George Macdonald <fammacd=!SPAM^nothanks@tellurian.com> wrote in message news:<ncuf10p274as7sjbhf3s4iq1dd5klcmkb6@4ax.com>. ..
> Are you sure there is no shop in your area which does hand torquing of lug
> nuts? You might consider offering the technician a $10. or so tip if he'll
> refrain from the air-wrench. FWIW, for anyone else who lives in Northern
> NJ, Eurotire in Fairfield does hand torquing, washes hands before getting
> in your car and uses a plastic protective cover on the seat. Prices are
> not the lowest but they are competitive - you pays your money..... I've
> been going there for ~25years and no complaints and it's a 40mile drive,
> 15miles further than my office. In the end, it's worth the trip.
>
> >Is there a plastic insert in their lugnut driver to prevent the
> >lugnuts of my nice wheels from getting chewed up? Can balance weights
> >be put only on the inside of the wheels? Hmmmm, do the low profile
> >tires have a tendancy to not get out of balance as easily?
>
> IME with the Honda suspension, I've never found a need to balance the
> wheels between tire replacements - it's much less prone to inducing tire
> imbalance than say a MacPherson strut design. If you don't feel vibrations
> and the tires wear evenly don't bother with balancing. Anyway, at many of
> the tire shops, either the equipment is substandard, usually due to abuse
> or the technicians are incompetent. On the odd occasion when I've had a
> flat and had it repaired locally, I usually end up going to Eurotire to get
> the balance (re)done properly.
>
> Rgds, George Macdonald
>
> "Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who, me??

I'm sure I could find a place that is competent. That's interesting
that the design of the Honda suspension makes the tires wear more
evenly. I've never come across that before.