What should you be looking for in a rim and tire package ?

Quality aspect of a wheel and tire package

• High quality, vehicle-specific, exact fitments
• All wheels manufactured using strict quality control standards
• Wheels meet or exceed all industry standards including TUV and JWL

Cost element of a rim and tire package

• Detailed installation instructions included
• Switch at your convenience (and at no cost) between your different wheel and tire packages (race, snow, street)
• All necessary hardware (lugs, center caps, centering rings, etc.) included at no charge (unless the wheel is designed to use Original Equipment hardware)

Mount and balance of a rim and tire package

• Scratchless mounting
• Hidden weight balancing
• Road Force balancing

Smooth-rolling tires and wheels can be the difference between having a vibration-free driving experience or a shaky one. If the tire and wheel tolerances are not examined, corrected, or are allowed to "stack up" rather than "cancel out" each other, the possibility of a balance or road force induced ride vibration exists. Because of this, you should check with the supplier of a rim and tire package if the weight and road force balancing is included.

Tires are made up of internal beads, body plies and belts that are encased in rubber, assembled and cured. Alloy wheels are cast, cooled and machined. And even though they both are built to tight tolerances, there is bound to be some unavoidable weight imbalances during the manufacturing process.

When you consider that a typical passenger car tire mounted on an alloy wheel weighs about 40 pounds, it’s amazing that the total amount of imbalance is typically no more than three to four ounces, or about one-half of one percent. So, if the tire and wheel combination isn’t balanced with add-on weights, being off even an ounce or two can cause vibration at highway speeds. Heavier tire and wheel combinations, especially those used on light trucks, require more weights to maintain the same low percentage of imbalance.