AirPost
07-05-2007, 06:55 PM
So, I finally got my wheels (monoblock VI, 18x8.5 et37 front and 18x9.5 et35 rear) and my tires (225/40/18 front and 255/35/18 rears). With a lot of excitement, I shoved all of them in my 97 C230 and off I went to have them valved/balanced/mounted/installed.
First stop was Ted Weins on a lovely, Saturday morning. After explaining to the service guy that I have a staggered setup, he happily sent me home and said that it might take a few hours so he will just call me when it's ready. After a few hours, I got the call and was told that there was a problem with the wheels. When I arrived, the service guy explained that the wheel would not fit the front and was hitting the upper control arm. I asked which wheel they put in since the 9.5 will definitely not fit. To my dismay, he didn't know. It was late in the afternoon and they were closing so I just took off. They didn't even mount the tires on the wheels because they said there was no point because of the wheel fitment issue. wtf!
Second stop, Sears Auto. I got off work early on a Tuesday so I decided to give them a visit, once again with the smelly tires and wheels in the car. Greeted by a nice, young person he happily gave me the installation costs and asked for my keys. 20 minutes later, he comes out from the service bay and told me that due to the size of the tires and the wheel design, they will have to do a reverse-mount (?) but their machine is not equipt with that type of installation. He was very apologetic and suggested that I go visit Pep Boys since they might be better equipt when it comes to wheel/tire installations. wtf!
Third stop, Pep Boys, Larry, Curly and Moe (or whatever their names are). After explaining to the service guy what I need, he suggested that I come back the next day since he has a lot of cars to service that night. wtf!
Fourth stop, an unknown, small (and I mean small) tire installation place that is open 24hrs. I was greeted by Jose who calls me his "amigo". I explained to him what I needed and he happily says "no problemo". This guy must have been on speed or something since he mounted the tires in world record speed. After the wheels/tires were balanced, it was finally installed on my car on yet again, world record speed. So I paid the cashier the installation fee and gave Jose, my "amigo" a little something. I start my car, put it in reverse and whoa, it won't move. I checked my parking brakes, it wasn't engaged. So I called Jose and as it turns out, the rear tires was pressed against the (don't know the name) thingy. WTF!!! And I thought 255/35/18 with a et35 offset and 66.6 hub bore would be perfect. The fronts are fine but the rears - I would definitely need spacers.
So, now I'm back using my stock wheels until I get some spacers for the rear, 10mm maybe? Plus, I would need to buy longer lugs too. The woes continues...:(
First stop was Ted Weins on a lovely, Saturday morning. After explaining to the service guy that I have a staggered setup, he happily sent me home and said that it might take a few hours so he will just call me when it's ready. After a few hours, I got the call and was told that there was a problem with the wheels. When I arrived, the service guy explained that the wheel would not fit the front and was hitting the upper control arm. I asked which wheel they put in since the 9.5 will definitely not fit. To my dismay, he didn't know. It was late in the afternoon and they were closing so I just took off. They didn't even mount the tires on the wheels because they said there was no point because of the wheel fitment issue. wtf!
Second stop, Sears Auto. I got off work early on a Tuesday so I decided to give them a visit, once again with the smelly tires and wheels in the car. Greeted by a nice, young person he happily gave me the installation costs and asked for my keys. 20 minutes later, he comes out from the service bay and told me that due to the size of the tires and the wheel design, they will have to do a reverse-mount (?) but their machine is not equipt with that type of installation. He was very apologetic and suggested that I go visit Pep Boys since they might be better equipt when it comes to wheel/tire installations. wtf!
Third stop, Pep Boys, Larry, Curly and Moe (or whatever their names are). After explaining to the service guy what I need, he suggested that I come back the next day since he has a lot of cars to service that night. wtf!
Fourth stop, an unknown, small (and I mean small) tire installation place that is open 24hrs. I was greeted by Jose who calls me his "amigo". I explained to him what I needed and he happily says "no problemo". This guy must have been on speed or something since he mounted the tires in world record speed. After the wheels/tires were balanced, it was finally installed on my car on yet again, world record speed. So I paid the cashier the installation fee and gave Jose, my "amigo" a little something. I start my car, put it in reverse and whoa, it won't move. I checked my parking brakes, it wasn't engaged. So I called Jose and as it turns out, the rear tires was pressed against the (don't know the name) thingy. WTF!!! And I thought 255/35/18 with a et35 offset and 66.6 hub bore would be perfect. The fronts are fine but the rears - I would definitely need spacers.
So, now I'm back using my stock wheels until I get some spacers for the rear, 10mm maybe? Plus, I would need to buy longer lugs too. The woes continues...:(