Tire store story.

[Don Coatney]

This morning I took my truck to the tire store where I bought my tires a couple years back. I wanted to have them balanced and rotated as this was included in my original tire purchase. They got my truck on the rack pretty quick. Just after they lifted it and removed the first tire the shop service manager came into the lobby to talk to another customer sitting near me. He told this customer that he had a stripped lug stud and it would need replacement at a cost of fifty bucks. The customer than stated that this shop was the only place his car had ever been serviced and the lug stud must have been stripped by one of the shop employees. The service manager then told the customer that lug studs will "self destruct over time" and his employee did not do anything wrong. If my truck had not been in the air when I heard this I would have cancelled all work and driven off. Once the service manager returned to wherever he came from I told the customer that I thought he was fed a line of bull. The customer told me he agreed and was not happy. A few moments later the service manager returned and told the customer that he would not be charged for the parts but only for the labor to replace the stripped lug stud. The labor was over forty bucks. This is the last time I will return to this tire store.

[JIPJOBXX]

Sounds to me like if that service manager doesn't get his act together he may be looking for another job. I had this happen at Jiffy Lube where I had them tune up an 81 Mazda (29.95) but by the time I was out the door it was almost 90 dollars. I asked the manager why my bill was so high and he said I needed a new rotor cap!!!! Well this rotor car cost 34.95 cents he told me and what a bunch of dung! I know because I called down to one of our local parts houses and they quoted me around 5 dollars. Well to make this story short I paid the bill but raised enough stink about this over charge that the parent company gave me a free lube and oil job (Big deal again). Oh yes one more thing in about a month my car started to fail and so I opened the hood and guess what? The rotor had not been pushed down far enough on the rotor shaft and it eat my 35 dollar rotor cap!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Boy that manager did not want to hear from me again after I went back and told him where he could take his shop and I would tell all the folks I know never, ever go to that joint again. Jon:mad:

[Plymouthy Adams]

Now if there was any truth to that..the tire stud stocks would shoot off the stock exchange given the amount of cars on the road...

The jerkwads messed up..pure and simple...not bragging but that is why I own my own tire machine, balancer and lift...plus on the most part it is fun..allows you to inspect brakes peridically, lube the chassis and all that stuff that seems to get neglected because getting under the car is such a pain.

Don..any news on coming this way yet...??

[Don Coatney]

Tim;

Looks like I will not be headed your way anytime soon. I am going to East Rutheford, New Jersey next week for a 3 week stint

[grey beard]

Had a similar experience with wife's town car - I personally watched a nubie tech air gun the studs for a full 30 seconds on each one after they were tight. Went over to him and asked him to take them loose again. One was already stripped. Fortunately this shop replaced the stud and nut on the spot for free, but I caution everyone about this one fact:

NOBODY at tire stores bothers with torque sticks. They are color coded six-inch long dog bone extensions in various sizes and colors for different vehicles. When put on an air gun, they limit the tightening ability of the gun to a safe torque for the lugs, so that no damage will occur. Funny thing is that all the tire stores have a set of these - the techs are just too lazy to use them.

The one exception to this story was at (gulp) Wal-Mart, where I had a blown tire replaced in South Dakota. The kid not only used a torque stick but came back at the wheel with a no-kidding torque wrench to check his work. Almost couldn't believe my own eyes. Believe me, I thanked that tech and his manager before I left.

By the bye, the guy who said wheel studs and lugs self destriuct over time was right - if no one uses a torque stick and has the gun turned up, the will only last a few years worth of that sort of punishment. JMHO:)

[Dodgeb4ya]

Just think what would have happened with the "Good Deal $29.95" tune up. Should always go to a reputable shop for proper repair work!

Bob

[De Soto Frank]

Just imagine how quickly one of those "air-gun cowboys" can destroy the lefty-threads on MoPar lug bolts / drums !!!

[Norm's Coupe]

Don,

If that store manager had told me some story like that, I'm afraid it would have been like WWII in the lobby. I would not pay for the stud or the labor. Also, I would not have been as calm as you were had I heard him tell another customer some tall story like that one. I would have immediately stood up, told him to put the wheel back on my truck and give it back to me, I no longer wanted them to touch my truck! And, I would have told him why!

As for the jiffy lube shops, I don't go to any of those. I take our cars into a regular garage for oil changes and tune ups. Cost is about the same (or cheaper) for the oil change and it's a real mechanic doing the job.

[PatS....]

A few years ago when I had a flat repaired on-site in my International Eagle, the tire guy took the lug nuts OFF with the air gun.

I noticed that he was putting them back on by hand with a big star wrench and then a big torque wrench.

He said it was against company policy now to install lugs by impact. By hand with a star wrench and then the torque wrench or pack up your tools and hit the road.

No stripping and no fudging. If you're using the torque wrench anyway you may as well do it right.

Big problem here and elsewhere of big rigs loosing their wheels. Some due to axle failure but alot due to lug nuts backing off. Most big rigs around here now have those plastic pointers which indicate a backed off lug by eye instantly.

I agree with Don, though. I would never darken that tire shops doorstep again.

I will insist on the same procedure the next time a shop touches my wheels...which isn't often.

Kinda reminds me of the old "filings in the pan" trick at transmission shops. The bastards got me on that one when I was 17 with an old 59 Buick. $275 was hard to come by back then for nothing.

I did get even but that's another story.

[Norm's Coupe]

After discussing the use of impact wrenches, I have to admit I too am guilty of that now at home. However, I only use the impact to remove the lugs. When I put them back on, I first start them all by hand, then run them snug with the impact wrench, then tighten with the star wrench. It's faster that way, and you won't strip them doing it that way.

[1just4don]

Warp disc brake rotors faster than you can put them on too. Had a car once, they worked on something in the front end,,,had the tires off,,, warped them so bad they couldnt even straighten them out by cutting them twice,,,just gave up and drove it that way for the rest of its life,,,wasnt worth the bucks they wanted for new rotors which of course was MY fault cause they were crooked to start with,,,NOT!!!! I asked if they used an air wrench on it,,,oh no we put ALL tires/wheels back on with a hand star wrench (bet the dust is so thick on that wrench,hasnt been used in 30 years!!!)

[TodFitch]

Boy I came in late on this thread. From the title I thought it was going to be something like this:

http://www.archive.org/details/UnderTheTrea

[Plymouthy Adams]

I don't think anyone at Goodyear ever seen this film...lol I remember as a lad visiting the recapping facility..it was awesome to watch them work.

[MacTexas]

The one exception to this story was at (gulp) Wal-Mart, where I had a blown tire replaced in South Dakota. The kid not only used a torque stick but came back at the wheel with a no-kidding torque wrench to check his work. Almost couldn't believe my own eyes. Believe me, I thanked that tech and his manager before I left.

JMHO:)

I buy all my tires at Sams Club. They use the torque stick and check it with a torque wrench. Seems like it may be a Wal-Mart policy.

[james curl]

I took my 48 P-15 to Wal Mart for tires, they require torque wrench for tightening, so when thet got to the left side of the car and found that they could not torque the bolts with a ratchet style torque wrench had to find a star wrench and a manager to sign off on usinging it instead of the torque wrench.

[Dodgeb4ya]

Torque sticks loose there calibration too! Torque wrenhes are the best way to go and thats if they are recalibrated as required. Snapon Mac ect!!

Bob

[BobT-47P15]

Last time I toook the 47 Plym to a local independent tire store, they used a torque wrench when remounting wheels to the car. Seems as if they only used the air gun in times past. On other occasions over the years I have said things to tire guys like take it easy on the gun so I can get the lugs off myself if necessary later. I normally use an old 4-way lug wrench at home to remove wheels. At times have had to pull up on one side of it, while applying pressure on the opposite side with my foot.

I wonder if the torqueing process has become more crucial with the lighter weight materials now used in most cars. Are lug studs as large a diameter as they used to be?? Are the drums they attach to now as strong as old cars? Probably not (my non expert guess). You could do a lot of things to older cars and get away with it.....they were pretty tough.

[Plymouthy Adams]

Most domestic ars are running 7/16-20, 1/2-20 or 12 MM x 1.25 and grade eight material. Max torque is based on the size of the stud in use. Alloy wheels are more critcal for torque values than the steel wheels and discs moreso than drums. Your car..your call as to what method you use..the commercial industry is slowly learning that liability is incurred when bolting your wheels back on and on any chassis component removed, installed or adjusted during alignment...Our old cars are 1/2-20 nuts and threaded bolts..

The quality of material in respect to the lug nuts, studs and or bolts have not been lessened in my opinion.

[Lee Exline]

Years ago I bought a set of wide whites for my 57 Desoto and brought them to sears to get mounted and balanced. I waited in the shop and after a while the shop foreman (young guy) came in to inform me that they could only put two on. The other side of he car had the lug nuts "rusted on" they could not get any off! I told he guy "try reversing your wrench" They had no clue the lugs were reverse side to side. There was no damage to the lugs that I could see.

The worst horror story I have about repair shops comes from when my mother was still alive. My father had purchased a Caddy when the doctors told him the second time "we got all the cancer" since they gave him a clean bill of health he knew the car would be paid off when he died. Only problem is Caddies are expensive to repair for an old lady on a limited budget. She would not sell it because of the memories. (Now to the story) She had taken the car into jiffy lube and they told her that the transmission was overfilled and would need a filter and fluid change $80+. My mother called me to ask if she should have it done and I said no! I went to her place after work and made sure it was parked on level ground and checked the level several times and it was spot on.

I took the car back up to the shop and asked them about it and the manager came out to show me. He took out the dipstick and pointed the tip toward the sky until the fluid ran down a little bit then leveled it off so it stopped and he said see it is over the full mark. I was too stunned to talk for a moment, then I took the dipstick from him and put it back with a few choice words and left. I told my mom never to go back there again. I only regret that I threw my fit in the parking area where the other customers could not hear what these guys were pulling. I hate people that take advantage of ladies and thier cars and old ladies even worse.