newFitOwner

I have a local chain change my tires at spring and after first snow fall. They also keep my tires in their storage, which is a very convenient because I would otherwise have to vacuum the car every time I transport the tires. That, and the fact that I highrise apartments generally don't allow residents to store their tires in the parking spot.

I'm trying to assess how much I trust the place that I bring it to. I'm a fairly new customer, having bought a 2013 Honda Fit at the end of 2013, and that being the first time I've brought the car into the tire place to get winter tires. Some things that I was puzzled about was that the tires had some significant imbalance in the pressure the first time I brought it there. Also, I've brought it back in to have adjust balance adusted because of a shudder at highway speeds. It improved slightly. More recently (this past winter), there was a significant shudder at highway speeds, which my regular mechanic corrected and described as a significant imbalance. However, it could have been that the weights got disturbed (maybe one fell off, I'm not sure) due to a rut in the road. I don't think it's tire age, because my round trip to work is about 25km.

I just had them change from my winter tires to my all-season tires. There is a slight but noticable pull to the left, corrected by a few degrees offset of the steering wheel. I'm wondering if it is reasonable to have the tire place look into this as part of the responsibility of changing the tire. They have a decent reputation, and I don't want to be the stick-in-the-mud client that foists all my problems on them. I spend long hours at my work, so making an extra trip to my regular mechanic is something I prefer not to do, plus he would have to drive away from the garage and drive it on the highway. If I had the tire place look into it, it would hopefully be in the same trip as the follow-up visit to tighten the torque nuts (they request a return trip after 80km to tighten the torque nuts). Of course, it is quite possible that they wouldn't be able to look into it in the same trip because the tire torquing is suppose to be a 5 minute job. However, if it is during a non-busy time, perhaps they can do whatever checks for causes of left-pull that are quick to do.

What would be considered reasonable practice in terms of expectations placed on a tire-changing business?

Aarron_M

Maybe they mounted the tires in a different order than they were previously and they need to "wear in"? I'd see if this improves over the next week vs stays the same or worsens. Then inquire.

newFitOwner

It has been about half a week. The steering wheel correction to keep the vehicle straight is 5-10 degrees.

lazlong

The next time you're at the convenience store or passing by the auto parts store get a tire pressure gauge and check the tire pressures yourself. They're about $5 at the convenience store and about $2 at the auto parts store. And it takes about 60 seconds to check/adjust tire pressure.

One side of the gauge measures tire pressure and the other side lets air out. Check the tire for maximum PSI (usually 32 or 36 PSI) and make both tires equal pressure under maximum PSI. If you need to add air, QuikTrip has free air, Racetrac and Valero have air but, you have to pay.

*You should be checking the tire pressure once a month anyways.
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As to the shop: If they can't even give you tires with equal pressure then I wouldn't go back.

newFitOwner

I check the air every other week. I make it a point to check the air after the tires are changed because they have not been very uniformly pressurized in the past. I've actually got the driver side tires about half a PSI higher than the passenger side but it's still pulling left. I'll mention it to them when I bring it in for a 2-minute nut torquing tomorrow, but I doubt they will diagnose it in such a way as to impose upon themselves time-wise.

claymore

Dude you mean they even make a gauge that can show a 1/2 psi difference. LOL

manxman

Yes dude- they've been available for years.

newFitOwner

Well, dudes, my gauge is analog, so I'm just eyeballing it. If it's half a graduation, it's half a PSI.