[biggin152]

I now have four scratched wheels after having tires installed. The scratches are the exact same as a post I saw by GTyankee after he had his tires balanced, but of course I can't find the post again and can not PM him cause I do not have enough post! I think it is from the plastic cone they tighten against the front of the wheel on the balance machine,but I was hoping I could get some confirmation or idea. It is a circular pattern between the lug holes all the way around. Any help is much appreciated as I have to continue my argument Monday with the shop.

 

[hemiv8dodgeram1500]

post some pics of the damage so people here can help ya

 

[biggin152]

All four wheels look like this. I know it has to be from balancing, but one shop sent me to a second shop and the first shop tried the normal way of balancing and the second used an adapter that went through the lug holes. So I'm pretty sure the damage is from shop #1 but was just trying to get some input since they are playing the blame game.
To complicate it though; I had one wheel replaced so the takeoff was never touched by shop #2 and it has no marks. Which is really why I am confused on who caused the damage now?

 

[Netman66]

That's exactly what happened. Those rims require an adapter that holds the wheel on the balancer by the lug holes. Those scratches would have been made by the normal balancer hold-down wingnut as it was tightened up against the rim.

I can't believe some tire shops have no clue.....

Take a look at this page:

http://www.hunter.com/balancer/accessories/index.cfm

The adapter on the right with the 5 studs on it was what they should have used. It's called a flange plate with adjustable studs.

 

[Netman66]

It looks like this:

https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=AABFDA94246AE7B0&id=AABFDA94246AE7B0!313

 

[HeyBrownDog]

All four wheels look like this. I know it has to be from balancing, but one shop sent me to a second shop and the first shop tried the normal way of balancing and the second used an adapter that went through the lug holes. So I'm pretty sure the damage is from shop #1 but was just trying to get some input since they are playing the blame game.
To complicate it though; I had one wheel replaced so the takeoff was never touched by shop #2 and it has no marks. Which is really why I am confused on who caused the damage now?

UUUGGHHH!!!!!! That sucks man! :smiledown:

I was dreading this happening to me which is why I (1) brought it to a Dodge Ram dealer who MIGHT have the brains and knowledge not to do something like this, and (2) have the ability to order me knew OEM rims should they mess up my overpriced plastic rims. :i_rolleyes:

The goods news is this is minor to fix, but the cost is expensive. :Wow1: If you can get the shop to pay for the damage, I'd ask them to cut you a check so you can tell them your going to a dealer to buy your rims, and to have them mount and balance them properly since they are not capable of doing this. Whether you go buy OEM or aftermarket rims isn't the point....they aren't getting your business after this blunder.

 

[09nitetrain]

you dont even need that adapter, i've balance all four of my rims with out it. you just put the cone in from the front with out the plastic cup on the over sized wing nut and tighted it down. next time i balance a tire this way i'll take a picture and post it

 

[hemiv8dodgeram1500]

hear anything else on this problem?

 

[09nitetrain]

see this is how i set up a balancer to balance wheels, no need for the cup and no scratching of the finish of rims. most good auto techs know how to do this

 

[Netman66]

Umm, that's not the chrome-clad (plastic) wheels we are speaking about.

 

[fishwater]

The proper way to balance those wheels is with pin-plates, the adapters shown above from Hunter, Coats, Hofmann, Corghi, Bosch, Etc. Your wheel was without a doubt damaged by the first shop when they mounted the wheels using the plastic cup adapter with their balancer.

Also, just as an FYI to 09Nitetrain you shouldn't be outside coning a wheel like that as it may cause the balancer to chase weights, the outside of the rim is never made to used with a cone as the cone may not sit properly. Never mind the fact that the wheel could be lug centric vs. hub centric. I have balanced wheels like that myself until I started selling tire equipment almost 10 years ago & went to numerous training courses. I know you do what you have to do in a shop to get the job done but over 80% of the so called balancing problems we have with equipment & wheels is caused by improper mounting FWIW. Whenever I am on a sales or service call now & start talking with techs about balance problems I can usually trace the root cause back to improper mounting or cones that are beat up & dinged.

Good luck & hopefully you get your wheels taken care of!

 

[09nitetrain]

i never had an issue doing it this way. even checked it with a road force balancer and it was always spot on, and when it comes to chasing weights then i know there is an issue with dirt being on the hub, cones or its not center and check all these and then correcting the issue, rebalance the tire and no more chasing weight

 

[fishwater]

i never had an issue doing it this way. even checked it with a road force balancer and it was always spot on, and when it comes to chasing weights then i know there is an issue with dirt being on the hub, cones or its not center and check all these and then correcting the issue, rebalance the tire and no more chasing weight

You are correctm, like I said, I have done it myself, I was just saying that the "proper way" is to never outside cone the wheel. I am a Bosch wheel service ASR & while I have done it the same way as you plenty of times in the past the textbook way & the way I have had the least tech calls/issues on is to cone from the rear or use pin plates.

 

[biggin152]

Actually the way 09 nitetrain is talking about is how shop #1 is trying to tell me they balanced the wheels, which shouldn't do damage. I'm still not convinced.

 

[09nitetrain]

if you lived in the central ct area, i would do it for you and let you watch as i did then so you can see that they would not get damaged, as i treat each car, truck, suv, and motorcycle as it was my own as im an anal SOB and i can take picture of the shop i manage and lead tech at and you'll be impressed at how clean it is usually kept

 

[biggin152]

I did not mean for it to sound like I did not believe you, I meant that I am just not convinced that is what this particular actually did. I still feel that they used a damaged cone or no cone at all when tightening the nut.