Did you happen to notice on your 2004 Accord's 17" factory wheels that there
is no ridge to attach weights to on outside of wheel?

You are right about tire shops #$&*!^% up wheels. They always managed to put
a scratch or gouge on one or more wheel with each visit.

Best bet is to locate a tire shop that sells high end wheels or just visit
the dealer for balancing when needed. I needed tires balanced on 1998 Accord
shortly after purchasing new and wheels had none to minimum damage. This was
done for free under warranty, not sure what they charge when its regular
maintenance.

"Im anonymous" <acctforjunk@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:bffabe31.0401280819.5bc4d2c6@posting.google.c om...
> Ok, so I dread having to take my 04 EX V6 6-speed to the tire place
> for rotation/balance when that is necessary. They always find a way
> to f*** things up, either the interior or the wheels. I can rotate
> myself but not balance, obviously.
>
> 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?
>
> TIA