Can you get new tires from a tire shop installed on wheels without bringing the car itself to the shop?

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ratchet_thunderstud0@reddit

Discount tire will do it, I'm sure any other shop would too

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Ok_Recording81@reddit

You don't need the car to get tires changed. Balancing has to do with the wheels. You can bring in just the wheels.

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Savage_Hellion@reddit

They take the wheels off the car to balance them.

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puddinface808@reddit

Of course. It's a reasonable question, but I'm curious...why did you think you might not be able to?

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supinator1@reddit (OP)

If they demand a VIN to process your purchase and have some corporate policy where they can't just use the VIN you give them.

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Fred-Mertz2728@reddit

Never had a tire shop ask for VIN. They don’t care as long as they’re selling you tires.

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mar78217@reddit

Same, but usually its because they already have me in the system... I carry in the tire, give my phone number, they loom at the tire and say, That's for the 2002 Civic, right?

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sprchrgddc5@reddit

They’re just wheels and tires bro, it’s not like it’s 2003 and you’re swapping a stolen B16A engine into a 1996 Honda Civic in east LA.

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photonynikon@reddit

SOME tire places will only mount the sizes listed on the sticker on your door panel.

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mar78217@reddit

I've never had a problem getting them to mount the size of the blown out tire on the wheel.

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GoodResident2000@reddit

I doubt they’re concerned about VINs in that case

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MCLMelonFarmer@reddit

And Hector is gonna be running three Honda Civics with Spoon engines. And on top of that, he just came into Harry's and he ordered three T66 turbos with NOS and a MoTeC system exhaust.

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B0xyblue@reddit

Now tricked out cars are fully stocked in a massive hanger for the crew. Started sounding silly, now it just really is.

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pm-me-racecars@reddit

I spent about a year working at a tire shop. There were multiple times I took the tires off a rental and put them on a different car without any rental badging.

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KoedKevin@reddit

This sounds way more fun that a couple of new tires.

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relakas@reddit

What? Where in a world would this be a thing?

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I've seen Costco tire centers be very particular about these sorts of things. Anything that could possibly be construed as a liability issue, they are super cautious. Example- I had a jetta whose door sticker called for a pretty high speed rating tire. I found a set of snow tires that I wanted at Costco that were two speed ratings too low. Car called for H rating (130 mph) and I found T-rated tires (118 mph). While I'd never get within 30 mph of even the lower speed rated tire, they refused to mount them for me because it's different than what VW called for.

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ChopstickChad@reddit

And it's good they didn't. Mounting lower rating tyres is illegal in some countries. The tyres will have very different handling characteristics then is needed for your vehicle. Insurance may not cover you in case of accident. You did not go one but two speed ratings lower. They did you a huge favor at Costco and don't even know it.

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sbMT@reddit

Sure, point taken. But the fastest that car would have ever seen was 85 mph- nearly 30% below the lower 118mph speed rating. That is well within my personal margin of safety.

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ChopstickChad@reddit

You don't get it. The speed rating is a safety specification for the car, not a speed target for the driver. Why would they offer economy cars with tyre ratings at speeds you would not legally reach?

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photonynikon@reddit

The places that only mount the sizes listed on your door sticker...they're out there

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GSlayerBrian@reddit

I wouldn't put it past New York or California having that level of red tape someday. Seems ludicrous but for these states it's close enough to possiblity that OP's not unwarranted in their concern.

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Former_Mud9569@reddit

that seems like a misplaced fear TBH.

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Pimp_Daddy_Patty@reddit

Why would they demand a vin to install tires?

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amishbill@reddit

Tire warranty

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Pimp_Daddy_Patty@reddit

In my 25 years of driving and owning cars, I've never required a VIN to purchase and install tires.

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iAmAsword@reddit

Where do you think carfax info comes from?

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Pimp_Daddy_Patty@reddit

Car fax keeps track of tires?

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iAmAsword@reddit

They track service and mileage..

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Pimp_Daddy_Patty@reddit

25 years of driving, I have never been asked for a vin number for tires, or anything else that wasn't simply to ensure proper fitment.

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OverallManagement824@reddit

I worked at a dealer and don't think I ever asked a customer for their VIN. I'd just go out there and get it while they sat in the lounge. Why would I expect a customer to know how to find their VIN? Most of them barely know they need to change the oil.

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Responsible-Shoe7258@reddit

God, that's so true....

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Pimp_Daddy_Patty@reddit

I just take my wheels in to get tires installed. No car involved. No one has asked for a VIN.

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OverallManagement824@reddit

I was referring more to your "anything else". No way did a dealer or any reputable shop actually replace parts on your car without knowing the VIN. Tires, sure. But not like the fuel pump or something. So they definitely did take your VIN at times.

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Pimp_Daddy_Patty@reddit

"Or anything else" in my case just meant buying parts from a dealer or parts store. I've always done my own repairs. The only new car I ever bought never actually needed any repairs under warranty.

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iAmAsword@reddit

Bc they don't ask. They mark it down while the vehicle is in the shop... And once it's on file they keep it on file.

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Pimp_Daddy_Patty@reddit

I don't take my vehicle into the shop for tires.

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photonynikon@reddit

some places will only mount what the manufacturer calls for.

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Pimp_Daddy_Patty@reddit

I've never experienced this.

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supinator1@reddit (OP)

Corporate policy?

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Pimp_Daddy_Patty@reddit

Why would an corporate policy demand that?

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Pleasant-Swimmer-557@reddit

"Okay, then you clearly don't want my money".

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Responsible-Shoe7258@reddit

Huh? Why in the hell do they need your VIN?

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Desperate-Score3949@reddit

I get where you are coming from on this comment. Majority of shops require a vehicle information to be inputted. You can honestly just give them some random vehicle, a lot of systems wont have an option to have a work order done without one. They shouldn't need a VIN specifically, usually just makes there life easier because it will automatically fill everything else in.

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rotorain@reddit

Worked at a tire/undercar shop for a long time, we only need to put a vehicle on the workorder to figure out which car to work on and make it easier to track warranty stuff via mileage and vehicle history. OP might run into issues with the warranty down the line unless they give a VIN and show a picture of their vehicle mileage just so the shop can track it but there's nothing requiring shops to tie a sale to a vehicle. Tires aren't any different than someone buying wiper blades or a lift kit or whatever carry-out. Anecdotally I loved mounting loose tires/wheels. Same money but we didn't have to occupy a lift bay, jack it up, do the vehicle inspection, notate everything, check spare tire air pressure, etc. Way faster and less paperwork so I could get on to the next job.

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Desperate-Score3949@reddit

Yea I get that, but what I am saying is A LOT of shops use a brand specific work order system. So they will require a make model year, etc to actually create a work order in the system. It'll show an \* for required information if they try to open a WO without that completed, regardless if it is correct, incorrect or non existent. I do imagine this is more for just marketing purposes, or to track what cars they get the most business for. If they have a lot Ford Mustangs coming in they may run a special pointed to them or stock parts for them as they expect a lot of them. If you are just bringing wheels, you can literally say it is for a 1987 Lamborghini LM002, it really wouldn't matter.

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TXFlyer71@reddit

If you have your insurance app on your phone it should be able to generate an ID card complete with VIN!

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rotorain@reddit

They don't need to tie the tires to a vehicle to sell them any more than if you were buying wiper blades or whatever on carry-out but you might want to show them pictures of the VIN/mileage so they can track that for warranty purposes.

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Pleasant-Swimmer-557@reddit

They can use a VIN from your registration papers.

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TeamFoulmouth@reddit

I could see that for milage warranty or whatever, but its definitely not a "legal issue".

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TommyG456@reddit

Yes

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mar78217@reddit

Im glad this is the top answer... a short and simple, Yes.

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Jgordos@reddit

Me too. They don’t care.

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Realistic-Regret-171@reddit

This. A simple, complete sentence.

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slowpoke2018@reddit

Yep, did this all the time with my set of track wheels/tires. Just dropped them off in the morning and come back that afternoon to have them mounted, balanced and ready to go

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Opening-Variation523@reddit

Yup I do this most of the time when I purchase new tired and I just did it for my GR Corolla.

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apudapus@reddit

Always! I barely trust the workers with my wheels (I’ve gotten 3 wheels ruined from 2 different tire shops and tires are their primary service), I will not trust them with my entire vehicle. If I could afford (and house) a wheel balancer, I’d be doing tires myself. I’m finding mobile services to be more and more worth it nowadays, though.

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theknitehawk@reddit

I have been denied a tire mounting because the wheels were not factory size (that shop has many other problems so never going there again) but they were fine mounting to rims that they were not putting on the car themselves

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Zaphod_Heart_Of_Gold@reddit

I do this all the time with s car i can't drive to a shop (not street legal) and using different tire size from spec. I show up with tires and wheels, they get mounted

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ted_anderson@reddit

I did that once. The guys at the shop thought I was crazy because they were charging me the same price for installation regardless of not having to put them on the car and I agreed to pay it.

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AdEastern9303@reddit

Yes. Just don’t expect them to honor the tread wear warranty since they cannot record the vehicle vin and mileage.

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Responsible-Shoe7258@reddit

Tire places do that all the time!

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QLDZDR@reddit

Wheel balancing is done by putting the wheel with new tire on a wheel balancing machine. They don't need your car for that. You will need to organize someone to take your wheels with shredded tires to the shop because unless you fitted your winter set of wheels to take your summer set in for new tires, you can't drive there. The wheels with new tires do have to be put on the car for steering alignment.

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CommunicationHumble5@reddit

Yep my wife’s car got some curb rash that ended in one tire blowing out. ended up taking all four wheels to discount tire and they had them replaced within the hour same day

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PigSlam@reddit

Sure. All they need are wheels upon which to install them. It could get more complicated with things like TPMS programming, etc.

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Timely_Chicken_8789@reddit

Yes

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SmartGreasemonkey@reddit

Yes

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worstatit@reddit

People do this regularly. They won't bat an eye.

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Tree_killer_76@reddit

I am literally sitting at a tire shop having 4 tires mounted and balanced to wheels right now. I brought the tires and the wheels, not the vehicle, just paid them to mount and balance.

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ForTheObviousReasons@reddit

Did this on Thursday.

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LHCThor@reddit

Yes

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WesternWriter7269@reddit

Yes, we didn't care when I used to work at sears auto many many moons ago

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Holiday-Poet-406@reddit

Yup I recall rolling one half a mile to a shop in the past.

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Seanyd78@reddit

I have done this many times due to running non stick size tires. Many tire shops will only install factory size tires on the vehicle for liability reasons. But if you bring just the wheels, they will install any size tires on it as they cannot be held liable for installing non factory size tires on the actual vehicle.

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Electronic-Plan2736@reddit

I've even gone as far as bringing naked wheels AND a set of tires that I bought from across the country to a tire shop to have them mounted. I then took them home an put them on the car. The tire shop didn't even bat an eye. They just said to pile it all up at the side of the building and they'll call when they're ready.

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CrazyJoe29@reddit

If you bring them loose tires and wheels you may find the cost to mount/balance them seems high. This is because tire shops make money selling tires. If they don’t get to sell tires, they need to make up the shortfall somehow. Keep that in mind if your local tire shop declines to mount your Chinese EBay specials!

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Panthera_014@reddit

yes -and that is the cheaper way to do it they will rebalance the wheel after installing the new tires - they do this every time they are installed

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MoparMap@reddit

That's about the only way I do it anymore. I have unique vehicles and I don't really like techs driving (or attempting to drive) them. They are manuals to start with, which is more and more rare, and some sit pretty low and don't go on lift equipment well. Easier to just bring them the wheels.

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KatieTSO@reddit

Easy. Just bring the wheels. As long as you know how to install them or have someone who does, you'll be fine. Just go get your alignment checked after.

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DingChingDonkey@reddit

Yup

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ZZZ-Top@reddit

Yes but, that won't mean shit if you don't get the car aligned right after

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IBringTheHeat2@reddit

Make sure to torque your wheels back down to spec. You don’t want them flying off afterwards

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pm-me-racecars@reddit

When you bring your car in to get new tires, the first thing they do is take the wheels off, and the last thing they do is put them on. If you just bring in loose wheels, you're making their job easier.

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cakes42@reddit

I did that at Costco and skipped the entire waiting/appointment period. Had my wheels mounted and balanced in 45 mins!

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Cerebral-Knievel-1@reddit

Yes

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jasonsong86@reddit

Of course.

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wirebrushfan@reddit

I always bring just my wheels for one of my cars. It's a nice car and I have trust issues.

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GolfArgh@reddit

Did that 2 weeks ago for a flat repair from Discount Tire. Bonus is they charged me nothing for the repair.

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abusche@reddit

discount tire rules.

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broke_fit_dad@reddit

Yes I keep 2 sets of wheels and don’t trust the tire guys to not cross thread my lugs

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GlobalTapeHead@reddit

I do it quite often.

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F1rebirdTA@reddit

Absolutely, and way more common than you'd think. Some are left stranded on the highway, will come in with one wheel to replace so they can get back to thier car, others (like one of my cars) was too low for Costco's jacks and lift so I had to take em off at home and bring em in loose. Winter wheels like you mentioned, project cars on jackstands etc... A HUGE one is track (race) cars... those in the community who have dedicated track cars or track only wheels/tire setups do that (as those tires are sketchy/not road legal to drive home on)

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TheStig827@reddit

I have had a corpo mult-service shop play this game.. where they refused to mount the loose tires and wheels i brought because they "didn't have a vin to create a workorder" "ok, here's a vin on this car i drove up in, use that." "But those tires won't go on that car." IMHO, they wanted the car there, so they could put it on a rack and find things wrong with it they could upsell me on. I went a block over to a local tire shop, they popped 'em on as soon as i took 'em out of the trunk.

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Lewisismykittycat@reddit

I have two sets of rims for my truck which makes this easier

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Diss-for-ya@reddit

This is what I do 80% of the time I'm having tires done, I'm often doing other work on a car and they always overtorque stuff anyhow, I'd rather they just do the tires... They ask year/make/model for their system but that's all it ever is (various chain shops over the years mostly).

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EbbPsychological2796@reddit

Yes

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Crafty-Owl8555@reddit

I have done this several times if I don't want to drive on the donut spare.

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rns96@reddit

Yes, I do it every time I need to, they don’t need your car to mount and balance a tire, for newer AWD cars replacing just a single tire can cause issues with the drivetrain due to uneven tread wear on all 4 tires

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whoinvitedthatkid@reddit

Yes! I called Discount Tire to make an appointment to get new tires on my car. When I told them the year, make, and model, and the wheel sizes, they told me that they wouldn’t do it because the tires were too small for the car. So I jacked it up, put it on stands, pulled the wheels off, and took just the wheels to Discount Tire, and they slapped new rubber on there.

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Jacktheforkie@reddit

Yeah, they do that, I’ve seen people have a pallet with new rims delivered to the one near me and they pop round to pick them up, or they bring their old ones in another vehicle for instance when they’re bringing a project car to life and need good tyres on it for an MOT

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Nasoscampaign@reddit

Yep, you can absolutely do that. Tire shops mount and balance tires on loose wheels all the time. Just pull the wheels off, bring them in, and they’ll install the new tires and balance everything like normal. No issues at all. Once you bolt them back onto the car and torque them properly, you’re good to go.

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Pleasant-Swimmer-557@reddit

Sure thing, been there, done that.

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Swamp_Donkey_7@reddit

I do it all the time for my Mustangs which are not regularly driven vehicles. Take all 4 wheels off, toss them in my SUV and drop them off. I then return later in the day to pick them up. My local tire place has an area where folks can stack their wheels as it seems this is a common thing.

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Prestigious_Tiger_26@reddit

I actually prefer to do it this way. I hate how tire shops just ugga dugga the shit outta the lug nuts.

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Swamp_Donkey_7@reddit

That's the primary reason I do it. I have aftermarket expensive wheels with special lugs. Really need to hand remove/install the lugs otherwise you will damage them with a gun

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maybach320@reddit

Yes

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gotmynamefromcaptcha@reddit

Totally, have done this myself multiple times. You get charged labor for the swap and that’s really it.

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Scazitar@reddit

All good have done it many times.

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MrsNoodleMcDoodle@reddit

You can and I have done just that when I was on a sketchy donut I didn’t want to drive any further than I had to.

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Jumpy_Childhood7548@reddit

Bring them the wheels.

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Morscerta9116@reddit

No shop is gonna be mad about you doing 1/4 of the work for them

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mrkprsn@reddit

Order from tires from [tirerack.com](http://tirerack.com) or anywhere and hire asap tire mobile service to come out and install them.

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RecommendationUsed31@reddit

I do it all the time. No issyes

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Serious_Lettuce6716@reddit

Yes.

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pibubs81@reddit

Yes you can and the techs will love you for it.

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cscracker@reddit

Yes, I have bought a whole set of tires and had them installed on wheels I bought used, without having the car there. They have no problem doing this, with the only caveat being they can't guarantee the fit on the car (obviously, as it isn't there).

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CompetitiveBox314@reddit

I have done this frequently when having non-OE size tires mounted. Many shops won't mount different sizes than the car came with. You might lose the warranty since they can't confirm the mileage of the car they are going on.

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qkdsm7@reddit

90% of the tire/wheel work I've had done in the last 25 years, I've either carried in the wheels, or carried in the wheels and the tires.

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RickySlayer9@reddit

Some shops no. But most of the time I’ve brought wheels for my car in the back of a pickup. Pick them up a few hours later. Install them at home

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sprchrgddc5@reddit

Yes. I bought performance tires and cool wheels, hauled it there in my CRV, and they mounted it all for $25/each. They balance the tires on a machine, not on your car.

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Skensis@reddit

There are also mobile tire installers, might just be the easier option.

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Jimmy_the_Heater@reddit

I have 2 sets of wheels for most of my vehicles. I do that all the time.

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daubs1974@reddit

Yes. Most tire shops will do that. You bring the rims in.

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Shawnessy@reddit

One year, I brought my car in to have the summers swapped with all seasons, and a pair of winter tires slapped onto the wheels of a beater I'd just bought. No issues.

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No_Educator_6376@reddit

Yes you can

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RedditBeginAgain@reddit

Completely normal behavior. They might recommend you bringing your car in for an alignment, and if your car needs manual TPMS setup they won't be able to do that, but tire shops get loose wheels all the time.

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papa66tx@reddit

Yes you can, but I recommend calling the shop ahead of time to make sure they're OK with it.

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EmploymentNo1094@reddit

Just call ahead and make sure they have your tire size and tell them you have four loose wheels you want to drop off

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TheCamoTrooper@reddit

Yea, it's always what I do, I just drop off the rims at Canadian Tire when I need new tires and pick them up later. Really only need them on the car if you also wanted an alignment

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pantherclipper@reddit

Yep. I've done that a few times. Took a wheel off one car, chucked it in the trunk, and took it to the tire shop in the car. They only charged $50 for a good condition used tire + balance, and the whole operation took ten minutes tops.

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