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

[moparedtn]

Ok, back from the tire joint ....FINALLY....
Can't nothing be easy in this life anymore, I swear.
I'm exhausted - and I don't work at that store!

In chronological order:

Trunk full 'o' snakes! Off to the tire store Fred goes....
Not terribly busy - and I do have an appointment at 1pm for the alignment, so...
Removal and teardown of the wheels and tires commences, with me unbolting the center caps
personally.
(Answer to associated trivia question on cap retainer bolts: 3/8" socket, 1/4-20 threads BTW)
Old BFG's came off easily, new Cobras went on fine too - and balanced well, I was told...

(Here's where the trouble started....)
The wheel/tire combos start coming back to the car, where I await my turn at reassembling the caps back on.
As I got each done, I leaned the tire against the drum on Fred it corresponded to - and soon enough, a young
man came along to install it and supposedly torque the lugs.
(As I later was to discover, that part of things didn't quite get thoroughly done...conjuring images of a Ron White
routine, if you know which I'm referring to...)

Not knowing any better, I allow the car to be taken to the alignment bay next to us:

The instructions to the alignment tech were the same as last time I had Fred in there, some years
ago: check alignment, pull diagonals and most importantly, let's work up a list of steering/suspension
components in need of replacement (of which I was almost certain there would be).
Results? NO components in need of replacement (in fact, the tech was bragging on the original tie rods,
saying how good a shape they were in + how easy they were to adjust!).

He looks at me in amazement and asks if any of it was original - I answered "yep, quite a bit of it actually".
Other than all the ball joints and the idler (and new bushings on the front sway bar), the rest is as built on Fred.

Further, He proclaims that all Fred needed is a bit of toe adjustment (which also corrects a slight steering wheel
misalignment in the process) and to snug up the steering box a bit. Other than that, he's still remarkably "square".

Great news all around - and I go pay the bill, then bring the boys a little tip for their efforts, stopping to notice the
cute little snake logo on the sidewalls of the new Coopers:

Off Fred and I go down the highway.....when ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE....

You know how you have a sort of heightened sense of hearing right after getting your car worked on?
Yeah, mine picked up something very faint, right away - the faint sound of something metallic tinkling, immediately
followed by a
SHUDDER/violent wheel hop
from the right front - at highway speed, no less.
I immediately scrub off speed and make a beeline u-turn and pull right in the service bay of the tire joint....
and I am FUMING mad!
Somebody comes over and before they can speak, I bark at them to fetch me a floor jack and a torque wrench NOW!

Sure enough, the lugs on the right front damn near came off the car - and the center cap had been shaken so badly, it
was also in process of leaving the chat, too.
One of those dufuses (that I had just tipped, remember) had neglected to torque the lugs on the RF and it damn near
caused me to wreck Fred....DAMMIT!
Ok, this time I was going to do the work - which I did, removing each wheel from the car, checking the cap bolts, reinstalling
the wheel/tire and torquing all the lug nuts myself - twice.
Gee, nobody was anywhere near me this time as I went through the entire process....
But I was mad enough to hurt anyone who spoke up at that point, so that was probably a good thing.

Fred and I then tried going home again...
By the time I got him safely tucked away in the garage, I had gone over all the lugs AGAIN - not to mention, lowered
the air pressure in the tires from their 48-50 psi to a more reasonable 32psi.
At that point, I'm nasty dirty and exhausted, so I go to put the receipt for the work in the glove box - and the latch
on the glove box door promptly exploded into all sorts of little pieces.
Of course it did...

Fred's home, safe and in 1 piece. Ditto me, if not a bit worse for wear. All that matters.

(I really gotta clean the lens on my phone camera, apologies....)

 

[71dodgechargerrt]

And they charged you for all that excitement Ed? Could have caused an accident and injured people or worse.

 

[moparedtn]

And they charged you for all that excitement Ed? Could have caused an accident and injured people or worse.

A pretty penny, yep.
Funny thing was, my first reaction (thought) when it happened was "I almost hurt Fred!"
Wife reminded me later that I was also in jeopardy, but that stuff just doesn't occur to me anymore.

 

[Dennis H]

Name and location of Shop?

 

[moparedtn]

Name and location of Shop?

Thought about disclosing that, then thought better of it.
I'm usually watching anyone like a hawk who does any work for me and I dropped the ball here
on that particular wheel - the dude was trying to get it torqued about the same time the alignment
guy was coming for the car, so I'm sure that had something to do with it.
Beyond that, I can only guess about the boys' training - or even his integrity at wanting to do a good job
for that matter.

I just remember making sure the alignment guy knew someone was still kneeling down and working on
the car when he came for it, lest he not see him over there....

 

[Jerry Hall]

Exactly why I don't take my vehicles anywhere that won't let me be in the shop area at least watching the process. Thanks for the heads up on their failures.

 

[moparedtn]

Exactly why I don't take my vehicles anywhere that won't let me be in the shop area at least watching the process. Thanks for the heads up on their failures.

Agreed Jerry - and I was all over in the shop there, including being under Fred on the rare occasion of his
being up on a lift for the alignment. Problem with that is - my attention was diverted at the wrong time in
doing so, of course.

 

[moparedtn]

The Ron White routine it reminded me of later:

 

[hunt2elk]

Glad to hear everyone is safe after that ordeal Ed. Hope he had the lugs tight enough that the alignment specs were accurate.

 

[moparedtn]

Glad to hear everyone is safe after that ordeal Ed. Hope he had the lugs tight enough that the alignment specs were accurate.

Yeah, that's certainly a consideration for sure. They must have been, because as he manipulated the wheels
to calibrate the machine, I was right there and didn't notice any funny movements or noises at that point in time.

In fact, I need to be more positive about the whole experience. Fred apparently doesn't need any front end work,
so I can progress directly to the dreaded disc brake conversion!

 

[1STMP]

Virtually the same experience happened to me, Ed.
Had new tires installed on my TJ. Thought all was well
after the install. Paid up and jumped in.
Backing out of the service bay, felt a weird wobble
in the front end. Ended ùp with the two front tires
and rims folded under. (in the middle of main street).
To add insult to injury, one of their employees had
all four of the Jeeps' center caps in his shirt pocket,
which I didn't notice were missing until the frantics of
getting the Jeep back in the service bay. (what a fiasco
as the cops showed up to redirect traffic). The shop
(well known) footed the bill for new rims and lugs.
Will never do business with this chain store again.
Glad things worked out, and you're still here for
Ed's story time.

 

[The Rebel]

Damn Ed, sorry to hear that happened but glad everyone is ok.

Reminds me of an experience had at Town Fair Tire back in High School in the 80s. Some pit crew kid torked each lug nut one at a time so that the tire was not seated properly. I'm driving down the road and as l picked up speed it started shaking horribly. Took it right back to them to have it looked at and fixed.

Yesterday saw a Town Fair Tire truck in the breakdown lane with a flat tire, lol.

 

[Outlawd]

Thank God nobody got hurt! On a positive note, you'll like them Cooper Cobra's. I put them on my Charger last year...very good tires.

 

[1967coronet]

Glad you caught it in time Ed. Way back in my youth I had a rear wheel come off, (Aluminum uni lug ET) nobody to blame I had installed them but never re checked them. Dumb kid.
I was going slow 25-30 mph when Elvis left the building.

 

[Don Frelier]

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.

 

[Hey-O]

When I take my Durango in, I don't care if they use a fork truck to put it on the roof to work on it, just do it right. When I take my Coronet in, I watch. Most are to busy checking it out and are 35 years younger than it is. It's not old, it's vintage, most of those guys are greener than the tomato they tried to serve me the other night. Glad it worked out.

 

[Ron H]

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.

 

[gtx6970]

This is EXACTLY why I work on my cars myself With ANYTHING I can do at home.

An honest mistake is an honest mistake.
But Damn ,,, something like that happen would drive me over the edge quickly

 

[Dennis H]

I still think that bad service should be named.

Bad Service incompetent thieves:
Normandin CDJR, San Jose, California.
Shelly’s Auto Body, Danielsville, Pennsylvania.

My top 2.

 

[oldbee]

Glad everything worked out. The owner (she) of my tire shop is a Mopar fanatic, she watches everything.