Ongoing General Automotive Thread 2.0

[you&me]

Originally Posted by Bill Bumface

^Any detail shop you can recommend? I have a rock that went right through my 3M and chipped my hood. Been procrastinating for like 4 years getting that fixed.

Unfortunately, no... we ended up trading the car in without fixing the damage.

That said, any area with clear bra coverage is better suited to a more, um, casual fix. In your case, a shop should be able to colour-match and fill the chip, polish to 'blend' the chip and recover with film... no matter how good the film, it will always obscure to some degree and make things like repaired chips less noticeable.

[WhiteTiger]

My current mechanic shop has ground my last gear with them. Anyone have any recc's for shops, particularly in the NE?

[DoubleK]

Originally Posted by WhiteTiger

My current mechanic shop has ground my last gear with them. Anyone have any recc's for shops, particularly in the NE?

I've been happy with Gigantelli on 16 AVE NE. Just east of Centre St.

[GreenLantern2814]

It’s ridiculous the Nordschleife exists - imagine seeing a race at this place without semi-modern television displays.

You get to see the cars for a few seconds and then wait for them to drive 21 kilometres.

Least-efficient thing Germany’s done since Barbarossa.

[nik-]

Could be worse, could be rally.

[you&me]

Originally Posted by nik-

Could be worse, could be rally.

Why not both?

Imagine the early days before the track was paved. Man, those guys were truly insane.

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by you&me

Why not both?

Imagine the early days before the track was paved. Man, those guys were truly insane.

The guys who do it now are insane lol.

The entire time I watched the AMG One lap, I was thinking “driving this fast on this track is a bad idea in any car for any person.”

[speede5]

I went for a taxi ride a couple years ago in a GT3RS and it was amazing. The track is so narrow and harsh in parts, Kerbs are massive, so many corners I don’t know how they can memorize the track. My driver raced 24 hr races there and said we were running around a 7 min lap when we had the space. A car with a mechanical issue caused us to slow for a section but otherwise it was flat out.

[photon]

So for people who have 2 different sets of wheels for summer/winter, do you have to get an alignment whenever you swap?

I've had zero success finding wheels that have the same offset as the OEM rims unless I get them custom ordered (which is possible, just takes a while). If there's a substantial offset difference between the summer and winter rims wouldn't I have to get an alignment every time I swap?

[Brendone]

Originally Posted by photon

So for people who have 2 different sets of wheels for summer/winter, do you have to get an alignment whenever you swap?

I've had zero success finding wheels that have the same offset as the OEM rims unless I get them custom ordered (which is possible, just takes a while). If there's a substantial offset difference between the summer and winter rims wouldn't I have to get an alignment every time I swap?

Shouldn’t need an alignment when changing tires. If you have a different OD from OEM, your speedometer will be off a bit. My winters are slightly smaller OD than the summers, so I’m going a touch slower than the speedometer says in the winter (built in safety feature?).

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by photon

So for people who have 2 different sets of wheels for summer/winter, do you have to get an alignment whenever you swap?

I've had zero success finding wheels that have the same offset as the OEM rims unless I get them custom ordered (which is possible, just takes a while). If there's a substantial offset difference between the summer and winter rims wouldn't I have to get an alignment every time I swap?

What type of vehicle? Just go to tire rack and punch your year and model in their wheels section. They will only list plug and play wheels/tires with offsets close to factory that fit without modification. Even if you don't order from them it provides the brand and spec of wheels that will work on your car. Unless your car is obscure or exotic you shouldn't have too difficult a time finding wheels.

Also no you do not require an alignment when swapping tires. If the tires you take off have signs of uneven wear then you may want to get the alignment checked so you don't wear down the new tires.

[iamajai]

Originally Posted by photon

So for people who have 2 different sets of wheels for summer/winter, do you have to get an alignment whenever you swap?

I've had zero success finding wheels that have the same offset as the OEM rims unless I get them custom ordered (which is possible, just takes a while). If there's a substantial offset difference between the summer and winter rims wouldn't I have to get an alignment every time I swap?

Don't think offset has anything to do with the alignment. Offset would just change the distance from the wheel hub mounting surface to the center of the wheel. Shouldn't affect any of the angles changed in alignment.

[dammage79]

Get them aligned. Every time. Sucks it costs 120 bucks or whatever but newer cars are delicately tuned vehicles. Saves the life of the tire anyways.

[sa226]

Are there any shops that will swap out tires that you bring in? Without gouging you?

Put a nail through an almost new tire, so I bought new one online and brought it to local NAPA tire shop.

75 dollars for one tire.

I get it they want you to buy from them etc. But I had to buy an identical tire. So I bought from the same place.

Grinds my gears a tad.

Sent from my SM-S918W using Tapatalk

[burn_this_city]

I paid $37 to swap a loose wheel and tire a couple weeks ago.

[you&me]

Originally Posted by sa226

Are there any shops that will swap out tires that you bring in? Without gouging you?

Put a nail through an almost new tire, so I bought new one online and brought it to local NAPA tire shop.

75 dollars for one tire.

I get it they want you to buy from them etc. But I had to buy an identical tire. So I bought from the same place.

Grinds my gears a tad.

Sent from my SM-S918W using Tapatalk

Your car on their hoist will take an hour (of "shop time"), so I don't really think they're gouging you...

[sa226]

I literally brought the wheel and tire into the lobby. My car isn't involved.

Sent from my SM-S918W using Tapatalk

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by sa226

I literally brought the wheel and tire into the lobby. My car isn't involved.

Sent from my SM-S918W using Tapatalk

Dismount, mount, fill with air, balance, office paperwork (invoice, receive payment), front-end staff to greet you, make the work order, call you when it's done, retrieve the tire and accept payment when you come back, and having a shop with the correct equipment to do the job and paid employees to do the work...and $75 is a gouge. Good grief.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Sliver

Dismount, mount, fill with air, balance, office paperwork (invoice, receive payment), front-end staff to greet you, make the work order, call you when it's done, retrieve the tire and accept payment when you come back, and having a shop with the correct equipment to do the job and paid employees to do the work...and $75 is a gouge. Good grief.

https://www.fountaintire.com/tiremobile


$50 for mobile service. $75 is a bit of a gouge. It takes less than 10 minutes unless it's a massive truck tire. And it's not like it's a high skill job.

[sa226]

Holy crap.

I'll just bow out then.

Despite someone else 5 posts up saying they just had it done for half that, and as I was dropping them off at reception the manager walked by, saying over his shoulder "Not today, and make sure you add the extra charge because it's a new tire"

I don't think I'm totally out to lunch, and I'm just asking about what other have paid.

Maybe I'll edit out "gouge" for less triggering purposes.

Sent from my SM-S918W using Tapatalk