Tire installer DESTROYED my wheels

[regal81455]

X2 on the sticky!

 

[8UWITH6]

Oh yeah, dont drive your car. They tore the beads on the tires when installing from the front side. The tires are ruined too.

 

[BuickGN29]

That's just simply insane. I hope you can get everything worked out.

I've got a question for people in the know. Do T wheels & GTA wheels also need to be mounted from the back side of the rim as well?

 

[pacecarta]

That's just simply insane. I hope you can get everything worked out.

I've got a question for people in the know. Do T wheels & GTA wheels also need to be mounted from the back side of the rim as well?

no they get done like any other rim , face up

but you have to watch with the gta rims and some balance machines that the cone they use doesnt break away the thin lip for the caps , this is a common problem on the dimpled GTA rim,, used to be a concern on the old coats 2020 tire machines but no one uses those anymore since they were only good for 15" and smaller rims , almost everyone is using the overhead tire machines

 

[Quick6'n'-K.C.]

I would take more photos of the wheels and tires, dont drive the car for obvious reasons.

Call them and refuse the wheels and tires, they are junk in my opinion.

DO NOT REMOVE THE WHEELS FROM THE CAR, there may be a possibility that they may think you did damage to them yourself after you left.


Damn this does suck, but you get what you pay for!


Its like nobody ever heard of a reverse rim, what a bunch of idiots, you definitely found the biggest idiot out there, AND watched him do it to all of your rims LOL... Who are you going to take it to for the oil change?

BW

 

[BuickGN29]

no they get done like any other rim , face up

but you have to watch with the gta rims and some balance machines that the cone they use doesnt break away the thin lip for the caps , this is a common problem on the dimpled GTA rim,, used to be a concern on the old coats 2020 tire machines but no one uses those anymore since they were only good for 15" and smaller rims , almost everyone is using the overhead tire machines

Thank you, pacecarta.

 

[mr go fast]

All I can say is wow. Looks like someone is getting new wheels and tires. There is absolutely no way they can deny that. The wheel repair is about as equal to purchasing a cherry set of wheels. I would highly suggest pushing that issue. Scratching a wheel is a simple mistake but that is just bad. Anyone knows when you disbead a tire, you always look at the drop down center of the wheel. This will determine the position of the wheel to remove the tire. I hope the best for you.

 

[mr go fast]

By the way, in the first pic the tire bead is destroyed (torn). Air is trying to escape at the damage. Do not drive this car with those tires on it.

 

[monteperformanc]

Its like nobody ever heard of a reverse rim, what a bunch of idiots, you definitely found the biggest idiot out there, AND watched him do it to all of your rims LOL... Who are you going to take it to for the oil change?

For 18 years of owning cars I always try to do anything I possibly can myself. I have swapped engines, transmissions, rears, everything on a car. I don't own a tire machine or a balancing machine and I don't know how they work.

In hindsight yes it was a poor decision to go to BJ's but like I said I had tires done there on my Blazer and I had no problems. Plus I figured if all they did was install tires they should know how to do it. Obviously I won't be going there again. But I have had problems everywhere from dealers to private shops. I have a black cloud over my head. I'm Charlie Brown. I'm not even getting this car a state inspection because I don't trust anyone. One time the inspector blew the front pump on my transmission in my Monte on the stupid roller dyno emission machine. Had to have the car flatbedded home. The next year I brought it somewhere else and an old lady backed into it while it was parked and I had to replace the front fender and nose. I can't win. I could write a book on this stuff and no one would believe it's true.

Anyone knows when you disbead a tire, you always look at the drop down center of the wheel.

Can someone explain this a little more so I can tell them what they did wrong?

I'm calling BJ's corporate tomorrow plus I'm waiting to hear back from my insurance adjuster.

 

[mr go fast]

The drop center is the lowest point of the inside portion of the wheel. The center section sometimes depending how the wheels is made. The shortest distance to the outside part of the wheel needs to be facing up.

 

[mr go fast]

 

[turbo nasty]

Look what I found when I got home today:

Here are the rest of the pics of the bends. The last two are the worst.

Someones head needs to roll over that. I had a place "lose" my brake rotors when i dropped them off to get turned. Got home and only had my rotor and them a completely different one and they were like we dont know...uhh we lost it.

I just about had the cops called on me but got 2 brand new rotors out of it. Threaten them with the news, papers if they dont respond to being civil about it. I think they should pay for the rims to get repaired and a new tire(s)!!! Sorrry for your luck

 

[ChrisChow]

You can always PROVE that it wasn't there before by showing them the other side of the rim. Usually, but not always, when you bend a rim, both inside and outside edges bend at the same time.

It's not a steadfast rule, but when you need to convince them it's due to the monkey with the crowbar, this point will help your case.

Good Luck!

 

[1987Vader]

Makes me wonder if we should all take pics of our rims (and have them dated) the DAY we take our beloved GNs to get new shoes...that way there is NO ARGUMENT! Thank you "Mr. Go FAST" for posting this info for our rims. I will be printing this off and GIVING it to whomever replaces my worn tires. My heart hurts for you "Turbo Nasty". I can not even look at those pics anymore.

 

[supercrackerbox]

I worked tires for four years, and I did do tires on more than a few GNs (along with many other specialty cars). There should never be any need to use a pry bar on a steel 15" Buick wheel, especially with a tire with a sidewall as soft as a Radial TA. One thing I haven't seen mentioned yet: With a reverse offset wheel such as a GN wheel, when using a rim-clamp machine, make sure the wheel is clamped from the outside! If not, the jaws will dimple the chrome if the tire jockey is lucky; more likely it will gouge the crap out of it when the wheel slips off the machine.

*If* it comes down to it, I can give you the phone number of the guy in western Iowa who built the Rallye wheels for my Regal. He cuts the centers out of old wheels and welds them into new shells. He charges $120 a wheel for a 15"x7" plus shipping for standard wheels, but I don't know if he can get reverse shells or not (valve stem hole would be on the other side). Let me know if you want his number.

 

[monteperformanc]

The drop center is the lowest point of the inside portion of the wheel. The center section sometimes depending how the wheels is made. The shortest distance to the outside part of the wheel needs to be facing up.

Now I get it. Thank you, Mr Go Fast for explaining. But how would they be able to tell before the tire is taken off?

I think the fact that the tire is blown out like that will hopefully help my case to prove that this guy was totally incompetent at installing tires.

 

[V8Assassin]

Do you have a friend that is an attorney, preferably one that is known around the area. I am not saying you should sue, but a letter from an attorney will, in many cases, get the attention of management. If you can get someone to write a nasty letter on a firm's letterhead and have it sent certified to the manager, their supervisor, the district manager, and so on. Also, have it CC'd to the local sheriff, police, justice court, and circuit court.

 

[mr go fast]

I don't see anyone in their right mind not taking care of this right away. I see a big apology and some new wheels/tires being bought for you. These big corps dont want a bad name. This is totally noticeable and a total mess. All you can do as a Manager is take care of it fast and without redtape.

 

[monteperformanc]

I hope you're right. These people have already been difficult to deal with. I called the store yesterday and they put me on hold for 30 minutes. I called again this morning and spoke to a different manager who of course knew nothing of my problem. The original manager is supposed to be in at 2 today. I may have to go down there but it's going to be hard for me to remain calm about this.

I had thought of getting a lawyer involved. I do know someone. I'm going to see how the next couple of days play out and see what happens.

 

[88 CuttyClassic]

I worked tires for four years, and I did do tires on more than a few GNs (along with many other specialty cars). There should never be any need to use a pry bar on a steel 15" Buick wheel, especially with a tire with a sidewall as soft as a Radial TA.

4 years experience and you are claining NEVER? my father has been in the business for 40 years. He has an old style tire maching at his shop and has done up to 19 inch wheels on his ancient machine. When we mounted my set of NOS eagle GT's on my stock Olds Rallys we needed to use a pry bar slightly. sometimes the machine cant spin the bar that installs the bead...and you beat the sidewall with a hammer or pry it down. You are never prying on the wheel thou, the inner rim is just your anchor point for leverage. you put the tip of the pry bar in there and use the shaft of the pry bar to press down on the sidewall till the install bar can spin all the way around the rim. we've never had a problem...EVER... never broken a bead, never bent a rim... its people who do not know what they hell they are doing or people that think they know what they are doing because that passed an ase test or some crappy trade school.

but you are correct. TA's have soft sidewalls in comparison to stock GTs.