Discount tire lift question

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Hi all;
Got some WeatherReady all-weather tires installed today at Discount. Are folks here familiar with the little lifts they use - see photo I found on internet which is similar to what they used. After the car was over the lift with those lifters that basically recess into the floor, they raised up the car and I noted each long rectangular and padded side of the lift contacted the underbody of the car rather than contacting the length of each pinch weld. The length of the non-contacted pinch weld was actually about 2" above the length of the top of the rubber padded lift surfaces. I looked under the car from the parking lot and noted there was perhaps 1/2" to no gap between things like exhaust pipes and the like. I asked the manager, who was actually the one that started work on the car, about it and he said they do this all the time and no worries it was not contacting the pinch weld. I asked my Toyota service manager about this and he said Toyota only approves lifting via those pinch weld areas and their four pole lifts contact only the pinch welds. The dealership agreed that although probably not the best, likely no harm was done due to the huge contact area and distribution of weight but yet I'm still surprised DT would do this especially since they had giant metal blocks with black rubber cushions all over the place and I noted they used them on other cars on the lifts basically suspending the car with four blocks contacting the pinch weld areas (two blocks per side obviously I did look under the car at home afterwards and it seems there are some support members running front to back on the car but who knows what else the lift was contacting under the car. This sure doesn't seem like an ideal way to lift a car.

Also, they tightened the lug nuts by hand and then used the torque wrench rather than impact driver/torque stick per my request but is it acceptable to run each lug nut to torque spec one by one in the star pattern and then once again checking torque around in a circle? I would think you would want to cinch them up past finger tight below torque setting and then again to spec rather than one by one to spec. which is supposedly what doing it with an air gun/torque stick would do, right?

Thoughts?

DT lift.jpg
 
i have no problems with them..

the local tire shop I go to lifts cars with 3 trolley jacks. every time I've gone there.
2 at the front pinch weld lift points, and one under the middle of rear subframe.

the DT lifts seem...better...
 
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In my opinion, Discount Tire is the worst national tire retailer in the USA. Every single installer in the shop is a guy under 25 it seems. Have fun and good luck getting quality work done on Black Friday.
 
Originally Posted by skyactiv
In my opinion, Discount Tire is the worst national tire retailer in the USA. Every single installer in the shop is a guy under 25 it seems. Have fun and good luck getting quality work done on Black Friday.

wow... who do you expect to work as an "installer" at a tire chain?

maybe My experience is skewed...that's what you get at 90%+ of shops in the area...we are home to a nationally known Auto/Diesel/Motorsports college...
 
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Originally Posted by NissanMaxima
Thoughts?

Sounds like you're just looking for reasons to criticize them. Best thing for you is to simply not go back to them.
 
Originally Posted by hallstevenson
Originally Posted by NissanMaxima
Thoughts?

Sounds like you're just looking for reasons to criticize them. Best thing for you is to simply not go back to them.


Not sure why you got that impression. I wanted to see if the forum agreed with the dealership about pinch points being the only location acceptable to lift the car and the only time I have lifted a car is to change a flat tire which has occurred maybe three times in my lifetime so not much experience with lifts. Plus, one would think after all that a huge national chain like Discount that is supposedly corporate-owned and not even franchised, would have lifts that would not damage cars they are working on. And, in general, it seemed DT had a fairly good reputation on this forum.
 
They used the little blocks when they did my 300, the lift would rest on the side skirts otherwise. As long as it wouldn't bend/break anything I wouldn't care if they used the pinch weld or not personally. I'll definitely be using them again, they had me in and out in less than an hour and had my RT43's balanced perfectly.
 
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They way they lift is fine. A real 2/4-post lift isn't necessary since they only have to raise the car high enough to get the tires off the ground and they're not going under the car
smile.gif


Also, Toyotas do NOT have to be lifted by the pinch welds! You can lift the front of the car by the bar in the front. It will be near or at the front axle, right between the front wheels. There is also a rear jack point between the rear wheels.

Originally Posted by skyactiv
In my opinion, Discount Tire is the worst national tire retailer in the USA. Every single installer in the shop is a guy under 25 it seems. Have fun and good luck getting quality work done on Black Friday.


DT and Walmart are the only ones that torque properly and don't just zip it down with an air gun!
 
slacktide_bitog said:
They way they lift is fine. A real 2/4-post lift isn't necessary since they only have to raise the car high enough to get the tires off the ground and they're not going under the car
smile.gif


Also, Toyotas do NOT have to be lifted by the pinch welds! You can lift the front of the car by the bar in the front. It will be near or at the front axle, right between the front wheels. There is also a rear jack point between the rear wheels.

/quote]

Thanks... basically I didn't know what support members (if any) are under the car to be able to lift it in this way. I was thinking it was lifting up against the underside of the floorboards or other areas that shouldn't be contacted but like I said originally, it does seem there are some rectangular looking beams running front to back on both side about 8" or so in from the pinch weld that I think were in contact with the two lifts of their assembly. I am aware in general about the other jack points as my factory service manual for my Maxima show the locations I think you are talking about and I think some of them are quite common to cars, but thanks for that too.
 
The QuickJack is basically a home-use DIY version of the setup DT has, so if you'd trust a QuickJack, you can trust DT
 
Quote
Thoughts?....
Been buying tires from b&m DT since 2004 and had them installed and regularly serviced to maintain warranty, balance and rotation. Whether lift or floor jacks, and I've had both used, never an issue.

So based on my experience my thought is in agreement with a previous post quoted. Lots of other places to buy tires.
Quote
Sounds like you're just looking for reasons to criticize them. Best thing for you is to simply not go back to them.
 
Never had a problem with DT and I've had them work on Trucks, Sport cars, and Sedans. Sometimes they used the rubber blocks to gain the correct distance from suspension and exhaust members. I would agree with those that question the age-factor. I've had to stop a few of the "young-un's" a few times to correct the torquing and lug nut applications. They do a pretty good job and I would imagine they are trained well. Having said that, I prefer they don't behave like a NASCAR pit crew and slow it down for guys like me that want it done correctly.
 
Originally Posted by slacktide_bitog
The QuickJack is basically a home-use DIY version of the setup DT has, so if you'd trust a QuickJack, you can trust DT


Interesting product. I looked at a few YouTube videos. It looks like it comes with pads that contact four points on the pinch weld area though - not like what I experienced today where the lift cleared the pinch weld area and made contact on the underbelly of the car.
 
My Walmart also has these lifts. BendPak Scissor Lifts. Also have some 4 and 2 post lifts.

You know which cars you can lift straight up on and which ones need blocks very quickly. Most cars you can lift straight up on. I'm sure that the pads are lifting up on the floor of the car most of the time. But does it matter if the weight is equally spreaded out across the whole bottom side of the car? If it doesn't damage anything I don't see the problem. SUV/CUV/Trucks/Minvans all need blocks. Lift straight up on a minvian and you will seriously screw it up.

I have lifted thousands of cars on those lifts in the last three years. I have never had a problem. A little common sense goes a long ways.

One time in highschool I was jacking up a junk Ford LTD in shop class. Jacked it right up on the exhaust pipe. Somehow it lifted that back end of that car without smashing it.




Side note: My last couple of beater cars (Ford Taurus/ Pontiac Sunfire) I could jack them up with a floor jack on the factory lift point and smash it in. Yet lift straight up on the bottom of the car and don't damage a thing.
 
They used the blocks under my wife Jeep a couple weeks ago to rotate the tires. Personally, I think Discount Tire is great. I always had problems getting my tires balanced properly the first time with a lot of local shops. Discount tire has treated me great on all 4 vehicles. I highly recommend DT. If you go to a dealership its usually someone young doing the tires too. You have to be young to do those jobs because it is still very physical back breaking work. Someone must like DT it seems as if they have stores all over the place now. Ours just opened up about a year ago in my area and I go there all the time.
 
I was lifting a late model Taurus with a jack and it had cutouts in the plastic side skirts around the lifting points. I could imagine using those lifts would have contacted the skirts possibly cracking or breaking them.
 
When I took my Jeep to Discount they put 4x4 blocks on top of the lift to meet the pinch welds. I watched them and they took time to get it done right.
 
I don't understand how they wouldn't touch the pinch welds. On every car I've ever lifted the pinch welds are lower than the actual "body" of the car. The only way these lifts would touch the body and not the pinch welds would be if your pinch weld were wider than the huge lifting pads. But maybe I'm missing something?
 
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