Dealer says they cannot balance tires without damaging wheels.

yessirrom · Sep 9, 2017

So I took my car in for vibration issue. They replaced one tire after balancing all four wheels. As I am inspecting the car I see that all four wheels have rub marks and scratches on them. They are black accent package wheels. Black painted surface.

They agree that they are messed up and will try to fix. They were unable to polish it out. They call me and say that they tried to take the wheels from another car and put them on. As they did so, they messed up the other wheel. Now they tell me that they do not think that they can balance my wheels without marring or scratching them.:doh:

They agree that they need to repair my original wheels but are concerned about messing them up afterward. I suggested powder coating instead of painting. That should give a more durable finish. They are looking into it.

I spoke with a couple of discount tire shops and they think their equipment needs repair and could not fathom how a dealer could not change or balance tires without leaving marks.

I am going to suggest that they farm the tire work out to another shop. Maybe discount tire would know how? hint hint

Anyone have this sort of problem with black accent wheels?

Car has 1500 miles by the way. Been at the dealer for 8 days.

2veloce · Sep 9, 2017

That sucks. What a way to kill the joy of having a new ride

Maggneto · Sep 9, 2017

I had my rear tires replaced by a tire shop and they didn't scratch my black PP wheels. I made it very clear that I didn't want any scratches and they assured me they would be very careful and they did a great job. I recommend going to a dedicated tire shop with a 5 star rating and discuss your concerns to the service manager.

Warhead · Sep 10, 2017

I was a wholesale rep in the tire business for many years, I would have taken custom painted wheels to very few of the hundreds of tire businesses I knew! It's tough finding well equipped places with talent to match, but they do exist. Places that specialize in selling custom wheels tend to have very good tire equipment and employees who give things the white glove treatment.They are dealing with wheel sets worth many thousands of dollars at times, and customers who will not accept marred wheels.

I got lucky and our local Firestone store has a really good tech who dealt with my white painted wheels, not a scratch during the mounting or balancing process.

khannected · Sep 25, 2017

did that fix your vibration issue?

yessirrom · Sep 25, 2017

They ended up taking another set of wheels and tires off another car on the lot. They figured out how to balance and mount without scratching the wheels. They had to replace one tire. the vibration was better but not gone. Since they are new tires they want me to put some miles on them again before trying anything else.

I am going to take it to a closer dealer and give them a shot at it.

melwff · Sep 26, 2017

try to find a dealer who has a Hunter Load Force Elite, see link below

http://www.hunter.com/gsp9700

yessirrom · Sep 26, 2017

melwff said:
try to find a dealer who has a Hunter Load Force Elite, see link below

http://www.hunter.com/gsp9700

I do see a couple near me. I will give em a try. Thanks.

GTP · Sep 27, 2017

I thought they were supposed to mount/dismount the tire from the inside rim, not the outside. My aftermarket wheels are perfect on the outside, but have some scratches on the inside rims.

pike1346 · Oct 17, 2017

Every time, no matter where i go for tire repair\replacement, they scratch up my wheels. EVERY TIME.
I cannot find a place that change install a tire without somehow damaging my wheels. FFS:frusty:

GTP · Oct 17, 2017

I took mine to a race shop, Gator Motorsports, that sells Lotus and McLaren. So yeah, they know all about fine wheels.

wildcatgoal · Oct 17, 2017

Uuuuuh. I've had my car aligned about 8 times and haven't noticed a scratch even on $500 a piece RAYS wheels, my Project 6GR wheels, my stock PP wheels. And a few of those alignments were done at Hardy Ford in Dallas, GA, some at Steeda in Valdosta, GA, others at Gran Turismo East in Chamblee, GA. If I remember correctly, the attachment points of the alignment sensor things for the wheels only actually grip behind the lip and don't need to be wrestled on and aren't really conducive to marring a quality finish.

If the dealer's staff cannot take a wheel off of a car without hurting it...

wildcatgoal · Oct 17, 2017

Also, tell them to calibrate their balance machine. I went to a tire place to install the tires on my Project 6GR wheels and went back twice and I still had highway vibration. I went to another one of their locations and they showed me the little laser suggested that where they balanced my wheels at the other location wasn't correct. They did the balance and I left with a smooth rolling car up to and past illegal speed limits (in Mexico).

It's also worth mentioning that it's a good idea, if they have the ability, to orient the balance of the TIRE itself opposite of the balance of the WHEEL so you don't have to end up with 500 weights on the wheel.

MaskedRacerX · Oct 18, 2017

wildcatgoal said:
Uuuuuh. I've had my car aligned about 8 times and haven't noticed a scratch even on $500 a piece RAYS wheels, my Project 6GR wheels, my stock PP wheels. And a few of those alignments were done at Hardy Ford in Dallas, GA, some at Steeda in Valdosta, GA, others at Gran Turismo East in Chamblee, GA. If I remember correctly, the attachment points of the alignment sensor things for the wheels only actually grip behind the lip and don't need to be wrestled on and aren't really conducive to marring a quality finish.

If the dealer's staff cannot take a wheel off of a car without hurting it...

Yeah, I had my M600s M&B'ed, picked up a little front vibration, back to the same shop, fixed the fronts - wound up losing a weight, back to the same shop, fixed the rears. Everything is pretty smooth now.

Like $65 for the original work, and the trips back were over the course of 5-6 weeks, and they didn't charge any extra, and the wheels are still perfect.

Local shop, can't say enough good things about them.

pike1346 · Oct 18, 2017

yessirrom said:
So I took my car in for vibration issue. They replaced one tire after balancing all four wheels. As I am inspecting the car I see that all four wheels have rub marks and scratches on them. They are black accent package wheels. Black painted surface.

They agree that they are messed up and will try to fix. They were unable to polish it out. They call me and say that they tried to take the wheels from another car and put them on. As they did so, they messed up the other wheel. Now they tell me that they do not think that they can balance my wheels without marring or scratching them.:doh:

They agree that they need to repair my original wheels but are concerned about messing them up afterward. I suggested powder coating instead of painting. That should give a more durable finish. They are looking into it.

I spoke with a couple of discount tire shops and they think their equipment needs repair and could not fathom how a dealer could not change or balance tires without leaving marks.

I am going to suggest that they farm the tire work out to another shop. Maybe discount tire would know how? hint hint

Anyone have this sort of problem with black accent wheels?

Car has 1500 miles by the way. Been at the dealer for 8 days.

At least they told you. I wish anyone going to take my tire off would tell me that there will be scratches on the rim, then I could move on.....away from that place. But, not for me, two different shops and both scratched my wheels all up. I would have appreciated the heads up.

Dealer says they cannot balance tires without damaging wheels.

yessirrom

Well-Known Member

2veloce

Well-Known Member

Maggneto

Well-Known Member

Warhead

Well-Known Member

khannected

Well-Known Member

yessirrom

Well-Known Member

melwff

Well-Known Member

yessirrom

Well-Known Member

GTP

Deutsche Pony

pike1346

Well-Known Member

GTP

Deutsche Pony

wildcatgoal

@sirboom_photography

wildcatgoal

@sirboom_photography

MaskedRacerX

Driver

pike1346

Well-Known Member