mospeed

Hey everyone,
I bought 4 Kumho ECSTA SPT's from tirerack.com and took them and the 8 to NTB for mounting and balancing. 1500miles later I just noticed that they put all 4 tires on backwards... the direction of the threads are facing the rear of the car. I'm going tomorrow morning and asking NTB to fix this problem, but do I have any right to say I want 4 new tires? I have heard that since I now have 1500miles on the tires, the threads and radial interior have now formed and if I rotate them to the correct direction this could cause an inbalance which will cause vibration, uneven tire wear, and even blow outs. Is this true??? or should I just tell NTB to rotate them correctly or should I complain and try for 4 new tires????

Any advice???????


Thanks
Ed

cleoent

I would ask for new tires, or at least a refund on their install charge.

Old Rotor

This is why its not always a good idea to get your tires online. They dont care because they did not sell them. All the times you need work on them will be out of your pocket. Pay the extra bucks, next time(and its not a big amount when you take everything into concideration), and then they will be responsible.

MazdaManiac

iTrader: (3)

Just move the right wheels to the left side of the car and vice versa.
If you have no vibration, you are golden.
NTB will tell you to go get stuffed. They are not in the business of satisfying customers - they are all about volume.
I had a tech use a torch on a tierod end on my car which subsequently broke at speed because they didn't replace it like they were paid to do.

wintergrn

NTB might be a lost cause, but something you might want to try next time would be to look for an installer in TireRack's listings who isn't a big tire-selling chain. I had a very good experience with a local "performance shop" kind of place that I found by searching local zip codes on tirerack.com.

dwynne

I agree - I buy from TireRack all the time and get a local shop (actually part of a small chain) to put them on. Save lots of bucks and get what I want. You can even have them drop-shipped right to the tire installer's door.

Jeff is also correct, you can try swapping the left and right side tires and get them going in the right direction. If it seems to be OK, then maybe no harm was done.

I would blame the owner of the car (like myself) in addition to the tire place. If I buy directional tires for my motorcycles or cars I ALWAYS check the directional arrows any time they have been mounted/remounted. Several times I have found the bike shop or tire dealer has put the tire on backwards. If you run directional tires it is just something else you need to check.

Dennis

mospeed

I blame myself too... don't get me wrong. it was my fault too but I thought pros at NTB know that direction tires should go.

Razz1

So what happened? I would prefer to get new tires my self.

Did you ask tire rack? they are a sponser here. Ask them what they think.

connor@tirerack

You will not hurt a directional tire by running it backwards. The only difference you would find is that if you got caught in wet weather you could see a serious loss of traction. As for NTB not seeing their own mistake. I would take the car back to themand see what they offer to do about there error. At the very least they should swap the tires to the correct side for free. More than likely the guy who was actually installing the tires on the car got confused and switched the tires to the wrong side of the car by accident. I am not defending them, i am just saying the guy made a simple mistake. Honestly he may not have even known the difference between a directional, symetrical, or asymetrical tire. That simply goes back to a lack of training that you see in alot of localized stores. I would call back and speak to the manager abou it. Jeff is right. regrettably NTB is all about the volume of product they are moving rather than the quality of service.

How long has it been since they mounted the tire? Your original post was back in 11/04. If you just noticed this you will have a very hard time getting NTB to switch the tires after not noticing it for 9 months.

storemannormin

I feel your pain I went and got my tire put on at the local KALTIRE and after a month I noticed they put them on the wrong way as well...I just laughed and figure I must of got the new hire that day...

mospeed

No that is my join date... I posted this a few days ago.

So I went to NTB that had originally put the tires on and I told them what happened. Well, to further show NTB idiots... they had put in the computer that I brought in the rims and they mounted the tires and I took the rims and tires home, termed "Carryout". I was like NO... I brought tires in and left the car. After a 10min arguement, they said we'll swtich them and balance them again (still free for me cause I got the lifetime balancing). No charge of course.

OH!! and did I mention the first time I went in there to mount and balance them... I was told.... "It will be $22 mount and balance" and I asked why so much??? I normally paid ~$16. He said "well, you have 18" high performance tires and we have to charge more"..... WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Am I the only one that doesn't understand this? Please help me if I'm wrong but doesn't a 15" tire goes on the same as a 18" or 20"???? But I needed the tires on because that night I was heading out of town so I went ahead. I looked at the receipt and it was an extra charge on there for the lifetime balancing... NOT because they are 18" tires.... oh my.

But I believe it is in my morals to tell my fellow houston-fellas out there which NTB. Please do not goto the NTB on the south 610 loop, one next to Joes Crab shack and across the feeder from Reliant stadium. STAY AWAY from that NTB. I normally like NTB, I prefer the one off of 59S, next to the Fountains in Stafford. I had A+ service there before.