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

Putting the updates up top for visibility; original post with its TL;DR at the bottom.

Update 1: (14JAN) Went up to the shop today and the owner was away tending to some family stuff. So nothing happened today other than the employees being made aware of the issue. I know I could have called first but I wanted to bring this up in person for the first time - and with the owner directly - so that I know it would be a genuine exchange and not something that they've had some time to think/strategize on. Anyways.. that ship has sailed, so we will see how it goes when I go up there tomorrow. At this point, if the shop were to give me a few hundred bucks back - which is likely still below what it would cost them to correct this - I would consider it.. I could pick up some 17" wheels somewhere for the other mud tires they just took off and use those if I were going somewhere where I feel the extra rigidity would be necessary. But we will see, if whatever they propose doesn't seem worth it then I'll just opt to have the correct tires put on as originally requested. If you guys have any ideas on a better proposition, I'd appreciate your insight. Just trying to explore whether there's a way that both parties can still come out of this without the sourness of having wasted a lot of time and money.

Update 2: (16JAN) I called the shop Wednesday morning (15JAN) and the owner still was out unfortunately. So for some reason they put me on a 3-way call: myself, an employee, and the shop owner. Anyways, they were saying (paraphrasing here) "Hey so we sent a chart over to you that we can have a look at together, there's really not too much of a difference in the ones you have versus the other ones." I had a work meeting in like 1 minute so I said that I'll have a look at the chart and give you a call back. After my meeting, I go and look at the chart, and - no joke - it's the chart from Nitto's website that I've been looking at for the past year and a half.. The one that the screenshot on this very post is from (lol). So I called them back and said that I'm very familiar with the chart, it's something I've been referencing quite often over the past year and half while considering what a better tire option would be than my then-current mud tires. They were making an effort to try and convince me to keep the ones I had installed - and I understand - I would probably try the same thing if I were in their position. But I mentioned that I specifically wanted the C load rated tires for that extra durability when I'm out in the sticks, no cell service, with 4 people in the cab, a bed full of camping gear, coolers, a couple of full 83L cases on the cab rack, etc. and they agreed. They understood and will be ordering the LT285 tires and doing a complete swap on Friday at zero cost to me. I'm pretty happy that they are making right by the mistake and I didn't have to argue with them about it. Seems that that is becoming more rare these days. ANYWAYS, looks like something good will come from this, I'll have gotten to experience how passenger rated tires look and feel on the truck before I change them over to the LT285s. I'll take some pictures of both sets on the truck and post them back on here soon. I imagine these will be helpful for future reference for people who are on the fence between these two similar tire sizes.

Update 3: (17JAN) So I just got a ride up to the shop to pick up the truck. New tires are on there, they look great. I open the tailgate and cap door to look at the spare and...... wait for it.......... the spare still has the other SL tire on it. WHAT THE FUCK. I AM GOING TO LOSE MY FUCKING MIND. I check my dashcam when I get home and I literally have audio of one of the 3rd party tire people they work with saying "I guess I was supposed to fix that too but nobody said anything so I'm not doin' it!"... Now, I can't be 100% certain that he was referring to the spare, cause this was right after the truck was started and the camera hadn't started capturing yet.. but contextually, it'd be pretty hard to believe that this statement weren't about the one thing that was, in fact, not fixed.. So now I get to make a fifth (sixth maybe? I've lost count) trip up there on Monday to pick up my spare, assuming they even have it ready by then. This entire thing has been such a colossal failure of an experience. What I really want to know is whether they ordered 5 LT tires when they made the second order or if they only ordered 4. Doubtful that I'll get an honest answer on that though. The saga continues. I'll post more details as I learn more info about who dropped the fucking ball here.

Update 4: (21JAN) Shop still has my spare wheel. Apparently the 5th tire was scheduled to arrive yesterday (20JAN), but I haven't heard anything back from the shop about whether that actually happened and/or if it's ready. I noticed 3/4 of the wheels are all marred up from when the tires were swapped the second time (video here). Sent these to the owner at their request and haven't heard back since. At this point I just want to cut my losses and get outta this situation, I'm sick of driving over there at rush hour just to discover that I'll have to come back when something else is ready.

Update 5: (25JAN) I went into the shop yesterday morning (21JAN) and talked to the owner while the other techs were getting my TPMS sensors paired. Owner does think that one of the shops caused the damage and we discussed next steps. I had previously expressed interest in a set of wheels to put my older mud tires on and he said if I wanted to do that then he could sell me four wheels at cost. I said I would think about that, but would also like to get some quotes on wheel repair for the three wheels that are damaged. I'll skip the back-and-forth, but eventually he said that if I get a quote for wheel repair, he would refund me the amount that was quoted. Additionally, I asked for the extra $100 back that I paid to have the wheels and tires "carefully" unmounted to avoid damage to the wheels and tires and then he gave me a $100 bill on the spot.
All in all, this was a drawn out series of unfortunate events but I do think they did their best at making things right in the end. I was never trying to get any freebies out of this whole thing, I just stuck to the originally agreed upon deal. Nearly two weeks and seven or eight trips later, the job is finally done. I got the spare wheel back and TPMS sensors are working. I can even see the temperature of each tire with the receiver / head unit that I have so that's pretty cool. Anyways, I'm gonna get a quote from a repair shop and see how much that'll cost, hopefully get that amount refunded from this shop and then move on.


Thanks all who have taken the time to read and provide input.

Original post below this line:

Hey gang. I could use some opinions on how to proceed.

I bought my 3G Tacoma around three years ago, and when I bought it, there were already Nitto Trail Grapplers on it (33x12.50R17LT E 120Q). So I'm used to the driving experience of 10-ply rated mud tires on stock gears. Super bumpy, loud at speed, 15 MPG, the decelerating as soon as you let off the gas (without even braking..).

Fast forward to now.. I wanted to get some new tires that were a better match for my use case. I have to say that the mud tires were fantastic when off-road, but given that this is my only vehicle, I wanted some all-terrain / hybrid tires so I could have a more comfortable driving experience without sacrificing too much of the reliability and off-road performance that the mud tires provided. I decided that 6-ply rated Ridge Grapplers would be the best choice for this.

Well I went to the shop to pick up my truck yesterday evening, it's dark, I see the tires are on there, all looks fine. I get home and see them in the garage with the lights on, and when I look close enough, these aren't actually the same ones I told the shop to get. Very similar, but not the ones I wanted. The ones they put on were (285/70R17 116Q). The main difference being that one is a passenger rated tire while the other is a light truck rated tire. As Nitto explained to me on the phone, the sidewall of the LT tire is more rugged/durable. Also there's a noticeable difference in the tread depth (see attached spec sheet).


TL;DR: I purchased a new set of tires + 1 spare from a shop:

What I requested:

• 5 x Nitto Ridge Grappler Tire (LT285/70R17 C 116/113Q)

What they installed:

• 5 x Nitto Ridge Grappler Tire (285/70R17 116Q)

What would you do? Try to claw some money back from the shop and live with it? Or try to negotiate with the shop to reconcile?

 

Go back to the shop with receipt in hand, tell them what you just stated here, and tell them to fix it. Always be polite, but persistent.

 

I guess since I'm not exactly a tire expert, I'm wondering if there would be a difference in performance and reliability that's enough to say that this would be worth doing versus just getting a partial refund, albeit hopefully a generous one.

If they refunded you, say 40-50%, would you live with these or would you still opt to have this corrected?

 

Eh, the financial side of it is your call.
That being said if you plan to wheel/trail ride at all in the next 70k miles I would want the comfort of knowing I have some kind of decent side wall. But that's also dependent on the terrain that you off road on. If its something low key like beach driving or sandy trails those tires would probably hold up ok assuming you don't hit a buried rock or piece of driftwood. Anything beyond that though I would minimum want the load C.

So personally for my own needs, I wouldn't take any sort of refund option, just the tires that I originally paid for.

 

If you do any off pavement travel to remote locations, riding on an LT tire is highly recommended IMO.

Cheers

 

Damn. This is pretty much where I was leaning. Part of me was hoping that some tire-head on here would say that there'd be no difference and to get some money back and call it a day.

 

Thanks for the input. I agree with you on the "remote" bit. It's not uncommon that I'm in places where I don't have cell signal and having the extra meat from the LT tire would be a lot more reassuring.

 

Yeah unfortunately there is a difference. Also, you wouldn't want to accept a partial refund, blow a tire, and then have to pay for a whole new set all over again. IMO too much risk involved there.
If the shop is even half decent they should fix it for you without charge. Hopefully you have the paper trail showing your original request. They would have to honor it at that point.

 

I looked at my invoice and thankfully it does say "LT28570R17 Ridge Grappler". It doesn't have the C 116/113Q on there, but it does have the LT. If they don't consider that sufficient evidence then I would be pretty shocked.

 

Who ever pulled the tires simply pulled the wrong tires, the article number (stock number) is one number off, I have made that mistake as well as I have seen many others do the same over the years, the POS system that we used would have caught the oops when entering the DOT numbers to the government (incase of recall), but most smaller shops will not...

I agree with TS4x4 above.
Simply take your invoice with you back to the tire shop and ask to speak to a manager and nicely ask them to take care of it or refund the difference...

 

Thanks for taking the time to reply. I'm gonna go back there this afternoon and see how it goes. I'll follow up here with an update once I have some new info to share.

 

Proof is in the pudding. Should be a written estimate on the exact tires you requested

 

Tell them they ordered the wrong ones. Im sure they will just take the pt ones off and sell them to someone. Hopefully they will replace with correct tire free of charge

 

I know the manufacturers make the numbers up, but one thing that stick out to me is the weight capacity. The p-metrics have a 1lbs higher rating at a lower psi. Oddly the p-metrics are 9 lbs heavier. Is that weight from the extra 3/32 of tread? That would add some, but the differences here is really splitting hairs. I seriously doubt they will offer you more than 10% of a refund to keep those tires. They are going to tell you that they are the same and you got what you paid for. Your invoice showing LTs will be your arguing point. If you really want to split hairs, measure the tread on your new tires to see if they are indeed as stated. Often times manufacturers will sell the same tire with different published specs. They do this because car manufacturers will dictate specs for OE tires and that is why you will sometimes see similar tires like this. All specs are nominal and no one verifies them.

One thing I would do is compare the plys to the P-metric and LT. On the sidewall it will state the number of body plies and tread plies. The LT should have more plies. In the old days this is where the idea of a 6 ply or 8 ply tires was determined. You would have 4 body plies and 2 tread plies to make a 6 ply tire. Modern tires use a rating system. You can have a 6 ply tire that only has 4 physical plies. Anyway, just another thing to compare.

 

The p-metrics are 9 lbs lighter, I think you may have mixed up the rows. But that aside, I tried to find out the info on the plies for the LT Ridge Grappler and couldn't find it anywhere. I can only share what I know is true which was printed on the sidewall of the tires I have.

Ridge Grappler (285/70R17 116Q)

PLIES:

Tread: 2 steel, 2 polyester, 1 nylon
Sidewall: 2 polyester​

Trail Grappler (33x12.50R17LT E 120Q)

PLIES:

Tread: 2 steel, 3 polyester, 2 nylon
Sidewall: 3 polyester​

The drive home last night, going from 10-ply mud tires to the 4-ply (I'm assuming?) of the non-LT all-terrain tires, was honestly a crazy difference. I know that's obvious but wow I gotta say it was a much more comfortable ride. Makes me wonder if I should just throw the four mud tires on different set of wheels and just put those on when I plan to go off-road / out in the sticks and just throw them on when I need them.

 

FWIW, I only off-road on 4PR tires. My first set of tires were 10PR and I didn't get anywhere near the grip from them that I get from the 4PR tires. As for puncture resistance, I have wheeled HARD in Disney, OK where there are some of the sharpest rocks I've ever seen and never had a tread or sidewall gash. I'll never go back to 10PR tires again...

 

This is simple. Demand they do what you asked them to do.

 

A "C" rated tire is considered LT. Apparently you wanted "E" rated tires and there was a miscommunication.

If you paid for C rated LT tires I'd probably ride with what I have. If you paid for E rated tires and got C rated tires you are due a refund or new tires. If you paid for C rated tires and wanted E rated tires they will probably do it for you, but you will pay extra. As you should.

 

What kind of tires were you running?

That's not what happened though. The invoice says LT because that's what I ordered and paid for. They didn't put LT tires on at all, they put on standard load 28570R17 tires.