cbechtold's Long Travel IFS Crawler Tacoma Build and BS Thread

It is that easy. Deflate the tires as the car is getting hoisted up on a lift, remove all 4 wheel/tire, dismount/mount and balanced. Re-installed and back out of the shop. 30 to 45 minutes later for most vehicles, customer is on their way.

IDK why some shop take 2+ hours (not including the wait time) after putting the vehicle on a lift to change 4 simple tire.

 

Nice, how do you like that? Through college I was a server/bartender. Few summers I thought about getting into a tire shop as a day job. But ultimately I was too lazy hahah and decided to stick to the one job. Those days are long behind me now.

 

It does seem that simple, and to some extent it is with most cars. Best practices wise, we don't air down tires as we're lifting the vehicle, and we always brush hubs before we move over to the tire changer. Most customers for us are in and out in less than an hour and that is especially true if they have an appointment. That pretty much guarantees an hour or less for them. Most of the time it's less, on rare occasions something comes up that causes that to not be true.

2 hours is nuts for 4 new tires. Our backroom lead goal is car out in 13 minutes or less. Most 4 new installs take around 15 minutes. Harder installs (run flats) can take 20 to 30 minutes and sometimes upwards of 45 minutes. It just depends on the tire and vehicle it's going on. The longest I've seen a car sit in the Bay has been around an hour and that was because of a crack in the rim while dismounting the old tire.

 

You sound like a Discount Tire guy.

 

It's fun, but I enjoy staying busy. I can't sit still for long unless I'm gaming or doing something that keeps me occupied for a long duration. Best part of the job is the camaraderie among everyone. Joking around and racing each other is a blast. Definitely the hardest part of the job is the first month. You'll be aching for a while as you acclimate to the abuse your body takes each day, especially since the full time guys work 11 hours a day 6 days a week. The toughest part for me was asking for help. I'm very stubborn where if I can't do something myself, I do feel like a failure, but it's just who I am. I've gotten better at asking for help when I'm stuck on an assembly (reverse mount rims are pain), but it's part of me can't help and say why could I figure that out and then proceed to feel like a failure.

 

America's Tire here in California, but you'd be correct.

 

I did some assistant managing for them. Its a good gig.

 

Nice! I have no idea how long I'll be apart of the company, but I'm very much enjoying my time right now.

 

Apprentice tech is the best position in my opinion, if you make it that long. I envy the year round warmth you guys have in CA.

 

Both my boss and supervisors say they think I'll enjoy Service Coordinator more than anything, but that is their favorite roll so I guess it's probably a little bit of bias.

The warmth is definitely very nice, but I get the feeling I'll be ordering some more breathable clothing when summer time comes around and it's 90 degrees outside.

 

I would agree with that!
In Germany beer is taxed the absolute minimum that the EU requires because they consider it an essential food item like vegetables or bread.

 

Ive got a couple friends at discount and they’ve all said it’s a really good company to work for too

 

Goodies from Eimkeith showed up today.

 

Spiker Engineering Hood Struts installed. Super impressed how easy this was. Finally don't have to work around the factory hood prop anymore.


PXL_20210228_181856347 by Cory Bechtold, on Flickr

Also installed new accessory belts while at it. The old squeaky belts are now trail spares since I didn't have any before.


PXL_20210228_205657737 by Cory Bechtold, on Flickr

 

I guess I'm gusseting everything up front. TC coil bucket gussets are here as well as new steering rack bushings.



Only waiting on few things before I can start digging into the front end.

 

The fit on the coil buckets suck btw. PITA.

 

Oh I've known the fitment is "okay." I remember watching you get those in a while ago and with the same Icon UCAs I have on order.

 

Also just so I don't forget the TW peeps. I made a mistake in Photoshop Fab that I really want.



In the short team, regear/front locker, 35s, and the rest of the goodies I've bought will be coming before anything. This probably wouldn't become a project until later this year.

 

I'm just hoping that my tires and UCAs get here in a reasonable amount of time. Truck is going to be getting dialed before Summer time.