Ugh... Big O manhandles wheels, accuses me of fraud

[E30Idea]

Not a thing positive will come from this. GL man, but I see a bad ending for you.

[iwantspeed]

same thing happened to a buddy with his hre's
I take my car to tucker tires of crownvalley and forbes road by the 5 and costco and have great deals and great service.

[E30 Cabrio]

Take him to court.

[perzbenz]

They're just SL 2-Piece wheels...jk.
But wow! Thats sucks Kyle.

Just do what I did when Valet cracked my front bumper. Just go to BIG-O with documents, pictures and quotes for repair and say that you're going to take them to small court. Let them know it will basically be an open/close case since you have all of the proof. And then they would have to pay extra in court fee's, etc.

[Mike]

I see that you are even ponying up for michelins, but running two different pilot sports, ps2's and avsprts. These tires are generally a more softer sidewall tire, so the tire tech should've "had it a little easier". Quick question though, i dunno the history with your car, how many sets of tires the car has had mounted, etc., but have the wheels been previously repaired, maybe before you had the car?

Also, on a side note, I am almost positive that there are two versions of the monoblock. I am also sure that one of the monoblock versions is a REVERSE MOUNT wheel. Meaning that the tire is installed over the rear/inside flange as opposed to the front flange. There is usually a sticker on the barrel of the wheel stating that, but the wheel usually has to be off.

[nando]

This. When I worked at Firestone I bought some Snapon lugnut sockets that were thinwalled and had a thin layer of rubber on the outside as an extra layer of protection from scratching the wheels. I want to know how the dude made the scratch around the valve stem. The fuck was he doing?

And yeah, torque sticks work well if you use them right; i.e., just snug up the lugs. I've seen techs put the torque sticks on the impact guns and then just go full force on the lugs until they won't tighten anymore. The torque stick is useless in that situation.

Matt

all the shops I've been to have a second guy double check the torque with an actual torque wrench, and then sign off that it was checked twice.

[Hick]

The damages are from the tire machine operator. Obviously the lug holes are pretty self explanatory.

The 'modern' tire machine uses a plastic shoe and metal spoons to lift the tire from the wheel. Looks to me that the plastic show as dirty and has some debris stuck to the bottom of it. The other two wheels that look like someone 'took a chisel' to were cause by the operator. The metal spoons are placed OVER the plastic shoe and under the bead of the tire. If the spoon is not placed just right it can slip off the shoe and make marks like this.

I worked for Goodyear as a tire jockey for a while, Ive seen this damage before.

Good Luck!

[Mossman]

all the shops I've been to have a second guy double check the torque with an actual torque wrench, and then sign off that it was checked twice.

I have never seen a torque wrench used to tighten wheels at any tire shop or mechanical shop I've ever been to, or the one I worked in. When I first started working on my own car I would do this, but over the past 6 or so years I've only ever torqued head bolts and flywheel bolts, and rivets holding 2/3 piece wheels together. Not saying it's right but if I saw a tire shop guy using a torque wrench it would alarm me more than it would make me feel comfortable because he's probably been on the job <2 weeks.

[2002maniac]

I'm sure they'll take care of you, but you should make a formal complaint against the store manager.

[freeski27]

this is soooo shitty.... hope everything works out for you man. But this has definitely reminded me to take time stamped pictures of my wheels before I have tires changed!

[Will_318i]

damn man, sucks big balls. i hope everything works out in your favor.

[She loved E]

Thanks again for the comments & first-hand experience from ppl that have operated the machinery before. I will make sure to mention it when I talk to the regional dir. tonight. :-D

I see that you are even ponying up for michelins, but running two different pilot sports, ps2's and avsprts. These tires are generally a more softer sidewall tire, so the tire tech should've "had it a little easier". Quick question though, i dunno the history with your car, how many sets of tires the car has had mounted, etc., but have the wheels been previously repaired, maybe before you had the car?

Tires are different because they're before/after :). I had them mount the A/S.

I do also know the history of the wheels/tires. They were purchased used from a friend of mine who is notorious in MB circles for having clean cars & parts. They were purchased without a nick on them, with PS1s installed. They were already refinished once when I bought them (evidenced by non-factory finish on lips and noticeable prior damage removal/smoothing on one of the lips).

In 2007 new PS2s were purchased and installed by Shoreline Motoring in Huntington Beach. In 2009 they installed used front tires (Contis), because of the odd tire wear problem mentioned in the OP. I used Shoreline due to high praise they received from the same friend I bought the wheels from. They returned the car to me in pristine condition both times, and rest assured that from now on all my cars will be taken to Shoreline despite the expense and distance (~25 miles).

One rear wheel was damaged in early 2008 by a large rock in the road. The hit resulted in clearcoat chipping in an isolated location on the lip of the wheel. This was brought up to the service manager, and I made it very clear what damage his shop caused and what was already there. IE I fully realize my wheels are not new... that said, I know my wheels and what damage was already there and what wasn't. All the damage documented here was caused by Big O.

Kyle

[nando]

I have never seen a torque wrench used to tighten wheels at any tire shop or mechanical shop I've ever been to, or the one I worked in. When I first started working on my own car I would do this, but over the past 6 or so years I've only ever torqued head bolts and flywheel bolts, and rivets holding 2/3 piece wheels together. Not saying it's right but if I saw a tire shop guy using a torque wrench it would alarm me more than it would make me feel comfortable because he's probably been on the job <2 weeks.

right, and that's probably why people have their wheels fall off, or the bolts are so tight they can't get them off without an impact, or they strip the threads, etc. etc.

Costco does this for sure. You can get close with an impact - yeah, sure. But close isn't good enough for the only thing touching the ground.

[E30Nova]

all the shops I've been to have a second guy double check the torque with an actual torque wrench, and then sign off that it was checked twice.

Yeah, that's how it was at Firestone. It was a rule that we HAD to use torque sticks and then torque the wheels and then have someone doublecheck the torques. I used to just get em nice and tight but I actually lost a couple lugnuts on both front wheels on the Nova a few years ago doing that. Now I always torque em.

Whoever said they'd feel uncomfortable seeing someone torque wheels, sorry but you're a moron. It's MUCH safer because you actually know how tight they are. I've stripped a couple lugs on my e30 by just using an impact. I went to loosen them after that and they snapped. Torque wrenches are essential when doing tire work.

Matt

[Sepp]

This is a pretty shitty thing to see. Sorry man.

Regardless of the outcome, contact the Better Business Bureau to file a complaint.