I need a tire shop that wont scratch my black wheels?

[Bopper]

I have a giant screw stuck in one of my tires, brand new aftermarket tires and rims. I have painted black rims and tire shops around here are afraid they will scratch them with thier machines. who and what equipment won't scratch my new wheels?

 

[nekkidlad]

it depends on the shop and on the person doing the tires...if your wheels are painted black from the factory they should be ok tho...they may get scuffed but it'll rub off if you get some soap and water and clean them real good...factory(oe or a/m) painted wheels are durable unlike home painted wheels

most shops have no touch tire machines(meaning the machine technically doesn't touch the wheel...it does sometimes when pried on tho which you need to do to get the tires on/off)..
also most tire machines have plastic duckheads(the part of the machine that would touch the wheel, where you pry to pu the tires on/off..) and they're made specifically to not scratch altho they will if the machine is setup incorrectly...

but most machines have teeth to hold the wheel in place as is spins so they MAY scratch inside the barrel of the wheel(but you'll never ever see it, because it's on the insde of the wheel where the brakes are)...

what i suggest is you take the car to a shop(most tire shops won't do them) and ask them to PLUG your tire(not patch...for that they need to remove the tire from the wheel)...depending where the nail/screw is they should have no issue(if there's no visible tire damage from running the tire low on air that is)

 

[Bopper]

I was in a panic this morning when I made my original post. after making three phone calls I found "tire and wheel Performance Center" in Ridgewood New Jersey . They guaranteed that they wouldn't scratch them so I gave them a try. everything went well, they did both, the plug and a patch.

 

[nekkidlad]

they can't do both...unless they used a plug patch...
and plug patches are rare to find in shops...they're the best thing to use, but nobody has them....
most places only have plugs...some places have only patches
glad you found somwehere that was able to fix you up and have no issues..


i know when i used to work at a shop before there was a guy that came in and got his a/m wheels scratched from the alignmet machine's heads(those big reflector deals they clamp on the wheels for the alignments) he complained not to us, but directly to the regional manager who just happened to live ~3 houses down from him(he only realized it when our regional manager was walking around in the shop the same day he brouught his car in...he didin't know that befroe, he just knew him as the guy down the road)...so the regional manager forced our shop to either send the wheels out and get fixed or get him a new set of wheels...

in the end the guy got 4 brand new wheels...(but that's besides the point..lol)

 

[Bopper]

The shop was a small custom shop (1 garage, 2 man operation) so I was able to speak to the Mechanic that fixed the tire directly. He said the he did a "combo". I took that to mean he did both seperately, because I did not know that they could not be done seperately. I guess he used a combo Plug/patch, they charged $28.

 

[nekkidlad]

id think that means a plug patch...
you could've asked to see one but whatever, now its fixed regardless of what they used...

for a plug patch, basically they have to do the exact same process as with just a patch, so they could've just done that...
but a plug patch has the added insurance of also having a plug built into it that you pull from inside of the tire outwards(normally plugs are done the other way around...out to in)...

 

[HandA]

saw a bit on Motorweek about the benefits of a plug patch over just a patch:

http://www.motorweek.org/features/goss_garage/flat_tires_-_to_plug_or_not_to_plug

 

[Reggae]

why not try one of the shops that discount tires recommend as an option.