Preventing Wheel Damage
05-09-2018, 04:33 PM
#1
AudiWorld Member
Thread Starter
Preventing Wheel Damage
As most of us Audi owners are very attentive to our cars, I would like to pose a question about preventing wheel damage... and I am not talking about outside forces like pot holes or rocks or what have ya. I am talking about the careless techs that service our tires and wheels. My recent experience with a tire rotation at Discount tire has left some minor scratches on my 18” black optics wheels just by taking off the lug nuts. Like wtf... is there anything that can be done to minimize this? After the fact I thought that maybe I should have put some tape around the circumference of the lug nut cavities? Well too late. But I want to be prepared for when I get new tires. I know this may sound like a silly post, but what do you guys do ahead of time or tell the techs to not f up your expensive wheels? Or maybe Discount tire is not a place to go? I just thought that a place that specializes in tires and wheels and nothing else would know how to handle things with care...
05-09-2018, 05:32 PM
#2
AudiWorld Super User
In the late fall when I brought my tires and wheels to get changed to the snow tires/wheels I brought them to our local Firestone dealer - where we have gotten this done on my cars and my wife's cars for a few years now. They are generally competent, but can be sloppy. Some months ago, I noticed the retractable trunk storage cover wasn't working properly and I traced it back to the guys at Firestone not being careful when placing the AS tires/wheels in the back of the car. Audi took care of it. When I brought my Allroad there a few weeks ago to swap the snows back to the AS's, I told the sales agent about it and this time if there were to be a problem, it's on them.
Long story short, next time - if you don't want to deal with them about the current "damage," speak to the manager before hand and let them know what happened and that they need to take way more care when dealing with your car.
Long story short, next time - if you don't want to deal with them about the current "damage," speak to the manager before hand and let them know what happened and that they need to take way more care when dealing with your car.
05-09-2018, 05:39 PM
#3
AudiWorld Senior Member
I bought a jack and I change from summer to winter and back myself. I wrap black electrical tape around the outside of the 17 mm socket so it cannot scratch the wheels.
If you are going to have someone else do the tire changeover I recommend that you remove the plastic lug bolt caps yourself. These can only be removed cleanly with the plastic tool which came with your car or locking lug nuts. If you go to a tire shop and they do not have that tool and they do not know where to find it in your car the will probably try to pry off the caps with some metal tool and that is guaranteed to scratch the wheels.
If you are going to have someone else do the tire changeover I recommend that you remove the plastic lug bolt caps yourself. These can only be removed cleanly with the plastic tool which came with your car or locking lug nuts. If you go to a tire shop and they do not have that tool and they do not know where to find it in your car the will probably try to pry off the caps with some metal tool and that is guaranteed to scratch the wheels.
05-09-2018, 08:34 PM
#4
AudiWorld Super User
As most of us Audi owners are very attentive to our cars, I would like to pose a question about preventing wheel damage... and I am not talking about outside forces like pot holes or rocks or what have ya. I am talking about the careless techs that service our tires and wheels. My recent experience with a tire rotation at Discount tire has left some minor scratches on my 18” black optics wheels just by taking off the lug nuts. Like wtf... is there anything that can be done to minimize this? After the fact I thought that maybe I should have put some tape around the circumference of the lug nut cavities? Well too late. But I want to be prepared for when I get new tires. I know this may sound like a silly post, but what do you guys do ahead of time or tell the techs to not f up your expensive wheels? Or maybe Discount tire is not a place to go? I just thought that a place that specializes in tires and wheels and nothing else would know how to handle things with care...
I realized that my wheels had been taken off, because I always put my wheel locks in the hole directly opposite the valve stem, so I can find them faster. Well, the locks were now located in different places on my wheels. Fearing that they had rotated my tires and that I was about to undo what they had done, I called my dealership. A service tech informed me that they don't rotate tires (esp. on quattro-equipped cars; "it's not necessary," he said), but they do remove the wheels when replacing brake fluid.
You'd think that the dealership, which is going to be graded on its performance -- via a questionnaire from Audi -- would be more careful with these things.
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05-10-2018, 02:45 AM
#6
AudiWorld Member
+1 on doing it yourself. If you have space to store, then you can do a better job: No scratches, proper torque etc.
Let the tire shop do it and your wheels will inevitably get scratched, and you may find yourself fighting an overtightened lug nut on the side of the road whilst dealing with a flat.
Let the tire shop do it and your wheels will inevitably get scratched, and you may find yourself fighting an overtightened lug nut on the side of the road whilst dealing with a flat.
05-10-2018, 07:14 AM
#7
AudiWorld Senior Member
As most of us Audi owners are very attentive to our cars, I would like to pose a question about preventing wheel damage... and I am not talking about outside forces like pot holes or rocks or what have ya. I am talking about the careless techs that service our tires and wheels. My recent experience with a tire rotation at Discount tire has left some minor scratches on my 18” black optics wheels just by taking off the lug nuts. Like wtf... is there anything that can be done to minimize this? After the fact I thought that maybe I should have put some tape around the circumference of the lug nut cavities? Well too late. But I want to be prepared for when I get new tires. I know this may sound like a silly post, but what do you guys do ahead of time or tell the techs to not f up your expensive wheels? Or maybe Discount tire is not a place to go? I just thought that a place that specializes in tires and wheels and nothing else would know how to handle things with care...
When it's time to get my wheels changed (e.g. summers switched for winters), I take my S4 to a well-regarded independent BMW & Audi specialty shop that has a very clean lobby with windows into also-very-clean service bay, an extremely setup track-tuned E36 M3 and a few other bimmers, as well as a couple vintage restored Vespas sitting in the lobby to ogle as well as an elderly Golden Retriever shop dog that hangs around and brings me toys to throw while I wait. These guys care about their cars, charge extremely fair prices, work quickly but carefully, and are friendly to boot. They are a bit of a drive across town to get to, but all the best places always are.
So the solution is, find the version of this in your community and go there -- or do it yourself.
Edit: shoutout to Orr Autosport!
Last edited by mplsbrian; 05-10-2018 at 07:18 AM.
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05-10-2018, 08:25 AM
#8
AudiWorld Member
Thread Starter
As far as rotating tires goes, I am all for doing it myself and will likely do it myself going forward. But when it comes to putting on a new set of tires and balancing, thats something I can't do myself for obvious reasons. Most of the tire shops I know around me are very rough around the edges that cant afford Hunter state of the art equipment for balancing, which leaves me with a conundrum. There in an abundance of Firestone, Grismore, Dicount Tire, and Tire Discounters shops but as we know, their care for someone else's property is just non existent.
Anyone in the Columbus, Dayton, Cincinnati area - please chime in with recommendations if you know of a local version of "Orr Autosport"
Anyone in the Columbus, Dayton, Cincinnati area - please chime in with recommendations if you know of a local version of "Orr Autosport"
05-10-2018, 08:37 AM
#9
AudiWorld Senior Member
Paging user markcincinnati (though I'm pretty sure the dealer does most/all of his work)
The other thing you'll have success with is finding your local Audi club's Facebook group. I am sure you guys have one. We have one in Minnesota and they are super good about sharing who doesn't suck when asked for suggestions. Through it I found my clear bra installer, my tint guy, a detailer who works mostly on audis, a PDR guy, and a shop that straightened my 2 bent 19" wheels (thanks, potholes) to better-than-factory runout without effing up the finish. (Orr Autosport was a family member's recommendation, my father has been going there for wheel swaps for years.)
The other thing you'll have success with is finding your local Audi club's Facebook group. I am sure you guys have one. We have one in Minnesota and they are super good about sharing who doesn't suck when asked for suggestions. Through it I found my clear bra installer, my tint guy, a detailer who works mostly on audis, a PDR guy, and a shop that straightened my 2 bent 19" wheels (thanks, potholes) to better-than-factory runout without effing up the finish. (Orr Autosport was a family member's recommendation, my father has been going there for wheel swaps for years.)
05-10-2018, 01:51 PM
#10
Wow, I can't believe I'm reading this. I was about to post a similar story last night and forgot to. Yesterday, I was rotating my tires (I do it myself, because I don't trust anybody else to touch my car), when I noticed some small nicks and gouges on my wheels -- mostly in the lug-nut cavities. Wtf? Then I remembered that two weeks ago, I took my car to the dealership for its second Audi Care warranty service. Among other things, they replaced my brake fluid and bled my brakes.
I realized that my wheels had been taken off, because I always put my wheel locks in the hole directly opposite the valve stem, so I can find them faster. Well, the locks were now located in different places on my wheels. Fearing that they had rotated my tires and that I was about to undo what they had done, I called my dealership. A service tech informed me that they don't rotate tires (esp. on quattro-equipped cars; "it's not necessary," he said), but they do remove the wheels when replacing brake fluid.
You'd think that the dealership, which is going to be graded on its performance -- via a questionnaire from Audi -- would be more careful with these things.
.
.
.
I realized that my wheels had been taken off, because I always put my wheel locks in the hole directly opposite the valve stem, so I can find them faster. Well, the locks were now located in different places on my wheels. Fearing that they had rotated my tires and that I was about to undo what they had done, I called my dealership. A service tech informed me that they don't rotate tires (esp. on quattro-equipped cars; "it's not necessary," he said), but they do remove the wheels when replacing brake fluid.
You'd think that the dealership, which is going to be graded on its performance -- via a questionnaire from Audi -- would be more careful with these things.
.
.
.