
'em. That's why I've never been back.

JT




E Meyer wrote:
>
> Based on my experience with NTB in Dallas area, its not the tires that are
> impossible to balance, its their balancing technique. Those guys can't
> balance any tire. Seems to be consistent throughout the chain. Apparently
> they don't calibrate the machines very often.
>
> On 7/25/06 6:30 AM, in article 44C60235.E7BF5269@GrumpyvilleNOT.com, "Grumpy
> AuContraire" <Grumpster@GrumpyvilleNOT.com> wrote:
>
> > Oh, and I always get the el cheapo tires (usually at Discount Tire) here
> > in Austin. They wear out in about 25K before they have a chance to
> > "cup" etc. Pep Boyz is another source of good cheap tires. Never had a
> > problem with either but stay away from Nation Tire 'n Battery. The
> > cheapo tires there were impossible to balance and drove me nutz until
> > they wore out, on two different cars before I learned my lesson..
> >
> > JT
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Elle wrote:
> >>
> >> AH,
> >>
> >> The sticker inside my 91 Civic's glove compartment specifies
> >> the 175's. What's your source for the 165's?
> >>
> >> My doggone Civic better last another 100k miles after the
> >> guzillion hours of labor I put into control arm bushings not
> >> long ago.
> >>
> >> I had the breather chamber off a few years ago and thought I
> >> replaced the O-ring then, but maybe not. That's a good idea
> >> for older cars. The slowness of the oil accumulating at the
> >> bottom of my oil drain plug suggests a very slow leak. Could
> >> be a poor fitting drain plug (it's metric but aftermarket)
> >> or somewhat stripped oil pan threads. I also suspect the
> >> distributor housing O-ring (or seal near it) is leaking a
> >> wee bit, though it's only three years old.
> >>
> >> JT (a.k.a Grumpy): Perfect. I wasn't sure about the rate of
> >> wear of front vs. back. Earlier I returned my fairly new, 5k
> >> mile old tire to the front and the worn one to the rear. No
> >> significant steering wander now. I did not want to spend $50
> >> on a new tire, anyway.
> >>
> >> Thanks for the input, AH and JT.
> >>
> >> <ah1244@wayne.edu> wrote
> >>> Hi Elle: After seeing your post, I looked up the Viva 2
> >>> tires at
> >>> Walmart and they are listed as 175/70R13, not 165/70R13 as
> >>> specified
> >>> for the 91 Civic. If you find the 165's at Walmart, please
> >>> drop a line.
> >>> I am looking for a new set of tires for my own 91 Civic,
> >>> but the 165's
> >>> are now very hard to come by (Yokohama still makes them,
> >>> but every
> >>> service place I have checked lists them as on backorder).
> >>>
> >>> By the way, as Grumpy notes, your Civic should last
> >>> another 100K miles
> >>> easily. I am planning to get mine beyond 250K
> >>> one-way-or-the-other.
> >>> Your infrequent oil leak may be from the breather chamber
> >>> grommets.....if so, replace the O ring and the grommet
> >>> that connects it
> >>> to the PCV, and you should be good to go.
> >>> Regards.
> >>>
> >>> Elle wrote:
> >>>> Any sage advice on whether to replace the other tires or
> >>>> how
> >>>> to rotate them at this point?
> >>>>
> >>>> Background:
> >>>> 1991 Civic, 179k miles. One of my (then) front tires
> >>>> displayed inboard wear about 7500 miles ago. Back then I
> >>>> rotated it to the rear, did some suspension work, and
> >>>> think
> >>>> I found the main cause of the wear (severely worn
> >>>> stabilizer
> >>>> link and associated bushings). So the wear is not
> >>>> continuing
> >>>> (knock on wood).
> >>>>
> >>>> Yesterday I rotated the worn tire back, from rear to
> >>>> front.
> >>>> Subsequently I noticed steering wander towards the wear
> >>>> side
> >>>> of the tire. I switched my two front tires, and sure
> >>>> enough,
> >>>> the wander switched.
> >>>>
> >>>> Two of my other tires have 30k miles on them. The third
> >>>> has
> >>>> 5k miles on it (got a serious flat a few months ago).
> >>>> None
> >>>> of these three tires are so showing irregular wear; just
> >>>> what looks usual for 30k miles, and certainly not down to
> >>>> the wear bars.
> >>>>
> >>>> I am going to buy at least one new tire this week and
> >>>> change
> >>>> out the badly worn one. The tires are Wal-Mart Viva 2,
> >>>> size
> >>>> as recommended by Honda. Very inexpensive, consistent
> >>>> with
> >>>> my expectation that the car may not last more than five
> >>>> years more.
> >>>>
> >>>> I certainly do not plan on losing any sleep over this. My
> >>>> Civic drives great otherwise, averaging around 42 mpg for
> >>>> the last five fillups. Little oily down below, but not
> >>>> enough to cause garage floor spotting.
> >>>>
> >>>> I have been holding off on the alignment (mentioned some
> >>>> weeks ago) because of this, for good or bad.
> >>>