Tires at Walmart - a rant

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Originally Posted By: razel
We need more of those people willing to do what's right rather than just follow rules. Look at what following rules got some of the Nazi's at the camps.


Yeah ok great comparison there. Godwin's law ftw
 
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I took a pair of junkyard wheels to Walmart to have the tires removed and they didn't charge me anything, but I kept the tires.
Later I ordered a pair of tires from their web site and when they came in I went back and had the new tires mounted on my rims with the TPMS and then my old tires on the junkyard rims.

All of this was on carry in, I used my other vehicle, so they didn't have to mount them on the car, which might be the problem.

There prices for mount, balance, etc, are pretty good and I haven't had any problems with their work, but I realize I could be lucky there.
 
Originally Posted By: bullwinkle
WM tires are inferior junk anyway-you're better off buying them from Discount Tire Direct, Tire Rack, tires-easy, or just about anywhere else & have WM mount & balance the (carried in) wheels. Every set of WM tires I've bought except ONE (the BFG made original Liberator A/Ts) failed prematurely.


Depends on what you buy, I was able to get a set of their store brand General Ultimax HP equivalent (confirmed by General to be same compound but different trend pattern) for $49/ea vs the $70 tire rack charges.
 
This is 20/20 hindsight but you could have fibbed and said you had a 1992 or even a 1982. They take slightly different tire sizes. My 92 rolled on 185/75/14s though I stuffed 195/70/14s on there. I was styling and profiling.

Since then I've started prowling the junkyards for used tires. I started a fad and lead them to quadruple the original price of five bux. They at least now have an indoor showroom with stacks sorted by diameter and size/ price info masking taped onto them. I suppose the environmental gestapo got tired of them breeding mosquitoes in the former outdoor tire pile. Or maybe the risk of a customer twisting an ankle was too much.

This all gets mounted with the archetypal harbor freight pile o' long sticks, then spin balanced with an actual piece of pro gear I splurged on. I haven't been a customer in a tire store since 2006, and that was for snow tires, which I consider important to match all around.
 
You guys are so right! Usually I head to the local junk yard, pick up two used tires, mount and balance them myself and I'm good to go for a while. But I checked beneath the sofa cushions and found almost five dollars in change and was feeling a little saucy. I mean think about it, does Bill Gates mount and balance his own tires? I dare say no! And with all this silver making music in my pocket, why not see how the other half lives for a change.

Well, if this is how the other half lives, my heart goes out to them! No wonder we live in a world filled with grim faced dour individuals who limp through the day with nary a song in their weary heart.

I do feel better now. My wife cooked me a nice dinner of chicken and rice and told me I could lay on the couch and watch back to back "Family Guy." I might even pop in "The Road Warrior" or "The Edge," (Not the Anthony Hopkins "I've fallen in the Alaskan Wilderness and I can't get up" movie. This one is a Russian movie about trains which takes place after World War Two. It's a great movie if you like steam trains and don't mind reading subtitles and enduring the occasional naked Russian woman).

Yes, yes. The fellow who lives down the street is beating on something metallic with a large hammer and yelling in Spanish. All is right with the world again.
 
I think you should have gone with the 195/75 over the 205/75. I think if you go up one size, you go down on the ratio and vice versa. Now your speedometer will be slightly off. Handling might be slightly off too now that the fronts are slightly bigger than the rears. In theory they shouldn't rub when turning from lock to lock, or on potholes, but that is one the risks when going with a slightly larger tire.
 
Why dont they just have you sign a liability waiver and mount them. I get liability but tons of people upsize or downsize. I buy tires and rims online and have my dealer mount them. I would of given her a course on plus sizing. Id also call corporate and file a complaint.
 
I agree with JHZR2 i prefer a local tire shop over the chain places. I have no problems mounting different size tires when i go to an independent.
 
Most places that have this policy will mount the tires if you bring the wheels in off the car. If they're not physically putting them on the car, they re ally shouldn't even ask what kind of car they're going on. If they do ask, tell them it's a 1983 Corvette.
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I took my truck tires to Discount Tire. (purchased them elsewhere) Stock size was 275/70/18, and I brought in 295/70/18s. They mounted and balanced them for me with no questions asked.
 
I side with the policy if not the execution...but will face the same "executioner" in a few years when I bring in my Camry LE with 17" rims when the "book" says it takes 15s...
That said, Walmart mounted a 17" tire I BROUGHT IN after buying it elsewhere and they put it on the car...management attitude/practice may be a matter of location/market...
 
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I have bought several sets of tires at Walmart and had them installed. They were done perfectly. No complaints. But they were the correct size and speed and load rating for the car.

It surprises me that the OP doesn't understand how a huge company like WalMart would be held liable and sued if they mounted the wrong tires on a vehicle and the driver or passengers were somehow injured by a tire failure. Most major tire chains have had this policy for many years due to such litigation.

I will shop there again for sure.
 
Former TLE employee here.

In my personal experience I have seen many vehicles running mixed sizes and on one occasion, a customer ordered P225/75R16 size tires online and traveled to our store only to find out they were not remotely adequate for the C2500 pickup he drove in (OE size LT245/75R16 E)

His reason being was that they were the cheapest tires the Walmart website advertised for a pickup. He was not happy when I said I wouldn't put them on for risk of overloading the tires.



At the store I worked at, if a customer requested a non-OE size tire to be installed on a vehicle, it would have to be notated on the invoice under the customer's instructions after they signed off on the little portable device. This only ever happened with cars that had larger aftermarket wheels or trucks/SUVs with light suspension modification or lift.

Now if someone requested P-rated tires on a vehicle that specified LT-rated tires, we would not service it period. And not a lot of people were happy with us having their own safety in mind.
 
Its really neat having 2 vehicles. One sits in the driveway on jack stands with tires & wheels removed, other one takes tires & wheels to Wally World to put on the tires I wish.

Problem solved.
 
Originally Posted By: Doog


It surprises me that the OP doesn't understand how a huge company like WalMart would be held liable and sued if they mounted the wrong tires on a vehicle and the driver or passengers were somehow injured by a tire failure. Most major tire chains have had this policy for many years due to such litigation.





This is true. When you consider how many customers they have and the potential to be sued by a huge fraction as well I would have the same exact policy.

If Murica wasn't so sue happy I bet there wouldn't be a issue.

The one nice thing about Wally World (if there is much) is that if you do have work done there and they screw it up, you have some recourse vs a small operation that will likely just close up shop and tell you to screw off.
 
Originally Posted By: GreeCguy

Off he goes and in short time returns with two tires, one in each hand. He kinda nods in my direction in a "come hither" way. I go hither and in hushed tones tells me, "look buddy, you throw these in your trunk, drive behind the garden center, take the wheel off, roll it over here and I'll mount it for you. When we're done with that one, do the other side and I'll mount that one as well."

"Okay," says I.

"OH NO YOU WON"T!!!!" Shouts the fematirenazi at the computer. "I HEARD EVERY THING YOU WERE SAYING AND IF YOU WANT TO KEEP YOUR JOB YOU WILL NOT DO THAT!!!!!"


This guy is lucky he still has a job. Most places would have fired him on the spot. Don't get me wrong he was being cool but still, he's lucky.......
 
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