Took the car in to have the wheels balanced yesterday and whilst the front wheels were off they noticed that my N/S CV joint boot is leaking grease. I wondered where all the greasy cr4p on my wheel was coming from......

So, it's booked in on Monday fpor that to be fixed. Thought about doing it myself but the prospect of removing the N/S joint is a bit beyond my DIY capabilities so I'll leave it to the 'experts'.

£14 for the bits and £70 fitting - booked in on monday.

Anyway, in addition they said there was no point in balancing my rear tyres as they were 'deformed'. I screwed my face up and asked to be shown. They proceeded to spin the rear wheels whilst on the ramp and made me stand behind the car so I could see the profile of the wheel as it went round. You could see the tyre kind of 'wobble' from side to side slightly as the lump on it passed your vision.

They're the original Michelins that are still on the rear and it's on 04 plate with 42k on so perhaps they are a bit past their best, and the sidewalls are cracking.

I'm looking at getting these replaced soon and am torn between Eagle F1's and T1-R's.

I do a fair bit of m'way miles and don't drive like a hooligan much so which out of the 2 wear better and provide better wet traction? A search proved inconclusive despite many many threads discussing the 2 tyres.

The Toyo's are being quoted at £89 per corner, the F1's at £90 per corner and the horrid Michelins with the hardest compound in the world at £92 per corner.

Cheers,

Chris.

Let me know if u want some toyo's i can get them pretty cheap, i think somewhere in the region of 57+vat per corner but my memory is rubbish today.

Goodyears are better in the wet but dont seem to last as long as the toyos.

If your not bothered about a little road noise the rainsports are pretty cheap, exellent in the wet and not bad at wearing.