Tyre Fitting Nightmares

[sickrabbit]

Saturday morning I though that winter tyres perform better on a car than locked up in the shed so decided to fit some on Miss OP Honda - I have expected to pay fiver per corner but quotes started with 50 quid (crazy or what) and I have settled for £30 at a local 'fasties' 1,5 hours after arrival I have one tyre fitted so got my grumpy face on and talked to someone who I though is the manager...few minutes later it turns out that one of my winter tyres has a rip - other one a unrepairable puncture and both my summer tyres are already thrown away even though I said I want to keep them (approx 4 - 5mm left) in the end I have lost 3 tyres as they only found 1 summer one from my set and and binned 2x winters (see the damage but can't imagine how it happened as they have been taken of last spring with no sign of punctures or rips)...anyway no more #fasties# for me...

Anyone has or considered his own tyre fitting equipment? (yes I know I could buy another set of wheels to save myself hassle)

[thinfourth2]

Fitting them is easy if you are willing to get a bit dirty

Balancing is the hard bit

[andy-xr]

It's good that they've spotted something you've missed. You've hit on something I was considering setting up myself actually, I'd quite like to be a decent tyre fitter. I remember a garage in Hants had a very good reputation, I've been there (but cant remember the name) a long time ago and people would rather go there knowing their wheels would be looked after and good advice given over any of the chains

[BFG TERRANO]

A lot of our local tyre fitters wont fit tyres not supplied by them. Its a liability thing apparantly should anything go wrong.

[Fireblade69]

BFG TERRANO said:

A lot of our local tyre fitters wont fit tyres not supplied by them. Its a liability thing apparantly should anything go wrong.

I've had a couple of independents fit used and new tyres supplied by me: Winter tyres, new from Black Circles, swaps on wheels and even eBay specials. Maybe they are trying their luck?

[CoolHands]

BFG TERRANO said:

a liability thing apparantly should anything go wrong.

a profit thing I think you'll find

[Perd Hapley]

thinfourth2 said:

Fitting them is easy if you are willing to get a bit dirty

Balancing is the hard bit

I've heard good things about this tool:
http://www.frost.co.uk/static-wheel-balancer.html

[northandy]

CoolHands said:

a profit thing I think you'll find

Exactly.

My indy will fit tyres i supply, no problems.

[otolith]

CoolHands said:

BFG TERRANO said:

a liability thing apparantly should anything go wrong.

a profit thing I think you'll find

^^ this.

[750turbo]

sickrabbit said:

Saturday morning I though that winter tyres perform better on a car than locked up in the shed so decided to fit some on Miss OP Honda - I have expected to pay fiver per corner but quotes started with 50 quid (crazy or what) and I have settled for £30 at a local 'fasties' 1,5 hours after arrival I have one tyre fitted so got my grumpy face on and talked to someone who I though is the manager...few minutes later it turns out that one of my winter tyres has a rip - other one a unrepairable puncture and both my summer tyres are already thrown away even though I said I want to keep them (approx 4 - 5mm left) in the end I have lost 3 tyres as they only found 1 summer one from my set and and binned 2x winters (see the damage but can't imagine how it happened as they have been taken of last spring with no sign of punctures or rips)...anyway no more #fasties# for me...

Anyone has or considered his own tyre fitting equipment? (yes I know I could buy another set of wheels to save myself hassle)

Where do I start... Jesus!

[Tango13]

sickrabbit said:

Saturday morning I though that winter tyres perform better on a car than locked up in the shed so decided to fit some on Miss OP Honda - I have expected to pay fiver per corner but quotes started with 50 quid (crazy or what) and I have settled for £30 at a local 'fasties' 1,5 hours after arrival I have one tyre fitted so got my grumpy face on and talked to someone who I though is the manager...few minutes later it turns out that one of my winter tyres has a rip - other one a unrepairable puncture and both my summer tyres are already thrown away even though I said I want to keep them (approx 4 - 5mm left) in the end I have lost 3 tyres as they only found 1 summer one from my set and and binned 2x winters (see the damage but can't imagine how it happened as they have been taken of last spring with no sign of punctures or rips)...anyway no more #fasties# for me...

Anyone has or considered his own tyre fitting equipment? (yes I know I could buy another set of wheels to save myself hassle)

I read that as 'were sold to a friend of one of the fitters for cash'

[Buff Mchugelarge]

thinfourth2 said:

Fitting them is easy if you are willing to get a bit dirty

Balancing is the hard bit

I remember watching my Granddad balance wheels in an old barrel of water.
Fit and inflate the tyre, throw it in the barrel and add wheel weights. When it floats level, its balanced.
Works well, provided you can find something big enough to float a wheel and tyre in.

[BFG TERRANO]

otolith said:

CoolHands said:

BFG TERRANO said:

a liability thing apparantly should anything go wrong.

a profit thing I think you'll find

^^ this.

A good friend is a manager at a tyre and exhaust centre, they are told not to fit tyres provided by others- ie bought in by the customer. If there is a fault or problem not visible that results in a failure or worse death there are all sorts of legal issues with liability.

[northandy]

BFG TERRANO said:

A good friend is a manager at a tyre and exhaust centre, they are told not to fit tyres provided by others

Its still a profit driven thing, same reason big tyre chains wont repair runflats, or even in some cases fix a tyre thats had tyre weld in it.

I can understand them not fitting part worn tyres maybe, but brand new shoudnt be a problem.

[mat13]

You dont need any specific equipment to fit tyres, a pair of levers, 3 pieces of chopped up angle iron, some soap and a good sized ball pein hammer fits does the job perfectly well.

[MJK 24]

Thrown your 5mm summers away? bks. Kept them to one side to sell on more like. How can they not find them on site? Tyres have to be taken away by a person licenced to carry waste. If you didn't see such a van then the tyres are still there. I'd have walked around until I spotted them and then left.

[Deva Link]

sickrabbit said:

...few minutes later it turns out that one of my winter tyres has a rip - other one a unrepairable puncture and both my summer tyres are already thrown away...

...anyway no more #fasties# for me...

I'm amazed they didn't also gouge the wheels. Do these places do it on purpose?

[itcaptainslow]

mat13 said:

You dont need any specific equipment to fit tyres, a pair of levers, 3 pieces of chopped up angle iron, some soap and a good sized ball pein hammer fits does the job perfectly well.

That kit will work ok on anything 60 profile and above but try doing that on something low profile, if you manage it 100 man points for you

[mat13]

itcaptainslow said:

mat13 said:

You dont need any specific equipment to fit tyres, a pair of levers, 3 pieces of chopped up angle iron, some soap and a good sized ball pein hammer fits does the job perfectly well.

That kit will work ok on anything 60 profile and above but try doing that on something low profile, if you manage it 100 man points for you

Done it! But after spending a good 40 minutes trying to break the bead on the first one i may have cheated a little bit and used the pick up hitch on the tractor to do the rest.

[g3org3y]

sickrabbit said:

Saturday morning I though that winter tyres perform better on a car than locked up in the shed so decided to fit some on Miss OP Honda - I have expected to pay fiver per corner but quotes started with 50 quid (crazy or what) and I have settled for £30 at a local 'fasties' 1,5 hours after arrival I have one tyre fitted so got my grumpy face on and talked to someone who I though is the manager...few minutes later it turns out that one of my winter tyres has a rip - other one a unrepairable puncture and both my summer tyres are already thrown away even though I said I want to keep them (approx 4 - 5mm left) in the end I have lost 3 tyres as they only found 1 summer one from my set and and binned 2x winters (see the damage but can't imagine how it happened as they have been taken of last spring with no sign of punctures or rips)...anyway no more #fasties# for me...

Anyone has or considered his own tyre fitting equipment? (yes I know I could buy another set of wheels to save myself hassle)

To clarify, you've taken them to a local place and they have:
- ripped one of your new winters
- managed to puncture another of the winters
- stolen thrown away two of your old summers

WTF!? So what have you done about this (apart from write about it on PH)?

I've taken plenty of tyres I've bought online to my local tyre place and the chap there is happy to fit for £10/corner. Never had any issues tbh.