What should I do?

mileshigh

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 2, 2005
Location
Charlotte NC
ok so last friday i had a tire going flat and i took it by a local place off of Hillsborough st. They found a nail in the one tire that had been going flat and they plugged it, i had them also check the front passenger tire as well because at one point it was losing air but quite. Well needless to say im driving my car and all of a sudden it starts shaking and such and im trying to figure out what is wrong, a tire separating, dics warped? Well it got worse with speed , even worse with light braking and went away with hard braking......and made a knocking sound throughout the car. Well i start looking around and all the lug nuts on the passenger front tire are finger tight! So i tightened them all and go figure it all the noise and ride went away....So what should i do about the whole shop aspect?
 
Learn from this one. I always double check my lugs if I get wheels or tires put on at a tire shop. They have to do volume to make money and all most shops want to do is knock it out and back it out by guys that aren't the cream of the crop. This is in no way a shot at these guys, but alot shops don't even torque wheels anymore(they use impacts).
 
yea i watched as they did the work and talked with the owner...i dont recall the guy ever getting a torque wrench out..just an impact gun..
 
Most shops will have a sign on the wall telling you to check your lug nuts after 20 miles..... Just so that you can do nothing.
 
Going back and complaiing won't really get you anywhere/anything. Only potential benefit would be IF they listen/believe you AND know who the tech was AND decide to tell him, MAYBE he will take it to heart and take more time on the next few cars.
But, as pointed out, unfortunately most shops are just busy all the time and after awhile the guy will go back to old ways.

Your best use of your time owuld be to call them, and talk to them very calmly and buddy-buddy friendly neighbor like... and just say,"Hey, just wanted you to know that this happened, so you might mentio nto oyur techs and please keep in midn for future cars etc... I've already fixed it anmd no big deal just FYI please be more careful."
They're more likely to be receptive to that.

Meanwhile, depending on type of wheel/lugs (hub vs wheel-centric), might want to pull it off and inspect the holes, make sure they didn't get wallowed out.
 
mileshigh said:
dics warped?
Click to expand...

Wow that sounds painful! ha ha....

Glad you figured it out. I was going to assume the wheel was out of balance but that was a good catch! :driver:
 
just call and tell the manager. After how long were you driving? more than 15-20 miles? Do you have aluminum wheels? If yes and yes, then just make sure you check the lugs at the 15-20 mile interval as you should and don't do anything more. Its common as any idiot (and a lot that don't) that knows "lefty loosy righty tighty" work at a those places.
 
FWIW most shops now use torque bars on their impacts.
So they do "torque" the wheels not just zip them on....that said the torque bar manufacturers themselves will tell you quickly to always double check them with a manual torque wrench.

Brett, here is the question....What do you want the final outcome to be?
If your answer is I want them to give me XYZ...then Id probably call a midnight TV advertising personal loss attorney.
If your answer is I am a good samaritan and dont want anyone to get killed by this wreckless shop, then follow Dave's advice.
If you just are pissed and want to feel better, then I suggest a full on screaming and throwing shit tantrum at their busiest time....

Its all about the intended result. (BTW if you are looking for A...you are going to need damages....we could always destroy the stang for kicks....)
 
Well I'm sooo pissed just had a similar experience, reminded me of this thread.
Had some tires mounted/balanced this weekend, just swapped on my rims. Didn't mind paying the $15/tire fee for it.
Well aparently dude used like 9000 lbs on the impact wrench putting the lugs on, after literally hours w/ my small comrpessor/impact, had to give up. Even running 160 lbs of CO2 behind it, torch heat, freezing, nothing, managed to get all but 2 lugs.
So I get to put it all back together, and get up early in the AM just to go to the local shop and bitch them out, make 'em remove those two lugs, just so I can drive it hoem and remove the drivshaft, which i HAVE to have to a shop same day to get some work done in time to make it to NC next week.
This on top of the tires *horribly* balanced, you should see the weights and wobble. I knew this wasn't the cream of the crop when I asked if they could confirm the rim width/backspacing while a tire was off... had to explain what I meant by backspacing... and I was told 16.5x9 w/ 4" BS... it had 32" x15 tires on it, lol! Rims are in fact 15x8 3.75. I asked who's rims they measured.

ok rant off
 
did you try a breaker bar?
 
SkyHiK5 said:
did you try a breaker bar?
Click to expand...

Kind of, and that prob would have done it - this was a "lack of equipment" failure.
w/ 12.5" wide tires, even using deep-well impact sockets I can't fit a bar on the end of a 1/2" ratchet b/c the tire is in the way - and don't own a 1/2" extension, all my extensions are 3/8. While I could use adapters etc, my experience is that when you put that much force on them they shear, resulting in me flying backwards breaking something and a lot of profanity.

I will however own a 1/2 extension by the end of the day.

Dude at shop had to use a 300lb snap-on impact to loosen them.

Lesson - I need stronger tools so I can deal w/ other people's mistakes, maybe time for that bigger impact or better comrpessor.
 
Every tire store I`ve been to I`ll usually stand at the bay door and watch the guys put the wheels on the vehicles. Zip the lug nuts on with the impact and then take a torque wrench to them after the car is on the ground. Hear it "click, click" on each one and see that he hasn`t turned a one with the torque wrench.
Little does he know (or care) that the impact has exceeded the setting of the torque wrench.:rolleyes:
 
RatLabGuy said:
Kind of, and that prob would have done it - this was a "lack of equipment" failure.
w/ 12.5" wide tires, even using deep-well impact sockets I can't fit a bar on the end of a 1/2" ratchet b/c the tire is in the way - and don't own a 1/2" extension, all my extensions are 3/8. While I could use adapters etc, my experience is that when you put that much force on them they shear, resulting in me flying backwards breaking something and a lot of profanity.
I will however own a 1/2 extension by the end of the day.
Dude at shop had to use a 300lb snap-on impact to loosen them.
Lesson - I need stronger tools so I can deal w/ other people's mistakes, maybe time for that bigger impact or better comrpessor.
Click to expand...


4 way lug wrench?
Seriously...need a plan for trail failures caused by idiots.
 
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