New tires and the Hunter Revolution

[WARP TEN]

Despite the virus I got new tires Wednesday and got to see the Hunter Revolution tire changer work. Now, my Z06 tires are much bigger than most ZR-1 tires--rears are 335/25ZR20 and fronts are 285/30ZR19 runflats. But I mention this because I like the Revolution and for those in the greater Chicago area can recommend an installer with one.

My tread depths were down to about 4/32nds but had been consistent all across the tires. However, I recently started showing cords on the very inside of the right rear tire. Aggressive camber setting which will be corrected with next alignment. Ordered Michelin Pilot Sport A/S + ZPs (yes, high performance all seasons) from Tire Rack and had them shipped directly to an installer, in this case Firestone of Deerfield, Illinois. Why Firestone? Because they were the closest tire installer with the Hunter Revolution tire changer in addition to the Road Force Elite balancer. Hunter apparently has not sold a huge number of Revolutions (about $30k) so they don't have a "Locate Installer" tab on the Revolution portion of their website like they do for the Road Force balancers. So I contacted Hunter and got the names of a few near me (northern Illinois). In the C7 world, we have all heard stories of the difficulties with busting 20" x 12" wheels with 335/25 low profile run flat tires. Around here one nearby Chevy dealer farms them out and another charges $60 per tire for mounting and balancing. My Costco won't do them. I got to watch the Firestone tech do one wheel and tire and it is clearly a great piece of equipment for the large Z06 tires and minimizes damage to the rims. (I have chrome rims). If I brought in a Camry they would use the normal manual machine but they do a fair number of higher end/low profile tire cars and for those use the Revolution. (If you are interested, you can go to their website and watch the video). The total charge for mounting and balancing all four: $124 and the manager and the techs were great to work with (a Firestone corporate owned store and certified Tire Rack installer).

A plus of the corona virus was that I was the only customer in the store, but everyone was practicing social distancing and good cleaning. And on the lucky side: they did not find any cracks or significant bends in the wheels and all four balanced out fine (The OEM C7 Z06 wheels are notorious for easily cracking and bending). However they did note that the two right side wheels had very slight bends or a little wobble that required a bit of extra weight. But it was something I had not noticed driving the car previously, the tech said all balanced out perfectly and they felt fine to me on the way home. The tires seemed quieter than the original Pilot Sports a well, but I have not had the chance to drive much yet. Anyway, just thought it might be of interest here.--Bob

[secondchance]

This is good to know. I run 335 30 18s on Fikse Profils for the rear and have to be extremely with where I go to replace tires. Last time I had to replace tires, I went to Ye Old Wheel in Mt. Airy, Md. these guys knew what they were doing and knowing they can repair wheels should the worst happen was priceless. Incredibly, they charged $30 per wheel for mounting and balancing.
I thought I found my perfect tire/wheel shop but then I found out they closed the shop.
Now, I have to track down a shop with Hunter Revolution.

Really appreciate the info, Warp Ten!

[XfireZ51]

I thought Ye Old Wheel closed down.

[WARP TEN]

Originally Posted by secondchance

This is good to know. I run 335 30 18s on Fikse Profils for the rear and have to be extremely with where I go to replace tires. Last time I had to replace tires, I went to Ye Old Wheel in Mt. Airy, Md. these guys knew what they were doing and knowing they can repair wheels should the worst happen was priceless. Incredibly, they charged $30 per wheel for mounting and balancing.
I thought I found my perfect tire/wheel shop but then I found out they closed the shop.
Now, I have to track down a shop with Hunter Revolution.

Really appreciate the info, Warp Ten!

I should mention that I was quite impressed with Hunter's response to my inquiries about the Revolution. Through their website I sent them an email last year inquiring about tire dealers near me with Revolutions and chiding them about not having a dealer locator tab on the Revolutions page. I got a phone call the next day from one of the district sales reps who told me the names of several dealers with them. Last year it turned out I didn't need tires. But this spring I did, so I again sent them a similar email and got an email back from a district sales manager with the names of a couple of tire dealers with Revolutions. A little online research and I picked the Firestone dealer I used. I was pretty impressed how Hunter responded to lil' ol' me. When you need tires I recommend you try the same tack. BTW, one of the dealers who does have Revolutions is my local BMW dealer where I used to work. They often work on very big wheels and tires, especially for their SUVs, and don't want to irritate their rather picky customers with wheel damage. They also only charge $30 per tire. But I couldn't convince my friend the service manager to do the Corvette. --Bob

[Paul Workman]

Excellent post, herr Banks! Very informative.

[Vette Guy]

Thanks for sharing - I just checked out the video - very impressive. Comforting to know that you won't be coming home with a few scratches each time you do a tire change. ...although I typically pay $60 for dismount/mount/balance for a set of 4 at my local shop...no Hunter here!

[secondchance]

Originally Posted by XfireZ51

I thought Ye Old Wheel closed down.

Yes. They closed to shop to my disappointment.

[WARP TEN]

Originally Posted by Vette Guy

Thanks for sharing - I just checked out the video - very impressive. Comforting to know that you won't be coming home with a few scratches each time you do a tire change. ...although I typically pay $60 for dismount/mount/balance for a set of 4 at my local shop...no Hunter here!

Great price Mark--$30 per wheel has been pretty normal around here for a while. And the normal ZR-1 tires are not run flats and are on 17" wheels so there is not necessarily a need for a Revolution. Costco did my '95 with Michelin 335 rears but they will not do the larger runflats on the Z06. I have heard stories of tire techs working two hours on one Z06 rear wheel and finally giving up, sending them somewhere else. But I also like the reports that using the Revolution seems to lessen the potential for wheel damage.--Bob

[Top Toy]

A few weeks ago I had to take my wheels and tires to four different shops before I found one that could do it. Calling ahead didn't help. They all said no problem on the phone but when they saw them, it was like uhh... I don't think so. At least no one tried to butcher them.

Sent from my SM-G975U1 using ZR-1 Net Registry mobile app

[JThomas]

Thanks for the information Bob. It's nice to know what to look for in a tire shop. My local Chevrolet Dealer, Shaheen Chevrolet, did a very good job with balancing/diagnosing an issue with by '12 ZR1, and my local Belle Tire has that equipment as well.