Pre-tire change advice?

Yeah, find a place that knows a Ferrari is an expensive exotic car and that the owner will put his best guy on it and knows it needs to be treated with respect. I had tires put on at Tires Plus and while they did an okay job, but having people that seem clueless around a low sporty car was somewhat nerve wracking. When you get to the point you feel like raising your voice to explain that "HEY! THOSE WHEELS ARE VERY EXPENSIVE AND CANT BE REPLACED!", you probably should have picked a different shop. Some people seem to think a wheel is something to toss around willy nilly and just have no clue.

 

Nothing. If you value any car you own, torque should be by the book. Cars should be jacked by jack points in the book.

 

I always insist that I show them the jack points and absolutely insist NO AIR WRENCHES! All of the shop managers I have dealt with have been very cooperative. Also, confirm that they do have touchless mounting equipment. It is rare anymore to find a shop that does not, but it's good to check. Getting road force balancing is worth the extra cost. Most of the chain stores have the equipment to do it.

Dave

 

This is what I do, I remove all 4 wheels myselsf, put it in my other car, drive it to the tire shop and have them do the mount and balace, take them back home, mount it back and torque them myself, then take it for test drive. Don't like to bring my car to a shop like that unless I have to.

 

+1

 

Ditto to that. I just went through a hectic repaint on my rims and was checking for a place to mount the tires. I asked if they had the "no touch" mounting equipment. The manager said yes and then told me to bring a soft rag and give it to whoever was mounting the tires. There is a step where the tire is pulled over the rim and he said the guy would know what to do with the rag. Appearently the rag goes between the bar and the rim before the tire is placed on the rim.

 

Thats the best advise. I did this on my 308 and the Goodyear guy was standing there with a digital camera taking pictures of both sides of the wheels in case there was damage and we needed to compare before and after. I found a nick after the job was done, and he was able to prove it was there when I dropped them off.

 

I too take mine off and drive them to the shop in my truck. Freaks me out having these shops put it on a lift.

I haven't seen a post regarding the weight placement to balance. Is it possible to internally mount the weights to hide them or can it only be done externally? Any greater potential for imbalance doing it internally if can be done?

Jeff

 

Have the tires drop-shipped to your ferrari shop, and get a four wheel alignment when they install the tires.

You'll be astounded at the net total improvement in the handling.


(Unless you do your own alignments, in which case take just the wheels to have the tires mounted and balanced.)

And check that they have the rotation directions right before leaving the shop.

On the floor lift -- or on the other set of wheels (summer/winter).

 

My portable low-rise ran me $1,500, delivered. I did the new coil-overs on the AllTrac on it, use it to do alignments, and can swap summer/winter wheels twice a year on the EVO with it.

I'm getting old enough that I even lift the cars up to make waxing them easier.

If you have the room (and ceiling clearance) for one, a shop-grade full two or four post lift can be had for under $3K, last time I looked.

The new coil-overs caused me to find out how inexpensive the lifts were, but once I got one, there's lots of uses for it.

On the Ferrari, I did a special day-trip to the shop just for tires and alignment. The combination completely cured the wet handling issues my 328 had when I got it. If you haven't had an alignment lately, get one done. It makes a big difference on these cars.

(I do my own alignments on the ricers, but the Ferrari takes shims I don't have on hand.)

 

My weights are external currently so it will be nice if they can be internal, especially since I'm refinishing the wheels concurrently with a tire change. I wonder if convex wheels makes a difference?

I usually will do my tires in pairs, so I will either put my car on jack stands front or rear or put old rims/spares, etc. I'm too nervous about 4 jack stands at once but once had my mechanic do it.

Are you going stock with your tires, Jon? What brand did you decide on? I was just getting ready to get some on tire rack and I notice they have Dunlop Sport Maxx's with a $100 rebate. Survey results on tire rack look real good, three reviews one stating they flat spot very easily. I take those results with a grain of salt, though. Has anyone had experience with these tires on any car?

Jeff

 

I have convex wheels and the weights are internal. I would kill my tire guy if they were installed on the outside of the wheel.

 

Ask your Ferrari tech which tire and wheel shop he uses-then you know you are getting a shop that has experience with the cars. Mention to the manager you were referred by your tech-then you will get better attention at the shop. PB

 

Car came that way but I'm remounting new shoes and refinishing so now they're going inside. Thanks.

Jeff

 

While the car is off the ground, check for looseness in the wheel bearings or steering gear/suspension.

After taking the wheels off of your car, clean them up and have a good look for any signs of distress, cracks, curb rash, prior mounting damage and paint condition. If it needs attention, now is the time to get the tire taken off, then repair/refinish/or replace it before you get new tires mounted.

Examine the wear pattern on the tires, It may show some alignment related abnormal wear or pressure related shoulder or center of tread wear; indicating the urgent need for an alignment or revising your standard tire pressure settings.

Give the alignment tech a bit of help, show him the abby-normal tires, mention any tendency to pull or go other than straight, any unusual noises or handling quirks.

If you can avoid scheduling the work when the tire shop / alignment shop is super busy like saturday mornings, you may find that you get a better job.

hth,
chris

 

If you've never had one done, get one done -- unless you really, really trust how the car came from the previous owner.

You can't always tell when the rear alignment is not quite right. (This from someone who got one block from the Toyota dealer shop, and took it back to have the alignment fixed.) And it does make a difference to handling in the Ferrari. (I can feel a 1psi tweak on tire pressure on the Ferrari, but even 5psi isn't particularly noticable on the EVO.)

Depending on how hard you use your tires, you probably won't need one every tire change --- unless your last one was 5 years or 50K miles ago. (Not that many tires for these cars last 50K miles.) Or unless the tire wear shows that something isn't right.

You also might want to check your alignment if you've had a "close encounter of the curb kind". (You can do this yourself with some basic tools -- tape measure, t-square, protractor, plumb line.)

When you get the wheels off, it's a good time to check stuff around the hubs -- steering knuckles, remaining brake pad thickness, signs of rubbing on the wheel wells or struts, etc. Things get really expensive if you wait for them to fail in use.

It may also be a good idea to have the alignment checked after an engine-out service. After all, removing all the dirt from the engine may have shifted your weight distribution.

I guess it depends on your standards. Heck, half the people in this town are running around on visibly flattened (underinflated) tires. But Ferraris are often maintained to higher standards.

Or maybe it's just me -- I had to warn the guy who bought my AllTrac that the suspension was set for neutral handling. (Most street cars have an understeer bias --- which annoys the heck out of me.) That may have been the only AllTrac on the street with zero understeer.

 

I was wondering if other's do this as well? I doubt I have the sensitivity to the alignment that you have and I don't feel any problems now. I doubt it's been done in a while, if ever, records don't show it occuring in the last 6 years and it's on original suspension I assume at 45K miles.

Jeff

 

I've only put one set of tires on my Ferrari -- and I had the alignment done then. I didn't feel any indicative problems before, but it did make a big difference to the wet handling. (Rear alignment was out.)

I did my own alignment on the Celica after installing the coil overs. I've checked the EVO's alignment twice in 15K miles -- once after road debris took out a winter tire. But I'd owned both of those cars since new.

If you buy a used car, how do you know the alignment is right, if you don't have it checked?

My father, on the other hand, was adamant about getting at least a basic alignment with every new set of tires. ("Why pay for new tires if the car will just scrub them off?")

By the time I put tires on the Ferrari again, I'll probably at least check the alignment at home first. Potholes are everywhere. And can be hard on suspension elements.

I'd guess it's probably due. My 328 had about 50K (10 of them mine) when I had the alignment done.

It's not all that much money, to be sure it's right.

If you don't want the expense, you could google for DIY alignment methods, and check it yourself.


One weird thing I've noticed in the ricer crowd: People will pay $7K for a custom paint job, $5K for a laptop controlled ECU, $3K for coilovers and a lowering kit (which does change camber) .... but will hesitate to cough up a couple of hundred for an alignment. (I put camber plates on all four corners of the Celica when I did the coilovers on it.)

 

Makes sense to do it, I understand your point. Now the problem of finding an alignment shop I can trust with the car. No true local Ferrari mechanic but I might be able to get a referral from one of the guys that have worked on Ferrari's. Thanks.

Jeff