New Tires from TIRERACK but careful with installation
 

Just got a set of new tires from TIRERACK (BFG KDWs) with a mix of good and bad experiences.
This was my first purchase from TIRERACK but all that went very smooth. Literally within minutes of clicking the purchase button I had a receipt in my mailbox and within an hour I had confirmation that the tires were being shipped. Two business days later, UPS drops them off at my door. Add in all the great info that you could spend an afternoon soaking up from their website, and I have nothing but good to say about the company and their service.
The only glitch was the installation. TIRERACK llisted a local MEINEIKE as a recommended installer. I called them up and after getting a price for mounting/balance etc. I made the appointment.
Today I'm standing at the window watching and notice the guy having trouble deciding where to put the lift arms under the car. It seemed like he had them pretty far underneath so I walked out to mention where the jack-points are. Good thing too, because after looking underneath I find out he was about to raise the car on the plastic covers over the brake lines. Sheesh. After correcting him he finally gets the car in the air starts work. A few minutes later I'm watching again as he re-inflates the tires while standing on my wheels with a big dirty boot. Now I've just got an inexpensive pair of Koenigs (SSR Integral knock-offs), but damn, they are painted with a clearcoat. I'm not anal but I've been careful to keep them looking half-decent. Had he not already had the old tires removed, I would have just asked to open the door and drive away. But this time I chat with the manager, also mentioning the near fiasco to my brake lines. They ended up dropping the price of mounting/balancing about $30 and not charging me for new metal valve stems. It looks like my wheels will be OK with a little buffing but I'm not likely to go back there any time soon. :squint:
Sorry, I intended this to be just an endorsement of a sponsor, but I had to vent.

Sounds like you got an idiot working on your car. I think that happens a lot at places like that. Its a low wage job, and you don't get many good people to do that sort of work. I always watch when I have tires done on my cars. You never know what some fool will do.

I order tires online from both Tirerack and Discount Tire Direct, and have had excellent experiences with both. The only place I take my tires to mount now are to places that specialize in custom wheels/tires. Say what you will about the ugly chrome 20"+ wheels they display, but they do have the experience for mounting ultra low profile tires. If they screwed up the wheels of their typical customer, they would get hell, I'd imagine. :D

Usually they're the only places that have the plastic duck too, so you know its not gonna fuck your rim up at all.


As for getting tires...I request to drive my car into the bay (4 puck clutch), then once Im in there I take my sweet ass time getting out of the car and lookin around (keeping an eye on where they're jacking it up. If they look confused, I just point them in the right direction. Then I slowely make my way back inside. Usually when they know you're watching them they'll go that extra step to make sure they do everything right. Im waiting to order some tires from tirerack this summer. Ive heard a lot of good things about them. And they have some good deals. I'll have my old summer job at the repair shop and access to a tire mounting machine so I can do it all myself. :)

I recently had a similar expereince as you did. It was a Sunday afternoon and I couldn't get a wheel/tire shop to mount a couple tires for me. So I ended up going to a Gas Station. This guy tried to remove my 18" tires with an older machine that wasn't made for low-profile tires. These assholes got the wheel stuck on the machine and took a pry bar to wheels lip and trashed the wheel. The owner had to pay to have the wheel fixed and refinished.

Now, I will only go to custom wheel/tire shops as well. In SF, I recommend Larkin Bros.

Yup, I take my wheels to the local dubs shop, kind of in a ghetto area too. They sure know what they are doing though, and they are really inexpensive.

you got to take your wheels usually to performance shop that handles aftermarket wheels to get better service...

here are pics of my fd on 19s. will send better pics later

Probably good advice on the "dub" shops. Live and learn I guess. These guys had the "touchless" machine for wheels, touchless just didn't include the guy's size 13s.

BTW, for anyone looking for new tires, TIRERACK's price for the BFGs was $20 to $30 @ tire less than the quotes I got from 3 local shops. I really couldn't believe the price differences. I even called two of them back just to make sure their price didn't already include mounting/balancing. It didn't. Even factoring in the cost of shipping, it was a significant savings.

OH if anyone needs tires or wheels let me know can source could prices on these through my friends shop let me know

Time for a big brake kit. You've got the thimble-in-a-barrel look going there.

Dave

ya i think it is time

Richmond is the greatest city on earth. Car Toyz, Carzzz. Weve got a great selection of good shops and hilariously bad shops that think theyre good(RPM motorsports). We gon roll this summa brudda.

TIRE RACK SUCKS! Although I got their sticker on my windshield from autocross.

They would not warranty my 30 miles blown up/shred to pieces Fuzion Zri.
Either they gave me a bad one, or Fuzion are POS.

They said my rim, was bent, etc. Well, its find with the new Hankook.

Anyway....careful with tirerack. They don't guarantee anything.

If anyone has any problems with any of our recommended installer please forward me your order number and the name and address of the shop you went to and we will look into it. if what we find is true then the shop will be pulled from our installer list. We try and filter through them but regrettably there is always the guy in a shop that can't use any common sense.

I am sorry you feel this way. To correct your post, the Tire Rack stands behind every product we sell to the full extent of the manufacturers warranty. The manufacturer does not cover road hazard issues such as impact damage or punctures due to debris in the road, only manufacturing defects. This is true for almost every manufacturer that i know of. There are only a couple of manufacturers that i know of that provide a road hazard program with a tire. Since i don't know your order number or order details i cannot say why the warranty didn't cover your tire.

Connor, As I mentioned above, this post started out as an endorsement. I've been satisfied with TIRERACK's service, delivery and especially prices. I have no complaints.
Regarding the recommended installer I went to, after talking with the manager, he did what he could to make it right by discounting (about 33%) the original estimate. I'm also pretty confident he had a "chat" with the tech after I left. I'd chalk it up to one of those guys with no common sense, and not the business in general.

I carry Tire Rack Sticker on the winshield of my car. I have bought many tires from Tire Rack. All my race rubber, my daily rubber, etc.

But this one time I buy Fuzion Zri. It failed within 30 miles, just lost pressure, and turn to shreds, while the other lost pressure to 5 psi. I called in to get replacement, but asked to buy a new pair, pay shipping to return the bad ones. This is no deal for me. Not a customer service in my ear.

Connor: again, this is not ROAD HAZARD caused. No nail, nothing, the thread portion is fine.
The events are like this: got it mounted Friday, drive home 15 miles, it sits overnight. Checked pressure in Sat morning before going to autocross, all even 32psi. Drive 15 miles away, car wants to pull to right, I stopped and found out the tire are shreded.
Luckily, I got my Victoracer on hand, just mount them and go again.

WHERE THE CUSTOMER SERVICE WHEN I NEED IT. How difficult is it to replace something thats broken within 30miles.

Reza

As with any warranty the manufacturer wants the defective product back. They will not offer any compensation unless they do get it back to verify that it was actually defective. This is true regardless of the type of product. You also have the ability to take the tire to any local Bridgestone/Fuzion dealer in your local area and they could warranty it for you. We are contracted to follow the manufacturers warranty guidelines which means we can only act within the boundaries of the warranty. If you would like to contact Bridgestone/Fuzion directly, their customer service number is 800-847-3272.

KI$$ my A$$ TIRERACK, please....

http://www.vulcantire.com/

Lower prices, free shipping and great service. Seems like a great alternative to Tire Rack.

Pretty limited on brands. No BFG, TOYO and others. I also checked under GOODYEAR and noticed they don't offer F1 GS-D3s.

Had a similar bad experience with a (recommended installer) in the Wilkes-Barre, Pa. area.
After chipping one wheel, they admitted they couldn't mount anything larger than a 17" .
That was after I had 4 18" tires drop shipped to them from Tire rack.
Tire rack should check on their recommended installers to make sure they have the correct equiptment.

I have some experience and knowledge in this area. Buying online from a mail order house is not a bad approach, but you have to shop and research the installer even more than the particular brand and model of tire you choose. It takes actually going out and inspecting the shops and asking the right questions. I'd start by looking for a shop that specializes in high end rims and tires.

The state of the art when it comes to tire balancing is the Hunter GSP machine that does the dynamic load force balancing. One of my cars is a Jaguar. They can be notorious for feeling anything short of a perfect tire balance. The load force balancing uses a rolling weight bar and a computer tells the operator where to put the weight. The Hunter machine will also do a more conventional balance, so you have to be sure to ask for the load force balancing and make sure they use it that way. It's likely to cost you more, but it's worth it. Kaufman and Discount Tire are two chains that often have these machines.

Any shop is like the rest of life. You'll have a few techs who are outstanding, many who do a workman-like / satisfactory job, and then the bottom feeders, like the guy who stood on your expensive rims. Some shops have more than their share of bottom feeders. A shop that has a made a capital investment in an expensive Hunter load force balancing machine is more likely to want to use it to good advantage and less likely to be sloppy about it.

Look for a shop manager who seems willing and able to accomodate your wishes. That's often the key to good service. A dirty and distracted operation...maybe one working to meet a price....is less likely to meet the requirements of your demanding, high performance car.

Oh, forgot to add.....these high end balancing machines will do a good job of finding the right spot to put stick on weights on the inside of the wheel to preseve the outside of your rims. The Hunter machine will also give you a print out of out lateral, radial, and roadforce info for the tire and wheel. Expect to pay in the $65 - $75 range.