How do you stop tire mounting damage?
 

Today, I went to Discount Tire to get new front tires on my 2001 Boxster. They managed to put circular scratches all the way around the rim of one painted alloy wheel (17inch). Had to limp home on the spare wheel and get another car while I wait for them to get the wheel refinished.

I had the same thing happen with a rear wheel a few years ago at NTB when I replaced the rear tires.

How do you guys prevent this from happening? Do you have a personal "tire guy" who knows what he’s doing?
Any advice appreciated.
Thanks.

3 tips:

1) Search- this has been covered a ton, with great tips
2) Stay away from Discount Tire
3) Stay away from NTB

I still pay the crazy money and have the dealership do tire work. No problems. Great work. $$$$ but priceless.

Flavor,
Sounds like you have a "guy" for this. Thanks for the input.
I searched under tire damage, wheel damage, Discount Tire, tire mounting, etc., but I found very little.

Agreed. It is one of the 3 things I go to the dealer for.

1.Key programming
2.Inspection
3.Tire mounting - if the F it up they can pay to fix it.

Good place to start is go to TireRack.com & look at their approved installers close to you & read feedback, then call & discuss damage before going to store.

When I replaced the rear tires, I bought them from TireRack.com and picked NTB as one of the approved installers that was closest to where I live. Guess I didn't see negative feedback. I previously had them install tires from TireRack on both of my 356 C coupes with no issues.
As big as these companies are, I stupidly assumed they might have worked on a Boxster before.

Sorry to hear. Had a Z3 years ago and one of those tire chain stores ruined a custom wheel of mine while mounting TireRack purchased tires. Only good to come of it is that they admitted their error and bought me a brand new replacement custom wheel. Since then I never, ever use these chain stores. I use Porsche and BMW indy repair specialists who have tire mounting machines (Hunters). They work with low profile tires and custom/expensive OEM wheels all the time and in my experience are the best. They all deal with TireRack and accept drop shipped tires all the time.

agreed don't know if dealer is the only answer, but certainly don't go to the churn and burn chain tire stores. they use the big machine with the large "crowbar" that forces the tire on / off without regard to the actual rim they're working with.

same thing happened to me. went to my local tire store for new tires. got the car home and realized the entire outside of the rim was scarred from their machine.

took it back and all they offered was to "clean" up the rim and pointed out the store policy was that damage to rims could occur and that they were not responsible for it.

Get to the tire tech and tell him there's a crisp $20 in his pocket for being extra careful and producing a scratch free result. I do it even where I know they will be careful; a box of doughnuts on the way in a another low key way to say "look out for my ride".

David, sorry I was not more helpful. The only thing worse than a leaky RMS is our search function! LOL!

My "guy" for tire work has always been the dealership. Yes it is expensive, but the work product is excellent. Road force balanced. OEM Porsche stick-on weights. Balanced to the gram.....not the fraction of an ounce.....more accurate. No drips, no runs, no errors.

This usually costs about $250. But we are talking about +$2,000 in a set of tires (on the 993 Turbo), and wheels that are worth over $4,000 (SpeedLine Daytona). So it is all relative. The rear tires on the 911 are massive!

Another thing to consider with some yahoo at Discount Tire, or the like, is dinging the shiney red paint on our BIG reds. That would suck, too.

Lastly, the tires on the Boxster last about 20,000 miles (double for the fronts) and the Turbo about 10,000. Not aweful. Price of admission.

Paying $20 to an imbecile won't make him any smarter. It's better to take it somewhere else that have people know what they're doing. :)

Absolutely right ghost!

Folks remember that changing tires is a violent undertaking and the lower profile your tires the greater force required to stretch the carcass over the wheel. The bottom clamp tire machines with rollers arms will reduce dings but operator care is the most important thing.

If someone scratches your wheel just buy some paint, don't throw a tantrum and give Porsche owners a bad name. Most shops are afraid of our cars already.

I did a lot of tires in my life, twenty in cash to a guy who might enjoy a cold twelve that night on your coin means more than you think. Mechanics are not imbeciles, they solve problems every day and can repair numerous household items with ease. I have saved countless thousands at home and on my ride based on lessons I was taught young. Lastly, human pride in doing a good job is ingrained in the human not the occupation, reward works, I know my bonus structure got my attention.

First off, not all tire shops are the same, some caters to daily drivers and some caters to enthusiasts and the price they charge reflects that. Quality of work will not change if you throw them an extra $20 as they change few hundred tires a day.

In this economy, throwing cash in people's face might make you look arrogant and he'll probably add a few extra scratch on the wheels just because you're special.

Not uncommon, sadly! Best tip is to do an "up-front-contract", means something like hey, if something comes up responsibilities are clear...

The Discount Tire store manager was very apologetic. He sent the wheel out for refinishing at his expense. He claims that the steel wheels that pass through their mounting machines leave metal particles in the plastic that contacts the rims, and that is what scratched my paint. Said he just became manager of this store and will have new plastic installed. I’m not holding my breath and will not be back to chance it.

Guess I’ll take MNICEBOX’s advice and get more specific recommendations for a tire place from local P-car owners here in Houston.

Thanks for all the input from everyone.

You either respect others or you don't. It seems fairly clear from this thread who does and who feels superior to others.

There is honor in work no matter how lowly the position might seem to you. Obviously Ekam does not regard the guys at the tire store but I bet he likes the pit crew at races...they are the same job.

Like any business the owner means everything. When at the shop as children, my dad had us wearing our belt buckles way to the side as not to scratch any paint upon approach. I still have some fender covers from his business, we were the small dealer that vacuumed and cleaned out some filthy cars because they were our customer's cars. Someone would need a water pump and he'd give them a used one with almost no miles on it FREE. I did more than a few tire off rim patch repairs FREE just to help someone who had a bad day. Our family could have been even wealthier than we became but my father insisted on doing good. His shop was backed up two weeks in appointments like a dentist's office, his operating plan of taking care of people worked like a business magnet. That Jim guy used to have "happy motoring" in his sigline, we were Esso way back, then Exxon' Chevron, and Fiat dealers, what we always were was a group of careful mechanics that liked our jobs and did them well.

^I think you and Ghostrider have misread my post. I simply said they screwed up and it doesn't matter how much tip you're giving them will prevent that from happening.

OP already said he's going somewhere else, which is a smart move IMO.

Mistakes will happen, what counts is how it is handled after the mistake. Sounds to me like a resonable explanation & best outcome you could have asked for. I would be inclined to go back there, you know the manager will remember you & be extra carefull next time.

Ekam, I have no discourse with you, I have read an enjoyed many of your posts. I am simply stating the metrics of what makes one shop scratch and one shop stop to specifically educate how to avoid such incidents. My dad and his partner were from "that generation". He trained Sampson Naval base for WWII. When these guys got back they were they were the type of men whose good name meant as much as earning wages. I'm glad he cemented that in us, it's certainly why I led my region when I applied the same principles and why I made enough wages to have a Spyder waiting on Spring. I treat people that way to this day, just ask any of the guys who bought parts from me.

I went to a chain and they charged $50 per wheel mounting and balancing.
I thought that was a little pricey for a daily driver shop.

My Indy recently picked up a Corghi touchless machine. He said they were way expensive and few have them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XeXEkITkHM

I do take offense to this type of statement, it shows little regard for the other guy. I cant imagine that the person you are describing is actually mentally impaired, thus I would assume you are just impugning auto shop workers in general .

Tire stores and automotive shops see every kind of attitude you can imagine every day and we have a tendency to match whatever is presented to us.

Some folks are better than others, some shops are as well and mistakes do happen but the customers attitude is important as well because it takes two to tango.

I'll tell you this Land, the most extreme, narcissistic, debauchery laced behavior I witnessed in my life was perpetrated by guys in very expensive suits.

It is easy to sit behind a keyboard and judge. It is a lot harder to actually do the job.

I have been the guy in the suit, I was an executive in a renewable energy compnay working in Latin America for the last decade and then the financial crisis hit and I had to earn a living closer to home.

I now own a small shop that specializes in Porsche, BMW, Land Rover, Audi, Mercedes, VW and Volvo. It is hard work and there is a lot of competition but if you are good to people and know what you are doing, you can earn a nice living.

I have the most respect in the world for Porsche and Land Rover service writers. They deal with every self important prick in the world. I don't have to be nice at my shop, I want to be nice and I strive to be but I won't get fired if I tell someone who is rude where to get off. But dealership service writers and managers have to eat crap all day every day.

I see both sides of the story and if you think working a tire machine is easy, try it some time.

It all comes down to the level of equipment and the "monkey behind the wrench". I have a friend who owns a modest wheel shop, who's capable of mounting tires with mere popsicle sticks if necessary . On the other hand, a dealership with a state of the art machine managed to gouge one of my brand new forged Champion wheel during mounting . Although they paid for a new one, it was still an inconvenience .

Perfect Lap makes a good point. There are various tire changing machines out there. I am visiting a friend today that just installed a Italian made machine in his garage for an outrageous price. This machine allegedly never touches the metal. I will find the name of it and report back tomorrow. Claims the machine is OK for Ferrari, Porsche, etc. Most shops have older model machines that mess up the rim and were designed for steel more than alloy wheels. Some machines have plastic runners that are supposed to not scratch the metal but you just read how they sometimes pick up metal flakes leading to the problem we are discussing.

AKL:(

Almost every shop near me has this

http://www.ntxtools.com/network-tool-warehouse/COR-A2024TI-20.html

Corghi, FASEP or Teco ?

It is a Corghi. My friend got it for half the price of a new one. Astronomical for a home garage shop. He mounted and dismounted a tire on an alloy rim as a demonstration. Fantastic job!!! The outer facing rim of the wheel never sees any friction at all. This gives me incentive to have my wheels repainted etc. Only problem is it is an hours drive one way to his place but worth it to keep the wheels from being ruined after having spent good money on a repaint job.

I would ask the dealership what type of machine they use to mount tires with and would feel better about having them done there if they had a competent operator using a Corghi machine. I have no idea the quality and operation level of the other two machines you mention. I was told the good Snap On machine runs $25k..!! a lot more than a new Corghi.

AKL

Do what I did and buy your own tire machine, only problem is the only person to blame is yourself. :eek: