new shoes

[majorcatfish]

last week needed an oil change figured it was time to put on the winter tires noticed that there was a vibration in the steering wheel, figured it was because of the tread depth. got home and really looked over the tires and wheels...well there's the problem !!
the dot and dimple are not lined up

new tires <most brands> come from the manufacture with a red dot on the sidewall this is the high point of the tire.
wheels will come with a sticker or dimple on it which is the low spot.
when you line up the two when mounting this will cross out each other which helps in balancing so you don't end up with massive wheel weights all over..

anyway took it back down this morning and told them that tires are not mounted correctly and needed to be fixed since i was going on a trip...
1.5 hrs later the service greeter had me come out and started to give me excuses why the vibration is happening. stopped him mid sentence..
sir i have been in tire business for over 20 years and we sell hundreds of this brand and have never had a complaint, so either a wheel weight has fallen off , your balancer has not been calibrated lately, or the tire and wheel are not lined up during mounting...and handed him my business card.

why did you come here to have them put on?

because i needed an oil change and their closed on the weekend <by the way the tires are not mounted correctly!>

after another hour your ready to go...

all the marks line up now......how about that rides like a dream. was not going to drive all the way out to Murfreesboro and back feeling like i just put a quarter in one of those vibrating beds.

 

[Zeedman]

new tires <most brands> come from the manufacture with a red dot on the sidewall this is the high point of the tire.
wheels will come with a sticker or dimple on it which is the low spot.
when you line up the two when mounting this will cross out each other which helps in balancing so you don't end up with massive wheel weights all over.

Good to know. That knowledge might have come in handy a couple times in the past, when I was dealing with incompetent tire dealers.

Once, after getting new tires, one of them went flat within 24 hours. I took it back for them to correct the leak. They said "it's not our fault, you have a bad rim". Even if true (which it wasn't) WHY WOULD YOU KNOWINGLY INSTALL A TIRE ON A BAD RIM??? They refused to do anything, so I went elsewhere, where they remounted the tire & corrected the problem. My SIL was almost killed by the same dealer, because they improperly tightened the lug nuts & he lost a wheel on the highway. It turns out, unsurprisingly, that dealer has numerous complaints.

 

[valley ranch]

Well that's something I've never heard catfish, I'll have a look when I down to the truck again ```

 

[Artichoke Lover]

Good to know. That knowledge might have come in handy a couple times in the past, when I was dealing with incompetent tire dealers.

Once, after getting new tires, one of them went flat within 24 hours. I took it back for them to correct the leak. They said "it's not our fault, you have a bad rim". Even if true (which it wasn't) WHY WOULD YOU KNOWINGLY INSTALL A TIRE ON A BAD RIM??? They refused to do anything, so I went elsewhere, where they remounted the tire & corrected the problem. My SIL was almost killed by the same dealer, because they improperly tightened the lug nuts & he lost a wheel on the highway. It turns out, unsurprisingly, that dealer has numerous complaints.

Did you report them to the Better Business Bureau?

 

[majorcatfish]

@valley ranch the red dot is in the t in mastercraft and the sticker on bottom spoke

shame those stickers dont last, time to put a dimple on the wheel before the stickers are completely gone,
of course will put a chalk mark at the valve stem when i change tires this spring.

 

[valley ranch]

I couldn't fine this mark, I'll look more closely with a light ~ I don't think there will be a sticker on the wheel after all this time ```

 

[valley ranch]

I Balanced my tires with Air soft bbs ~ 3oz per tire for this size tires, haven't use weights for some years ```

 

[baymule]

That ding-a-ling service greeter didn't know who he was messing with!

 

[Zeedman]

Did you report them to the Better Business Bureau?

Yes... but oddly enough, SIL was reluctant to do so. Had I been in his situation, I would have carried it much further than just a BBB complaint... I would have taken the tire dealer to court, and filed a risk-of-life complaint with the state's Consumer Protection. At the very least, that manager should have been fired.

 

[flowerbug]

i don't know what "high point" means... otherwise, interesting to know.