Who woulda thought it'd be such an ordeal to get tires installed?

askoop · 08-22-2007, 12:44 PM

The time has come to get my MTRs (that I bought off another Jeeper) put on, inspection is next week. So, I call wally world (I know, I know), they will install with lifetime balance and rotations for $12.50 plus tax. Sweet, about $53 out the door with lifetime balancing.

Well, cause the size (245/75/16) wasnt listed in their book, they refused to install them. Managers refused to even come and talk to me about it. (I have 245/75s on now).

Forget them, off to another local chain where I got my revos. They wanted $25 per tire to install!! "its a bigger size, so its more work for us" they try to tell me. BS, I worked in a small garage in college, I installed tires. He says lowest he can go is $17 to install plus disposal and tax, roughly $80. Forget you too!

So back home, whip out the yellow pages and call just about every tire place. What I found interesting is that even different stores in the same chain have different prices to do this stuff.

ended up at one of the locations of the small local chain that sells coopers, I got my wifes ATRs from them. One of their locations was cheaper than the other, I dont get it. Anyway, just shy of $60 for dismount, mount, balance, disposal and tax, and, they had me out of there in 30 minutes!

Sorry, had to vent on stupid people.

98zjdave · 08-22-2007, 12:57 PM

wal marts are all a bunch of limp wristed sissys b/c they are afraid of getting sued. but these days everyone seems to be out for the $$ so I guess thats what we get aye?

good find on the tire shop though. I've never had a problem getting tires on at any store around here for a good price. Though I've never tried walmart, sams was always cool to hook me up, and at killer prices too.

Tj_Justin · 08-22-2007, 04:23 PM

sams club is the bomb.

I talked a local shop into mounting my tires with 8 oz. of airsoft bb's in them for 6 bucks each. They are 35' tires on 8 in rims.

It took him a while to understand the bb's but he liked the fact that he never had to balance those tires on steel rims.

BTW, airsoft bb's rock. Just a lil slosh sound when you stop, but i kinda have begun to like the sound... makes me smile

LandRover · 08-22-2007, 04:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tj_Justin

They are 35' tires on 8 in rims.

Wow. That's, like, bigger than bigfoot. And a TINY rim.

KUK9 · 08-22-2007, 04:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LandRover

Wow. That's, like, bigger than bigfoot. And a TINY rim.

Can I fit those tires on the stock suspension, or do I need a BB?

I guess I'm lucky. I work at a dealership, and I know how to play with the tire machines, so I do my own. I also try to help out the guys in our club, just so they don't have to deal with that stuff. Glad you managed to finally get a decent price on them though.

Shag · 08-22-2007, 05:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KUK9

I guess I'm lucky. I work at a dealership, and I know how to play with the tire machines, so I do my own. I also try to help out the guys in our club, just so they don't have to deal with that stuff. Glad you managed to finally get a decent price on them though.

When I finally find some tires I can afford you are so gonna hook me up.

Stang_guru · 08-22-2007, 05:16 PM

i'll never do buisness with Walmarts bunch again. (long rant)

ordered 4 KDW2's for my GT, was planning on going on vacation and needed new tires for the trip. ordered a little over 3 weeks in advance. should have been plenty of time. i went to check the next day to make sure everything was ok in shipping, all 4 tires shown in the system as on there way, the whole set together.

a week goes by and im starting to wonder if they forgot me, so i go to them and ask. they have no clue what they are doing, where my order is, or anything. i finally walk over to the room where they keep "ordered" tires that have arrived. stuffed in the corner i see nice new KDW2, and theres my name on the tag....1..2..3...... no 4th? talk to the manager. he says somehow my 4th tire wasnt on the truck, EVEN THOUGH the original said it was infact on the truck with the other 3. he said he'd track it down and call me.

another week goes by and im getting pretty upset, time wasting and my deadline is near. i call, get the run around, so i go back and speak with him again. he acts clueless to who i am or my situation. im like you cant be serious?. he says he will order a new tire for me and have it rushed. final week to go. still no tire, still not happy. i go back AGAIN. he says, yeah it'll be here in about a week or so. i told him i DID NOT HAVE A WEEK TO WAIT, and that i was assured my tires would all be here and installed WELL before the deadline as promised!

2 days AFTER i was supposed to ALREADY be on vacation, i go back, the new tire STILL hasnt arrived, im pretty livid at this point. at this point i start working up the chain of command, low an behold as i was speaking to them, one of thier truck driver walks in holding a KDW2 with my name on it, and here's the kicker, it was the FIRST truck that brought the 3 others!! he said they unloaded 3 tires out of the 4 and left the 4th setting in the same place the others were from. so almost 4 weeks and 14 states later my tire finaly makes it.

after that they put the tires on and these monkeys start slingin around my nice un-blemished Bullets and i hear a loud DING from one tossing it to the ground, i walked right through the little gate and told him id be 10 feet away watching his every move, to treat them like it was his grandmother.

4 days later they called to say the OTHE tire that was ordered had finaly arrived and wanted to know what i would like to do with it. i told them to install it on a wheelbarrow and use it to haul out whats left of there reputation to the dumpster......click.

**martinsburgjeep** · 08-22-2007, 05:21 PM

Sears put the ones I bought off a guy on here without issue

**Grape Ape** · 08-22-2007, 06:46 PM

I have a tire shop not even 5 minutes from the house. He will mount and balance for $5 per tire. That is with new valve stems. He will patch the sidewall of a radial and put a tube in it for ya. Tire soze doesn't matter. I took the tires off of my 52 ford tractor off and took them to him. He removed the tires from the rim for 45 each. I sand blasted the rims and painted them. When I took them back to be put back on he did it for free. He said mount and balance usually means take old off and put new on. so it was covered the first time I was there, plus he took special care not to scratch up the rims as he knew it was for a restoration project not just a regular old tractor. I tipped him $20 (all I had). I will buy tires no where else. He has more than earned my business.

TSEJEEPERS · 08-22-2007, 08:35 PM

One word FIRESTONE. I had to say it. I work in one of their tire plants. Just wish they would make a LT tire bigger than 33"

Ryanpowell167 · 08-22-2007, 09:25 PM

Love working at the dealership as well. Just have to make sure im off the clock and i can work till 10 at night and use every friggin machine in the joint. Free mounting, balancing, rotations, tire repairs, and all the space and tools to repair my rig. And 3 varieties of vehicle lifts to boot!

RedJeepXJ · 08-22-2007, 09:46 PM

despite hating walmart they were cheap so i took mine there and they installed them no problems and mine were an inch wider and 1/2 inch taller

it's not that large compared to some trucks

Rule303 · 08-23-2007, 06:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grape Ape

I have a tire shop not even 5 minutes from the house. He will mount and balance for $5 per tire. That is with new valve stems. He will patch the sidewall of a radial and put a tube in it for ya. Tire soze doesn't matter. I took the tires off of my 52 ford tractor off and took them to him. He removed the tires from the rim for 45 each. I sand blasted the rims and painted them. When I took them back to be put back on he did it for free. He said mount and balance usually means take old off and put new on. so it was covered the first time I was there, plus he took special care not to scratch up the rims as he knew it was for a restoration project not just a regular old tractor. I tipped him $20 (all I had). I will buy tires no where else. He has more than earned my business.

Thats because you live in Booger Holler.

They can afford to work cheap because they use their front yard as their shop.

**SpeedyCat3** · 08-23-2007, 06:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by martinsburgjeep

Sears put the ones I bought off a guy on here without issue

That is because they smelled you are a lawyer and feared the legal hassle.....

**SpeedyCat3** · 08-23-2007, 06:35 AM

In that situation I always take the tires and rims in another vehicle and take them to get mounted and balanced.
Tire kingdom gave me the same problem once, so I went to another one with just the tires and rims, and told them they were for a pick up.
I have a small shop nearby now that does all my tires.