All four P255/70R18 Bridgestones need to go..mechanic even pointed out the shocks which are going too. So at 56k first time changing the tires. I can understand balance for each! But does this require alignment? Each tire quoted at $200+ already looking at over a solid grand for this.. any tips not to get shafted by snake oil mechanics. I’d like to stay with Bridgestones and what’s a good shocksshareit appvn

 

Honestly, I know I work at tiresplus/firestone branch but were pretty reasonable atleast at my location. And id align it to protect my investment. As for shocks i wouldnt know where to start. What vehicle even is it? Any mods and so on and so forth.

 

The best way to answer that is to look at the tread on the tires and rub your hand over it. If it feels like it has sharp surfaces on one direction and not the other, then you need an alignment. If you need one, it will pay for itself in less tire wear

 

I am guessing this is not an XJ based on wheel size and mileage. $200 per tire is about right but check a site such as tirerack.com for competitive pricing. If your local shop is asking a price that is significantly higher than you can get elsewhere ask if they can do better. If this is a newer vehicle with 56k miles shocks are likely fine. As mentioned above look at the wear on the old tires. If the old tires wore evenly side to side the shocks and alignment are probably fine. Seems like they might be trying to add stuff that is not absolutely needed.

 

At 56k you need an alignment. You can skip it, but you are going to be wearing out your new $1000 tires a lot faster than if you pay attention to the alignment. Bad shocks or bad alignment will trash tires.

At a grand for 4 Bridgestones installed, you are getting a pretty good deal.

Less than the price of a single tire to protect your $1000 dollar investment is also a good deal.