walmart sucks

[74 challenger]

ok so i need tires on the work van. So i ask for the same tires on the front and they tell me they have 4 but cant find them. So i said how about these they are the same size. Walmart says ok , put them on the van. I go pick up the van and said tires look low in the back,the guy looks at the door tag which says 80 pounds in back tires. So he pumps the tires to 80 pounds. Im home and look at the tires , they call for max 44 pounds and the tires are the wrong rating for a 8 lug van. This is my fault because i figured they only do oil changes and tires so what could go wrong. Guess im going back to get it fixed. I NEED TO SLOW DOWN AND SMELL THE ROSES.

 

[moparleo]

You're right. This must be a 1 ton van. Remember the door sticker is the vehicle mfg.s recommendation. Make sure to have them check all tires including spare for correct load rating and air pressure. 80 psi is max for a load range E.

 

[ramenth]

You're right. This must be a 1 ton van. Remember the door sticker is the vehicle mfg.s recommendation. Make sure to have them check all tires including spare for correct load rating and air pressure. 80 psi is max for a load range E.

Yeah.

It should have the proper E rated tires put back on it if your work it. A work van is no place to substitute P-rated.

And it's not just WalMart. It can be any tire shop where the salesmen don't know tires. I used to work at one (hated every minute of it) where the service writers couldn't tell one tire from another when it came to load ratings.

We were a Green Diamond outlet, with direct ties to the factory. Green Diamond was a remold shop where they would put another couple of layers of rubber -impregnated with carbide chips - on an old tire. It would change the load ratings.

In their quest of the customer is always right, it wasn't unusual for us to have to mount up E-rated tires on something like a Dodge Dakota or Nissan Frontier. So, we were replacing P-rated tires with tires meant to be on 3/4 ton and bigger vehicles. Here's where the conundrum came in: do we run 'em to full pressure (80# max) and let the light suspension chop the living hell out of 'em, or do we back off pressure to way under and run the risk having a bunch of Ford Explorers on our hands?

Never once did I ever hear the service writers look at a customer and say, "we don't have the proper tire for you, Mr. Customer, in that manufacturer, but we do have a comparable tire in stock that would fit your needs." Nope.

Sorry for the rant, guys. Just bugs the out of me.

 

[74 challenger]

yeah your right they just want to sell you a tire. The right tires were there but niether of the guys could find them,they were on the back row. when i went back they said you didnt buy the protection plan. I just about lost it but they woke up and relized it could of been a law suit. They fix it no charge

 

[moparleo]

Bravo !!:icon_super:

 

[burntorange70]

The Walmart buy me has some strange rule. Went in there to see about tires for my truck. Someone before I got it put bigger tires on it and I wanted to go back to stock. The guy tells me he cant do that because the rule is that they will only put on the same size tire that came off of that rim. Kind of strange I thought.

 

[moparleo]

Thats not strange, thats BOGUS. He is partialy correct. You should never undersize the tires that came on the vehicle from the factory unless the van is a conversion which should have a new tire load plate or sticker behind or the left of the drivers seat. That pressure is only for maxloads. Like Ramenth said too much air pressure will make it ride like a Datsun pickup, ( only old timers will know what I mean.) If you like to be really technical about this. Find a tire guide load and inflation chart for your vehicle and it will tell you how much air it needs to support the load on each tire. You can either empty or load up your van including fuel and go to a truck stop or any where that weighs trucks and have your axles weighed front and rear and total weight. than you can trully put in the correct air pressure in your tires. Remember this is for a cold tire. Warm tires will give a false reading. Also keep your own pressure gauge in the vehicle as each place you go to inflate your tires make will probably be incorrect. This way at least the readings will be consistent.

Are you ready for the test ?
Just kidding. Old tire guys tend to ramble...