New C5 Tires

I recently bought tires from TireRack.com. I wanted to change to the
non-run-flat version of the W rated tire to have a better, softer ride.
Including shipping, the cost was about $600 as opposed to $1,200 for the
Goodyear F1 tires.

Early Saturday morning, I took the tires and Vette to a local Firestone to
have them mounted for $120. So far I'm way ahead of the usual $1,350 total
cost of the Goodyear tires.
When I dropped the car off, I talked to a lady behind the counter about how
much I like the car, and the store manager (a guy), who seemed very
knowledgeable about the Vette wheels, tires and air pressure sensors in the
wheel. It costs $10 extra per tire to mount because they must take extra
precautions not to damage the sensor.

Conversation went like this:

ME: You guys are NOT going to put any weights on the outside of my bright,
polished aluminum wheels, right?
STORE MANAGER: "Oh, we would never do that! We are a REAL TIRE STORE! We
know tires!! We're NOT A Jiffy Lube or K-MART!!!". (actual quote)
ME: "GREAT!"

I left the car... When they called later in the day and said it was ready,
my expectations were so high, I didn't carefully look at the wheels...
Sunday I got it out to wash it, and HOLY COW! There were at LEAST 2 weights
on the outside of each wheel...

I took it back Monday morning, and the lady I had talked to (The GENERAL
MANAGER) was in the office. When I walked in, she did not expect to see me
back again so soon...

GENERAL MANAGER: "Is there a problem?"
ME: "yes, you guys have ruined a $2,000 set of wheels".

GENERAL MANAGER: "Oh, that can't be, I had my store manager do it
personally, so that there'd be no problems!!!"
ME: "You mean that the guy who I stood RIGHT HERE ON THIS SPOT and told not
to put weights on the front is the one who did this!????"

GENERAL MANAGER: "Yes it was him... Oh, yes, I remember you saying that
about the weights..."
ME: "Let's get him in here and see what he has to say for himself..."

-------------------------------------AND NOW THE PUNCH
LINE -------------------------------------

GENERAL MANAGER: "Oh, Saturday was his last day. He's moved to another
city!"
ME: "Well you better call him up and let him know he owes you some money."

GENERAL MANAGER: "Oh, I'm so sorry. you can have the scratches repaired"
ME: "No I can't! YOU can!"

We walked out to the car. She took pictures with her digital phone camera.
She said to contact someone to repair the damage, and let her know how much
it is... She was very nice about the whole thing...

But, the damage is now done! The clear coat is scratched and torn, the wheel
is scratched....

DAMN!

You didn't stand there while they were doing this? How do you know they
used the proper jacking points? Or put the sensors in the right wheels? I'm
only asking since it sounds like you were dealing with an a**hole over
there. You should look under your car to see how bad he screwed up the
underside. Also-- the gas station by me (where I can watch the work being
done) charges $60 to do this.

-Stan

"Pappy" > wrote in message
...
>I recently bought tires from TireRack.com. I wanted to change to the
>non-run-flat version of the W rated tire to have a better, softer
>ride.
> Including shipping, the cost was about $600 as opposed to $1,200 for
> the Goodyear F1 tires.
>
> Early Saturday morning, I took the tires and Vette to a local
> Firestone to have them mounted for $120. So far I'm way ahead of the
> usual $1,350 total cost of the Goodyear tires.
> When I dropped the car off, I talked to a lady behind the counter
> about how much I like the car, and the store manager (a guy), who
> seemed very knowledgeable about the Vette wheels, tires and air
> pressure sensors in the wheel. It costs $10 extra per tire to mount
> because they must take extra precautions not to damage the sensor.
>
> Conversation went like this:
>
> ME: You guys are NOT going to put any weights on the outside of my
> bright, polished aluminum wheels, right?
> STORE MANAGER: "Oh, we would never do that! We are a REAL TIRE
> STORE! We know tires!! We're NOT A Jiffy Lube or K-MART!!!". (actual
> quote)
> ME: "GREAT!"
>
> I left the car... When they called later in the day and said it was
> ready, my expectations were so high, I didn't carefully look at the
> wheels...
> Sunday I got it out to wash it, and HOLY COW! There were at LEAST 2
> weights on the outside of each wheel...
>
> I took it back Monday morning, and the lady I had talked to (The
> GENERAL MANAGER) was in the office. When I walked in, she did not
> expect to see me back again so soon...
>
> GENERAL MANAGER: "Is there a problem?"
> ME: "yes, you guys have ruined a $2,000 set of wheels".
>
> GENERAL MANAGER: "Oh, that can't be, I had my store manager do it
> personally, so that there'd be no problems!!!"
> ME: "You mean that the guy who I stood RIGHT HERE ON THIS SPOT and
> told not to put weights on the front is the one who did this!????"
>
> GENERAL MANAGER: "Yes it was him... Oh, yes, I remember you saying
> that about the weights..."
> ME: "Let's get him in here and see what he has to say for
> himself..."
>
> -------------------------------------AND NOW THE PUNCH
> LINE -------------------------------------
>
> GENERAL MANAGER: "Oh, Saturday was his last day. He's moved to
> another city!"
> ME: "Well you better call him up and let him know he owes you some
> money."
>
> GENERAL MANAGER: "Oh, I'm so sorry. you can have the scratches
> repaired"
> ME: "No I can't! YOU can!"
>
> We walked out to the car. She took pictures with her digital phone
> camera.
> She said to contact someone to repair the damage, and let her know
> how much it is... She was very nice about the whole thing...
>
> But, the damage is now done! The clear coat is scratched and torn,
> the wheel is scratched....
>
> DAMN!
>
Bummer, but actually that is where the General put them on the C5
rims. Not sure where you can have them repaired but if you can get by
without a complete strip and new clear coat make sure they put alodine
(Iridite or Alodine 1500) on the bare aluminum before they seal it.
http://www.eaa1000.av.org/technicl/c...on/alodine.htm We used to
use it on fine threads in oxygen systems to stop corrosion. If not
used the scratch can run under the clear coat and spread. The weights
GM used were vinyl clad to minimize scratching. Do you have after
market rims?

My C5 rims were done by a Goodyear dealer at a whooping total cost of
$48 to mount 4 and dismount and re-mount 2. I moved the original 2
front tires to the opposite sides in hopes of a more quiet ride,
didn't work but they wore out more evenly. I also had one mounted in
Toledo OH. at Capitol Tire and they charged me $56+, so at that rate a
set of 4 would have ripped me over $225 to mount.

Due to my location, yesterday I took another set of C6 rims to Tire
Rack in South Bend and had them mount and balance a new set of Dunlop
Sports Maxx, $60. Since there is no lip to put weights on the outside
all were done properly. Young men working most jobs and a great group
to work with. Very imposing facility but great people, with neat
little test track out front. More BMWs sitting around then I see in a
year out here in the country.

Good luck on the repair,

--
Dad
05 C6 Silver/Red 6spd Z51
72 Shark Black/Black/4spd

Pappy wrote:

> I recently bought tires from TireRack.com. I wanted to change to the
> non-run-flat version of the W rated tire to have a better, softer ride.
> Including shipping, the cost was about $600 as opposed to $1,200 for the
> Goodyear F1 tires.
>
> Early Saturday morning, I took the tires and Vette to a local Firestone to
> have them mounted for $120. So far I'm way ahead of the usual $1,350 total
> cost of the Goodyear tires.
> When I dropped the car off, I talked to a lady behind the counter about how
> much I like the car, and the store manager (a guy), who seemed very
> knowledgeable about the Vette wheels, tires and air pressure sensors in the
> wheel. It costs $10 extra per tire to mount because they must take extra
> precautions not to damage the sensor.

The guy was trying to hose the Vette driver into paying more because he
has a Vette and you didn't buy the tires there so he didn't get his
commission. The only extra precaution is to not line up the tire valve
with the bead breaker and remember what corner of the car the tire came
from and put the new one back on the same corner. That's worth $40?

> Conversation went like this:
>
> ME: You guys are NOT going to put any weights on the outside of my bright,
> polished aluminum wheels, right?

I remember my C5s both came from the factory with weights on the outside
of polished wheels. Not good. Yours didn't?

> STORE MANAGER: "Oh, we would never do that! We are a REAL TIRE STORE! We
> know tires!! We're NOT A Jiffy Lube or K-MART!!!". (actual quote)
> ME: "GREAT!"
>
> I left the car...

This was a mistake. NEVER leave your Vette while it's being serviced,
especially at a tire shop where they don't exactly have rocket
scientists mounting tires.

>When they called later in the day and said it was ready,
> my expectations were so high, I didn't carefully look at the wheels...
> Sunday I got it out to wash it, and HOLY COW! There were at LEAST 2 weights
> on the outside of each wheel...
>
> I took it back Monday morning, and the lady I had talked to (The GENERAL
> MANAGER) was in the office. When I walked in, she did not expect to see me
> back again so soon...
>
> GENERAL MANAGER: "Is there a problem?"
> ME: "yes, you guys have ruined a $2,000 set of wheels".
>
> GENERAL MANAGER: "Oh, that can't be, I had my store manager do it
> personally, so that there'd be no problems!!!"
> ME: "You mean that the guy who I stood RIGHT HERE ON THIS SPOT and told not
> to put weights on the front is the one who did this!????"
>
> GENERAL MANAGER: "Yes it was him... Oh, yes, I remember you saying that
> about the weights..."
> ME: "Let's get him in here and see what he has to say for himself..."
>
> -------------------------------------AND NOW THE PUNCH
> LINE -------------------------------------
>
> GENERAL MANAGER: "Oh, Saturday was his last day. He's moved to another
> city!"

Sounds like she was a manager really on top of the store operations.
Maybe too many managers?

> ME: "Well you better call him up and let him know he owes you some money."
>
> GENERAL MANAGER: "Oh, I'm so sorry. you can have the scratches repaired"
> ME: "No I can't! YOU can!"
>
> We walked out to the car. She took pictures with her digital phone camera.
> She said to contact someone to repair the damage, and let her know how much
> it is... She was very nice about the whole thing...

And you are the one that has to do this?

> But, the damage is now done! The clear coat is scratched and torn, the wheel
> is scratched....
>
> DAMN!

I'm assuming you used an installer approved and recommended by Tire
Rack? If so, make sure Tire Rack is informed of this problem.

Dave
WI

>I recently bought tires from TireRack.com.


I've had this conversation with a buddy of mine that buys tires online and
takes them in for mounting. I told him I'd rather buy the tires and have
them mounted at the dealer. He insists he gets a good deal. I would be
worried about something happening like with Pappy here. I mean, if you're
going to buy Goodyears, have a Goodyear shop mount them. If you're buying
Firestones on Michelins, have their shop mount them. I buy Michelins at
Costco for my F150, but I don't think I'd take my Z06 in there for a Pilot
or Supercar tire!

I can go right over to the neighborhood Shell station and they'll mount
anything I want, including me. (hehe, side humor). But let's face it, a
tire installer is at the bottom of the mechanic food chain. They ain't the
computer technicians over at the Mercedes shop. What they think is right
might not be proper for a highly engineered automobile. Why not buy your
high tech tire from a shop that maybe has been trained on how to properly
mount them?

Bottom line, you've saved a few hundred bucks, got your nice wheels screwed
up, and now have to deal with the anxiety of repeated trips and calls to the
tire shop and taking time off to go to small claims court. What did you
save?

Ed

On Wed, 29 Mar 2006 03:34:50 -0700, sbright > wrote:

> You didn't stand there while they were doing this? How do you know they
> used the proper jacking points? Or put the sensors in the right wheels?
> I'm
> only asking since it sounds like you were dealing with an a**hole over
> there. You should look under your car to see how bad he screwed up the
> underside. Also-- the gas station by me (where I can watch the work
> being
> done) charges $60 to do this.
>
> -Stan
>
>


HELP - ya know, I never spent much time thinking about how the pressure
sensors work. My only idea was that they were ultra short range
transponders, with a receiver next to each wheel - in which case, it
wouldn't matter which sensor/transponder was in which wheel, as the
location would be coded by the receiver. So my stupid driver question is -
are the sensors coded for a specific wheel ?

I'm just thinking about this, because I'm getting warnings about high
pressure in LR this last week & I would have expected it to be in the RR.
Guess I'll have to actually check the pressures manually myself.

I had a new RR rim & a new pair of GS-D3's on the back recently. I am
embarassed to say I went to Discount Tire - but they normally do an
acceptable (to me) job & I normally get the car back quickly with no
problems.

DOH !


--
Using Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/mail/

"Rufio" > wrote in message
newsp.s66t76tt6x1zv6@daves-m520...
> HELP - ya know, I never spent much time thinking about how the
> pressure sensors work. My only idea was that they were ultra short
> range transponders, with a receiver next to each wheel - in which
> case, it wouldn't matter which sensor/transponder was in which
> wheel, as the location would be coded by the receiver. So my stupid
> driver question is - are the sensors coded for a specific wheel ?

Yes, but can be reprogramed with a magnet on the C5, takes a special
tool J46079 to do it, or an after market tool for about $325 for the
C6.

A magnet is needed. one that is strong enough and its poles need to be
on both sides of the valve stem, by the wheels rim to just below the
valve(inside of wheel).

Press dic option button until display is blank.
Hold dic reset button for 3 sec.
Press dic options button again, till the TIRE TRAINING msg appears.
Press dic reset button till the LEARN L FRONT TIRE msg appears.
Put magnet tool on the left front valve.
The horn will sound indicating LF pressure sensor is programmed.
repeat magnet procedure on tires as follows:
goto RF
goto RR
goto LR

> I'm just thinking about this, because I'm getting warnings about
> high pressure in LR this last week & I would have expected it to be
> in the RR. Guess I'll have to actually check the pressures manually
> myself.

I think the high pressure limit is about 42 PSIG.

> I had a new RR rim & a new pair of GS-D3's on the back recently. I
> am embarassed to say I went to Discount Tire - but they normally do
> an acceptable (to me) job & I normally get the car back quickly
> with no problems.

Tire dealers that want repeat business will do that.

--
Dad
05 C6 Silver/Red 6spd Z51
72 Shark Black/Black/4spd

On 29-Mar-2006, Rufio > wrote:

> I'm just thinking about this, because I'm getting warnings about high
> pressure in LR this last week & I would have expected it to be in the RR.
>
> Guess I'll have to actually check the pressures manually myself.

I'm having a similar problem since I had the rear tires replaced. The LR
tire is warning me of high pressure yet when I check it isn't any where near
42 lbs. The LR is not matching what I see on the gauge either. Could it be
that they put the left rear tire on the right hand side, or is my problem
the same as Rufio's? I see the tire monitors go up in pressure as the tires
warm up but it just isn't matching the readings I get when I manually check
it with a digital gauge. The fronts are working fine.


--
Warmest regards,

Steve

Thanks for the feedback guys.

No, I didn't stay with the car as they said it would be several hours till
it was ready. Shame on me!

I may have been ripped off on the price.

The installer Tire Rack recommended (Express Oil Change) said "oh, I can't
do them without screwing them up", (seriously!!!!!). He then recommended the
Firestone.

If it had weights on the outside, I don't remember. Someone mentioned that
they may have been vinyl coated.

The A$$Hole even told me without prompting that he'd use lead tape!

I found a company near me, www.wheelfixit.com and called them. They said
they could strip and polish them but they couldn't put clear-coat back on
because it wouldn't stick (?????)...

They recommended a manual repair kit from autozone. Any ideas on that, guys?

Thanks
Pappy

Try this place:

http://www.wheelcollision.com/

Dave
WI