Tire Shop Dealings

[Jeff Higgins]

I'm ready to put my first new set of tires on my first Porsche, so I hope you guys will pardon some newbie questions. These are things I have never even considered on any kind of vehicle before. I pretty much know which tires I want and where I'm going for them, so that's not the question. Anyway, what about those aluminum lug nuts? It would seem the half asleep kid with the rattle gun cranked all the way can up ruin these pretty easily. Do you guys that still have these ask for any special consideration, or would it be unreasonable to ask? How about balancing, is there anything I should be looking for there that I didn't have to consider on the family car? I have 15 x 7 BBS's and I'm planning on mounting AVS ES100's 205 60/15's, which are going on my '72 911T.

[RickM]

Regarding the lugs....Many shops use a torque limited socket/extension on their impact wrench. Insist they use a manual type torque wrench to install....and watch them if possible.

[Rot 911]

1. Make sure they know how to lift the 911 without crushing the oil lines.
2. NO IMPACT WRENCH ON OR OFF!!!!!
3. Use tire mounter that does not touch the edge of the rims.
4. Balance placing weights on the inside of wheel.
5. Adhesive "tape" weights only!
6. Torque lug nuts by hand to 96lbs.

[Dantilla]

I bring wheels to the tire shop in the back of my pick-up, and torque them myself. Other than that, I pretty much let the tire guys do their job. It's not the first time they've seen alloy wheels.

The only exception is when my pick-up needs tires.

[scottb]

I'd contact your local PCA chapter to find out which local tire shop is "911-friendly." My $.02

[jtkkz]

I always removed the wheels and bring the wheels to the tire shop to have them install the tires.

I never brought my porsche in a shop due to them possibly not knowing how to jack it up.

[jhoagg]

I agree with everyone who says: take the wheels in yourself. Don't let a tire shop jack up your 911 unless you absolutely have to.

But I go further. I stand right by them at the tire mounting machine, and in a very friendly manner, see that they handle the wheels very carefully on the machine to avoid gouging or scratching the FUCHs. My experince is they are always very cooperative in this if you approach it right, explaining to them the wheels are easily scratched/gouged. Balancing is not a problem - the normal procedure weems to work fine. It is just that tire mount/dismount that you have to worry about.

[kach22i]

Originally posted by Kurt V
1. Make sure they know how to lift the 911 without crushing the oil lines.
2. NO IMPACT WRENCH ON OR OFF!!!!!
3. Use tire mounter that does not touch the edge of the rims.
4. Balance placing weights on the inside of wheel.
5. Adhesive "tape" weights only!
6. Torque lug nuts by hand to 96lbs.

That's a lot to mind.

I went to Discount Tire, as far as I know they did not screw it up. I have since then taken off the rear tires hunting for a bearing seal sweak, the lugs were just fine and not over tighten.

Which oil lines would be the first to be damaged and where should I look?

[kach22i]

Originally posted by Jeff Higgins
AVS ES100's 205 60/15's

I think that's a good choice or tire, I have similar ones.

[Jeff Higgins]

I never even considered the lifting of the car to be an issue. I'm glad you guys mentioned it. My car doesn't have a front mounted cooler, so there are no lines down the side to damage. Looking through Wayne's "101 Projects" the first thing he explains is where to lift it or jack it, so even beyond the oil line issue, it sounds like body pan damage is something to watch. The locals (over on the regional forums) say Discount is a good place to go, but they don't really get into the what to do once you are there part of it. Nothing about bringing the whole car vs. just the wheels or any of that kind of stuff. I don't have a way to get just the wheels there unless I can rope my neighbor into taking me, but he's a pretty good guy. If I do wind up driving the car over, I'll be sure to ask that they keep the impact wrench off of it. I'll feel really funny even asking, but I'm sure I would get over that faster than a handfull of ruined lug nuts. As a quick aside, how many of you still run these? Would I be better off switching to steel?

[kees]

I'll always take my own lug nut soft socket with me and torque the wheels myself.

The guys at the tire shop don't mind at all. Next time I'm gonna do it all by myself (using their equipment).




Kees.

[Jesset100]

Also go when they are not busy so they do not rush the install, and you can stand next to the guy mounting and balancing your tires.

[kees]

And don't forget to tell them to install the hub cap right, the way the factory did.

Kees

[emcon5]

Originally posted by kach22i
Which oil lines would be the first to be damaged and where should I look?

The lines from the external thermostat to the front cooler, under the passenger side rocker.

A tire place bought me new ones a couple years ago.

I only worry about 1 and 2:

1. Make sure they know how to lift the 911 without crushing the oil lines.
2. NO IMPACT WRENCH ON OR OFF!!!!!

Tom

[kach22i]

Thanks, I might as well check it next time I am down there.

[juanbenae]

there is a thread floating around currently regarding the damaging of a wheel by a tire shop and suggestins on how to avaiod some pitfalls of damage by tire shops.

i take my wheels in sans car, that avaiods alot of the problems regarding jacking and such. i also have used a digital camera (as suggested in the thread) and took photos of the rims in good shape prior to turning them over to the tire monkeys. i have made a point of taking the pictures in front of the tire shop while the manager is watching. they seem to put the best guy in the shop on your wheels that way.

i have found a top notch tire shop by doing this and no longer take the camera, the management knows me now.

[rfuerst911sc]

I also take my wheels in sans car.I asked the local PCA who do they use,it happened to be a local Discount Tire.I then asked my mechanic who he suggested and it was a specific local Discount Tire,I then went to the store and talked to the manager,I stated my concern over the way my wheels would be handled,he assured me they would be alright.Keep in mind these were Fuchs wheels I had spent over 10 hours a piece polishing,anyway I brought in the wheels,hovered over the tire mechanic but being friendly and came away with excellent results.I think if you do some up front leg work and don't come off as a dick you will have a good experience,after all most off these guys that work at these shops are car guys,just not Porsche guys.

[Zeke]

Some wheels don't take a perfect balance w/o weights on the outside. It may not look good, but it works. You see, the computer thinks you are going to put them on the outside and inside right at the tire bead. So, when you stack them on the inside at the arrow indicating how much weight and where, you are not complying with the machine.

They usually spin the tire up a second time to see what the computer says. That's when to watch and see if what comes up. If it's still off, it may be off until the weights are put where the computer says.

Each balancing computer takes data input such as wheel width. I have not seen anyone enter a smaller number so that the computer thinks the beads are closer together allowing you to put weights behind the front. Of course, the inner weights would have to be moved in by the same distance. I think this is worth a try on wheels that don't get weights out front. Many of us do put weights out front.

We all know that there seems to be no two tires alike. Matching tires to wheels before mounting is a trick some of the older shop owners used to do to save weights. Seriously. I worked in a tire shop and got yelled at for using too many weights. They ain't cheap when you consider how many a shop goes thru a month.

So, I want to know what I can do to not use so many weights, and the boss shows me how to 'read' a tire and a wheel prior to installation. There ara a few tricks to that, too.

Sorry to ramble, but my 2 specialties here are bodywork and tire mounting/balancing.

[B D]

Originally posted by Zeke
Some wheels don't take a perfect balance w/o weights on the outside. It may not look good, but it works. You see, the computer thinks you are going to put them on the outside and inside right at the tire bead. So, when you stack them on the inside at the arrow indicating how much weight and where, you are not complying with the machine.

They usually spin the tire up a second time to see what the computer says. That's when to watch and see if what comes up. If it's still off, it may be off until the weights are put where the computer says.

Each balancing computer takes data input such as wheel width. I have not seen anyone enter a smaller number so that the computer thinks the beads are closer together allowing you to put weights behind the front. Of course, the inner weights would have to be moved in by the same distance. I think this is worth a try on wheels that don't get weights out front. Many of us do put weights out front.

We all know that there seems to be no two tires alike. Matching tires to wheels before mounting is a trick some of the older shop owners used to do to save weights. Seriously. I worked in a tire shop and got yelled at for using too many weights. They ain't cheap when you consider how many a shop goes thru a month.

So, I want to know what I can do to not use so many weights, and the boss shows me how to 'read' a tire and a wheel prior to installation. There ara a few tricks to that, too.

Sorry to ramble, but my 2 specialties here are bodywork and tire mounting/balancing.

How much to mount and balance? Where's your shop? Can I hoover over you to make sure you don't scratch the rims? Do you know where to jack a 911?

[Zeke]

Originally posted by B D
How much to mount and balance? Where's your shop? Can I hoover over you to make sure you don't scratch the rims? Do you know where to jack a 911?

I sense there is something going on here. Who are you?