sm

I just got back from the tire shop (NTB - a chain here in the NE) and noticed there are light scratches around the entire lips of all 4 of my wheels. Now, I'm typing this calmly b/c those are my snow wheels (still in good shape though), but if they were some expensive Fikses or another, I would be raising hell back at the shop right now.

So for future reference, how can we ensure a tire shop will mount our tires and NOT scratch up our rims?

Thanks...

24FPS

there are some touch-less systems out there... painted rims fare the worse.

a shop i've used for years... scratched & dinged my turbo-hollow spokes on the 993 but didn't make a scratch on a set of sport classic II's on my former 986. ---sucks! paint is much softer....

BTW; tire rack rec. this shop as approved mounters! wtf! bs! now it's nowhere but 'wheel enhancements' for me... no aff'l yadda ya...

Yabo

Unless there is different devices, I think it's pretty easy to ding the rim when putting tires on. It probabbly depends on the shape of your wheel, but, I know someone who works for AAA and he let me mount tires on their machine (after teaching me how) and it did the same kind of thing to my range rover wheels. But I didn't care, I offroad anyway.

KuHL 951

Find a shop that specializes in wheels. Many franchise tire shops have older machines run by the pit monkeys. Don't be afraid to ask someone if you see a really nice car where they recommend for this service. I have my favorite shop and they always protect the rim during tire R & R.

painkiller

Hey SM. I refinished my phonies this spring and after countless hours stripping, sanding, priming, sanding, painting, etc I took them to a Goodyear store to get them mounted. I sat in the bay and watched as their machine left a nice scratch all the way around the first wheel. I said something to them and the goon changed this little plastic or nylon guide that rides on the outside of the rim and put the next three on with the same result. I was not happy, but fortunately there was enough clear on the wheels that I could steel wool them and pretty much hide the scratches with a little compound and wax. Next time I'll take them to somewhere that is familiar with alloy wheels. At least yours were not some nice $500+ HRE's or something.

PK

Matt H

You cant guarantee it. Mounting wheels is an art form. I can teach ANYONE how to do a set of steel wheels in 5 minutes. Teaching someone how to do a set of 18" wheels with a 205/30R18 is a different subject.
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Tony K

The kinds of machines made for alloy rims stretch the tire away from the rim, and if done well, there will only be light stationary scratches on the top edge (mostly hidden by the tire) in one spot from the thing the initially stick in there to pry part of the tire out. And yes, they use a nylon piece, but it will still scratch that one spot lightly. Once they have part of the tire out, however, the steel/iron arm that holds it is not supposed to touch the rim as the rim rotates. The scratch around the rim is because they didn't move the arm away from the rim enough. The wider the rim and the lower profile the tire, the more difficult it is to do. 17's are much harder to remove w/o scratching the rim than 15's. Chain tire stores are all filled with monkeys. Several of them won't mount a 225 width on the 15x8 fuchs, either, because when you actually measure the wheel it is closer to 9" than 8". Glad I have a good tire guy that I go to. Good luck.

Serge944

My freshly repainted enkei's got screwed by the wheel shop. W/E. My car is an ugly POS; made to be driven.

RMills944

When I used to install tires, you had to set the machine's arm about 2 cm away from the rim to keep from scratching it. The arm, if set any closer will leave scratches/gouges all along the outside. You need to go to someone that knows what they are doing. The shop should pay to refinish those for you.

sm

I'll keep this in mind the next time I have tires mounted. While I would love for them to refinish my rims, it's not worth the hassle. I'll just be more careful next time.

Thanks for the info everyone.

Luis de Prat

Ernie at "Ernie's Alloys" near Miami once told me it takes 3 people to properly put a tire on a Cup 1 wheel without scratching it.

Getting tires fitted on my precious factory Cup wheels is something I find worth having done at the Porsche dealer. YMMV.

jjjr944

Hey, shoot SamGrant951 a PM or e-mail about the process and how it SHOULD be done. He has seen it. He just had his new $1K+ 18" wheels mounted over in Indy and they came out perfect. He had to babysit them though.

Like some others, I had a Tire Rack recommended place here in Cincy do my 15" phonies ( German Motor Cars w/ Forey) and the techs used a solvet that ate through the paint . Their response: " It's not our fault." I will NEVER go back and go out of my way to warn others about the place. Professionals accept responsiblity. Scammers do not. Nuff said. Anotherlocal place scratched the paint all to he11 on my Audi's BBS wheels when mounting so I am still hunting. May have to drive to Indy now.

Good luck.

Matt H

All machines are made for alloy wheels with the exception of a Coats 4040 style changer.

If done well there will be NO scratch marks anywhere.

I agree but diameter is not nearly as important as sidewall height. A 205/40R16 is every bit as hard as a 255/40R17 (hell of a lot harder actually)/

They dont know how to measure.

Helps, but as you know the lower the tire profile the hard it is to mount, the further the arm is away from the wheel the more likely you are to tear the bead.

He is full of sh*t, unless it is 1 to mount and two to stare at the other one. It takes one trained person and a tire machine that is worth a sh*t.
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Kevin Baker

I have to agree with Matt. I had one of my techs do some serious damage to a fellow "listers Kenisis K28's, we paid to have them repaired. Its not perfect but the right thing to do. While yet another tech at the same shop put them back on perfectly. Now, at the shop where I'm at now, I have a tech that mounted a set of 275/40/18's on a beautiful set of Fiske wheels WITHOUT A SCRATCH. It's having the CONCERN TO DO IT RIGHT.

steve g

Last year I had used tires removed and new 18in tires installed at a local Costco after looking around at several places and speaking with the shop managers and techs. The machine was also brand new which gave me a comfort level. Its really important that up front you establish the fact with these folks that you dont want your rims damaged in any way and if they dont feel comfortable doing the work, well thats okay, and nobody should get angry. I think the reason the tech did a good job was because we spoke beforehand and he was careful. Recently I picked up 2 sets of Dunlop R compound tires (18 and 17) and stopped by the same shop to set up an appointment and saw the same tech who did the work a year ago. He remembered doing the work and proudly showed me his newer machine that can do up to 24in rims. I showed him my recently powdercoated Clubsport rims while looking at 16in tires. He was really into his equipment and I would have no hesitation to him doing my work again.