New carry in / tire mounting & balancing option in Knoxville

[joe henslee]

I have recently returned home from a 3 1/2 yr work travel assignment and am reactivating my race shop, for now, to support carry in / out, tire mounting & balancing.
For those that don't know me, I am a long time ETR member, served many years on the board, one stint as RE, and plenty of sub chairs. I spent ~ 4 years trackside for Bridestone Motorsports in the SEDIV in the late 80's . I have also have a 30 yr background that includes balancing / vibration analysis in the aerospace / energy arena. My sportscar background stretches from age 16 in solo II in ETR, to later solo II in B&C Mod, and lots of cars and classes in between, and later Solo I in ASR in my Scorpion sportsracer. Also raced FF/CF in SEDIV Regionals for several years. More recent racing(until my out of town work) has been Mazda & BMW in Improved Touring. I do almost all of my own fabrication and some design. Some of the longer term ETR members I'm sure can provide references . Wayne H, John B, Mark P, Ted V.........
So for now, if I can provide tire service to ETR-SCCA, PCA, BMW car club members in the area, please feel free to contact me for an appointment and details.

Best regards, Joe Henslee / Henslee Sports Racing: 865-288-4212(shop), 865-659-6747(cell), email jhenslee11@comcast.net, or PM me on the ETR site.

[MARKP]

Welcome back, Joe! I hope to see you at the upcoming autocrosses.

[whenry]

Welcome back, Joe! I'll have to bring you the Lotus and let you check it out.

[MGracer]

Glad to see you posting on here Joe, we need to get together soon and compare Zinks!


Stirling

[dfoulk]

Welcome back Joe! Joe does excellent work. He impressed me by doing the detective work to solve a weird problem. I had a loud squeak coming from a rear wheel whenever I leaned on it. I had disassembled and inspected the rear suspension and brake on that side and checked the wheel for cracks. I could not find anything wrong and could not find the source of the noise. Joe figured it out. When the tire was mounted by a tire store, their machine had caught and peeled a strip of the bead rubber exposing the wire inside which was rubbing the wheel causing the squeak. This was about 15 years ago and seems like yesterday.

Dewey

[TedV]

Welcome back, Joe! I hope to see you at the upcoming autocrosses.

x2

[joe henslee]

Thanks for the kind thoughts and comments. It's GREAT !!! to be home and settling in. Look forward to seeing everyone soon.

[LeadSSled]

Sorry, these may be dumb questions, but I'm going to ask them anyway.
1) Can you tell us about your mounting and balancing equipment? Can you mount tires on expensive forged AL wheels without marring them?
2) Where is your shop located?
3) Do you publish mounting and balancing SCCA rates, or is pricing on a case by case basis?

Thanks!

[disneyd]

Yes, some prices on getting race tires mounted would be great.

[joe henslee]

I will try to answer both sets of questions:
Equipment: I use FMC / John Bean centerpost and have used this model machine for many years. Machine mounting limits are up to 18" and some 19" DIA and widths around 12"-14". I personally prefer over rim clamps as centerposts do not bite into rim ID rear surface with serrated teeth, leaving upset metal and stress risers, and occasionally bent rear hats. I use FMC hubcentric balacing equipment and typically balance to .10 oz in both front and rear planes and assure static is also within .1 oz. Normal consumer machine settings will display all ZERO's in a non-displayed "rounding" program and leave as much as .3 oz uncorrected in each plane, and if those fall within the same quadrant, can yield up to a .6 oz uncorrection, yet the machine is still displaying all zero's or "PERFECT". I cannot balance out flat spotted tires so they don't thump, bent rims or the like, but I will and always and have been up front with issues. I have mounted and balanced everything from multipiece LW formula / sports racing wheels in aluminum and magnesium and tires on many production and vintage racing and street automobiles including Porsche and Ford GTP cars, TRANSAM, CANAM, all over the southeast. I have been operating to these standards for over 30 yrs. The amount of tolerable residual imbalance is directly related to mass of the wheel/tire assembly, historically, BMW autombiles were some of the most sensitive vehicles, esp on the fronts. My pricing will be very competive and my quality will be unmatched. I have also balanced brake rotors and solved vibrations that were beyond the wheel / tire. I have mounted more wheels and tires over these years than I care to remember, but many thousands. (shaved over 2000 dot race tires in just a few years)
I only ask that you call and lets discuss your individual needs and hardware, set appointments, and I will provide directions to my home/shop. I am now retired from my engineering carrer in the aerospace industry and home most of the time. I have a constuction project also underway at my home but am somewhat flexible on scheduling. Contact info is located at the begining of this thread. Thanks for the questions and interest. Look forward to hearing from you.
Best regards, Joe

[LeadSSled]

I will try to answer both sets of questions:

Thanks for the response, Joe. But you did miss one important question.
Where is your shop located? Location, location, location...

[joe henslee]

I'm in west Knoxville.... just a few minutes from I-140 / Kingston Pike junction area. Please call or email for specifics. Thanks

[LeadSSled]

I just wanted to mention that Joe mounted and balanced my set of Hoosier A6s last week - 315/35-17s on 10.5" and 11" wheels. Joe did a great job at a very fair "SCCA price". And Joe is one of the nicest guys that you will ever meet. If you have the flexibilty to drop of your wheels and tires and then pick them up a day or two later, Joe should be your tire guy. He has been around autocross and road racing most of his adult life and knows what he is doing. I highly recommend Joe Henslee for mounting and balancing tires.