Wheel balancing: stop the highway shake
If the steering wheel starts shaking once you get up to speed on the 401 or the DVP, an out-of-balance tire is the most common cause, and the cheapest one to fix.
Mon–Sat: 9:00 AM – 7:00 PM375 Danforth Rd, Scarborough
Prices up front
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Same-day service
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One shop, every job
Tires, wheels, alignment, exhaust
What balancing actually does
No tire and rim is perfectly even. There's always a slightly heavier spot somewhere around the wheel, and at 100 km/h a tire is turning something like 14 times a second. That heavy spot tugs the wheel up and down or side to side on every turn, and you feel it as a shake through the steering wheel or the seat.
Balancing finds the heavy spot and cancels it out. The wheel spins on a balancing machine, which measures exactly where the imbalance is and how much, and small weights go on the opposite side of the rim to even it out. It's measured, not guessed.
- Wheel weights checked and reset
- Balanced on the machine, not by eye
- Pressure checked after
Price before tax. $48 for all four.
One of the cheapest fixes in the shop, for one of the most annoying problems.
No appointment needed. Walk in, Mon–Sat: 9:00 AM – 7:00 PM, or call (647) 871-2393 and tell us what the car is doing.
Swapping to winters? The changeover already includes mount and balance.
Signs your tires need balancing
- The steering wheel shakes at highway speed, usually somewhere between 80 and 110 km/h
- The vibration comes in at one speed and fades as you go faster or slower
- You feel it through the seat or floor rather than the steering wheel (often a rear tire)
- A wheel weight has fallen off, and there's a clean rectangle where it used to be stuck
- A tire has just been repaired, remounted or swapped onto a different rim
- Tires show patchy, scalloped wear (cupping) around the tread
It's more than an annoying shake
A wheel that's out of balance doesn't just make the drive uncomfortable. The same up-and-down hammering that you feel in the steering wheel is being fed into the tire, the wheel bearing and the suspension on every rotation. Over thousands of kilometres that shows up as cupped, patchy tread wear that makes the tire noisy and shortens its life, and extra wear on parts that cost a lot more than $48 to replace.
Balance weights also fall off. Winter is the usual culprit: potholes, curb hits and salt working under the adhesive on stick-on weights. A tire that was smooth in October can shake by February without anything else changing.
When the shake is something else
A car that pulls to one side, or a steering wheel that sits crooked on a straight road, is an alignment problem, not a balance problem. Wheel alignment is $80. We wrote up how to tell balancing and alignment apart if you're not sure which you need.
A shake that balancing doesn't cure usually points at the wheel itself. A rim bent by a pothole can't be balanced true until it's straightened; see rim repair. Or check the full service list and prices.
Wheel balancing FAQ
- How much does wheel balancing cost?
- Wheel balancing at Boss Tire is $12 per tire, before tax, so $48 for all four. Call (647) 871-2393 or walk in, Mon–Sat: 9:00 AM – 7:00 PM.
- What's the difference between balancing and alignment?
- Balancing fixes vibration: it evens out the weight around each wheel so it spins smoothly. Alignment fixes pulling and uneven wear: it sets the angles the wheels sit at. A shake at speed is a balancing job ($12 per tire); a car that drifts to one side needs an alignment ($80).
- How often should tires be balanced?
- Any time a tire comes off its rim, whether that's a new tire, a puncture repair or a seasonal changeover onto the same rims, it needs balancing again. Between those, balance when a vibration shows up or a weight falls off. There's no need to rebalance on a schedule if the car drives smooth.
- Does a changeover include balancing?
- A tire changeover at Boss Tire (from $160) includes mount and balance. Balancing on its own is for tires already on the car that have started to shake.
- I balanced my tires and it still shakes. Why?
- Then the weight isn't the problem. The usual causes are a bent rim, a tire with a shifted belt or flat spot, or worn suspension parts. A bent rim can be straightened (rim repair, $120); a damaged tire needs replacing. We'll tell you which it is when it's on the machine.
Don't take our word for it
“Best shop for tires. I got issue with balancing got to many shops but boss tires got it fixed in minutes. Best place to go for tire. Guri is great!”
“We called to get our muffler fixed and we got in same day the muffler was fixed and at a great price with a warranty! Def recommend and will go there from now on for car fixes! The woman at the desk even brought my dog water! Great place great people!”
“one of the best professional and cheaper services i have got here. i would like to recommend to everyone come here for miffler and catalytic works 😘😘😘”
375 Danforth Rd, Unit 3
Scarborough, ON
Mon–Sat: 9:00 AM – 7:00 PM
Mon–Sat: 9:00 AM – 7:00 PM · Sunday: Closed
Walk-ins welcome. Call ahead and we'll have a bay ready.
Steering wheel shaking?
Walk in or call the shop. Balancing is $12 per tire, done on the machine.
4.8 from 332 Google reviews(opens Google in a new tab)