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Need Advice on Tire Shop Problem

N

novon

Diamond Member
I took my car with 6 month old tires to Les Schwabs today for a standard tire rotation. After they rotated the tires, I took it out and the whole car was shaking violently at 30+ mph. :|

I took it back in and they tried changing the tires to new ones, and it still shook, then they put the old ones back on and the shaking is still there.

After 4 hours and a lot of frustration, I left the car with them so they can figure out what is wrong. They say it's not the tires, but it was fine until they did the rotation.

Anyone know if from a legal standpoint can I hold them responsible for the apparent damages? I just took a 80 miles trip with the car last Sunday and it was working fine until the shop touched it.

Thanks
 
Sounds like the wheels were out of balance or else they bent something in the steering and threw the alignment off. It shouldn't take a tire shop that long to find the cause of such a problem.
 
And I don't think your 80 mile "odyssey" would damage your wheels, unless you drove through the worst potholes and rutted roads on earth, that is.
 
Originally posted by: HappyPuppy
Sounds like the wheels were out of balance or else they bent something in the steering and threw the alignment off. It shouldn't take a tire shop that long to find the cause of such a problem.
Click to expand...

I don't think it is the balance unless the tire shop is on crack because when you mount new tires you always reblance them.
 
Les Schwab's hasn't been the same ever since Les retired. I won't buy there anymore, as their service has collapsed while their prices have skyrocketed.

What kind of car is this? "Violent" shaking at only 30 mph would be very odd, like something was broken. Simple tire imbalances are usually not violent and usually don't show up until about 50 mph.

edit:
A warped rim could do it,if you moved the tire from the back to the front where it is the most noticable.
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Agreed, but even on the back a warped rim would have shown up to a discerning drives as a kind of "lumping" between 30-40 mph and then a vibration from roughly 50+. True that it would show up in steering wheel on the front though, and then any driver could pick it up.
I think you might be on the right track and, if so, I take back my negative comments about Schwab's. They would clearly not be at fault in this case if you are correct.
 
Sounds like they have some right-out-of-high-school employees that overtightened the lug nuts and bent/broke something. You should take the car elsewhere and find the damage, then go back and make them replace/fix it.

Chu, what's your malfunction?
 
I've been screwed over by Les Schwabs a couple times, no way I'm ever going back there, they have horrible customer service.
 
Thanks for the replies

It's a 1995 Acura Integra SE. They also tried to make me buy more expensive tires but I told them to keep the same brand and just put new ones on, but that didn't fix the problem.

The employees there seemed clueless. If they don't fix it, I guess I'll have to tow it to another shop and get an estimate, then go back and make them pay.

From a legal standpoint, what can I do? How can I prove they did something to the car?

I guess there are no good auto-shop, I can only recall bad experiences.
 
They called and they said the front axel CV joint needs replacing. They want to charge $170 to fix it. Is this a fair amount? Could the tire changing have cause the CV joint to malfunction? I want to know if this problem existed before or if they are responsible because it's suspicious that it started happening right after the tires were rotated.
 
Changing the tire could not do it. Have you heard a clicking noise while you turned, by any chance? $170 is not a bad price.
 
Originally posted by: novon
They called and they said the front axel CV joint needs replacing. They want to charge $170 to fix it. Is this a fair amount? Could the tire changing have cause the CV joint to malfunction? I want to know if this problem existed before or if they are responsible because it's suspicious that it started happening right after the tires were rotated.
Click to expand...

but will this fix your vibration problem? I've not really seen a CV joint/ axle boot failur cause vibration at 30mph.

My guess is a severely bent rim, out of round rim, or out of round tire.
 
My co-workers car just did this a few weeks ago after a tire rotation. Turned out to be the wheel bearings, which wasn't the tire shop's fault. I've normally heard of the CV causing that nasty clicking when you turn the wheel, never heard of a vibration, especially at 30mph.
 
Originally posted by: RagingBITCH
My co-workers car just did this a few weeks ago after a tire rotation. Turned out to be the wheel bearings, which wasn't the tire shop's fault. I've normally heard of the CV causing that nasty clicking when you turn the wheel, never heard of a vibration, especially at 30mph.
Click to expand...

wheel bearings on a honda are a pain to change. have to take out the whole spindle and press out the old and put in the new. but usually, the bearings would create a "groaning" noise.
 
Originally posted by: TechnoKid
Originally posted by: RagingBITCH
My co-workers car just did this a few weeks ago after a tire rotation. Turned out to be the wheel bearings, which wasn't the tire shop's fault. I've normally heard of the CV causing that nasty clicking when you turn the wheel, never heard of a vibration, especially at 30mph.
Click to expand...

wheel bearings on a honda are a pain to change. have to take out the whole spindle and press out the old and put in the new. but usually, the bearings would create a "groaning" noise.
Click to expand...

Hmm wait maybe it was a noise and not a vibration....sh!t I can't remember now 😱 He drives a Mitsu so it was covered under warranty though.
 
It's very heavy shaking (vibration) while in gear and in neutral at speeds around 30mph+. So do you think it's just a bearing problem or could it really be the cv joint? I'm thinking they caused the problem to milk money out of me, but I can't prove anything. All I know is was fine before and right after I drove it off their property it started shaking.
 
That's wierd. They must somehow got them out fo balance. But how could that happen because each tire/wheel should have been individually balanced. You should watch them do it. It's a 5 min job.
 
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