Went in today to get my tires (from tirerack) mounted on my new wheels. I made 3 big mistakes, going there at all, going right before closing, and not watching them like a hawk the whole time. Someone calls me outside, "did you notice this wheel was all bent up?". They show me my wheel and it is bent to hell in 7 places! Yes 7. I say "like hell it was bent, you're going to have to pay to fix that". They say it was like that when you brought it in, I say no these came straight to me from the restoration shop and why the heck would you put a tire on a rim that looked like that? They explain that "there is no way" their machine can ever bend a rim. I ask for the manager and the rude, irate kid calling me an idiot to my face informs me that he is the manager. I take a refund on the mounting of one tire and am about to leave figureing if I bitch to the corporate office they will pay for it. I decide to have a look at the other 3 rims, and every last one of them is bent. I take them inside and by now the asshole manager has disappeared and I am dealing with a couple of decent guys. One is politely tring to show me how it isn't possibe for them to bend them and bends one right in front of me. Even after which he continues to deny it for a bit but they finally say they will send them to have them fixed. The one may be too bad to fix and they cannot be replaced. I'll have to wait and see what happens. I guess I'll have to take all my wheels to Ferrari of Houston from now on, its so freaking hard to find anyone that can do anything right.

Faaaaarrrk! thats bad man sorry to hear that! what an asshole manager, obviously on a power trip. Its good the other 2 guys were a bit nicer, hope it sorts itself out for ya mate.

thank God they didn't do that to those turbines i loaned you ;-)

holly f**k
that really sucks! man, that is..... garrrhhh

good luck man! i hope you screw those bastards for every penny to fix those, then every penny to buy a new one (if thats even possable)

best wishes man, g'luck

damn man :(
that sounds terrible... what wheels are those?
make those ****ers pay! and when the wheels are fixed, make sure they do NOT try to mount tires on them again.

that's rough, sorry to hear. It is too hard to find someone who will do a good and honest job now days

I don't know what they are, but they are a one of a kind set. I don't know where to get ANY wheel 16x7 5x120 et15, much less just like this.
http://thumb11.webshots.net/t/55/455/7/43/14/2002743140101597211YRsFgN_th.jpg (http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2002743140101597211YRsFgN)

I don't know what they are, but they are a one of a kind set. I don't know where to get ANY wheel 16x7 5x120 et15, much less just like this.
http://thumb11.webshots.net/t/55/455/7/43/14/2002743140101597211YRsFgN_th.jpg (http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2002743140101597211YRsFgN)


holy ish!!! those are/were nice make those bitches pay. talk to the owners. i used to work at a place like this and the owners really make shit happen

wooooooo yeah, those are super rare if not one of a kind, i've seen cheap knockoff's of those around town. but nvr the real thing

damn, yeah, make em pay!

that sucks. i had a problem with the kids using impact wrenches on the lugnuts and warping my brake rotors. i bought $400 brakes and gone to crap just because of saving a minute with the impact

that sucks. i had a problem with the kids using impact wrenches on the lugnuts and warping my brake rotors. i bought $400 brakes and gone to crap just because of saving a minute with the impact

you shoulda torqued them after

The machine just cant do that. If it bends the rim when stripping a tyre, there is a fault in your wheel(s), either the alloy has gone too soft (happens with fatigue) or the metal is too thin. The tyre will stretch a long way before it puts anywhere near enough pressure to bend a wheel, especially in the case of alloys where they will generally crack, rather than bend a lot like metal. Im not saying it didnt happen, but i would look at your wheels for an issue as its not normal.

There is nothing wrong with using impact guns to tighten wheel nuts. Its the people who over torque them that cause problems.

castration is the only solution.

This is why I take all my business to a tire rack authorized dealer near me F&M Tire. A friend of mines father owns the place, and since they all own BMWs, they know how to do stuff right, and I have never had a problem with them, once, ever... :)

Its also why I send all my more important friends there. They once mounted tires for a buddy with a 2007 Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera :). Lets just say, everyone in the shop got a nice 100$ tip that day (even though the tires and mounting did'nt cost more than 1000$)

And Cause i can...
http://www.marcofolio.net/images/stories/fun/imagedump/demotivational_posters/retards.jpg

nice rims,!!.hope it all works out for you and no pemenant damage.

I'm having a real hard time believing this. The mounting machine would have to be seriously abused to bend a rim, but even then, I don't see how it could bend the wheel, unless the actuated arm gripper was set way to high (the arms that hold the wheel still n the underside), but even then it wouldn't bend it, more like making it an oblong shape like an egg, but if thats the case those wheels are junk to begin with.

I'm sorry I don't see how that machine can bend a wheel. Scratch and marring is common place but this is the first time I have heard of this. Are you sure you inspected the wheels for trueness before you handed them over, be real about it.

Dude I wouldn't bullshit you guys. These wheels are about 1/8" think. 3 of them have small bends where they pryed them with the levers. One of the guys finally did this with me watching and it bent. The 4th one must have gotten hung somehow and pulled it up because the back rim is bent as well as the front. Possible only 3 of the jaws were engaged on it. I really don't quite know how it happened. It's definatly not a machine fault, but people being in a hurry and using the same forcefullness they use on Jeep wheels. The wheels came straight from being restored, they were perfectly straight. I didn't thouroghly inspect all 4 but I have pictures of the one I was using to setup my brakes, I was spinning it on the hub for weeks, it was round.

Update: I called the regional office to complain and they informed me that the prick I spoke to was not the manager. The real manager called to apologize and hear what I had to say about it. They said they are sending them to Wheel Technologies in Houston, which by looking at the website may do a pretty good job. Everyone else was nice and apologized and said they would would have a word with that guy.

hope the wheels come back as good as new.

Man im glad Discount has never done that to any of my wheels... But Ill have to start watching them closer...

How are they going to "straighten" the rims?? Furthermore, will the rims not lose their metal strenth (temper) when they are adjusted?

If they can't fix them, make them order Panasports for you.

You have to keep an eye on these guys - they are fast, but sloppy sometimes. I got home after a rotation on my car and found one lug nut missing on two rims. Last month I had the tires rotate the tires on the wifes truck, all four center caps had at least one screw missing. There are 3 screws for each cap - all had 1 screw missing on each, and on 2 rims the screws were stripped (meaning on 1 screw was holding the cap instead of 3). I e-mailed corporate and the local manager ordered me a set of new caps and screws. Now I check the vehicle before and after I have work done.

That is nuts. Make sure they fix it or pay or both.

I'm having a real hard time believing this. The mounting machine would have to be seriously abused to bend a rim, but even then, I don't see how it could bend the wheel, unless the actuated arm gripper was set way to high (the arms that hold the wheel still n the underside), but even then it wouldn't bend it, more like making it an oblong shape like an egg, but if thats the case those wheels are junk to begin with.

I'm sorry I don't see how that machine can bend a wheel. Scratch and marring is common place but this is the first time I have heard of this. Are you sure you inspected the wheels for trueness before you handed them over, be real about it.

Only time ive ever seen a machine bend a wheel is when the person fitting the tyre did so incorrectly. When fitting you need to make sure the bead lip of the tyre sits well below the bead of the wheel, it physically cant fit the tyre onto the wheel if you dont do the above (given the tyre is slightly smaller than the wheel). What happens is the tyre gets hung up on the foot of the machine, pulls tight (pulling on the lip of the wheel) and destorys the bead of the tyre in the process. It makes a hell of a lot of noise, mess and destroys a tyre, then it will bend a wheel.

To bend a wheel in multiple places, with a machine, just doesnt sound right to me. To strip and fit a tyre you have to lever against the lip of the wheel, there is no way to avoid it, so the only thing i can think of that explains the above is that the metal has gone soft and/or too thin from machining. That would explain how the bends happened in the course of fitting.

Edit: Reading your new post. Dude, your wheels are at fault, they didnt do anything wrong. There is something wrong with your wheels, you simply cannot strip and fit a tyre without prying against it. No wheel should EVER be damaged in the course of doing this, there simply isnt enough force in place to pull the tyre up over the bead that would damage healthy metal. Im telling you this from experience in fitting pretty much every wheel known to man, from super thin, light competition wheels on lotus race cars, magnesium wheels on alfas, right up to big forged 22 inch porsche wheels. They just shouldnt bend like that and i think further investigation will find either the metal has fatgiued or the lip has been resurfaced and the metal is too thin to support.

Quite simply, the cornering forces on a tyre and the huge amount of pressure pushing the rubber outwards will put significantly larger side loads on the wheel than a lever ever will. If a lever bends the wheel, id be seriously worried about the integrity of the wheel itself. It just should not happen.

How are they going to "straighten" the rims?? Furthermore, will the rims not lose their metal strenth (temper) when they are adjusted?

Id say this has already happened, especially since he mentioned they have just been restored. Machining the metal too far, excessive direct heat (to repair/re-roll a section the entire wheel should be heated, not just a localised area like a lot of shops will do), fatigue, they all cause weakness in the metal and its the most likely cause of the problem. Having the same done again spells trouble to me. Without even touching them i would measure the hardness because there is almost certainly something wrong with the wheel.

You can blame the shop all you want, but it doesnt take any more force to lift a tyre off a jeep wheel as it does to take them off the ones you have fitted to your bmw. Stripping and fitting a tyre simply doesnt work that way. Where care is needed is to make sure you dont scratch, chip, dent or mark the wheel with a lever when removing, that is the only difference between fitting a 14 inch steel jobbie and a 18 inch imported wheel with a nasty chrome finish.

Let me guess. You had Spec Wheels in Forney "repair" them?

A tire mounting machine can scratch paint, chip paint, and if it gets stuck.. gouge aluminum. It does not have the power to bend aluminum, and certainly not in 7 places. Discount Tire didn't do it.

Let me guess. You had Spec Wheels in Forney "repair" them?

No, these were done in California.