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Parenn911
12-08-2003, 05:33 PM
Does anyone know of a reputable tire shop that would be able to mount my new front tires for my 16" fuchs in MD? I am asking because I have had bad experiences with tire shops like Pep Boys and NTB. At the NTB in Germantown, the moron was supposed to be changing my rear tires about a month ago and instead the idiot took off the front wheels. I had to run in the shop and be like, "what the hell you doing", or who knows, he might have tried to mount them on the front wheels. I spoke with the manager to ask if the tire "expert" knew what he was doing, and the manager replied like "of course, he is our best tire guy in here" :roll:. Not only did he take the front tires off, the 911 wasn't jacked up properly and was wobbling on the lift. So, basically I am looking for a shop that knows what tires they are supposed to mount (front or rear), and knows how to properly use a lift, is this too much to ask? On a related note, what is a sturdy jack that won't cost me an arm and a leg? A friend recommended craftsman, I saw the one PP has on drivewerks but I am not trying to spend near $500 just for a jack, I figure waste another $1500 more and I could get a lift :D .

jbailey930
12-08-2003, 05:49 PM
Pari
Radial tire in MD is the only place to go. Its not in the greatest location, nor do they have state of the art facilities. But the guys have been selling tires to P-car enthusiasts for years. They will treat your baby right.
Radial Tire CO
9101 Brookville Road, Silver Spring, MD 20910
(301) 585-2740

Best

Parenn911
12-08-2003, 06:14 PM
Thank you John B. I will head over there tomorrow afternoon, do I need to call ahead and schedule an appointment? Any opinions on jacks? I have seen Torin's Big Red jack for as low as $30 bucks at pep boys. Are these even safe?

Charlie Stylianos
12-08-2003, 08:20 PM
Pari,

See this thread for a jack:

http://www.dorkiphus.com/porsche/viewtopic.php?t=764

Never seen them this cheap, and apparently they seem to be hold up decently.....well, minus the guy in pelican with the failed seal. For a ~34lbs aluminum racing jack, hard to beat that price.

Marc A
12-08-2003, 10:17 PM
Radial tire has been in the same location, with the same owners since '75 and appointments are not usually given . . . .

You can always try . . . . but don't be offended if they tell you just to come on in . . . .

I remember being there 30 mins before opening on a Sat just to be in the first 5 cars and that was in '77.

You will be in good hands.

Parenn911
12-09-2003, 11:48 AM
Radial tire has been in the same location, with the same owners since '75 and appointments are not usually given
Thanks for chiming in Marc, this statement gives me much more confidence in Radial's quality of service. Looks like I found my tire shop to take care of all my future wheel needs. Charlie, good looking out for the link with the jack. I am going to order that bad boy this week, $100 bucks is exactly the price range I had in mind.

William Miller
12-09-2003, 03:04 PM
Pari, do you already have the tires?

Parenn911
12-09-2003, 09:23 PM
Yeah Bill, I bought the tires a week ago from tire rack, they got the best prices compared to any local dealers. I just have to get them mounted onto the fuchs. Were you able to figure out what was wrong with the pop off valve on your SCcab, was it the O-rings?

Karl S
12-09-2003, 11:34 PM
If you have another vehicle to transport the wheels and tires, the easiest thing to do is drop them in the morning and pick them up later in the day. Saves the wait.

Karl

estrellajon
12-10-2003, 10:32 AM
Pari, i can give you a small floor jacks for free. I use my craftsman which is ok. But if you need an additional floor for leverage, its yours. BTW, my car should be done by this weekend finally.

William Miller
12-10-2003, 11:33 AM
Pari, since you have the tires already.
Check with Ricky Hart.
If they do any tire work at all at the station (I'm sure they do.)
They probably have pretty good equiptment since I'm sure they don't want to scratch the wheels on all the expensive cars they service.

If he can do it he will. He will also probably give you a straight answer if he thinks you should take them somewhere else.
At least you won't get the guilt treatment because you didn't buy the tires there. It can't get any closer. As you mentioned tire work is not rocket science. The guy's that do it arn't scientists. You're better off getting someone who cares. (As long as they have the right equiptment.)

You could actually mount the tires yourself:
I've done it with both a mounting machine and by hand with tire irons.
The new machines (Newer than the one I used 15 years ago.) can install the tire barely touching the rim. They have a mechanism that helps break the seal between the tire and the rim. (I doub't this is a problem with yours.) There is also a mechanism to help get the initial seal going between the rim and the tire. (The new machines somehow blast some air in to get that seal started.) The old method we had a hose that strapped arround the tire. It actually has a tube in it .When you inflated the tube
It shrunk the diameter if the very center of the tire making the lip contact the edge of the rim. This would get a good enough seal to inflate the tire.
If we didn't have the hose, we would just use a piece of rope, tie it tight around the tire and put a twist in it like a twist tie. Did the same thing.
This was more of an issue on the older tires that were taller. Probably not a problem with our tires since they are short.

I learned all this stuff from a old polish mechanic (Glushko) that worked for our company keeping our trucks and equiptment running. I worked at the shop during the summers since I was 11 sweeping the floors. Since I couldn't be on payroll the guy's working there gave me lunch money to help them out and keep them company when they ran to the machine shop and to get parts.
One day they got me good. I was told to go drain the oil in one of the bulldozers. I had changed the oil in many of the trucks so they trusted me to do this. So I crawled under, found the plug, got it off and put the drain bucket under the stream and walked away. Nobody told me that it held about 20 gallons. To say the least they got a good laugh and it took me a while to clean up that mess!

Let me know if you want to give it a try!

William Miller
12-10-2003, 11:34 AM
Jon, can't wait to see your car!
I'm glad it worked out finally!

estrellajon
12-10-2003, 12:36 PM
Bill, I had to be creative and do something mean to get them going again, and should be talked about offline. But yes, they will be putting the car back by the end of the week. They had to hand sand that sucker on 3 phases. :shock:

Parenn911
12-10-2003, 02:40 PM
If you have another vehicle to transport the wheels and tires, the easiest thing to do is drop them in the morning and pick them up later in the day. Saves the wait.
Karl, I have another vehicle used for hauling stuff and winter weather, but the problem is I don't have a good enough jack to get the 911 off the ground to remove the wheels. Because of the recent messy weather, I really don't want to wait any longer to get the tires on.
Jon, Glad to hear that you will be back on the road soon, it's about time. Thanks for the offer on the jacks.
Bill, I know putting tires on isn't a real monumental task, but at the same time I have never done it. As a result I don't know how the tires would turn out, and having the tires on properly are crucial for safety. So let me know if you want to get together to explain to me further the tire mounting process, I could always use the $50 I would save for other porsche parts.

William Miller
12-10-2003, 03:19 PM
That was mostly ranting.
If you want to try, let me know. You'll still need to get them balanced.
If you want to barrow my jack at least I'm close to you.
Maybe some stands too.

Parenn911
12-12-2003, 01:39 PM
I went to radial tire, I left after work but unfortunately I got there at 4:15pm. The person I spoke to said they stop taking orders after 4:00pm, so I just missed out. I decided to battle traffic back on 495 to Potomac. So I stopped by Ricky Hart's place, Ricky wasn't around, but the guys who work for him recognized me and got me in immediately. It was kinda cool because they let me hang out in the garage area, so I got to see how the whole tire mounting and balancing process occurs. The tire mounting machine makes it look too easy. The guys allowed me to jack the car up myself, and were kind enough to put up with all of my questions while changing the tires. Plus, I only paid $30 to get the tires mounted and balanced, can't beat that. Thanks guys for all your help, at least I know that Radial sells Fikse's, who knows maybe I will hit the MD lottery :D

William Miller
12-12-2003, 01:46 PM
Glad it worked out!
How's the ride?
What kind of weights did they use?
Did most of their equiptment look pretty new?
I bet it was too easy and cheap to worry about doing it yourself!

Parenn911
12-12-2003, 02:08 PM
The ride is smoother than ever, now when I turn, my front wheels don't slide out any more. Their equipment was pretty snazzy, honestly, it was too easy and cheap to consider doing it myself. I think with if I had access to the equipment, I would definitely try to do it myself, but without it I would probably feel like a caveman rubbing two sticks together to make fire.

William Miller
12-12-2003, 02:30 PM
Ever tried it?
Sometimes simple works. Other times it's the only option.
We've lost power arround here alot.
I installed my engine this fall under the light of my Coleman lantern.

I'd pay the $30 buck any day!

Parenn911
12-12-2003, 02:37 PM
I installed my engine this fall under the light of my Coleman lantern.
Damn Bill, you're hardcore! :shock:

William Miller
12-12-2003, 02:39 PM
Not really, but I was sucked in by the challange!
Isabel wasn't gonna screw up my plans!