Absolute Tire And Wheel Is Just As Good As Rusty's Tires, And Open On Sunday!

Photo and blog post by John Hoff

I think I have purchased a total of three new tires in my entire life. The truth is I don't even struggle to be frugal; it just comes naturally from the way I was raised. It's not like I have to agonize with myself and think, "Oh, I'd really like some new tires but I guess I will go with some cheap used tires instead." No, my internal agony is along the lines of, "How many more miles can I push out of these tires before safety considerations make me buy more tires? Used, of course."

Honestly, the only time I've bought NEW tires involved having a damaged tire and finding myself pressed for time and near a store that ONLY sold new tires. So, naturally, I've been a fan of Rusty's Tires on West Broadway ever since Nomi super citizen Megan Goodmundson told me about it. It was, however, Jeff Skrenes who did the write up about Rusty's on this blog, click here.

Last Sunday, however, the very day of a long out of town trip, one of my front tires went flat. Thanks to my security cameras, I knew...

From Soccer Mom SUVs To The Streets Of North Minneapolis...

Photos and blog post by John Hoff

About a month ago, I purchased "new to me" tires at Rusty's Tire, 2401 West Broadway. The tires cost 30-something dollars each, which included the installation. Where, I wondered, does Rusty's get such affordable tires?

One of the guys at the shop told me how the owner goes to...

...scrapyards and finds the vehicles with decent tires, which he purchases and resells at the shops. But scrapyards are probably not the only source of re-salable tires. A friend of mine related what she was told about the source of Rusty's wares: out in the affluent suburbs, "soccer mom" car owners purchase new tires yearly. But their old tires are still relatively decent, suitable for resale in our happy (rapidly revitalizing!) hood. Thus the tires make their way down the socio-economic food chain. Everybody wins, including the earth, since re-using tires is better for the environment than creating new tires. (Though riding a bike and using mass transit is, of course, even better)

I must say that, for a long time, I hesitated to do business with Rusty's. It was only due to the repeated enthusiastic recommendations of my friends (click for only one example, already published on this blog) that I ventured into their humble shop on West Broadway. Now I'm a fan of Rusty's and I will be buying all my "next to new" tires there.

Great Deals at Rusty's Tires!

Guest post and photo by the Hawthorne Hawkman

During the first snow emergency of the season, I was driving around and checking out certain properties in Hawthorne. Somehow I managed to get stuck and need help getting pushed out of a mere two inches of snow. This was a MAJOR blow to my pride as a Yooper who KNOWS how to drive in this stuff. But it was also a wake-up call that I needed new tires.

My dilemma is that I drive an 11-year-old Malibu. It's a decent enough car but new tires were expected to be pricey. I went to one spot in NoMi and was quoted $411 for four tires. Granted, that's a bargain when weighed against certain death, but I needed something cheaper. So a good NoMi friend recommended Rusty's Tires on 26th and Broadway, and they charged...

$84 for two (they didn't have a full set on hand). Not only that, but the service was great, and they finished the job within fifteen minutes. I was floored at the price, courtesy, speed, and quality of the work here. Best of all, when I drove my car away, there was an actual correlation between what I did with the steering wheel and how the car moved on any kind of snow. I had kind of forgotten what that felt like.

Since my car was no longer a moving death trap, I was in such a good mood that I was reminded of fellow Yooper and former NoMi resident Jonathan Rundman's fun little jingle, "Bob's Tires." No video link exists just yet, but the words (I think) are:

Here at Bob's you're number one, number one, number one,
Here at Bob's you're number one; we will fix your tires.
We got white walls, blue walls, all at a reasonable price.
Our tires are the best around, they are very nice, Whoa!
Here at Bob's you're number one, number one, number one,
Here at Bob's you're number one; we will fix your tires.
We got white walls, blue walls, all the latest parts.
Our tires are the best around, they are better than Art's, Whoa!
Here at Bob's you're number one, number one, number one,
Here at Bob's you're number one; we will fix...your...tires.