Mike Melton demonstrates his tire-balancing method using the Summit Trail Climber ATO2, a budget all-terrain tire with high sales volume. He estimates owners will get about 40,000 miles despite the 50,000-mile warranty, and shows how a diagnostic balancer catches vibration issues a shop would otherwise miss.
This is Mike at Speedy in Lincolnton, North Carolina. This is how you set the standard— balance by the lug holes. Out of all the all-terrains we sell, this is the most popular. Now, one of the main reasons that this is so popular, it ain't because of the kind of tire it is, it's because of the price of the tire. So let's go over— this is the Summit Trail Climber ATO2. So the Summit brand has been out for years and years, decades. Now the sidewall is a little aggressive, but not too aggressive where people don't like it. It's got a lot of siping in between those tread blocks, so it's going to give you that wet traction. Now let's talk about the mileage warranty. They put a 50,000-mile warranty on it, but you ain't going to get it. I'm going to tell you like it is, you might get about 40,000 depending on how you rotate them. Now, before we balance this thing out, what we got to do, we got to take that damn sticker off. All right, let's balance her out. We're not going to cut it. We're not going to edit. We got it spinning here in a second. That roller's going to come down. It's going to diagnose any kind of vibration issues that's going to come from the wheel assembly or the tire itself before it goes on that customer's vehicle. If you don't have a machine like this, you're chasing your tail. All right, rollers off. We got 3/4 of an ounce here on the outside. We got 3.5 right here on the inside and only 13 pounds of force. So one thing, that thing's going to ride like a damn Cadillac. So if you're looking to not spend a lot of money but you want a good tire, go with the Summit Trail Climber ATO2.
