moosejaw

I recently had Bridgestone KDWs mounted at a garage. The owner is my freinds dad and they had trouble installing this KDW as the tire was rigid. Anyways while washing the car over xmas, i saw these two fresh scratches that are perpendicular to he face of the rim. I swore that was not there before?

I txt my freind this pic and he doesnt think it's his shop's machine that did this? He has a brand new Hunter with like two arms and they paid a pretty penny for it. I question the installer's experience as the last time i took tires there, it took close to to two hours to mount a pair of Bridgestone RE01 245/35/19

So what do you guys think? Did his whel mounter cause these two scratches? They look too perfect and deep to be random scratches.

I'd rather not stir the pot as it's my freind and his dad is really nice but i know he will flip if i place the burden to refinish them on the shop. Im not looking for a handout, just advice. If it's a lesson learned not to use that shop and i pay for to fix the damage then so be it.

danlnyc

TWO HOURS? for a PAIR? I would definitely question the installers experience.
It should take less than ten minutes to mount both sides.

danlnyc

also, if you had the model # of the Hunter I could probably help you out there. I'm in the tire business

moosejaw

I just know it;s a new hunter that can do up to 28" rim.
He specifically bought the machine to do big wheels.
Also the face of the rim was down during mounting.
Does this help?

kustom2k1

What else could cause the scratches? Seems reasonable to think the shop damaged the wheels..2 deep symmetrical lines. I would look at the machine and see what could have caused it. Maybe you'd be doing your friend a favor by bringing it to his attention. Sorry bout the rim MJ.

02S430

is it in only one spot or at certain points through out the wheel, if so the I would say its part of the machine that grips the wheel to hold it on the machine or the arm that puts the tire on

moosejaw

I'm going to put stocks on tnt and then bring the wheel to lunch with me tmmrw to show my freind.
The scratches are pretty deep. I dont remember seeing if there are more scratches that are consistent with these.

nanayaw6

and this

Those marks def look like tool/machine marks

02S430

you got 3 straight lines and one on the lip as if it scratched as it was spinning, any other ones, what about the other wheel? or on the back lip

alltrac

yep...thats 99% positive during the install and lack of experience...probably not from the machine, but using some kind of tool to pry on the tires...seen this a few times...

jagata

Totally agree with Alltrac, I would just point it out to them and put it behind you, don't burn any bridges.

komp55

I will wager the shop's new machine is one of the "table mount" Hunter machines, such as the TCX575. Since you've indicated that they mounted the tire with the rim outer face down, those marks are most likely where the table top clamping system "grabbed" the rim. The machine operator is a moron to make an error like this; there's no excuse for this kind of damage. He probably wasn't trained to used the machine correctly.

But the reality is, run, don't walk, away from any tire shop that's using table clamp machines on nice rims. You need to find a shop that has a Hunter TC3700 series changes, or a Hunter Auto28 changer, and someone who knows how to use it correctly.

02S430

exactly what i said the "grippers" im surprised it isnt in a few other areas as he might have realized it but was to late

tbal

Agree.

Ouch, those are deep. Hopefully they sort it out for you!

emoving

Def looks like a tool mark.

RedBullJnky

Damn Amdrew, that sucks! I wouldn't let them mess with your wheels anymore.

BTW your wheel is dirty. LMFAO JK.

moosejaw

Yeah they are a b*tch to keep clean
While they are off......Im going to shine it up with Po Boy Polish

urbamworm

There are usually plastic/rubber pieces that go over the metal pieces that grab the wheels and it may have been missing one of the plastic/rubber caps on that particular grabbing point. It couldn't have been from a tool prying on the wheel like mentioned above since the wheels are mounted from the back side of the wheel on that style of wheel. Then you also mentioned the face was down so they would be prying on the back side. It was definitely from one of the four arms which I would be willing to bet was missing the plastic/rubber cap.

moosejaw

We have a winner
Thank you Mr Worm

novae500

You are the man!!! Give really good info on all of your posts. I just take a pic of the post and save on my iphone for future reference when need to order parts, deal with tire related questions!!!

stevieg

It certainly makes it awkward when it is a friend. However, they know how important your car is and how you maintain it. So, they will either step up and accept responsibility and apologize and fix it back to how it was or they will go the other path and deny everything and then you risk losing a friend.
Several years ago I had my NSX in a wheel shop getting some new wheels put on and then went on vacation. The next day, the wheel guy somehow let the jack handle fly back and it hit and dented my rear quarter panel. The owner knew it was an accident, but stepped up and without even wanting to ruin my vacation, contacted Acura, ordered a new body panel and had their paint shop spray it like new. I got back and he told me the story.
Mistakes happen, but there is nothing worse than finding out about it later and not being told the truth.
Good luck. Hopefully they will square things with you. You're car looks great.

moosejaw

Yeah my freind saw the wheel and agreed that the two scratches arent from my carelessness. He is going to cover the damage out of his own pocket and not tell his dad about it. He plans on having a sit down with everyone at the shop and school them on the aftermarket rims scene.

kustom2k1

Good news and helps the shop from getting a bad rep....

02S430

+1