Tyre dealers find a inventive way to stuff things up

[rmp]

Well I thought I'd seen every way a tyre dealer could screw things up from ordering the wrong tyres, giving people incorrect advice, mounting directionals backwards and not knowing road regs. But today the industry amazed me yet again.

Five new KM2s arrived, which was something of a minor miracle. I checked the tyres were indeed to spec before they were mounted - quite often they turn out to be 16s instead of 17s or ATs instead of muds, guess as long as it's black and round who cares - and all appeared to go well, including the alignment. I asked to see the alignment report which was duly handed over.t.

It looked suss. The rear hadn't been adjusted but was out of limits, the front toe had been markedly changed and camber was apparently meant to be zero. So I asked questions.

"What alignment specs did you use?"
"Well, a Discovery like yours, but our machine didn't have a 2008 model."
"So you used?"
"A 2002 spec. Should be close enough mate".

And these people sell and fit tyres. My god. While not expecting him to be up on Disco model years anyone should know that often vehicles change quite dramatically and a six-year gap should be cause for concern. So I explained the '02 models are live axle and the D3s are full-indie for starters, let alone other differences. Did not grasp the concept or the implication. They are both Discoverys therefore what is the problem?

Oh and the rear toe was left as-is....because the fitter reckoned there were no adjustment bolts. I reckoned different and after a brief search we located them ("oh dear, missed that"). Anyway the '02 Discos were live axles so rear toe never came into it so why would a D3 need it!

They then attempted to mollify me by saying that as long as I rotated the reguarly tyres a misalignment would be fine as uneven patterns would even out. Honestly, you can't make this stuff up.

We got into an argument which involved various alignment terms. I'm not a expert in the area, only understand what I view as the basics, but I recognise those that are, and these guys were not.

Leaving aside the poor tyre wear on new muddies I mentioned the handling would be affected. Didn't seem to ring a bell and on the basis that the fitter had conducted a 5 minute roadtest and "it drove fine mate" that was as far as they wanted to take it. This from the pro that used the '02 specs and didn't know how to adjust rear toe.

The manager slunk off at this point but I'm not leaving it there. I am appalled, again, by this industry that consistenly gets things wrong. If they aren't telling people unroadworthy tyres are roadworthy they're ignoring load ratings, not understanding offset vs rim width telling people they need a 8.5" rim when the correct answer may be 7-8" and 8.5 is an average. If they want to compete with the overseas sellers they have a long to go for service and knowledge let alone price.

Oh yes and I didn't specify the pressures I wanted, just out of morbid curiosity to see what they'd do. I wanted to see if they'd beat the record of 50psi all round. Well nearly, 48psi all round, very consistent. Thanks boys, remind me how you worked that one out again? And yes, I did want the white lettering on the inside, thanks for asking.

Rant over, so be warned do not expect your tyre 'professional' to be professional. Watch them like a hawk all the way through. I think all the chains are the same, there's a few good shops around but I didn't have the luxury of using one this time.

[Blknight.aus]

Thats why I dont pay for the rubber till its fitted and the alignments done to my satisfaction.

"sorry mate, rip em off put my old rubber back on and put the alignment back where it was."

[Neil P]

.."sorry mate, rip em off put my old rubber back on ...."

I've done that twice in the last 6 years . 1st occasion wrong tyres &
tried to get me to buy 'em for $20 off 4 ( Tossers ! ) and the 2nd
was fitted someone elses,which were sitting next to my set
( unfortunate for the guy ..... ). Got the D3 set-up for free with
the new warranty diffs last Sept . Very little adjustment required.
One of the big complaints is no balancing on glued-on weights
( Honda Civic was one of ours ) . They just screw-drivered them
off , and that was as good as it got . Nothin' said . Let's be totally
honest here ; most of these places are staffed by unskilled kids
and adult ******* . It's the same the world over from my experience ....

[NomadicD3]

Ok Robert, ahh not much to add other than OM*G, that rant is almost beyond comprehension and well and truly justified. I'm still trying to decide if i should be stunned or LM*AO. On the bight side at least it's comforting to know that east coasters occasionally have the type of service which is considered about standard on the west .

[rmp]

Another one I remember was fitting steel rims to my Defender, the offset turned out to be something like 30mm off from where it should be. The dealer tried to argue it was no big problem. So I grabbed his copy of the Tire and Rim Manual, found the section where it talks about offset and read it to him, asked if he'd like me to photocopy my own book and send it with his comments to head office as clearly he knew something about vehicle setup that nobody else in the world was privy to.

What makes me angry is that I can usually pick up these issues but there are people out there who, quite reasonably, trust these guys and are driving around with the wrong kit, wrongly set up.

[brad72]

As an engineer this amazes me. What happened to pride in your workmanship and the attitude of you never stop learning. If built machinery that wasn't up to scratch it would cost me a fortune, not not to mention being dangerous and unfit for purpose .

I feel most sorry for the customer that may not be mechanically minded and relies on reputable franchise doing the right thing.

[clubagreenie]

Pride in workmanship went out with national service. And the whole country's been going down the toilet since. Unfortunately there'sa not enough hours left in my life to "educate" all those who need it.

[Discophil]

I had my last set of tyres (coopers HT Plus) fitted at Graeme Cooper (Syd) and they did a great job. Not only did they actually fit what i asked, they carried out a balance that finally got rid a a steering wheel wobble at 80km/hr that 3 other tyre dealers could not fix.

Thanks guys!

[trobbo]

about the only thing I'm surprised about Robert is that you let a tyre dealer do the wheel alignment on your car.

I thought the car had to be put into a special mode/height to allow the wheel alignment to be completed, and for me that is enough to say that only an LR specialist will ever do the wheel alignment on my D3

[Neil P]

...What happened to pride in your workmanship and the attitude of you never stop learning.

I'm fifty odd , and in the 35 years I've employed/hired people , I've
not been impressed with 90+ % of any cross section of job classification
employee/contractor that's passed my way . The average person is
a waste of space , and many are fit for cannon fodder . I'm surprised that
you expect better , because you won't get it from most people.