Walmart trailer tire experience

[1978elcamino]

Just wanted to share my experience at WM yesterday. Monday, walked in at 5:45pm, waited 15 minutes in line to get to the counter ( 1 guy working the register) told the guy which trailer tires I wanted. Carlisle 205 75 15 radial 6 ply. He suggested I purchase the more expensive 8 ply because it was "better": To rebut I advised my trailer is not rated to carry even half the load of 8 ply tires plus when I pull it unloaded running 65psi on the 8 ply vs 50psi with 6 ply would would be very stiff with such a light trailer and high tire pressure. Moreover, I politely said I looked online and WM was the least expensive and the 6 ply are the tires I would like to buy, please take my money, I will drop off my loose wheels tomorow and will take my old tires with me to avoid the disposal fee. Tuesday. 5:45 Dropped off three loose trailer wheels, advised of new valve stems to be installed and to balance them as well, I will be taking my old tires with me. Wednesday. (yesterday) 6:00 Waited in line for 30 minutes for the one counter guy to take my money. The ticket was incorrect with the price, as I was waiting for the manager I was loading and noticed the tires were not balanced, new stems were not put on and the wrong tire was installed, bias not radial as I paid for. After everything got fixed and heading down the road with the correct tires, balanced with new stems at the correct price it was 7:45, home by 8:15 and installing tires as it gets dark. So much aggravation to save 10 bucks a tire. Never again will I use a WM for tires. Again, another reason for me to find a decent used tire machine and balancer for my home.

 

[FordBroncoVWJeta]

At my Walmart I have two jobs, Tech and Service writer so I get to do it both. I don't understand how other Walmart's mess up so bad. What the service writer writes up is exactly what the tech see's to be done. It sounds like you have some idiots in that shop over there. Also he really doesn't care which tire you pick. We never see a cent of it anyways. Although I will recommend better tires for people that are putting them on nicer cars. That way if they come back and complain about traction/grip/tread life I can say "told you so".

 

[bullwinkle]

The good news (for me) is-WM jacked up their prices for installing tires high enough that I just have my Indy mechanic do them all, they're basically the same price. Minus the WM screw ups, of course! There's no substitute for being in good with a guy with a tire changer & balancer.

 

[SZR48207]

If you have Discount Tire in your area, they usually run a very sharp operation and will price match any competitor. Get your best price from WM, but have DT do the work and pay them instead.

 

[Eddie]

Very happy with my Walmart auto tire service here in Cape Coral, FL. Ed

 

[mjk]

Look where OP lives....

 

[chainblu]

Originally Posted by mjk

Look where OP lives....

Can't paint with that wide of a brush.... I recently purchased a used travel trailer that came with four 10 year dry rotted tires. I replaced the tires 2 at a time. Both sets were ordered thru WM.com (along with valve stems) and sent to my house. When they arrived. I took the new and old tires/rims to my local WM, did not have to show any paperwork (small town) and had the tires mounted (but not balanced) in less than 15 minutes. Both times. No charge for the mounting. I have gone on 3 camping trips since then and the tires are great.

 

[csandste]

Guess there's good and bad Wally's. My experience has been good.

 

[Fitz98]

I used Sam's across the street from WM for my SUV tires, so far a pretty good experience...we will see if I ever need to use the service package or warranty, but good with tire rotations and balancing so far. They had the best price I could find and the cheapest most comprehensive installation/service package, I also always wonder what's the deal with balancing trailer tires. I see no reason not to do it, but whenever I ask for it to be done, they look at me like an idiot and try to talk me out of it saying it's not needed and doesn't do any good. To me, the tires still see the same speeds as the vehicle, still will be out of round at speed if not balanced on the rims and still sees weight like a car would...at least on my cargo and boat trailers. My last trailer tires were bias tires for my tandem axle boat trailer. Pretty happy with the switch so far. Stronger side wall without the bulge at the bottom of the tire seems better for all the twisting and shifting these tires get when backing up with the heavy load. Cheaper too. Will have to see how they hold up long term. Mostly short and infrequent trips on these. I was told they should hold up better when sitting for long periods of time between trips

 

[SwampSurvivor]

I actually prefer Walmart for tire stuff. I've had better, quicker, more professional service from WM tire centers. Except the one time my car was held hostage for a few hours at one. That wasn't fun. But that was 8 years ago.

 

[JTK]

The waiting in line thing can be pretty painful at my local WM tire/lube center as well. I guess that's their version of crowd control and keeping costs low. Other than that, I've had mishaps and mayhem from other shops as well.

 

[CKN]

There are many (Walmart) locations-so you get many experiences. It's just like CostCo, while you wont get the wrong tires-you could wait hours for installation- depending on your location. Not much difference.

 

[1978elcamino]

Originally Posted by chainblu

[quote=mjk]Look where OP lives....

Can't paint with that wide of a brush.... I recently purchased a used travel trailer that came with four 10 year dry rotted tires. I replaced the tires 2 at a time. Both sets were ordered thru WM.com (along with valve stems) and sent to my house. When they arrived. I took the new and old tires/rims to my local WM, did not have to show any paperwork (small town) and had the tires mounted (but not balanced) in less than 15 minutes. Both times. No charge for the mounting. I have gone on 3 camping trips since then and the tires are great.[/quote For trailers this is my process too. I buy online and bring in to the store because its less expensive. IDK what happened but this time everything got messed up. The boat trailer, camper and utility trailer I have always used WM with dropping off and picking up the next day. The plan was to pony up for the goodyear endurance because they are the only made in usa trailer radial but @ 120ea its just more than I wanted to spend on the utility trailer. I have found about 5-6 years and you're replacing trailer tires anyway no matter what.

 

[vwmaniaman]

i bought my 5th wheel replacement tires at Walmart. Had them put on by my independent tire guy He did it for $7.50 per tire and paid me $30.00 for my old tires. He knew a farmer locally that needed that size on his hay wagon. No money changed hands that day. Independent businesses are the way to go around with good referrals.

 

[sohccammer427]

I just received four Pirelli Scorpion Verde All Season Plus II that I ordered from WM. com. Normally I would go with TireRack or DTD. For some reason WM was 20 bucks less expensive for each tire. For me, a significant amount. Not sure how they did that because those tires were just a few pennies difference in price at every other online retailer.

Anyhow, tires arrived in a few days. Date code was less than six months old, so all and all a good experience.

 

[chunt]

Had the tires replaced on my Rogue with the same Hankook tires that came on it and I was pleased with. The tires were on sale for about $30 each on Walmart.com. I am very pleased with the Walmart experience. I am at Walmart just about every morning for my 2 mile brisk walk around the inside of the store anyway.