Goodyear Service Center Frustration

[Esteban15]

So where to begin....

I took my new TE to goodyear to have a set of duratracs put on as they beat anyone elses price locally. Well first go around they put on a set of load E tires when i ordered load C's. So after a few days waiting on the correct tires to show up today i went to have them installed. Here's where the "fun" begins... They broke off a wheel stud on the front drivers side while torquing the wheel back on, strike one. After telling them there is no way they are doing the work to fix it and that i would be taking it to Toyota they agreed to reimberse the cost. Then before i signed any paper work i said hold on i was going to check my wheels for damage, strikes 2,3, and 4!!! three of the wheels have either scratches or chips from equipment and an impact gun. when i brought this to his attention he told me this was normal wear and tear from changing tires and wanted to know what i wanted him to do. REALLY?!?! I preceded to tell him I wanted them fixed or replaced as my vehicle only has 800 miles on it and they were they only people to have touched the wheels. He gave me attitude and repeated that this is normal to have happen. He was VERY lucky i was in uniform and could not proceede to choke him, i dont need the image of a military member choking out a civilian in front of a bunch of people to spread. not to mention i do not think that they are balanced correctly as i have a bit of vibration around 50mph + which was not present this morning with the E's. I just got off the phone with corporate goodyear's damage claims department and they said i have to try to resolve it with him first and if he refuses they will take over. looks like civilian clothes it is tomorrow. i hope for his sake he doesnt try to **** me around with these wheels.

on another note i love the tires, the C's fit my driving conditions and give a better ride for what i need. They are quiet for such an agressive tire.

 

[hamiltonj2w1]

Some scratches on the wheel from mounting and dismounting will happen along with scratches from the impact it sucks to say. My new wheels have scratches on them already since I have had them off and on several times along with different tires. Alot of people have had broken studs but I think it is from over torquing considering I have had mine off and on at least 10 times and no broken studs. I hope they figure it out and try and compensate you for it I would also have those tires rebalanced somewhere else I am running 285 BFG KM2's and don't have any vibrations good luck and sorry to hear about the bad luck

You take any pics of the scratches?

 

[mikey's2010SR5]

Why didn't you just keep the E-rated duratracs? They will hold up better in the rough stuff.

 

[Ryan_S]

Bummer man. I feel for ya. I had Tires Plus replace some wheels on my car a few years ago when their mouth breathing high school kid put big gouges in them with the mounting machine. I got the same BS from them, "that happens", "not our fault", etc.

I also ended up breaking 4 studs on my 4R myself after having the tires mounted at a Goodyear place. The dealer ended up replacing them under warranty, so you might try taking it to the dealer. The studs were obviously stretched on mine, I could hardly get the lug off the broken stud.

I would push them to replace the wheels that were damaged. Despite what others here may say, it is totally unacceptable to pay to have your tires changed and have some monkeys not take care of your ****. I've rotated my tires 100s of times, and have not scratched a rim once, never.

I started being up front about how critical I am, and that has worked for the most part. Last tires I got mounted were on freshly refinished BBS wheels, I told them up front they were very fragile and to be very careful. Still got one small chip, but it could have been much worse.

Good luck! :beer:

 

[Antman]

+1---- It is NOT normal to have your wheels scratched from a simple tire swap. My friend/neighbor manages the Tire Shop @ my work, and if they scratch a rim in any way during an install, it gets fixed. New equipment doesn't even touch the rim of the wheel. They should NEVER be installing the lug nuts with an impact wrench either. There is no way to tell how tight you are getting them (that's why the stud broke). A torque wrench needs to be used. Toyota has relatively low torque specs for the 'Runner compared to some other trucks/SUVs. I hate hearing stories like this!! Go choke the guy and make him pay for the damage. I wish you luck!!:redbrick::redbrick:

 

[4RNNR]

sorry to hear

You can request shops NOT to use an impact wrench

next time, tell them you want them put on with a lug wrench only, then WATCH them, to see that they do it

 

[osucowboy]

Thats why i purchased wheels and tires over the internet, broke the stock tires down on one side, pulled the sensors out and mounted the the new tires and wheels myself. Took it to a trusted tire shop for the balance and front end alignment camber caster adjustments with lift and aftermarket UCA's. Same goes for the corvette.....one can do major damage to the fiberglass rockers if its not lifted in the right places. I lurk in the background when anyone else is working on my toys.:girl:

 

[hamiltonj2w1]

Mine have scratches where the lugs are because american racing decided to make them small for some reason. Wheel scratches don't really bother me since it gets wheeled

 

[Esteban15]

I took it to toyota yesterday and left with a loaner vehicle. They are replacing all 24 wheel studs on the vehicle. I asked why and they said they had another 4runner earlier in the week have a wheel stud snap, when they called the regional service center he told them to keep the vehicle and replace all 24. Another interesting note is that he said they were told not to use the ones they had in stock but would have all 24 overnighted to them. It seems a bit odd that they would do that. i will try to gather more info tonight when i pick it up.

Issue #2 the balance, toyota said the tires were way out of balance and that good year had tripple stacked weights in some places. they rebalanced them and said all is well. goodyear is paying for the rebalance.

Also i got a quote of $140 per wheel flat rate to fix them. I will be calling the goodyear shop in a few minutes to give them the quote. we'll see how this goes...