Thread: Stupid Tire Stores

Tweet

I went to two of my local tire stores to see what options I have for tires/wheels. I have a nice set of 16's I'm thinking of using but wanted to see what sizes/styles were avaialble.

The first store wanted to buy/trade/steal my wheels and sell me a whole new/used set and never did give me the info I was after. I got tired of the hustle and left.

The second store was worse. I told them what I was doing and that I needed to make a decision on tire size so I could locate my cab on the frame.

He kept telling me that my wheels wouldn't work and that big tires wouldn't fit on the back of my Courier, I explaind to him that it was basicly a fenderless hot rod and it didn't matter.

He insisted on going to his computer to verify and told me that there was no way big 'n littles would work on my courier.

I assured him it was being custom built and that I would make it fit. His response was "why dont you get the truck mobile and bring it in and we'll see what we can find to fit it".

I explained again that I could not mount the body or setup the suspension without knowing what tire sizes I would be using.

Then I was asked "well what size do you want" , I replied "what's available for my sixteens" , his response was "I really couldn't tell you unless unless you bring the truck in".

I explained again that the truck was in pieces about the size of the waiting room chairs and that I needed tires before I could put it back together. I was then told that everyone else builds the car, brings it in and then they figure something out "that is the proper way to do it and make sure there aren't any problems".

I nearly tipped the display rack over on his thick head !!!!

Anyone out there have a recomendation for tire sizes on my truck ? My rims are 16x8 I want a lower profile up front / taller in the back and they must be radials. My avitar should give you a the basic idea.

Apparently the two Major Big Chain stores I went to don't have a clue unless they are looking up a set of 20" rims on the computer for a new SUV.

I'm scratching my brain here......ALL TIRE STORES ARE STUPID......Who else would work for minimum wage and play "grab a**" all day long. oh well, live and learn.

http://www.tirerack.com

I will browse their site thanks ...

You can look up tire sizes (height, width, tread width) on the Tire Rack site.

You aint livin' right. I took 4 wheels of various sizes and offsets to my LOCAL dealer, (No names, but their initals are "BIG O", They mounted 4 USED tires of various sizes and told me to take them home and see what would clear / fit /work / not rub. Charged me $4.00 which was applied to the purchase of the new tires I bought. Couldnt ask for any more then that.Obviously I have taken ALL my tire business to them. (plus they aligned my 46 Ford / Camaro clip with no bull.) Great folks in my opinion.

All I needed was to know what the smallest tires and largest tires were available for my rims in an allseason/sport tread and what the dimensions were. Simple question I thought.

I wont put up with being hussled and I wont put up with poor customer service. Looks like I will have to order some tires online and have them mounted at one of the local little independant shops. I am not going to give either of the shops I went to a single dime on this transaction as they were both unwilling to answer a simple question and help me evaluate the options.

I'll tell you what, if you are willing to order the tires then call Ron at Wheel King here in Fresno, CA. He is quite a great guy to deal with. He has spent hours on getting the right thing for our truck, and the only hangups have been nothing at all to do with his not triple checking everything. He caught on to what the look we were going for was and has been great about making sure we get just that.

Let me tell you some of how it has been. First off he knows his tires, we wanted same thing, smaller in front larger in back. he steered me away from skinny low profiles in front saying that he would worry about us going into a turn and the bead coming off the rim (these were some LOW profile tires I looked at). When I finally decided on the Hoosiers he had me go down and buy them myself since the west coast distributor is in Fresno, saved me the markup he'd have to charge if I had him do the same thing. He triple measured the truck, gave us the amount to narrow the rear end for our goal, then measured again after we did that. He mached up OUR TIRES on appropriate width rims so we could see how they were going to look.

Can't recommend him enough, good guy, works hard on the issue, and won't screw you over. I had gone to a couple other shops and they didn't know how to find their arse with both hands and a GPS.

Red

Try this http://store.coker.com/

Try this is gives actual dimentions for size and will compare 4 sizes at once
http://www.1010tires.com/TireSizeCalculator.asp
Dave

Just a note of caution. Friend of mine was going to save big bucks ordering his tires and wheels on line... When he got them mounted and balanced in a local store, the bill was a bit over $100.00.... Kind of killed the savings over buying them from a local store. Check with some of the independent stores, a good manager will make you a deal... I've used the same guy for tires for years, all I do is call him and tell him my sizes and he tells me when they'll be in. If I want to try a set and check out the look and fit, never a charge for doing so!!!!

Buying tires elsewhere and expecting a local guy to mount and balance them is a lot like taking your own steak to a restaurant and have them throw it on the grille.... Don't expect to save a lot of $$$$$. I've bought tires on line, but when I do I always get a tire and wheel package mounted and balanced...

Thanks for all the replies. I think I'm on track now with The info you have directed me to

It looks like I will be using 265/75/16's for the rear and 235/60/16's for the front. Thanks for the help.