Went to Sams two nights ago and had al four tires replaced w/ some Goodyear Eagle F1 GS's - anyway since I've got the 18" monoblock replica's they needed some special machine to complete to process - the lips on all of my wheels have gouges in them, as if something clawed/latched onto the lips... Already called them and will go down tomorrow to have them take pictures and send it to home office, as they are self insured for further handling.

Any advice guys? Anyone experience something similar and what was teh result? I'll try to post some pic later...

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#dieselFLEET
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'97 E300
'99 E300

good luck ... hopefully they will take care of everything for you

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Look at that sexy tread...



Here is a good example of what is on every wheel, not to mention one of the wheels has some sweet scratches on the face of the wheel. This gouging all all aorund the lip, not just where it is on this photo.



This one has a gash on the lower lip, you can see it by the brake dust that has filled it

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#dieselFLEET
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'97 E300
'99 E300

think about this, wouldn't the tech realize after doing one wheel that the one wheel got scratched? how could he continue to additionally damage three more wheels? I think what happened the tech didn't know what he was doing and had the wheel on the machine backwards. It would have not been an issue if the inside rim was marred.

I think that's the case and one of the other techs mentioned that when I went in to file the damage claim.

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#dieselFLEET
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'97 E300
'99 E300

I noticed something similar to this on a 1992 500SEL that I looked over at a used car dealer. All four of the wheels had about a 1/4" half round dent at one point on the lip of the rim. I figured the tires must have been put on at some cheapo place that didn't know what they were doing. I also wondered why after they bent the first rim they decided to keep going and bend the other three as well. Maybe they thought the owner wouldn't notice.

"think about this, wouldn't the tech realize after doing one wheel that the one wheel got scratched? how could he continue to additionally damage three more wheels? "........................ Sam's Club, you get what you pay for.

Show me the weights, are there any? are they glue on or clamp on? I would never take nice wheels to a Sams Club, WalMart or Costco etc., etc.

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'95 E320 Wagon my favorite road car. '99 E300D wolf in sheeps body, '87 300D Sportline suspension, '79 300TD w/ 617.952 engine at 367,750 and counting!

I would also check the torque on the lug bolts. I would never use the word "tech" and Sam's Club in the same sentence.

Mounting low profile tires requires specialized tire machines - I'd be very surprised it Wal-mart of Costco had the correct equipment to mount 18 inch tires with a 35 aspect ratio.

I'm pretty sure the tech used a rim-clamp machine with your wheels mounted up-side down. I've heard this is a common technique that is used if you are trying to mount low-profile tires and you don't have a machine that was designed for low-profile tires.

When I spoke w/ the fellow at Costco, he advised that they have the equipment for such types of tires as they sell 20's, 22's, etc... but this was in Charleston, SC, a little far from home.

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#dieselFLEET
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'97 E300
'99 E300

Has anyone ever used Best One Tire and Service? they have a Hunter GSP9700 at their location in Charleston.

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'95 E320 Wagon my favorite road car. '99 E300D wolf in sheeps body, '87 300D Sportline suspension, '79 300TD w/ 617.952 engine at 367,750 and counting!

Some of the tire changers are really not brain surgeons!!


Smokie

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95 E420 BigBlue
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2001 C Class 16 in. Rims
KYB Struts and shocks
Rear spoiler
American Stitches Wheel
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You can never tell just by the looks of a shop and what kind of equipment they have. I had a tire put on by a well known chain with the fancy Hunter wheel balancer, and the balance was crap (and expensive) - they had to do it twice (probably because they didn't actually do it the first time). OTOH, I take my MB wheels to an independent, in a shop that looks like a strong gust might take it down, with old, but well-maintained equipment and people who actually give a s***, and they do a good job without leaving a mark, at a great price. I recently trusted them with mounting freshly chromed MB wheels and was not disappointed.

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86 560SL
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Hey, remember their motto: "Walmart, always the low price." What's equally important is what's generally unspoken, but nonetheless, understood (by some, at least): " . . .but not neccessarily the best service!" I cringe at the thought of having anybody mounting tires on my alloy rims, much less the low cost leader.