Scratches on new rims from the socket used to install the LUGNUTS!!!

atlantarange said:
AGREED! I am meeting with management tomorrow and will contact corporate office next if they dont own up to it. After taking the pics and looking at the close up from the camera Im even more upset.
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I gotta be honest with you, DO NOT LET THEM FIX this wheel ! they will screw it up worse, trust me. Ive been through this. They will likey spraypaint the scratch with wheel paint that doesnt match and then you have some REAL issues. Just chalk this up. believe it or not this is industry standard and not considered damage to these types of corporations.

If it bugs you that bad, have it fixed by a specialized wheel repair shop and send them the bill. I repeat, DO NOT LET THEM DO IT. I have some 6 page threads on VW Vortex of going through the same issue (except worse) in 2010. I made the gigantic mistake of letting them repair the wheel.
 
Yes indeed, Hunter machines are the way to go. For the wheels I care about, I send my own sockets for the techs to use, which also forces them to use a breaker bar and torque wrench instead of the impact and torque sticks.
 
sorry it took so long to follow up. Yes they did take care of this. The manager had me come up to the shop to take a look. He said that the lug holes on the Range Rover wheels are small and there was really no way they could use the air gun to change the tire without creating scratches. He said that each time they would need to change the lugs by hand in order to not scratch. There is a wheel repair shop that they deal with here in Atlanta. He had the guy meet me up there and he repaired the wheels on the spot. He actually did a great job. I inspected the wheels before they put them back on and you couldnt tell that scratches were there. Its been a few months now and they still look great so they are holding up well. The manager stated that they dont mine taking the wheel off by hand each time I get the wheels balanced and rotated, it will just take a bit longer to get done. I dont know if that is what I will do next time. I may just find another shop or purchase a tool for them to use when removing the lugs. Im really nervous about anyone touching them now to be honest !
 
atlantarange- I'm glad to hear things turned out OK, but I sure sympathize with your concerns about the future!

Sounds like the Service Manager learned a lesson (gee, there are vehicles you shouldn't use the regular impact on, glad to hear he "doesn't mind"), too bad it happened to you.

IMO you oughta have a proper (protective) socket for those wheels anyhow..just put it in a little ziplok and keep it in the glovebox so it's always with the vehicle.
 
atlantarange- I got mine in sets from Griot's, but IIRC I've also seen them in the Harbor Freight catalogs. Do some kind of google-fu on "protective wheel lug socket" or somesuch unless you want to pay the presumably higher price at GG.
 
4u2nvinmtl said:
This is why I change my own wheels :)
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Tht's the best approach, when it's feasible. The trouble comes when a vehicle is being serviced by others...

Honestly, the whole "somebody else touching it.." thing can really influence how I feel about certain vehicles; some of today's stuff is simply not DIY-friendly even with regard to (previously) simple stuff.
 
1 - get a 3 ton jack and 2 jack stands and rotate your own tires. I can do mine in about 20 minutes now that I have the system down.
2 - get a socket set and torque wrench. I got mine from Sears and they have a plastic sleeve on the sockets. Sears.com
 
I would think that most Autopians would be dismounting the wheels now and then if only for access to detail stuff, but then I'm kinda nutty about such stuff (I keep three floorjacks in the wash bay along with lots of stands).

But IMO the real the point here is that 99% of vehicles get serviced by others and in the course of that servicing sometimes the wheels get taken off and put back on. So even people who never take off a wheel in their life (*nothing* wrong with that, either...) oughta have the protective sockets if their wheels are vulnerable to such damage. Keep it in the glovebox and make sure whoever's servicing the vehicle uses it.
 
Accumulator said:
I would think that most Autopians would be dismounting the wheels now and then if only for access to detail stuff, but then I'm kinda nutty about such stuff (I keep three floorjacks in the wash bay along with lots of stands).

But IMO the real the point here is that 99% of vehicles get serviced by others and in the course of that servicing sometimes the wheels get taken off and put back on. So even people who never take off a wheel in their life (*nothing* wrong with that, either...) oughta have the protective sockets if their wheels are vulnerable to such damage. Keep it in the glovebox and make sure whoever's servicing the vehicle uses it.
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Sound advice, no harder than having a wheel lock key that you give to your service professionals. Makes it easy for them as they don't need to go searching for one.
 
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