How Mr. Tire lost all future business from me in 2 minutes

That shop manager is an idiot.  He must of flunked out of law school and ended up at the tire shop.

I always went to  a friend's machine shop in PA  that would re-drill new blank rotors to GM pattern for me, the ......"last" time I went there he told me he can't do it because of the liability. I was almost at a lost of words but as I turned to the door I said,  " Has your work turned to shyt or do you think I would sue you"? and I haven't been back in 4 years.

That's too bad Chris. I'd take just enough time to flame them on Google or write to their GM and/or franchise owner if they have one.

A tire shop that won’t assume the liability of balancing tires? That must put a damper on their bottom line.

You did the right thing. I learned a long time ago not to argue with people that don’t want my money.

The liability is probably in putting your car on a lift, not balancing your tires.

When I need new tires on my Spyder, I take the wheels off at home and take them separately. I'm currently getting an adapter made for my wide 5s so I can get them balanced. When that happens I'll do the same, and I'll be the one to remove the adapter and installing it on the next wheel. I'll use a rattle gun instead of their air gun set at max.

I actually asked them to use a floor jack (which is what they did before). Perhaps they should change their name to Mr. Tire, esquire or Maybe Tire.

I may or may not write a higher up. It would have to be a big treat for me to consider going back and it would mean more wasted time.

My Discount Tire uses floor jacks for my cars. I take a minute and show them the jack points on my cars. And tell them what the torque specs are  

I can’t praise them enough. With 4 vehicles, two with summer/winter tire sets, I’m generally in and out within an hour. They’ve repaired my Smart rear Vredesteins that I bought from Tire Rack twice for free. And the Spring/Fall swap is always N/C  

The only issue I’ve ever had with them is they won’t work on tires more than 6 years old, which I can understand.

When I get my Vreds mounted I'll do like Carlos. I have a balance adapter and also have an old Snap-On dynamic electronic balancer. So you pay anyway but I can always check them.

If I could mount tires and do state safety inspections I would never go to a shop for anything, ever... I am the shop. I used to be have a NYS inspectors license in the 80s. It ain't that hard. It's just that NY now requires you to buy their computer if you do inspections.

Oh, and Mr. Tire? Dick move, that.

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@Carlos G posted:

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...When I need new tires on my Spyder, I take the wheels off at home and take them separately...

Me, too.

I'm probably going to be more careful than a tech working in a shop that's part of a national marketing operation, where productivity is usually the most important concern.

I may be slow, but at least I'm not required to record the number of minutes I spent on the job.

That tech has likely never had a 69 VW on his lift before. To him, the underside of the pan looks like a map of Namibia. And he won't know to chock the spring plates so the axle boots don't tear when the swing axles drop down.

So, I can understand his manager not wanting to risk complications from customer complaints and reprimands from higher ups. Refusing my job will put no discernible dent in his monthly numbers. But a damage claim on his watch will absolutely torpedo his chances of making district manager this year.

Liability law controls most aspects of our lives today, from the quality of our medical care to those little packets of silica gel that came inside the new microwave, warning us not to eat them (as tempting as they are).

Driving a Corolla is a heckuva lot less complicated than driving any of our cars.

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mmmm, Tide pods.

@Sacto Mitch posted:

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And he won't know to chock the spring plates so the axle boots don't tear when the swing axles drop down.

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Huh? If they are installed properly, they won't tear.

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@DannyP posted:

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Huh? If they are installed properly, they won't tear.

Maybe not. Or maybe not until they get old and dry out.

In any case, Anthony does this just to be safe every time he puts the car on his lift.

Nothing can mess up your day more than expecting to just inspect some fitting and ending up having to pull an axle to replace the boot.

So, I've taken to doing this too, whenever I jack up the rear end. Just takes a few seconds, and cheap insurance:

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@edsnova posted:

mmmm, sheep dewormer.

Updated for the 2020’s.

I jam two square pieces of 2x4 in between my axle and lower frame when I jack up the rear of my Spyder. My limit straps hold the wheels vertical when I don't, so I really don't need to use the wood, but it saves on a couple of strokes of the jack.