[TheLand]

Never have I had a worse experience getting new tires. I swapped my stock Dunlops (18") for the winter. My car only has 9k miles on it, and even before leaving the shop I dare not mention, 3 out of 4 wheels had fresh, super deep gouges on the insides of the "spokes" of the rim all in correlation to the location of the valve stems of each wheel. Obviously the damage was denied by the shop manager who claimed he did the service (as I wiped fresh metal shavings off with my finger). Only thing i can assume is a metal tool came in very strong contact inside the spokes when the stems were removed??? After calling their HQ the farthest I've gotten is having them pay for wheel repairs. They claim there is no tool they could have used to do this which is bull**** due to the damage being located in the same spot on each wheel in relation to the stem. Does anyone have any idea what part of their failure of a process caused this or how I can prove my case so they can at least be forced to admit fault? I'll attach what I can.

 

[XJman]

Without knowing exactly what equipment they use it's hard to pinpoint what could have caused that much damage. It almost looks like they hit the wheel with the bead setting arm

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[TheLand]

It's on 3 out of the 4 wheels

 

[rqjoe]

I see no valve stem in any of the pics.
I also do not know of any valve stem removal tool which would do this.
And why would they even remove the stems? With so few miles, the stems should be good for "many" more.
Not saying they didn't, just saying there was no need to do it.
The marks inside the spokes are indeed odd.
The marks on the rim look like pry bar marks pulling the bead off.

I'd not worry about the notion of getting them to admit fault as long as they are paying for repairs.
As long as they make it right, you have to let them save some face.

 

[TheLand]

The pictures don't do it justice the wheels are pretty chewed up. Some deep gouges elsewhere where significant material is missing. I don't know what a "repair" is going to accomplish and I'm beginning to want to demand new wheels or even goto small claims

 

[BrassKnuckles]

Man I need to swap out my tires and dont have a shop Ive used in the past... This worries me. And you wont mention the name....

Anyone think its a bad idea to let the Tire Rack mobile installer do the job?

 

[TheLand]

This was a Tire Rack preferred installer I had the tires shipped to. Its a pretty well known shop ill let you know who it was. I've had wheels scratched in the past but nothing this bad.

 

[XJman]

The pictures don't do it justice the wheels are pretty chewed up. Some deep gouges elsewhere where significant material is missing. I don't know what a "repair" is going to accomplish and I'm beginning to want to demand new wheels or even goto small claims

Good luck with it. I've never been to a tire shop that doesn't have the sign clearly telling you they are not responsible for wheel damage. It's almost always in the paperwork as well.

I've reshoed probably 10k wheels in my younger days. I can't imagine what tool would cause that damage. A tire spoon is way too long, the bead breaker and the mounting arm would smash up the lip not inside the spokes, but most of them use some form of nylon bumper now to prevent that.

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[TheLand]

Nothing in writing. In fact before I let them do it, I asked repeatedly if they will be able to do it without possibility of damage and they knew that was my concern. End result is I will be going to a rim repair shop tomorrow for a quote on touch up work on at least three wheels. (Rather not respray the whole damn wheels) Repairs will be paid by the company responsible. Probably about $125 per wheel. Funny how they still won't admit guilt yet they are still going to pay for it.

 

[XJman]

I wouldn't even worry about it then. It's just a wheel. There are enough stickers that go up for sale if you were that hard up you could easily find more


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[HeubergerMotors]

From past experience in the tire world, I would point out the scuffs are over the dirt and not under. Looks like a tire Iron hit the rim in multiple places when busting the bead. the lines around the lip of the wheel are from the bead arm with no plastic cup and the adjustment's not being set to the right specs. When I was 5 and learning how to change out tires I did this on the crappy Wheels I was practicing on.

"same spot on each wheel in relation to the stem"
Because of TPMS sensors they have to bust and mount the tires right after the sensors to not damage em, if the deeper scuffs are almost straight across from the Sensors, it was def the Tire Iron slipping out from the bead with a good amount of pressure behind it.

 

[XJman]

From past experience in the tire world, I would point out the scuffs are over the dirt and not under. Looks like a tire Iron hit the rim in multiple places when busting the bead. the lines around the lip of the wheel are from the bead arm with no plastic cup and the adjustment's not being set to the right specs. When I was 5 and learning how to change out tires I did this on the crappy Wheels I was practicing on.

"same spot on each wheel in relation to the stem"
Because of TPMS sensors they have to bust and mount the tires right after the sensors to not damage em, if the deeper scuffs are almost straight across from the Sensors, it was def the Tire Iron slipping out from the bead with a good amount of pressure behind it.

This is what confused me. Every tire station I've used since the 90s has a lever with a nylon guard that will go between the bead once it's split so you can get the setter and dismounted under it without anihilating the aluminum wheels.

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