My tire fiasco

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Headed to the tire dealer yesterday to get the Michelin's on my Civic. After waiting about 1/2 hour they let me know they only have 3 in stock despite having made the appointment 1 week earlier and them "reserving" the tires for me. On the way home I noticed my brake pedal is now pulsing. Or course they tightened my wheels with an impact gun. So off to NAPA to buy a set of rotors with their 25% of sale. I get home, remove the wheels and discover I need an impact driver to remove the rotor retaining screws. So off to Sears I go. With the way the day was going I was expecting trouble but the job went smoothly. Supposedly they will have the fourth tire tomorrow. I will be watching the installer like a hawk and will be handing him my torque wrench to install the wheel. Are there any good tire dealers out there that take the time to correctly torque wheels?
 
I had to use a 2 foot breaker bar last time Chinamart mounted tires for me. I can imagine being on the side of the road with the cheap tire tool that came with the vehicle. Out of curiosity, I reversed the torque wrench on one of the lugs, it clicked out at it's max 160ftlb.
 
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On the way home I noticed my brake pedal is now pulsing.



If rotor warp was caused by improperly tightened lugnuts, it would take at least 5000 miles for a pedal pulsation to occur.

It's merely coincidental that the brake pedal began pulsating on your way home, IMO.
 
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On the way home I noticed my brake pedal is now pulsing.



If rotor warp was caused by improperly tightened lugnuts, it would take at least 5000 miles for a pedal pulsation to occur.

It's merely coincidental that the brake pedal began pulsating on your way home, IMO.




Say what?...please explain...



There's more to it, but generally pedal pulsation is caused by excessive disc thickness variation (DTV), not excessive total lateral runout (TLR). Excessive DTV IS caused by excessive TLR. But in order for excessive DTV to occur, it takes time to develop. It doesn't occur instantly.

This article explains it fairly well: http://www.babcox.com/editorial/bf/bf100326.htm
 
I don't totally disagree with you but when China mart torqued the lugs on my Corolla to 100 ft lbs, I noticed the vibration in the pedal right away. Maybe the extra torque enhances the vibration somehow by...

Goodyear uses torque sticks/wrenches on all their tire operations.

Also, my Goodyear pulled the "I will reserve a sets for you" with me but only had 3 when I showed up. They gave me a temp alternate (same size) until the following Monday (went in on a Friday). I wen tin during my lunch and they got me right in and taken care of.
 
When torque exceeds specification, it does warp the rotors. I'm not familiar with all the reasons, but it certainly warps rotors.

That is why you have to torque them right.
 
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...Are there any good tire dealers out there that take the time to correctly torque wheels?



The Discount Tire stores around here finish the installations with torques.




Ditto for the Discount Tire here in Chicago. I can also vouch for the local Firestone using something to get them right - torque stick or wrench I don't know.

The first time I had the wheels off of my Bronco I had to get out the 5' cheater! I don't know what was wrong with the stupid PO but I am glad I didn't have to do that on the side of the road with just the tire iron.

Calvin
 
Discount is the bomb - torque stick on the guns and finish with the wrench. Never had any warping issues.

If your tire center does any different, I'd raise ---- and if they say it's "standard practice" or some B.S. like that to install tires with an impact and have the 7 buck an hour tire jockey crank away, I'd get the heck out.

And yes, if you put enough torque on the rotor hat and literally crush it like so many of these sweat shops do, you'll feel pedal vibration the instant you drive off. GMs are quite suceptable to this.
 
I'd have no problem IF that 4th tire was used to get someone who was stranded back onto the road. Otherwise, I'd be upset.

Last time I was in Wal-Mart getting a rebalance and rotation, they used the torque sticks, and followed up with a torque wrench.... twice. The guy who did the work on my car used the torque wrench on each lug. Then he called a second guy over from the lube pit, who checked the setting on the torque wrench, then rechecked every lug a second time.

I asked the guy who worked on my car if that was due to liability, and it was. It is the cheapest way that Wal-Mart can keep wheels from coming off after the car leaves the shop. I felt quite a bit better about the quality of the work because of that.
 
tire shops use impact guns so a wheel doesn't fall off while driving and get sued the bejezzes out of them.
 
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Headed to the tire dealer yesterday to get the Michelin's on my Civic. After waiting about 1/2 hour they let me know they only have 3 in stock despite having made the appointment 1 week earlier and them "reserving" the tires for me. On the way home I noticed my brake pedal is now pulsing. Or course they tightened my wheels with an impact gun.




Those rotors must be prone to that. The same thing happened to a friend of mine after he got new tires on his '97 Acura Civic (1.6EL). Needless to say, like me, he only takes wheels into the shop off the car now.
 
I also had the rotors on my TL instantly warp after a tire rotation by the dealer. I'm very perceptive and notice every little vibration and noise in the car. When I got home I couldn't remove the lugs with a breaker bar.

Went to Discount Tire for my new tires and as I was walking up I saw a guy put a tire on a Camry, install one lug nut, nail it with an impact with only a socket, the wheel bound up so he kept hammering away until it popped very loudly into place. I made sure they used an actual torque wrench and watched them torque mine.
 
Originally Posted By: Cutehumor
tire shops use impact guns so a wheel doesn't fall off while driving and get sued the bejezzes out of them.


When I had a 5.0 Mustang, the guy at Tire Kingdom didn't make the lugs tight enough and within 3 days my rear tires almost fell off. Come to think of it, my sister works at a law firm and it would of been a good thing if my tires fell off.
 
Originally Posted By: Cutehumor
tire shops use impact guns so a wheel doesn't fall off while driving and get sued the bejezzes out of them.


It's pure laziness. Using a torque wrench and torquing it to factoy spec will always be tight enough.
 
Originally Posted By: wantin150
I don't totally disagree with you but when China mart torqued the lugs on my Corolla to 100 ft lbs,



Most if not all Toyotas are 76-80lb lug torque.
 
I take the tire shop guys out of the equation. I always just bring my loose rims to them, so they don't have to attack my lugs with an impact gun when putting them back on.

IF I go anywhere, I usually just go to Tirerack as those tire guys there actually seem to care about their jobs.

Matt
 
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