Soooo true. I've mounted 20 or so sets of tires, and am still slightly perplexed at how to do it PERFECTLY. I've mostly done 15s and 16s, but the 205/40-17s that I mounted were an adventure.

Find a shop that sells 20 inch rims and low profile tires. Chances are they can mount tires on smaller wheels without too much difficulty.

 

i dont really coem across that problem...i have the best mechanic a girl could ever ask for(her daddy)!

 

I will be adding my own equipment to the garage soon enough, even I get tired of having to visit one of my stores to mount tires.
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they scratched the inner where the center cap goes from the wheel balancer. I cant blame them. The rest of the rim was untouched.

I paid 10 bucks a wheel for mounting and balancing...cant complain about that.

 

I beleive my brother was saying that you can use masking tape on the lip of the wheel and take it off after the tire is mounted. I am not sure because i have never done it though.

 

i had all four of my wheels scratched around the outside of the rim with the last set of tires i had installed. tire rack. they even tried to charge me for 'better wheel installation" whatever that is. needless to say - i didn't pay it.

i read somewhere (here on rennlist, i think) that there is a company that is making a new machine that does not require the operator to do anything other than touch a button to start the process. its italian and designed with the help/blessing of ferrari - even painted the correct shade of red. i was thinking that next time that i need tired changed, that i'd call the local ferrari specialist.....

hey luis - is ernies still around in miami? (he asks, as he heads for google.....)

(edit - yes. yes, they are....thank you google. now...back to your regularly scheduled thread )

 

Brian, it is probably a Corghi. The idea is not new, a coats 4040 (for doing a whole lot of steel wheels) works basically in this manner.
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What do you mean? Can you mail your rims to wheel enhancements and have them mount tires? Or are they like tirerack and only mount tires if you buy rims?

 

My mechanic (and shop owner) is very **** about mounting wheels. Being a fellow 928 owner he treats every wheel like it's going on his car. I remember being at Road America for the CART weekend, he pointed to the Bridgestone area and said "That's the same tire machine we have back at the shop".
Anyway - I remember one day one of the local tire shops (Goodyear shop, tires plus, I can't remember) called. They wanted to send their tech over to use his machine because they did not have the equipment to mount a 22" SUV chrome wheel. Jim politely told them to send the customer over - he would put them on.
Same as Matt has pointed out. Using his equipment would not guarantee the job would be done right.

I remember the day he was mounting 30 series race tires on his new Fikse 18" wheels. Yea, it's an art form all right. He has instructed me on how to use the machine. I'll stick to doing my own balancing - can't really do much damage on that machine.

 

I have mounted thousands of tires in my time. They make better machines that help a person do a better job but it just comes down to experience and caring about what you are doing. When setting up the distance between the arm and the wheel there is a very fine line between tearing the tire bead from setting the arm too far from the wheel and scratching the wheel from being too close. Simply taking the time to watch clearances as you mount the tire and backing up if things get too close will save rims. But then you have the shop owner that always watches over you saying that you are taking too long on each wheel. For me it all came down to how nice of a car, wheels and how particular a person was about a car. If the person really cared alot then so did I, if not then I was at least moderately careful. They do make very high priced tire machines that have extra nylon wheels etc that help save wheels from scratches. Take your wheels to a shop that sells high dollar custom wheels all day and pay the extra money to have them put the tires on. They deal with expensive rims daily and have the machines to deal with them.

 

if you want someone to mount and balance your 18" rims and take the time to do it right, don't expect to get it done for $10 a wheel. I did a set of 20 inch rims on a Cayenne turbo yesterday, didn't leave a single scratch, but it took for ever.

 

Corghi - thats it.

 

so uh, Matt, whatever happened with my local Mastercare/Firestone place?

 

Operator, PM me please.
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