She notices a bubble...

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sciphi

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Mar 24, 2007
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Upstate NY
Our Fit was getting an oil and ATF change tonight when the wifey wanders out. She calls me over and asks if there's supposed to be a bubble in the sidewall. We had the new tires already, so it was a simple matter to schedule the car into Wal-Mart's TLE for 30 minutes later. 4 new Conti DWS's are being put on in place of the horrible OE Bridgestones.

The bubble was half an inch out and the diameter of a golf ball. I'm glad she noticed it before her work week starts. And I'm kicking myself for not noticing it since I walked past it 3-4 times.
 
She's a good catch for sure!
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Originally Posted By: sciphi
I'm kicking myself for not noticing it since I walked past it 3-4 times.

You should be canned 30 times for this. How can you missed the serious tire defective and only see it after pointed out by your wife ?
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This particular Wal-Mart TLE was empty when we went in. They also were the only place installing tires on a Saturday evening within about 30 miles of here. The tires were balanced just fine, and torqued to the 80 ft/lb specification. I checked with my torque wrench, and every lug nut was dead on.

Not every TLE is the pits. It depends on the staff, the location, and time of day. In our case with this Wal-Mart being the only one within a 40 mile radius, it being empty, and the staff they had on, we had a very good experience.

Sometimes one can't be picky about car work. It was either get the tires on right then at TLE, or wait until after work on Monday. I'm glad she noticed it, and we got fresh tires onto the car that have a much lower probability of failing catastrophically.
 
Originally Posted By: 38sho
and u had your tires installed at walmart!

doh!


That's an unfortunate generalization. Our local Walmart TLE has been very good, and I just had tires/wheels mounted there myself. While I've never *bought* tires from TLE, I've had them mount 3 sets of tires for me in the past few years. They do good work, do it quickly, and for a reasonable price.
 
Quote:
torqued to the 80 ft/lb specification. I checked with my torque wrench, and every lug nut was dead on.
Did you back off each nut a fraction of a turn then re-tighten it to the torque setting? Many tire shops bang the nuts on plenty tight, then just click their torque wrench on the too-tight nut to be sure they aren't below the torque spec. This is not correctly torqued. You need to see the nut move before the wrench clicks.
 
Originally Posted By: Ken2
Quote:
torqued to the 80 ft/lb specification. I checked with my torque wrench, and every lug nut was dead on.
Did you back off each nut a fraction of a turn then re-tighten it to the torque setting? Many tire shops bang the nuts on plenty tight, then just click their torque wrench on the too-tight nut to be sure they aren't below the torque spec. This is not correctly torqued. You need to see the nut move before the wrench clicks.

That's what I like about Fleet Farm. As part of the little vehicle report sheet they give you after buying new tires or having them rotated, they have a section where the torque specs are listed and two techs sign off (initial by) each of the 4 wheels that the lug nuts were torqued to the proper spec. They also record the ID # of the torque wrench used (hand wrench an air gun). They also remind you at the counter and with a hanger in the vehilce to have them re-tightened at 100mi which they'll do without an appointment in about 5 minutes. They just send the tech out to the parking lot with a wrench to take care of it.
 
I did back them off and re-tighten. I tightened the same amount as was loosened in every case. They didn't over-tighten the lugs.

Like I have said, they got my business since they happened to be local to us, open, and could get us in right then. They're not my first choice for car work. But when it's something urgent like replacing a failed tire, I, like most other folks, get much less picky. Having had both good and bad experiences at various TLE's, I knew it was a roll of the dice. So far it seems to have been positive.
 
Originally Posted By: LT4 Vette
Walmart always does a great job mounting tires on my cars and I tip the guy $5 or $10

Can easily land him in hot water.
 
Most places like that don't like people getting tips as working on each vehicle is typically a group affair.

Anyways, I've only heard good things about tire mounting at Walmart. Two techs each verify the torque, etc etc.
 
Originally Posted By: LT4 Vette
Whats wrong with giving the person a tip ?
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I think its along the lines that they dont want people to think they have to tip to get good service. No WalMart personell are supposed to take them.
 
Originally Posted By: Colt45ws
Originally Posted By: LT4 Vette
Whats wrong with giving the person a tip ?
21.gif





I think its along the lines that they dont want people to think they have to tip to get good service. No WalMart personell are supposed to take them.


He's like me... I dont care if he's a [censored] employee as long as he does good work.
 
Originally Posted By: motor_oil_madman
Some women wouldn't even notice the tire missing let alone a bubble. I'm impressed!


And a woman would never consider such an ingenious solution:

dollly.jpg
 
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