Right before Hearsecon, I ordered some new wheels and tires for my coach. I didn't go with anything very large, I went with a 16" wheel. But I had some problems with the transmission, so the car has only seen about 20 miles total on her new wheels. Mostly being from the tire shop on the new wheels, and then on and off the trailer for a few shows (including Hearsecon). My car isn't a trailer queen, it's just a piece of shit.
I was working under the car yesterday and found a very very big problem. It appears that the backspacing of the rims is off, and the upper control arm is eating the bead of the rim like a lathe. I plan on speaking to the shop about this within the week, but I'm hesitant to speak with them yet. I'm concerned that simply bringing the car up there will not resolve this problem in my favor.
- The tire shop did order the tire from his vendor and was PROMISED the backspacing would be correct.
- The tire shop test fit a rim, but only on the rear. The lugnuts and wheel locks hadn't come in yet, so it was just fitted to check spacing. It didn't dawn on me to have him try it on the front, I thought they knew better :/
- As a result, the tire shop left the tires with me and had the lugnuts sent directly to me. I installed the wheels myself and didn't catch the fuck up :/
- I have a friend that is concerned that the tire shop will try to get out of making this right by saying that my balljoints are bad. This friend is suggesting I replace the balljoints before bringing this up with the tire shop. I still have my last set of tires, and the wear is pretty even. The insides of the front tires are a little worn, but not real bad. The car is currently on ramps, and I have to finish changing out the trans before I can check the balljoints. I was going to do this by putting on the old rim and seeing how much slop there is. Is there any truth that the balljoints could be bad?
- I'm concerned that the shop might use the length of time as a reason not to fix it. It's been a couple months. But the car just hasn't been driven much for me to notice the problem until now.
- If the shop doesn't try to make this right, can I get a spacer to help? Will I need longer wheel studs? I'll probably need to have the rim surface remachined to smooth it out, won't I?
What would you do? This is really bothering me.
Here's a picture of the damage, you can see aluminum shavings hanging from the balljoint.
I was working under the car yesterday and found a very very big problem. It appears that the backspacing of the rims is off, and the upper control arm is eating the bead of the rim like a lathe. I plan on speaking to the shop about this within the week, but I'm hesitant to speak with them yet. I'm concerned that simply bringing the car up there will not resolve this problem in my favor.
- The tire shop did order the tire from his vendor and was PROMISED the backspacing would be correct.
- The tire shop test fit a rim, but only on the rear. The lugnuts and wheel locks hadn't come in yet, so it was just fitted to check spacing. It didn't dawn on me to have him try it on the front, I thought they knew better :/
- As a result, the tire shop left the tires with me and had the lugnuts sent directly to me. I installed the wheels myself and didn't catch the fuck up :/
- I have a friend that is concerned that the tire shop will try to get out of making this right by saying that my balljoints are bad. This friend is suggesting I replace the balljoints before bringing this up with the tire shop. I still have my last set of tires, and the wear is pretty even. The insides of the front tires are a little worn, but not real bad. The car is currently on ramps, and I have to finish changing out the trans before I can check the balljoints. I was going to do this by putting on the old rim and seeing how much slop there is. Is there any truth that the balljoints could be bad?
- I'm concerned that the shop might use the length of time as a reason not to fix it. It's been a couple months. But the car just hasn't been driven much for me to notice the problem until now.
- If the shop doesn't try to make this right, can I get a spacer to help? Will I need longer wheel studs? I'll probably need to have the rim surface remachined to smooth it out, won't I?
What would you do? This is really bothering me.
Here's a picture of the damage, you can see aluminum shavings hanging from the balljoint.
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