Man! It could've been bad!, Beware: Venting ahead! Options

[Slick]

I just got a big reminder to make sure that my medical plan is up to date! When i got my car out of the garage about 2 weeks ago after it had been sitting there for 3, my car (sounded like it was my suspension) was making a noise and it gradually got louder as the days went by, especially my right front tire. When i bought my wheels i had to get plastic ring adapters to fit the rims to the hubs (pictured below). So when i took the front wheel off, sure enough, the ring was missing which causes the wheel to jiggle in place. Luckily i had an extra one. (No, this isn't the crisis!) So i went around to the other tires and removed the wheel covers to check if the others had them and they did.



After another week, the noise from the front reduced but the rest of the car was getting worse and since i've been working late hours this whole week i dídn't have time to thoroughly check the car until today. THE REMAINING 3 TIRES' NUTS WERE ALL LOOSE! Each nut took at least another 2-3 revolutions with the tire iron on all 3 tires! On the rear right tire two of the nuts came loose in my hand!

i'll never trust another mechanic again. What's the point? i'll have to go over his work every time anyway!

[95CelicaST]

yeah thats not good. I know there used to be a shop in Enumclaw where the mechanic would intentionally break something while working on the customer car so that they would come back and have that other part fixed... and it would just keep going... until he was arrested and his shop was shut down.

I find it really hard to trust a mechanic. I had a shop that I would take my cars to and I trusted the guy. He did great work and I never had any complaints, but then he went out of business... THEN who do you turn to?


my suggestion is to find a new mechanic you can trust, or learn to do the work yourself.

[6strngs]

if yout took all the wheels off to check if they had the rubber ring, then didn't you leave them all loose?

[goferris]

if yout took all the wheels off to check if they had the rubber ring, then didn't you leave them all loose?

he didn't take of the wheels just the covers.

[Redline08]

i didnt use those rubber wings on my car, do u need them for a 95 st hatch?

[Slick]

if yout took all the wheels off to check if they had the rubber ring, then didn't you leave them all loose?

he didn't take of the wheels just the covers.

Correcta-mundo! With the cover off i can see the rings. And i would never leave my bolts loose on my baby.

i didnt use those rubber wings on my car, do u need them for a 95 st hatch?

What rubber wings are you referring to?

[Redline08]

those plastic circles, like in the first picture, my rims came with 3 of them so i didnt bother putting them in cause the 4th rim wouldnt have one...

[Slick]

those plastic circles, like in the first picture, my rims came with 3 of them so i didnt bother putting them in cause the 4th rim wouldnt have one...

Oh! Rubber Rings! Sorry.

[Redline08]

yeaaaa lol do u need them?

[Slick]

yeaaaa lol do u need them?

I did. i don't have a picture to describe it but my rims would not sit well on my hub without the ring. but yours might be different and may not need them.

[daphreakda]

It's really sad that some douche bag mechanic gives all of us a bad name. It's always these guys you hear about, not the good ones.