So....I took Fred to get new tires put on today - Ed story time!

[RemCharger]

Blue thread locker never hurts

 

[eldubb440]

unreal, but not surprising these days....... they should have refunded whatever you paid and begged for forgiveness

 

[RemCharger]

unreal, but not surprising these days....... they should have refunded whatever you paid and begged for forgiveness

I don't let cars leave until I've test driven them. It would be like mounting a door, then never seeing if it closes

 

[Coelacanth]

Like some of you, I get my tires installed & balanced at a shop but I always install the wheels on my cars myself.

 

[moparedtn]

I always get my tires mounted and balanced loose for both my cars.
My friend right down the street does them lately.

I'm probably not the only one that thinks Ed's wife is smarter than Ed.

Well, no she isn't...but her invested interests on the subject are apparently different than my own (loss of gravy train/spouse
vs. loss of FRED!).
Strangely enough, I've apparently lost most of any normal fears a human would have of dying myself...no, that's not bragging.
Just the opposite, it's quite unhealthy.

 

[moparedtn]

Glad you and Fred are fine. Had a similar experience on my Challenger WAY back when putting Magnums on and my brother taking the Keystones I had on it. Longer story. You probably know, but I’d take your ride out for a nice-long drive to make sure nothing got fudged with the alignment, no vibrations, also no damage to the wheel studs and wheel. The shop should refund your money.

Yep, a nice long aftermath drive will occur before this weekend is over for sure - but at least I know the stud/lugnut situation is
ok already.

 

[moparedtn]

Blue thread locker never hurts

You put that stuff on the wheel studs? Yes, if I had thought to bring some with me, it would have been handy on
the cap retainer screws - but I think if the wheel had come off, the cap would have been the least of my concerns.

 

[moparedtn]

Like some of you, I get my tires installed & balanced at a shop but I always install the wheels on my cars myself.

It's apparently come to that, at least in this small town USA scenario sadly....
Heck, I was telling the wife yesterday I was about ready to fetch a tire changer and balancing machine.
She thought I was kidding.
I wasn't.

 

[RemCharger]

You put that stuff on the wheel studs? Yes, if I had thought to bring some with me, it would have been handy on
the cap retainer screws - but I think if the wheel had come off, the cap would have been the least of my concerns.

Lol!!
Sorry I should have posted the context.. post #6 Quick question on Magnum center cap retainer bolts

 

[Ron H]

Few years ago, I bought new center caps for my new magnum’s, when I put the 2nd cap on one screw stripped out. The hole wasn’t threaded deep enough and the screws provided were dang close to being too long as it was. Found another short-threaded hole in another cap and tapped it deeper. Then a bit of a hassle getting the supplier to send a new one, meantime I re-threaded that stripped hole making it work until getting the new cap. Even though it worked, bugged me having that cap on replacing it when getting the replacement. The quality of the OEM caps were notably superior than the aftermarket ones, the former likely made in the USA…

 

[zyzzyx]

Sorry for your pain! I had Cobras put on my new 500's last year and had a hell of a time trying to find a shop that had
one of those "finger thingamajigs" to balance them correctly. I'm about 35 miles west of Chicago, and I was able to find
ONE Discount Tire store that still had one. Everyone else uses a tapered cone and they don't work on Magnums!
I might have to buy one for my wheels if this guy gets rid of theirs! Sorry Fred had to endure the stupidity.

 

[copper67sat]

Glad everyone, including Fred, is OK after all that. Last 2 times I put new tires on my Satellite, I only took in the wheels & tires for mounting and balancing. I dismounted/remounted the wheels myself.

No one but me has worked on that car for over 30 years so I only have myself to blame if something goes wrong. Last time anyone else touched it was for an alignment and they didn't even do that right (steering wheel misaligned and UCA cams still positioned straight up where I installed them) so I took a crack at doing my own alignment after rebuilding the front suspension this summer. Seems to drive fine. Tire wear will tell once I've put more miles on it.

 

[moparedtn]

Few years ago, I bought new center caps for my new magnum’s, when I put the 2nd cap on one screw stripped out. The hole wasn’t threaded deep enough and the screws provided were dang close to being too long as it was. Found another short-threaded hole in another cap and tapped it deeper. Then a bit of a hassle getting the supplier to send a new one, meantime I re-threaded that stripped hole making it work until getting the new cap. Even though it worked, bugged me having that cap on replacing it when getting the replacement. The quality of the OEM caps were notably superior than the aftermarket ones, the former likely made in the USA…

Amen to that. I was fortunate that there are no stripped holes and all "original" screws are still present....
but after that little highway dance, I upgraded my torque applying method from a nutdriver to a full blown ratchet
for them, laying the moxie to them just short of stripping any (I think).

 

[PlymCrazy]

Thank God you and Fred both stayed together during that little adventure Ed, and in more ways than one

 

[Don Frelier]

Amen to that. I was fortunate that there are no stripped holes and all "original" screws are still present....
but after that little highway dance, I upgraded my torque applying method from a nutdriver to a full blown ratchet
for them, laying the moxie to them just short of stripping any (I think).

A nut driver is all you need provided your wheels are installed correctly. It's all I've ever used.

 

[moparedtn]

A nut driver is all you need provided your wheels are installed correctly. It's all I've ever used.

That's what I assumed also - at first.
Once that one came loose however, I went overkill.

 

[t.flatt]

Well, no she isn't...but her invested interests on the subject are apparently different than my own (loss of gravy train/spouse
vs. loss of FRED!).
Strangely enough, I've apparently lost most of any normal fears a human would have of dying myself...no, that's not bragging.
Just the opposite, it's quite unhealthy.

I bought a CJ 7 Jeep in December last year. On the ride home I hit some black ice on the highway and immediately started sliding! My first thought was that I was going to be sideways when I hit dry pavement and total the Jeep within an hour of buying it. I managed to keep it straight but was fully in the other lane when I hit dry highway. An after thought was that if I rolled it going 50 mph, I'd surly be dead as well! Funny to be thinking of a vehicle when your own life is in danger!

 

[moparedtn]

Status update:
Took Fred to town today and rather than be cautious about it, I got him up on the 4-lane and rocked...

The tires did not fall off the car...
The tires did not fall off the car....
THE TIRES DID NOT FALL THE FLUCK OFF THE CAR!
(Apologies to Ron White - see video above for reference).

Initial review of the Coopers is that they balanced just fine and actually seem quite "soft" at 32psi.
Guess that's what happens when your old tires get to be 15 years old and hard like Flinstone wheels, eh?
The alignment must be close too as it was quite breezy today and Fred wandered equally - a little left, a little right....

Knock wood, I think we're ok now.

 

[threewood]

Oh boy! That is my number one concern about letting anyone work on my cars. It's really hard to trust people nowadays, especially with old technology they aren't use to seeing.

I'm glad you caught it before it caught you.

When I had my tires mounted up several years ago, the shop never even balanced them! Drove it right back, looked on the face and inside and no damn wheel weights. The guy just assumed I never drove the car lol.

I do my own alignments now because of a ruined set of front tires from where the toe was jacked up.

 

[Geetex]

The tires did not fall off the car...
The tires did not fall off the car....
THE TIRES DID NOT FALL THE FLUCK OFF THE CAR!
(Apologies to Ron White - see video above for reference).