Yosheego

So I went to Pep Boys today to get my tires put in. (why did I go there, don't ask) (never again)

anway...lemme start with some pics! How about that? (These were pics I emailed to the service manager)



I bought some brand new Bridgestone Potenza RE050A 265/30/19 for my 19x9.5 rears (wanted the minor stretch look now, before i had 275/30/19)

Long story short, the tech didn't know wtf he was doing...it all resulted in this...
First off, he damaged my left rear



So he denied he did anything wrong of course, which was baloney.

Not only that, he ripped up the tires I bought trying to put it on!

Wait lemme just tell the story...it's easier with pics.
So anyway, the 1st tire was already on when i got there. Which looked great. He wasn't finished with the 2nd one yet. As I was watching him work on the 2nd tire, I had a bad feeling this will end up being a headache. He was sitting there twisting and turning and said "i'm doing the best I can! I had hard time with your 1st one". Finally he was done after about 10mins or so.
He then comes over and said that I have a defective tire. I went over there and heard hissing noises. There was a section where the rim and tire bead was not connecting properly causing it to leak. So fine...defective, okay, I'll just call the people I bought it from. Shouldn't be a problem. So I just told him to go ahead and just throw my old ones back on. So he did and messed up my rims.

here the pic again, in case you missed it...lol



So I was already upset, told one of the manager, and he seemed not to care and gave me his service manager card. Fine, I'll just talk to someone that can handle these problems.

After that I drove home. I live about 5 miles away from there. As I was driving, I heard major thumping noise on my right rear, where the new tires were at. (man, I was feeling sick already, cause I did not want to deal with another possible defective one.) So got home, pulled into my garage and inspected the right rear. It was not only half flat, but it was super hot! I jacked it up and removed it. Couldn't see the problem at first...then I caught this...


There was a small gash in it! So BAM, a light bulb hit me. That mean that my 2nd one had something similar because it was leaking...So I went to my 2nd and saw this!




Now everyone knows, that PEP BOYS and any other legit company would never install tires like this on a car right?! Cause if he SAW this, he wanted to kill me pretty much.

So there fellas!
What had happened was he didn't do it correctly and tore up my tires and rims and blamed it on me and the tires being defective. The company I got it from was eBay, but they sell good tires and their reputations was in the 99.8% POSITIVE. I know they would never sell me defective tires.
I have written to the service manager, hopefully he responds accordingly and just fix it. That's all I ask for.

another pic for ya...





oh yeh, i saw that he put a small/tiny gash already...but I didn't want to raise any hell...(this was after he put the new tires on and before he removed it and threw on the old one. I didn't take pictures at the time I saw it)



and believe me, I get nothing out of this by pulling a fast one on them. I will keep everyone posted about this...=(

So anyway, as for the title.
I've decided to get 20's now. Same style, but 20's.

I like these (same as RobbiRob now)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/20-AMG-STYLE...05%26rk%3D3%26

But also like these...only problem is it doesn't have the AMG stamp.

http://www.oemwheelsplus.com/mb/20-w...heels-set.html

20x8.5 with 235/35/20 et 35 (front)
20x9.5 with 265/30/20 et 35 (rear)
Tires? haven't decided yet. I like Falken 452's.

I know a few you you guys running
235/35/20 (f) 275/30/20 (r) -RobbiRob
235/35 (f) 265/30 (r) -threeMb's (not sure if yours was 19's or 20's)

I kind of want the minor stretch look, not too crazy. Just some stretch to show more of the concave on the fronts and rears. So what does you guys think of the tires? I have lowering links, I can lower to however and raise it. I don't like the beefy look anymore, just because I want to show more of the rims.

Question for RobbiRob, you mind taking pics of your rears at an angle? I would like to compare that concave to my 19's to see if it's the same, if you don't mind =) I will post with a reply with pics of rears to compare.

alanme123

Sorry to hear what happened.. So what happened to the 19s?

hyperion667

jesus! what a story: and a dolt of a tire installer.....
do you have a discount tire near you?
I trust most of those guys to do a good job....they're very careful
with my wheels and tires......you should have seen the sweat dripping
when they were putting my black HRE's on! but I always tip the hell out of them too, you could say it's over tipping.....but those cats KNOW, when they see me come in to get on it.....

sorry about your trip...so you did't buy the tires from them? guess that's why they seemed not to care?? what dicks............
hope it works out some how Yosheego!

threeMBs

I ran 235/265 20s. 275 with et35 will stick out by 1/4" and 265 will stick out too by 3-4mm. For a daily driver, I like 255/285 19s more.

blackbullit

Pep Boys are not to be trusted.

I took a friend's Mercury for a brake fluid change there a few years back. I watched the guy drain a little fluid out of the master cylinder reservoir with a turkey baster, then he refilled it with new brake fluid. He was then done!

I told the manager and he made the mechanic do it properly (take all 4 wheels off and drain fluid from all wheel cylinders, while depressing bake pedal, then refilling master cylinder).

I would go somewhere reputable, like Discount Tire, next time.

BenzV12

What a lame job
Sorry to see the images

danlnyc

NEVER EVER go to these big franchised chains for anything related to your car. Sorry you had to learn it the hard way.... =/

those guys simply don't give a cr@p. It's not their business on the line so what does it matter? That's the feeling I get when I watch them work on customers cars.

One time I was in there about to buy a can of plastidip and a customer walk in explaining that Pep Boys forgot to tighten the bolts on her car so her tire literally rolled off her car on the freeway. She was extremely mad and threatened to sue for almost getting her killed. I walked out before I heard the rest of the story, but even hearing stuff like that makes me cringe...

WBE55

Pep Boys = Epic fail , Sorry to hear about your trouble !!

RobbieRob

Damn,, that sucks, sorry about your issue. You know what wheels I have and I am running 275x30x20 rear and 235x35x20 front with -35 offset on both. I have a renntech lowering module and I am lowered 1.76" front and 1.30" rear, somehow I don't rub at all( minor rub with a loaded car pulling into an off camber driveway, but nothing on the roadway at all). I'm not good at posting pics,, sorry, just not good with a computer, but if you inbox me your cell number, I will take some pics and text them to you... In my garage there is a photo from an angle view if that helps. The wheels have a real nice concave on the rear and a little less on fronts. edit: If I was to order new tires, I would probably go with the 265x30x20 on the rear for my next set,,, little more stretch.

Yosheego

Awesome! I will do it soon for ya.

Yeh, I don't know what I was thinking going to PB, but never again. I just hope they take care of me, else, I really don't know what to do then...

newyorktoLA

Ouch! I'm sorry for what happened to your rims

HOWEVER, BE AWARE that ANY time you get new tires, the machine will ALWAYS DAMAGE the rim to a certain extent because of the metal tools used to put on new tires. On all of my wheels that have had tires replaced, there are thin lines on the outer edge of the rim because the machine grabs hold of the outer edge and turns the tire on to the wheel.

VSmotorsports

wow, there is nothing else to say other than that

Turbo MB 550C

Yikes !!!

You may want to consider one of the shops offering "touchless" installation if one is in your area.

In the Chicago area Howey Industries offers the Ranger RX3040 Touchless/Leverless Tire Exchanger.

http://www.howeyindustries.com/touch...tallation.html

I have no personal experience with this machine but it does seem very interesting.

hyperion667

I never worrry about that concern; the guys and the equipment they use is tops....at Discount Tire.....

Yosheego

that is one nice machine. With all the money Pep Boy makes, they should invest at least one of this machine at their shop.

I wish we had a discount tire here. I'm in lafayette, La and they have a lot of mama and papa shops. I tried a few of them and they do still put marks on the wheels. I think I will need to drive further out to like Baton Rouge to even get it mounted properly.

alloutmk23

Yikes, sorry to hear about this Yosheego : /. Hurts even more because I have the same wheels!

Please go to a dicsount tire next time. The manager told me he would put his best guy on the job and even stood over his shoulder watching, as he installed and balanced mine.

Looking forward to seeing the 20's tho!