Protect Your Wheel Centers

[ElPasoGoat]

I just had a tire store technician knock the the stock wheel centers out without removing the wire (spring) ring that holds the plastic tabs in place. He broke the two tabs off one of the centers. These things list for $113 / pc at the dealer and $86 / pc on line. Make sure the wire ring is removed before you or someone else knocks out the center.

[tommyb]

why the smurf was he taking them out anyway?

[MVDCGTO]

why the smurf was he taking them out anyway?

Balance the tire

[pawz]

Which shop? I hope they covered the bill.

[06 Blue Devil]

They should if they are a reputable shop. You donot have to remove the wire spring when removing them, you need to push them out with a small hammer handle or prybar. I have done this and have never had a problem with breaking one.

[Poke GTO]

They should if they are a reputable shop. You donot have to remove the wire spring when removing them, you need to push them out with a small hammer handle or prybar. I have done this and have never had a problem with breaking one.

Agreed... they should pop out fairly easily with just a little force from the back side. Think I used a small wooden hammer handle as well...

[JDrobycki]

I just bought one to ship to CCW so they can mill-our-wheels to fit the factory caps. After looking the cap, I don't see how one plastic cap could cost $113 or even $86.

[PreludetoaGTO]

Having previously worked at a dealership, and having knocked out about 10,000 of those things, (and seen 10 million more knocked out) I can say with absolute certainty that you don't have to do anything special to protect them.

Either yours was ready to go (maybe it was just a bad one) or he was being unnecessarily rough.

Either way, the shop needs to cover you.

[TheGTOKid]

Had a similar thing happen at Hibdon's here in Oklahoma. We took my baby in to get some new tires and the guys at Hibdon's broke 17 of the 20 lug covers, then tried to put 5 of them back on anyway. I didn't realize this until I had gotten home, and instead of just calling, I drove back into town. I spoke to the Manager and not only did he buy me 20 new ones at 7 dollars a piece, he also gave me a 100 dollar gift card. He definitely made it right, and that is the only reason I'm still a customer there. Some places actually know how to treat their customers!