[Update 5] Shop installed the wrong tires.. Need some advice

Yeah all I have are pictures like the one attached.

At the end of the day even if I had close-up photos of each wheel, one could still argue that it's four pictures of the same undamaged wheel or that it was moved to each position on the truck (if somebody really wanted to go that far). To have any actual weight here, I believe I would need one continuous video where I am walking up to each wheel of the truck and showing it very closely/clearly, then asking Alexa for today's date or something like that so that you have additional proof that the actual time aligns with the timestamp of the resulting video file. In other words, I would have needed to make this video for protection just before taking my truck to the shop initially. And since I thought I was in good hands, I didn't create such a video. If there is anything that others can learn from my situation it's that you should always create some sort of back-up like this before you have anything done to your vehicle. (And also, the obvious: avoid shops like this in the first place if you can).

 

I'm not sure I would use that photo as proof. Looks like the tires were relatively new in that pic and I would guess sometime around 2021? Add to that you have mud tires on an off road truck. Trying to convince someone that your wheels were perfect after 4 years or more of use with a picture that shows use will be an uphill battle. If it were a mall queen, maybe, but looks like you use your truck.

 

Agreed, check my most recent post. There's pretty much no hard evidence that I can use here. It's going to come down to whether the shop owner believes me and feels compelled to do anything about it. If my spare wheel comes back and there's damage on it though, then that might change things a bit (it was a brand new wheel)

 

I would still check to see if the faux bead lock ring(s) are removeable and replaceable before I went any further...

 

The question to you is are you sure that there is no chance that damage was already there. How do you rationalize that it doesn't look fresh nor does it look like tool damage? That is what you need to be prepared to explain. Is there any chance in your mind at all that the damage may have already been there and you just now noticed it?

 

Oh I forgot to update on that. I reached out to Vuth from SCS and here is what they said about that:

 

When my truck only had like 2,500 miles on it I had to replace a tire due to road hazard. I went to Discount Tire and had the service writer inspect both sides of the wheel before I would let them replace the tire. When the work was done my wheel looked perfect so my word of advice here is anytime you have nice wheels do a before and after inspection with the installer to prevent this from happening. JMHO

I also removed the adhesive weights myself to prevent them from gauging my wheel. I never just assume anyone that touches my truck is going to be as meticulous as me.

 

I'm very observant of things like this and constantly inspect the condition of my stuff to make sure everything is holding up. But again, since I don't have hard proof, it doesn't really matter what I say about it to the shop. Regarding the bit about it not looking like tool damage, I think that's pretty subjective. I would find it hard to believe that a tool couldn't create damage like that of what is shown in the photos. It really depends on so many variables that I don't think one could rule out that it was caused by a tool of some sort.

 

If you're certain the damage wasn't there beforehand, have a conversation with the owner about it when you go to pick up your spare. Be respectful, but don't take no for an answer.

What that doesn't mean: don't go in and act a fool if they deny that they did the damage
What is does mean: Respectfully remind them of how many trips/money you've spent through this whole tire ordeal alone. You're an understanding person and are thankful they chose to right their wrong and get the correct tires on, even if it took longer/more trips than it should have. You want an opportunity to extend that same grace and have them cover the wheel repair bill (at the place of your choosing)(NOT 3-4 wheel replacements), and you'd love to leave this ordeal as a happy customer, ultimately pleased that their company owned up to mistakes, made you whole, and secured a life-long loyal customer (whether its BS or not). If you can articulate this conversation in a respectful and productive way, sternly pushing to be made whole/not accepting no as an answer, without trying to taunt legal threats or losing a customer (bc they don't care), you MIGHT have a chance.

My professional internet opinion; its road rash from the wheels being stacked/scuffed on the ground. They've had eyes on these wheels as much as you have lately; they know if they scuffed them.

 

I am not seeing signs of curb damage, when you ride a curb it puts a swirl scratch pattern on the wheel (and there is a lot of room on the rings), even if only the bead area... An even uniform long scratch is more of a sign of the wheel being on a turn table, where to a point it can not move, if the tool digs in either the tool pops out no longer making a mark, or the turn table stops turning, or the wheel pops out of the clamps... Turn tables can/will stop turning if the bead gets stuck and never make a mark on a wheel...

I am starting to wonder if those are not reverse mount wheels and they clamped them right side up instead of upside down... or maybe even the total opposite...

 

They are definitely not reverse mount. While possible to have tried that, if it was the clamps making the marks, there would be 4 marks and on all 4 wheels.

The hardest objection that the OP will have to over come is that those marks are not fresh. If that was recent, the metal would be bright and shiny.

 

Okay so I just went fully on-the-spectrum to get some more footage of the wheel damage. I used a flashlight with a high color rendering index to light up the wheel and recorded some video using a 4K cinema cam that has analog zoom. Got some shots at different exposure levels to balance out the brightness of the flashlight.

Anyways.. here's some of the shots. Make sure to set the quality to 4K in the YouTube player.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcBsX0sMjKv_vVLK59p1I0QlXR0oxZKCt

I noticed there's some yellow paint in two of the markings, and somehow it's even up in between the wheel lip and the tire.. Not sure what color the equipment was that was used to mount these, but that seems like it could be valuable info in this case. Again I don't really know much about what people use when putting tires on or taking them off, other than what DaveSR5 said in a previous reply. And I should add before anyone asks: It's been a few weeks since I've gone anywhere other than the same four or five places that I go to frequently. I work from home, so I'm not even driving daily unless I need to be at one of said places; none of these places have high curbs, or yellow anything for that matter.

Let me know what you guys think.

 

FWIW my opinion is it looks like tire installation damage to me. I’m sure you will get lots of feedback.

 

Wondering what the likelihood is that a shop still uses something like this.. Not sure if this is caveman tech compared to some of the newer equipment out there.

I'm considering going over there in a different vehicle (they haven't seen me before since this is the shop that the original tire shop subcontracted my tire job out to) and making up some story that I just ordered new tires and am looking for a shop that could mount them, but wanted to see what their equipment for doing so looked like. If they show me something like this then.. well?

 

Personally I would just go to the shop that farmed out your tire installation and politely express your concerns.

 

yeah that's the plan, just waiting on them to get the spare wheel finished so I can go up there and have this chat at the same time I pick that up. I'll let you know how it goes

 

IF and only if they were reverse mounted (by mistake?) then the 4 clamps are extended all the way out and would be brought in to clap the outside of the bead, the 4 clamps would need to have clamp covers over all 4 of them as to not scare the wheel, and just like the duck heads, they wear out and require replacing, if one clamp cover was worn out and the wheel slipped then it could scare the wheel...


That being said, if a frog had wings, it wouldn't hit it's ass every time it jumped...

 

No, that is for split rims for like 19.5's and 22.5's medium and heavy trucks (dump trucks etc)....

It would be something like the link below...

https://www.carliftparts.com/produc...b3SdWr65xZi7Huxkb_nX0clxGUfc0okYaAvcSEALw_wcB

 

What is the price difference between the two?

Seems like people are discounting the fact the some shops will pull stunts like this in the hopes that it will not be noticed.

heck it could have been an employee trying to pocket the difference.

Bummer on the poor workmanship that damaged wheels. Hope you get it all worked out.

 

Yeah I really hope that wasn't the case here, but I did wonder that too.

The difference in price is below:
LT285/70R17 C: $310/tire
285/70R17 SL: $282/tire

As far as what I actually paid, the shop agreed on $288/tire because I was also getting some TPMS sensors