Well,

I've had nothing but wheel / tire drama since I got this car.

First the car had a nasty steering shake, which after looking at the tires while spinning on my balancer, I realize the car had a shifted belt on one of the Pirelli P6 tires. I put it on the back and the the wheel got rock solid, BUT the car still had a vibration through the chassis.

The spare tire also was torn up (had a sidewall tear).

So I took the car to my tire guy, and told him to replace the two rear tires. We agreed on Falken FK-452's. I told him to use the driver side rear rim, and the spare rim (which had a torn up pirelli on it), and to put the passenger side pirelli in the spare tire well.

All is well with that, and I get the car back Friday afternoon with the two new rear tires. It was smoother, but not as smooth as it should have been. I figured something else was up with the suspension.

SO Saturday evening I drive the car about 45 mins north, to go pick up my fiance and go to dinner. As we are driving, suddenly the car starts shaking violently. - Pull over, get out and I realize I just had a blowout on one of my brand new Falkens. WTF right? I didn't remember hitting anything notable, especially anything that would damage a tire.

I get the wheel off, and what do I see. The inside lip of the rim has a nasty bend in it, with bead sealer oozing out of the bend.

SO here is my theory. The previous owner hit something, bent the rim, and tore up the sidewall of the tire in the spare tire well. Replaced the bad wheel with the then good spare. When the tire shop went to mount the spare rim, there was the bend in it, and they struggled to to get the bead to seal due to the rim. Instead of calling me and telling me listen, this rim is bent bad, you probably shouldn't use it. (And I would have told him to dismount the other pirelli and use the good rim on the car), they just slathered bead sealer in there and got the tire to hold air.

SO 50 or so miles and a bit of aggressive driving later, the bead sealer fails. AND the tire immediately drops pressure, at speed on the Garden State Parkway. Thankfully we are both ok, and I had the Pirelli spare, and I brought the car home. Now.... I have a destroyed Falken tire I just paid $220 for, that should never have been mounted on that rim, because as we saw, all the bead sealer in the world didn't help, and it was a safety issue.

AND I have a bent rim as the spare. I'm going to call the tire shop and complain tomorrow, and at least try to get him to replace the brand new tire, with another on the good rim, so the car has two matched tires in the back.

I really didn't want to get into aftermarket wheels / tires on this car. BUT those senta 20" copies on ebay are looking more and more attractive after all this BS. Get ready for war at the tire shop if it comes down to it tomorrow.



Take care,

George

 

What's the update on the tire shop fiasco? Good luck...

 

Talked to the tire shop...

Guy seemed understanding, and he was like oh if it was bent he sealed it... I'm like UM it shouldn't have been mounted, your bead sealer failed. AT SPEED.

Anyway, he was like I'm sure we can figure something out. He has to order a replacement tire, and it will be here tomorrow. I'm dropping the car off at 7am Weds to show him / have the tire put on the good wheel.

He better not try to give me a bill. But we shall see on Weds.

I'm debating investing in a set of 20" Sentas with tires or not.

Take care,

George

 

George,

We have outfits around here that can fix/restore wheels like yours and make them better than new. They can repair them now even if they have chunks out of them. A complete recondition here runs about $180, probably a little more in your neck of the woods. That's got to be cheaper than new wheels.

Unless, of course, you're lookin' for an excuse to get 20's. In which case, I never said nuttin'!!

Cheers,

 

Well,

I just got back from the tire shop.

After inspecting the rim, the guy got all righteous with me, claiming that his guy would have never done this and all this and that. You must have hit something. I'm like oh yeah? Then why are there 9 pounds of bead sealer coming out of the bend?? Why did you slather it in bead sealer at that spot IF there wasn't a bend there that was giving you a hard time getting the bead to seal??

SO after a few rounds of yes you did, no I didn't he's like look, you have a car here a week, I'll eat this one. (Acting like he was doing me a favor). He's like if you want we can fix that rim for you... I was like how much? He was like $100. (They do in house rim repair). I was like that's fine I can do that. Rim will be ready tomorrow, but I'm going to mark it and keep it as a spare.

So in the end, he's replacing the tire for free, and repairing the rim for $100 (which will have the good used pirelli mounted on it). I think that's fair even though his attitude was less than stellar. To be fair, I did leave him a pretty heated voicemail from the blowout scene Saturday night, to the point where last night my brother texted me and said I heard you made a stink at American Tire. I was like I just talked to the guy, I haven't been in there yet.

I guess all is well that ends well.

AND if I had known that this was the way things would have gone down, I would have never gotten the 19" tires, I would have just sprung for the 20's from the start.... Although I'm still very tempted.

Take care,

George

 

I hate it when they get all self-righteous in the face of the evidence! Geez, if you do the crime, do the time! Sh** happens.

Cheers,

 

I am puzzled this guy is still in business ! Avoid in future.

BTW, do be aware that 20" wheels will give you a much harsher ride as I found out, and then swapped to 18".

 

The XJR runs 255/40/19 all around stock. And it's still softer than a sport pack Bmw.

Between that and my 911tt maybe my idea of a harsh ride and yours differ. I have an s430 on 20" wheels and my sport pack c300 with 17" rides harsher.

My escalade is on 24" wheels and it's still smooth but the front end feels sloppy... I think it's getting to the point where it needs some front end work..

I'm still very tempted by the 20's..

Take care,

George

 

I don't think an XJR can go to 18" wheels, as the calipers are too big (Brembos)

 

Update?

Hey George, I need a carfax ASAP... help! JN1AZ34D03T109248 for a 350z for my son...

 

I actually don't have an account. They charge businesses more than consumers.

Take care,

George

 

Thanks... how's the Jaguar rolling now? Enjoy...

 

So far so good, has a bit of steering wheel vibration at times when applying the brakes, and the auto headlamps must have sunglasses on because they constantly want to be on.

Other than that it's good.

Why are you buying a 350z w/out calling me? Do you WANT to pay too much lol??

Take care,

George

 

May get it from a childhood friend for his payoff... cheaper than Manheim. I have to get in it right if not I'm not buying...

 

Odd thing with my car is that this happened to me as well, and only disappeared when I replaced the rear discs !!