[AUS] Yet another "where to go thread": Wheel and tire edition
 

In the spirit of all the "where to go" threads that litter these forums (I saw litter, I've gotten great advise out of them) I'm looking for a new wheel and tire shop. Anyone have recommendations?

The last place I went I just wanted an alignment and the guy at the desk didn't even know what Camber and Toe were, so I asked to speak to the guy who would actually do the alignment, explained to him exactly what I was looking for, and then asked for a printout when he was done. Afterwards he refused to give me the printout, and when I insisted that I wouldn't pay w/o the printout from the computer he gave me one that showed that he'd ignored everything I'd told him and gone back to the factory setup (at this point I was ready to get out of there and since I was just getting it aligned for a long roadtrip I figured that the factory setup was good enough and paid up, but I certainly wouldn't go back there).

I miss my old guys in Atlanta; they were honest good people and took what they did seriously (there's a reason the entire autocross crowd used them). They'd even have you sit in the car while they did the alignment so they could talk you through it / have your weight in the passengers seat, which probably didn't actually do anything, but it still indicated attention to detail, I thought). Right now I just need to check my alignment, but I may also be ordering some wheels and tires through them in the near future if they're good.

Anyways, to cut a long story short, anywhere in Austin that actually knows what they're doing? Thanks!

For your alignment and other suspension work, and autocross and track needs, you could call Soul Speed and talk to Colin.
He is on Burleson, off of Ben White
Alex

Thanks, they sound great; they're also right near my house, so that's very convenient...

Good post here. That reason there is why I do all my own work. I don't trust shops to do anything to my standard....

Agree, I'm more or less the same with a few exceptions: Jobs that need special tools that I don't have and can't borrow, jobs that need precision that I can't achieve with the tools that I do have (eg. an alignment), jobs that include deep engine work which I technically could do but am terrified of screwing up on a finely tuned engine in a car that's also my daily or that could otherwise result in explosions and death (jokes aside, I do engine work on my car on a case by case basis; some things I'm okay with attempting, others I leave to the proffesionals), body or electrical work that's even slightly more than minor (I hate doing body and electrical work...)

Thought i responded to this post earlier but i guess i didn't.


i would trust collin at Soul Speed to do a lot of things, except keep mint wheels mint. he just doesn't have a fancy no touch crazy expensive tire machine. he can do the job, but i have gotten wheels back from him with a lot of weight (over 2 oz) when he should have spun the tire on the wheel and remounted.

alignments i would trust no one else. corner balancing is great too. suspension and bolt on stuff he's fantastic. but wheels and tires are a little too niche.