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Grex > Agora41 > #115: How to do embarrassingly simple, obvious things | |
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jep
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How to do embarrassingly simple, obvious things
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Apr 22 17:39 UTC 2002 |
There are a number of things that probably everyone in the world knows
how to do, except me. Or you. Or whoever. Grex is a place where you
can hide behind anonymity and find out how to do such things. Here is
where you can ask.
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| 129 responses total. |
jep
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response 1 of 129:
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Apr 22 17:44 UTC 2002 |
Naturally, I am like anyone else in that I'd never enter an item like
this unless I had an immediate need.
For fun, I'll just point out I picked someone else's name under which
to post my question. That could become a convention in this item...
The question itself is serious, though.
How do you buy new tires for a car? My pickup truck blew out a tire
yesterday, and that led me to notice they probably all need
replacement. My spare was unfixably flat as well, so I got a used
replacement for it. Now I want to find out how to buy new tires with
aplomb and without getting ripped off.
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jep
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response 2 of 129:
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Apr 22 17:47 UTC 2002 |
Also, while I'm at it, how do you tell when your tires need
replacement, other than when they suddenly lose air and start
going "thwop, thwow, thwop"?
For most of my life, I've driven old cars for which it was not
worthwhile to replace tires. I've never gone out and bought new tires.
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polygon
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response 3 of 129:
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Apr 22 17:55 UTC 2002 |
I take my car to Discount Tire periodically and ask them to evaluate the
tires. They tell me how much life is left on them and whether they need
rotation or replacement. Apparently, if you bought your tires there, or
if you ever plan to buy tires there, rotation is free.
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jep
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response 4 of 129:
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Apr 22 18:15 UTC 2002 |
How much should it cost for 4 new tires for an F-250 pickup? The place
where I got the used tire told me it would run about $100 each, but
that seems awfully high to me.
BTW: Starbuck, you only have to hide behind a pseudo in this item if
you're embarrassing yourself by your question. I don't think your
answer should have embarrassed you. It's the sort of answer I will
probably use when I get the new tires.
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keesan
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response 5 of 129:
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Apr 22 18:51 UTC 2002 |
Why not get four USED tires for the truck? New ones might outlast the
vehicle. Discount Tire stocks used tires, pretty cheap. Like $10-20 each.
Or just replace them with used tires as the old ones go bad.
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jep
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response 6 of 129:
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Apr 22 19:41 UTC 2002 |
My father suggested I not do that. The truck has about 140,000 miles
on it, and should last for quite a while. My father suggested I go
ahead and get good tires that will last and be reliable. I'm never
going to drive this truck a lot, as in make it my regular vehicle, but
my son loves it and we'll use it quite a lot this summer for vacations
and weekend trips around Michigan.
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slynne
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response 7 of 129:
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Apr 22 19:48 UTC 2002 |
John, I get my tires at Spartan Tire in Ypsilanti but I have heard good
things about Discount Tire too. I like the people at Spartan Tire and
they rotate my tires for free whenever I take the car in for an oil
change there. They also can do minor repairs and seem to be very
honest. I dont imagine they would be convenient for you but I'll bet
there is a tire place near your home or office where you can go for
regular rotation.
Ok, here is my stupid question: I have a cordless phone that is less
than a year old but it doesnt work. It actually never worked but I
bought it online so returning it was a pain. (I actually tried but then
they sent me another one with the exact same problem) It keeps losing
its connection with the base. It is a really nice phone though and has
some features that are hard to find in cordless phones so I would like
to fix it rather than just getting a new one. Is there a place around
Ann Arbor/Ypsi that fixes things like cordless phones and doesnt charge
a whole lot? I wouldnt be willing to spend more than $30 fixing it.
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keesan
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response 8 of 129:
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Apr 22 20:34 UTC 2002 |
Have you a new battery in it and if not bring it by and we can replace the
battery and see if that works. We have oodles of cordless phone batteries
and Jim likes fixing things. It might just be a dirty connection or loose
wire. You have to either come by bike or public transportation, or have some
other urgent business in Ann Arbor, and if Jim fixes it you can feed him
something or organize his room for an hour.
By losing its connection do you mean that the sound fades out? It might just
not hold a charge for very long if it is a small handset (with small battery).
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gull
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response 9 of 129:
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Apr 22 20:39 UTC 2002 |
$100 isn't ridiculous for a set of tires, but there are cheaper ones. I
think the last set I put on my Honda cost me $70 each, and they were of
middling quality. Really cheap tires can cost half that, but you lose
out in handling, longevity, noise, and sometimes safety. Light truck
tires for your pickup may be a bit more expensive than the passenger car
tires I put on my car, though.
Legally speaking, once a tire is worn to the point that wear bars
appear, it's no longer roadworthy. The wear bars will appear as bare
horizontal strips across the tread. A worn tread results in poor
handling in snow and wet weather.
There's not really anything too complicated about buying tires. Usually
they'll charge you for a few extra items, like valve stems, mounting,
and balancing. Ask ahead of time if that's included in the price
they're quoting you, to avoid any unpleasant surprises. Make sure you
keep your receipt and get the warranty documents for the tires you buy.
If you're looking for a bargain, ask about "take-offs". These are tires
that were put on a new car as original equipment, that the owner had
replaced with a different brand. They're usually as good as new, with
only a couple hundred miles on them at most, though they don't always
carry the same warranty.
Incidentally, some tires shops have their air wrenches set to the
"really frigging TIGHT" setting. That can result in lug nuts that seize
to the rim, really unpleasant if you get a flat. It's not a bad idea to
take a lug wrench and break each lug nut loose, then retighten it by
hand, after you get the car back home.
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slynne
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response 10 of 129:
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Apr 22 20:56 UTC 2002 |
Thanks for the offer but I cant ride my bike because it is broken too!
I'll think about the public transportation angle.
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aruba
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response 11 of 129:
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Apr 22 23:32 UTC 2002 |
Re: Tires: I go to the library and check Consumers Reports.
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tpryan
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response 12 of 129:
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Apr 22 23:47 UTC 2002 |
jep, don't you watch sports? Plenty of tire ads for some reason.
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scott
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response 13 of 129:
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Apr 23 00:15 UTC 2002 |
Re 9: "F-250 pickup". Bigger tires than Honda typically puts on their cars.
Oops, forgot to change my name.
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klg
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response 14 of 129:
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Apr 23 00:40 UTC 2002 |
re: "#5 (keesan) Why not get four USED tires for the truck?" And I suppose
you think she should fill them with USED air, too.
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grexalot
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response 15 of 129:
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Apr 23 00:45 UTC 2002 |
Blow hot, blow cold.
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jmsaul
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response 16 of 129:
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Apr 23 01:25 UTC 2002 |
Holy shit. I missed that. Used tires are terrifying. Figures keesan would
suggest something that saves money at the expense of safety.
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jp2
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response 17 of 129:
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Apr 23 01:27 UTC 2002 |
This response has been erased.
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dbunker
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response 18 of 129:
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Apr 23 02:31 UTC 2002 |
What aruba said. The Discount Tires on Stadium got pretty sloppy before I
stopped going there (I lost a couple of wheel covers they didn't put on
securely). However, I've been quite happy with the one on Washtenaw. And
please don't go with used tires unless you are sure of the tread quality. Your
contact patch is your entire interface with the road and is one area where
you cannot skimp. Not only do you put your life at risk, you also put the
lives of your passengers and other vehicles, pedestrians, *bikes* (hint,
hint), etc. at risk.
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krj
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response 19 of 129:
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Apr 23 04:23 UTC 2002 |
Another vote for Discount Tire, though I usually deal with the one
in Okemos; have only been to their outlet on Stadium twice.
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jep
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response 20 of 129:
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Apr 23 13:04 UTC 2002 |
There's enough votes for Discount Tire that I'll give them a call.
What are they going to ask me? Tire sizes? Or can I just tell them I
have an F-250 and they'll know what I need?
I won't buy used tires, except the one I already bought which as I said
I intend for the spare. I don't know anything about tires, and
wouldn't know good ones from bad ones. Of course, that goes for new
tires, too, hence this item.
re #11: I thought I'd just use their WWW site, but it's a subscription
site. Maybe I'll subscribe to it.
re #12: I see tons of ads on TV for Belle Tire. Anyone have comments
about them?
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goose
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response 21 of 129:
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Apr 23 13:53 UTC 2002 |
Let me give anohter vote for Discount Tire. I've about split my time between
the two stores in Ann Arbor
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gull
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response 22 of 129:
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Apr 23 14:16 UTC 2002 |
Re #20: They'll either look up the proper tire size based on the make
and model of your truck, or they'll look at the tires already on it.
They usually get it right, though I did once have a tire shop in Hancock
want to sell me passenger car tires for a VW van, instead of the proper
light truck tires (which are admittedly hard to find in the right size
for that vehicle...and it had passenger car tires on it when I brought
it in, too, which probably threw them off a bit.)
I went to Belle Tire on Carpenter and didn't have any problems, but I
don't consider that enough experience to make a recommendation. My only
quarrel is they aren't always good about telling you when they're done
with your car, you need to keep an eye on the lot.
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jor
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response 23 of 129:
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Apr 23 15:29 UTC 2002 |
I've had great results buying used tires at
Goodyear and Discount. From a safety standpoint,
consider that the tires being replaced were in
very bad shape, so the used tires were a tremendous
improvement. And $15 dollars apiece? So with the
other charges for balancing and mounting and whatever,
I still got back on the road for under $100.
And rubber is cheap. On my old Cutlass I have
two sizes bigger than stock, just slightly
oversize not baloonish. That extra rubber really
makes a difference in the ride.
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jmsaul
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response 24 of 129:
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Apr 23 15:46 UTC 2002 |
I've dealt with Discount Tire a lot, without problems (well, they did put my
M3 wheels on the wrong positions, but I hadn't told them that the wheels were
different widths, it's kind of subtle, and they switched them for free).
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