Had a new tire put on my wheel to replace a flat. Same time as before. The guy said his spin balance machine was down. Should I be concerned? Its a back (driven) wheel. These are my winter wheels/tires, so at least I figure in a couple months when I take them off I will have that one spin balanced. Opinions?

 

Any thoughts? I feel like the wheels themselves are what mostly need the balancing weights because they are machined. Tires seem like they would be more consistently balances from manufacturing. But I am not sure.

 

If you replaced on tire, you will need to re balance that wheel tire combo. Otherwise, the tire will not wear properly. You may also feel a lot of vibration coming from that unbalanced wheel.
It's not the wheel or the tire that you are balancing, it's the combination. Every tire and every wheel have slight variations.
If you don't put on many miles, and you don't feel any vibration, you are probably fine for a little while. But I'd get it done for sure. The guy who put the tire on would probably do it for free since the machine was down while you were there.

 

Choice is yours, either way. But if it were me, drive it, if you have a vibration in the seat, get them balanced. If not, your fine for being winter tires.

I'm a cheap ba$tard though.

 

Good idea, thanks!