No matter what equipment or accessories a technician uses, exercising patience when handling performance tires and high-end wheels is important. “Speed is never your friend when servicing expensive and challenging assemblies,” says Jim Hudson, tire changer product manager, Hunter Engineering Co.

Mounting and balancing tires correctly is the heart and soul of what tire dealers and other tire retailers do. And that means it’s absolutely critical the job is done with precision and delicacy.

The need for that extra attention is especially true when handling high performance tires and specialty wheels. We turned to the mounting and balancing equipment experts for tips on how to do the job right and what to avoid.

Representatives from Base USA Corp (Accu-Turn), Cemb USA, Hennessy Industries Inc., Hunter Engineering Co. and Snap-on Inc. offered tips on common mounting and balancing mistakes to avoid.

Chuck McCourt, president of Base USA Corp (Accu-Turn), says that when mounting a tire, “you must keep the bead in the drop center for the complete process to avoid damage to the tire or wheel. When mounting or demounting, always use a good rubber lube or paste — not soapy water.”

Here are several common mounting mistakes to avoid, according to Randy Gable, product manager, Cemb USA:

Using too much or too little lubrication. “Use a lubrication product that is vegetable oil-based with a short shelf life, applied with a brush,” he says. 

“Lubricate the rim barrel, rim drop center balcony edge and bead toe edge area. Avoid rim bead seats and tire beads.”

Failure to confirm the wheel is centered. “Some very wide wheels and larger light truck wheels may require spacers and larger cones to be front cone-mounted.”

Failure to address radial force vectoring eccentricity. When using a wheel balancer with eccentricity (non-uniformity) measurement capability, check eccentricity and minimize, if needed. Mark the high spot of the assembly, remove the assembly, loosen the beads, lubricate the tire, rotate 180 degrees, reinflate and measure again.

Random wheel-to-vehicle hub mounting. “Once the assembly is off the balancer, placing the assembly back on the vehicle hub with the high point is another opportunity for improving ride quality.” 

Kyle Harris, product manager, Hennessy Industries Inc., says the following mistakes should be avoided: 

Jim Hudson, tire changer product manager, Hunter Engineering Co., says using the right equipment for the job is critical. 

“Premium tires and wheels need premium equipment to service them properly. 

“Features like center clamping, leverless heads, roller bead breakers and press assist devices make it easier on the technician and the tire. Also make sure things like mount head inserts, if equipped, and other plastic protections are in place.”

Proper lubrication is important. “Lubricating the beads during or after bead breaking is important to relieve demounting stress on the tire, as is lubricating the beads before mounting.”

Pay attention to staggered sizes. ”Many high performance tires are directional” and some vehicles “have staggered sizes,” says Hudson.

“Pay attention to these things, especially when changing sets of tires, to prevent doing the same work twice.”

And speed “is never your friend when servicing expensive and challenging assemblies. 

“Slower movements, bead lubrication and flange plate usage take only a few extra minutes, but can save hundreds on a single damage claim. Spot potential risks and avoid them by simply getting out of the flat-rate mentality.”

Leandro Camargo, product manager for John Bean from Snap-on Inc., agrees that speed is not of the essence when mounting high performance and ultra-high performance tires on expensive custom wheels.

“Please slow down and take your time,” he says. “Think of it this way — as the price of the wheel goes up, so does the amount of time to change it.”

Here are some other tips to ensure successful mounting and balancing:

On a center post tire changer, when changing a reverse drop center wheel, “one must have a reverse drop center adapter to prevent damage to the face of the wheel. When using a rim clamp tire changer, one must unclamp the wheel before inflating the tire. The bead must be seated before inflating to 40 psi. If the bead isn’t seated, the tire and wheel assembly needs to be placed into a safety cage to safely seat the bead.

“To mount plastic-clad wheels on a center post tire changer properly, you must use a reverse drop center adapter to mount the tire,” says Camargo.

After more than a dozen years working as a newspaper reporter in Kansas, Indiana, and Pennsylvania, Joy Kopcha joined Modern Tire Dealer as senior editor in 2014. She has covered murder trials, a prison riot and more city council, county commission, and school board meetings than she cares to remember.