Be very wary where you purchase your Tyres!

[eaglem]

A day or two before we were due to leave on our trip to Exmouth I went to the Ian Diffen's Tyre Centre in Malaga to have the tyres checked for any damage and that the air pressures were correct as I do on a regular basis at that centre. I also buy my tyres there and have done for a long time. When I arrived at the Centre it was closed and 3 men were in the office. I knocked on the door and was told Malaga will be closed for a few days as they were renovating. I left without getting the tyres checked.

On the 21st of April we headed from Perth to Exmouth for an Anzac Day re-union with 2 Troop 1 Field Squadron Royal Australian Engineers. We got half way there and stopped at the Billabong Homestead Roadhouse overnight which we booked ahead. On leaving the next morning at around 7am we got about 7.5 kms north of the roadhouse when we blew the right rear tyre. I pulled to the side of the road, far enough to be safe from passing traffic to change the tyre. It was then I found out that at the last tyre rotation done at Ian Diffen's Tyre Centre in Malaga the person who did the rotation got over exuberant with the rattle gun and the lock nut was on so tight I broke the lock nut key trying to get it off. In this situation the only thing I could do was the ring the RAC to see what to do next. They sent a tilt tray tow truck from Geraldton.

We sat on the roadside waiting for 3 hours for the truck to arrive. After the truck arrived the driver assessed the situation and decided the only option was to load the car on the truck and take it back to Geraldton Ford to have all the locking nuts removed. We had a 3 hour trip back to Geraldton in the truck, the driver told us the car would be locked up in their compound overnight as it was Sunday and no one was at Geraldton Ford and we'd need to find a room for the night. Being in the middle of School Holidays and knowing rooms would be in short supply we asked the driver if he knew where we may get a room and he suggested the Best Western Hospitality Inn where we were lucky to get a room. The room cost $139.00 for the overnight stay. While there I rang the RAC to organise the second tow from the compound yard to Geraldton Ford as requested by the driver. The next morning at 8am we caught a Taxi to Geraldon ford to get repairs organised. The truck arrived near 9am to drop the car off. We were at Geraldton Ford for approximately 7 hours before the job was finally finished with a bill of $603.87 for which I have the receipt. The mechanic told me he had quite some trouble removing all the locking nuts due to them being exsessively over tight and also mentioned that locking nuts should not be tightened with a rattle gun but done by hand to avoid damage to the key. I also paid the Tow driver the $80 as was requested by the RAC. We rang the Billabong Roadhouse again to book a room as it was now 4.30pm and we would get there just before dark, so that was another $90.00 out of pocket that shouldn't have been needed.

We finally arrived at the Ningaloo Lodge at 2pm on the 24th of April ( I was booked in for the 22nd to the 29th so I lost 2 days) at least in time to march on Anzac Day with the guys from the troop I was in Vietnam with.

Once the car was repaired we didn't have anymore car troubles heading up or back. I went back to Ian Diffen's Tyre Centre but it was still closed and no one was around. I have no idea on what's going on at Ian Diffen's or how I can solve the out of pocket expenses they caused me to have, but I do wish to have this resolved.

I have since found out that the Malaga branch of Ian Diffen's City Discount tyres has gone into receivership and I was offered a chance to be included as an unsecured claimant which as we all know I would then have 2 chances of compensation, mine and Buckleys. So be wary where you get your tyres.

[Mercury Bullet]

I refuse to have lock nuts on my car.

Ever since a blowout on a return journey from Melbourne when I got a flat on the nullabor only to find Bob Jane had kept the lock nut key instead of returning it to the glove box from where it came.

Morons....

[XB GS 351 Coupe]

Your serious??

You got a flat, and the wheel nuts were too tight

Happens every day to hundreds of people that are too lazy to check their own wheel nuts and tyre pressure

Tyre fitters are tyre fitters for a reason, don't trust them to do anything other than fit tyres, and some even struggle with that.

[arronm]

Thats a terrible story. All you needed was a 22mm socket. Locknuts off in 1 min.... Best place for locknuts is the bin.

Shame you never posted while sitting on the side of the road, you would have been on your way in minutes...

This forum is a wealth of knowledge.

[eaglem]

Originally Posted by XB GS 351 Coupe

Your serious??

You got a flat, and the wheel nuts were too tight

Happens every day to hundreds of people that are too lazy to check their own wheel nuts and tyre pressure

Tyre fitters are tyre fitters for a reason, don't trust them to do anything other than fit tyres, and some even struggle with that.

Well in that case maybe the industry should be looked into! As the RAC guy said, they should never use the rattle gun on Lock Nuts but we all know they do and in most cases the rattle gun is set at it's highest tension setting. So I suppose if you can't trust people to do the job right when you put a lot of business their way it's time not to use their services again. :(

[eaglem]

Originally Posted by arronm

Thats a terrible story. All you needed was a 22mm socket. Locknuts off in 1 min.... Best place for locknuts is the bin.

I did mention that to the Ford dealer but he pointed out that the GT Rims are sort after and are expensive to replace and that puts you between a rock and a hard place.

[arronm]

Myself and my tyre shop , uses a rattle gun to remove. Then rattle nuts on , on low setting and finish off with torque wrench.

A rattle gun should NEVER be used on locknut keys.
If you have locknuts , remove, throw in bin and replace with normal nuts.


No matter what locknut you have , the correct size socket can be bashed on and the locknuts come straight off...

[au350hp]

This is why I have two sets of wheels, so when I buy new tyres I drop the rims off & come back later to pick them up. I manually put them on at home, and correctly torquing the wheel nuts. I always cringe when I watch the workshops in tyre places as most don't appear to take a lot of care. Sorry to hear you had to go through this, especially on such an important weekend.

[pottery beige]

Originally Posted by XB GS 351 Coupe

Your serious??

You got a flat, and the wheel nuts were too tight

Happens every day to hundreds of people that are too lazy to check their own wheel nuts and tyre pressure

Tyre fitters are tyre fitters for a reason, don't trust them to do anything other than fit tyres, and some even struggle with that.

have a seat over there in the corner

thanks again for reminding us all how perfect you are

[roddy1960]

Sorry to read about your troubles . Whoever came up with lock nuts needs to be locked up . Nothing but trouble .

[eaglem]

Originally Posted by roddy1960

Sorry to read about your troubles . Whoever came up with lock nuts needs to be locked up . Nothing but trouble .

AFAIK FPV GT's come with lock nuts already on the rims.

[arronm]

That's true. And if it's an early model they had offset rims on the rear and different length wheel nuts front and rear.

[GasoLane]

Originally Posted by XB GS 351 Coupe

Your serious??

You got a flat, and the wheel nuts were too tight

Happens every day to hundreds of people that are too lazy to check their own wheel nuts and tyre pressure

Not unlike people who don't check their trailer wheel bearings eh?

[eaglem]

Originally Posted by arronm

That's true. And if it's an early model they had offset rims on the rear and different length wheel nuts front and rear.

Mine is a 2011

[Smoke Pursuit]

What’s more concerning is why Ford charged $600?? What was that made up of???

[jpd80]

Spare a thought for when rattle guns first became popular in shops
back in the days of steel rims and tapered seats on the wheels and nuts.

Long story cut short, nearly every stud snapped trying to get wheels off.

[eaglem]

Originally Posted by Smoke Pursuit

What’s more concerning is why Ford charged $600?? What was that made up of???

They say 2010 but it is actually 2011 as stated in the handbook/manual. It was lucky I had my GST Free Forms or it would have been dearer.

[BPXR6T]

This happened to me, in my driveway thankfully. A socket and a heavy hammer made short work of the lock nut. Tbh I would be in the same situation as you though as now I drive reliable cars I don't carry a decent toolkit with me.

[eaglem]

Originally Posted by eaglem

They say 2010 but it is actually 2011 as stated in the handbook/manual. It was lucky I had my GST Free Forms or it would have been dearer.


image

Damn, I just noticed that they still charged GST when I gave them a filled out GST Free Form so looks like I'll be calling them to send me a Cheque for the GST they charged.

[pottery beige]

Originally Posted by arronm

That's true. And if it's an early model they had offset rims on the rear and different length wheel nuts front and rear.

nuts are the same ya nut

[GO FURTHER]

I have the OEM Ford lock nuts on my wheels.

What I do, when I take my car in for repairs, service or new tyres/rotation etc, is remove them beforehand and replace them with the standard nuts.

When I pick up the car and get home, I then reinstall the lock nuts, which takes all of 10 minutes.

I also go round all the wheels nuts, loosen them and re-torque them using my torque wrench to 135Nm. (This is important for not getting warped rotors down the track).

This way;

1. The workshop can't lose the lock nut key or forget to put it back in the car on pick-up.

2. I don't have to worry about rattle gun overtightening.

[arronm]

Originally Posted by pottery beige

nuts are the same ya nut

Not on BA FPV they arnt.

[XB GS 351 Coupe]

Originally Posted by Roostercam

This is why I have two sets of wheels, so when I buy new tyres I drop the rims off & come back later to pick them up. I manually put them on at home, and correctly torquing the wheel nuts.

Been doing exactly that for about 25-30 years.

Tyre fitters are tyre fitters for a reason.

I recall having a blow up in the 80's when the tyre fitter used a crow bar to get the caps off my mint chrome custom made deep dish 12 slotters damaging the chrome and then proceeds to throw the caps on the concrete face down to hold the wheel nuts, scratching the crap out of them.

[XB GS 351 Coupe]

Originally Posted by GasOLane

Not unlike people who don't check their trailer wheel bearings eh?

I can guarantee that no person that buys a brand new 5K trailer drives out the shop and checks their wheel bearings.

But never let the truth get in the way of a good (bad) story.

You should be ashamed of yourself being a moderator attempting to stir **** at someone.

Hang your head in shame

[jstanovic]

Originally Posted by eaglem

I have since found out that the Malaga branch of Ian Diffen's City Discount tyres has gone into receivership...

This doesn't surprise me unfortunately. I only went there a couple times when I needed tyres and they were always the most expensive by far.

[arronm]

Originally Posted by XB GS 351 Coupe

I can guarantee that no person that buys a brand new 5K trailer drives out the shop and checks their wheel bearings.

But never let the truth get in the way of a good (bad) story.

You should be ashamed of yourself being a moderator attempting to stir **** at someone.

Hang your head in shame

Of course you dont. You do a few hundred Ks and check the wheel nuts. Thats it.

[GasoLane]

Originally Posted by XB GS 351 Coupe

I can guarantee that no person that buys a brand new 5K trailer drives out the shop and checks their wheel bearings.

But never let the truth get in the way of a good (bad) story.

You should be ashamed of yourself being a moderator attempting to stir **** at someone.

Hang your head in shame

Not at all, but it gets quite annoying when pretentious members try to tell others that they are too lazy to check their wheel nuts.

Especially when you know nothing of their situation, age or fitness.

Oh, and your 'brand new' trailer was 16months old.

If you have anything to add please do it via PM and lets give eaglem back his thread.

[pottery beige]

Originally Posted by XB GS 351 Coupe

And a reminder (then again I never forgot) what a simpleton you are.

dig up stupid

[Pepscobra]

This is totally off topic, but I just bought a set of Kumho APT51 tyres for my Ford Escape from www.tyresales.com.au. Saved a small fortune and had them fitted at my local Tyrepower. I was actually pretty impressed by the entire experience and would do it again.

[Pepscobra]

Originally Posted by XB GS 351 Coupe

Your serious??

You got a flat, and the wheel nuts were too tight

Happens every day to hundreds of people that are too lazy to check their own wheel nuts and tyre pressure

Tyre fitters are tyre fitters for a reason, don't trust them to do anything other than fit tyres, and some even struggle with that.

Mate, the gentleman mentioned he is a Vietnam Vet, so maybe, just maybe he is 65+ years of age and as much as we'd like to be able to do these seemingly simple talks, it's not so easy for him anymore?
Just something to think about before you go poking fingers at your keyboard.