My passenger side rear tire was getting bald -- real bald. I didn't realize how bad it was until I was in for an inspection the other day and I could see cords on the inner side (the outside was decent). Luckily, I had bought a used Pirelli for the rear of the car, since this tire was the worst and the other 3 had a little life left in them. That way I only spent $80 and hopefully I'll use all 4 tires up and then buy a matching set of non-pirelli's. Anyway, I took the car to the local tire place - Dunn Tire. The guy behind the counter looked out the window and immediately called his specialist in. I have the 20" Detroit wheels and I told the kid about reverse mount and the finish on the front. He said no problem, they have a special machine for these and he does fancy wheels all the time. I went in the shop with him and he really knew his stuff about tires, took his time, and did it right. I was impressed with him, and told him how refreshing it was to find someone who really knew their stuff. I told his manager that too.

But then... when I got home to wash the car and lubricant off the wheels that's when I saw it. Deep gouges in the finish of my beautiful Detriot wheel. It was exactly where the wheel was clamped down by either the changer or balancer. I called the shop and headed right down. Sure enough it was the piece that is used to clamp the wheel onto the changer. I told the kid that he told me this machine was safe and wasn't supposed to do that. He replied that it wasn't supposed to. I believe the kid and think it was the machine and he really didn't think it would cause damage.

So now onto economics. The manager was very good (so far). He took my, my car, and my wheel info and told me that they were going to take care of it. Later that day he called and said he needed a photo too, but I'm away right now, and can't get there until tomorrow. So far though, it looks like they are going to make it right. I was a little worried about changing the tire in the first place for just such a reason.

 

dang...those BBS wheels sure are a beeotch. Hope you get squared away, can't wait to hear how the manager handles it once he finds out how it will take to get repaired...I assume center of the wheel, not the trim ring?

 

Perhaps a related item - perhaps not - please remove if not on subject.

I recently bought new tires - went to a trusted source (friend) for the best price (Riken Raptors), and had them installed and balanced. I decided the balance wasn't perfect, so I went to a local souce of Road Force balancing, had the job done and that took care of the issue.

One of the things the RF balance folk told me was that the wheels had been grossly "over-torqued", and that removing the wheels was very difficult. It had been only a week, but they warned of brake shimmy from the over tightened wheels distorting the rotors. Fact or fantasy? Thanks, DaleD

PS No brake shimmy at all - yet!

 

Fact. Over torquing lug nuts can and often does warp the rotors. Two things I do when having work done that includes wheels being taken off and put back on, 1) ask that the lug nuts be torqued at so many foot pounds, and 2) recheck them when getting home. Too many times after mentioning the first my recheck has found over torquing. Don't accept the shops assurance that they have the torgue stick that tightens to the correct foot pounds. A good investment is a medium priced torque wrench.

 

Agreed. Many tire places now use a torque wrench instead of the biga$$-one-inch-impact-monster-driver. Require it when you go in.

I go to Discount Tire and watch them use a torque wrench through the window. They get it.

 

I'm sure I can find it if I looked, but for the purposes of this thread, what's the correct torque (or torque range) for our wheels?

Dave

 

I've been doing 75 ft-lbs, i'm sure I got that from under my armrest IIRC.

 

I should have thought to include that in my story. The RF folk said 75 ft-lbs was the right amount. However I didn't see it being done, so I guess I don't know for sure that is what they did... But you gotta trust somebody! DaleD

 

The manual for our 2000 says 65 to 75 and I tighten them to 70.

 

When I get wheel work done I take my personal torque wrench all set up and hand it to them. That way I don't have to redo it all when I get home. And yes, it is important, not only because over torque will warp a brake disk but you can end up with a lug nut that will NOT come off.

 

Even though the tire place uses a torque wrench it doesn't mean they torqued the nuts correctly. The can over tighten the nuts with the impact wrench, then when they put the torque wrench on the nut the wrench still "breaks" at 75 foot/pounds. I don't want to look like an ***, so I usually just take the car home, loosen the nuts, then re-torque them using my own torque wrench.

 

So I called BBS and talked to a guy named Mike, who I have dealt with before to get the adapters to put air in the tires. Well BBS doesn't repair their wheels anymore. They used to have a program that would repair the outer SS trim ring that would get dinged up and replace the barrels if necessary, but they don't have any more barrels and we are supposed to go through jag now, and not BBS directly. But the guy said they never repaired the center part of the wheel or anything to do with the finish of that and wasn't real helpful on what to do next. I'm hoping the tire place comes through and gets a new one like he was planning. We'll see.

On a different note with regards to torquing wheels -- I usually bring my wheels to the tire shop to do separate from the car. I take them off, bring them there, then put them back on. That eliminates the possibility of them doing anything to the car while there, or dinging up the wheels, or over/under tightening the lug nuts.

 

That is a good idea, I've been doing the same since I had wheels over torqued a few years ago. I will stay with the tires an wheels and watch the guys do it.
Doug
2001 XKR Silverstone