Sigh of relief!
11-04-2009, 11:17 PM
#1
Three Wheelin'
Thread Starter
Sigh of relief!
Knowledge is power, or ignorance is bliss, or why doing it yourself is always better: I purchased my Enkei wheels back in August, and because I was a total noob, I had a local tire shop put them on. At the time, they asked me if I wanted to use my existing lugs or use the new lugs that came with the wheels, since they (seemed) exactly the same. I, very fortunately, chose to use the new lugs.
I'm not such a noob anymore and I had been reading about lug seats for aftermarket wheels, how they have a tapered seat versus the ball seat of our OEM wheels. It bugged me that ball-seat lugs may have been put on my wheels and possibly damaged them.
Tonight I finally went and took one of the lugs off, and boy was I relieved to see that they were, in fact, tapered. If you just looked at them from outside, they really do look exactly the same as the OEM lugs. But placed side by side, they are completely different.
It sucks that a tire shop that mounts wheels all day long did not know the difference, but I'm not really surprised. Ineptness runs rampant in our society and you have to watch out for your own ass constantly. Kudos to Tirerack for including the proper lugs, but -1 for including socket extensions that were too big and didn't fit them said lugs. Again, ineptness.
To thank Acurazine and all of you guys for the knowledge that you have bestowed upon me, I shall be posting a guide on rotating tires. Yes, I'm going to do my very first DIY tire rotation this weekend. I'll have pics up and detailed instructions. Obviously it'll be pretty useless for guys like DerwoodEE and HeavyDuty, but to the noobs out there, knowledge is power!
(Pardon my longwinded post but I'm slightly tipsy at the moment.
)
I'm not such a noob anymore and I had been reading about lug seats for aftermarket wheels, how they have a tapered seat versus the ball seat of our OEM wheels. It bugged me that ball-seat lugs may have been put on my wheels and possibly damaged them.
Tonight I finally went and took one of the lugs off, and boy was I relieved to see that they were, in fact, tapered. If you just looked at them from outside, they really do look exactly the same as the OEM lugs. But placed side by side, they are completely different.
It sucks that a tire shop that mounts wheels all day long did not know the difference, but I'm not really surprised. Ineptness runs rampant in our society and you have to watch out for your own ass constantly. Kudos to Tirerack for including the proper lugs, but -1 for including socket extensions that were too big and didn't fit them said lugs. Again, ineptness.
To thank Acurazine and all of you guys for the knowledge that you have bestowed upon me, I shall be posting a guide on rotating tires. Yes, I'm going to do my very first DIY tire rotation this weekend. I'll have pics up and detailed instructions. Obviously it'll be pretty useless for guys like DerwoodEE and HeavyDuty, but to the noobs out there, knowledge is power!
(Pardon my longwinded post but I'm slightly tipsy at the moment.
)
11-05-2009, 03:13 PM
#2
Three Wheelin'
Good for you in trying DIY project on your car.
It gives you a better understanding on how your car works and also gives you a certain level of satisfaction for a job well done (because you are not in a hurry like the garage mechanic).
My kids are still amazed that I used to spend hours on the weekend to do tune up on my Civic, Datsun 710 as well as Capri's and Mustang (plugs, points and condenser, PCV, fuel filter and carb adjustment etc). They have never seen a timing gun or heard of something called a choke in a car
It gives you a better understanding on how your car works and also gives you a certain level of satisfaction for a job well done (because you are not in a hurry like the garage mechanic).
My kids are still amazed that I used to spend hours on the weekend to do tune up on my Civic, Datsun 710 as well as Capri's and Mustang (plugs, points and condenser, PCV, fuel filter and carb adjustment etc). They have never seen a timing gun or heard of something called a choke in a car
11-05-2009, 06:23 PM
#3
Burning Brakes
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Charlotte, NC
Age: 41
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This is just the start man. Now you've got to start pulling the engine apart, doing your own brake jobs, oil changes, etc.
Though I will admit, while I surely know how to change my own oil, I no longer do that myself. I'd just rather not deal with the hassle of disposing the oil. But I chaned my own oil on my car from the age of 15 to about 24 when I graduated college and finally had enough money to pay someone else to do it.
Though I will admit, while I surely know how to change my own oil, I no longer do that myself. I'd just rather not deal with the hassle of disposing the oil. But I chaned my own oil on my car from the age of 15 to about 24 when I graduated college and finally had enough money to pay someone else to do it.
Last edited by DerwoodEE; 11-05-2009 at 06:26 PM.
11-06-2009, 07:07 AM
#4
I think its worth the $30 - $50 to pay someone else do it then spend the time doing it myself and hassling with the oil disposing like derwood there. Though I am putting my rotors and camber arm on myself, and i did my Coilovers and EDFC. The coilovers were quite the trip mostly getting the Eibachi springs off the shocks. Its fun as hell to do shit to your own car.. If only I knew how to do body work....
Google? I just might
Google? I just might
11-06-2009, 06:22 PM
#5
Three Wheelin'
Thread Starter
I agree with you guys, paying someone to do an oil change is a bargain considering you could get yourself really dirty and you have to worry about how to dispose of the oil. I'm actually still debating whether I should do the oil change myself. I am expecting my B1 service to come up soon and I got a chance to review Acura's B1 checklist; I could probably do the oil change but there are a bunch of other checks that I'm not comfortable with so I'll probably end up paying for it. It does annoy me that it costs $160 and you can't even verify if the checks were done.
I love Google and if I had the time I'd probably be able to look up all the B1 items, but I don't, so I'll just start with the tire rotation. Anyway, my torque and lug wrenches arrived today. Can't wait until tomorrow...
I love Google and if I had the time I'd probably be able to look up all the B1 items, but I don't, so I'll just start with the tire rotation. Anyway, my torque and lug wrenches arrived today. Can't wait until tomorrow...
11-06-2009, 06:50 PM
#6
WTH happened to my garage
Doing your own work insures it's done 100%, teaches you patience and stuff you can apply in other areas of your life.
Geezus, I sound like a vo-tech commercial.
Geezus, I sound like a vo-tech commercial.
