Centramatic Wheel Balancers

[HarryU]

I recently purchased a set of Centramatic Wheel Balancers for my truck (2021 GMC Sierra Denali HD3500.  I bought new tires at Costco, and they are not familiar with Centramatic Wheel Balancers.  They will not install the balancers, and further state that if a rig comes in with them in place, they will remove them before the vehicle leaves their shop.  Has anyone else had this issue, and where would you recommend going to have them installed/  Costco requires proof of tire rotation to maintain their tire warranties, so putting the balancers on myself does not fix the problem.

[Tulecreeper]

"...and further state that if a rig comes in with them in place, they will remove them before the vehicle leaves their shop."

 

They are not installing them, they are just putting them back on where they originally came from.

[Chalkie]

1 hour ago, Tulecreeper said:

"...and further state that if a rig comes in with them in place, they will remove them before the vehicle leaves their shop."

 

They are not installing them, they are just putting them back on where they originally came from.

And looking at the Centramatic website I am not sure why they need to even remove them in the first place. I like Costco generally but they do have some strange quirks. I buy all my tires at Discount Tire since the prices are competitive, there are a lot of locations to provide services such as balancing, rotation and warranty plus anything you get done is in the system for any other location to access.

[jbh]

Put on the balancers yourself, have a different shop do the rotation and keep the receipts to satisfy Costco.

[Deezl Smoke]

13 hours ago, jbh said:

Put on the balancers yourself, have a different shop do the rotation and keep the receipts to satisfy Costco.

 Yep. Something along those lines.

 It's getting to be bully policy at more places than costco. Lawyers. The people ya love to hate......till ya need one. 

[Steven@146]

We have run Centramatic wheel balancers on our trailer for the last 3 years since our rig was new. I haven't installed them on our truck but could. They have been around for years, mostly used on semi's and trailers. They just fit over the lug studs up against the drum or rotor if you have disc brakes., there is no reason to remove them when changing tires. IMO they do the job better than any tire changing person just pounding weights on the rim.

If any tire shop told me they had to remove them for tire warranty, I would tell them to shove their tires and  warranty. However I can see where they might not want to install them while changing the tires , liability reasons lawyers, even though they just fit over the studs.

Edited April 29 by Steven@146
corrections

[Hill_Country]

On 4/27/2023 at 1:41 PM, HarryU said:

I recently purchased a set of Centramatic Wheel Balancers for my truck (2021 GMC Sierra Denali HD3500.  I bought new tires at Costco, and they are not familiar with Centramatic Wheel Balancers.  They will not install the balancers, and further state that if a rig comes in with them in place, they will remove them before the vehicle leaves their shop.  Has anyone else had this issue, and where would you recommend going to have them installed/  Costco requires proof of tire rotation to maintain their tire warranties, so putting the balancers on myself does not fix the problem.

Costco will take the tires back, no questions asked.  Also check the Escapees discount.  Discount Tires (and many others) will price match and often beat a price.  I just had a mobile tire service install 22.5 inch steer tires and Centramatics on my class A - cost $40 per tire (these are 160# truck tires) plus a $95 service call (and I saved that much by not having to drive across town).  Don't feed the idiots.