Adding a Tyre Fitting Service to Your Garage

Tyres are the service most often subcontracted by general garages, and the one most often brought back in-house once someone works out what is leaving the building.

Every vehicle in your bays has four of them, they wear out on a predictable cycle, and the customer is already standing in your reception. This guide covers what it takes to bring the work in, and whether it is worth it for your workshop.

Why it fits a general garage

• The work is already in front of you. Every service and MOT inspection involves looking at the tyres. Spotting a worn set and fitting it the same day is a shorter journey than referring it elsewhere.
• It brings other work with it. Uneven wear points at alignment and suspension, which are higher-value jobs.
• It is repeatable. Tyres wear out. A customer you fit tyres for comes back.
• It fills gaps. Tyre jobs are short and slot around longer bookings.
• It stops leakage. Work sent to a fast-fit chain often takes the alignment and the next service with it.

What you need

Equipment

• Tyre changer, matched to the wheels you actually see — for most independents a tilt-back automatic machine with a helper arm. See our tyre changer buying guide.
• Wheel balancer, standard electronic dynamic for most workshops. See our wheel balancer guide.
• A lift or low-rise scissor to get wheels off quickly.
• Torque wrenches, and the discipline to use them.
• Valve tooling and TPMS capability — most modern cars have sensors, and being unable to service them is a real limitation.
• Wheel weight stock, adhesive and clip-on, across the common ranges.
• Tyre storage racking, and somewhere for part-worn removals to go.

Supply and compliance

• A supplier arrangement with sensible delivery times, or stock of common sizes.
• Waste tyre disposal through a registered carrier, with the paperwork retained.
• Adequate compressed air, particularly if the changer has bead blasting — see our power and air guide.

Stock or order in?

Ordering in ties up no capital and carries no obsolescence risk, but it means a second visit or a wait, and you lose some same-day work.

Holding stock in your most common sizes lets you fit the same day, which is what customers actually want. The compromise most garages settle on is to stock a narrow range of high-turnover sizes and order everything else, with a supplier who can deliver quickly.

Be conservative at first. Tyre stock is easy to accumulate and slow to shift once sizes move on.

Where the margin really is

The tyre itself is a competitive product and the margin on it is thinner than people expect, particularly against national chains buying at volume. The money is in what surrounds it:

• Fitting, balancing and valves on every wheel.
• Alignment, which pairs naturally with new tyres and carries a much better margin — see is wheel alignment worth adding.
• The suspension and steering work that uneven wear reveals.
• Retained customers who now come to you rather than to a chain.

Competing on tyre price alone is a difficult position for an independent. Competing on doing the whole job properly, in one place, is not.

Getting it right in the bay

Two things protect you from the most common complaints:

1. Do not mark the wheels. A refurbished diamond-cut alloy costs more than the job earned. Protective inserts, correct technique and a suitable machine — covered in our guide to protecting alloy wheels.
2. Torque properly. Every wheel, with a wrench, to the correct figure. Impact guns are for removal.

Is it worth it for you?

Likely yes if you already see enough vehicles to generate tyre work, you have bay space and air, and you either offer alignment or intend to.

Likely not yet if every bay is full of higher-value work, you have nowhere to store tyres, or your volume is low enough that a subcontract arrangement costs you little.

A middle route worth considering is to buy the equipment and start with tyres for existing customers only, without advertising it. That builds competence and tells you the real volume before you commit to stock and promotion.

Frequently asked questions

What equipment do I need to fit tyres?

A tyre changer and wheel balancer matched to your wheel sizes, a lift or low-rise scissor, torque wrenches, TPMS and valve tooling, wheel weight stock and tyre storage. Plus adequate compressed air.

Is fitting tyres profitable for a general garage?

The tyre itself carries thin margin against national chains. The return is in fitting, balancing, valves, the alignment that pairs with it, and the suspension work uneven wear reveals.

Should I hold tyre stock?

Stock a narrow range of your highest-turnover sizes so you can fit same-day, and order everything else. Tyre stock accumulates easily and is slow to shift once sizes move on.

Do I need TPMS equipment?

In practice, yes. Most modern vehicles have sensors, and being unable to service or replace them limits what you can take on.

How do I dispose of old tyres?

Through a registered waste carrier, keeping the transfer paperwork. It is a routine arrangement, but it needs setting up before you start.

Setting up a tyre bay

Changer, balancer and the lift beside them work best specified together. Tell us the wheels and volumes you expect and we will match the equipment. See our tyre changers and wheel balancers and wheel equipment, or request a quote and we will reply within one working day.