Tyre fitters
 

I know that this has been touched on now and again but something really should be done about the pressures that tyre fitters are inflating new tyres to and allowing customers to drive out onto the roads with possibly dangerously over inflated tyres.


My wife has just been down to get two new tyres and when picking me up on the way back it became very apparent to me in the passenger seat that the car was bouncing all over the place and suffered wheel spin on moving off on a wet road.

I checked the pressures after the short ride home to find that as usual the tyres were over inflated by what I consider to be a large amount..... 42psi instead of the manufacturers 32psi.

The tyre fitter is no worse than any other that I have ever used in that they all seem to over inflate the tyres to pop them onto the wheel but then never bother to set the pressures as correct for the car.


Given that these places all have access to computers it is clearly just a few seconds work to check the manufacturers recommended pressures for any model that comes in and adjust accordingly.

During my working life as a Gas engineer with every single appliance that I even just fleetingly worked on I had to check the Gas working pressure was correct and set it correctly if needed if the pressure was incorrect as I was the last one to work on the appliance I was held legally responsible if the appliance was not safely set up.

It is perhaps rather worrying that thousands and thousands of appliances that I worked on over the years were working on incorrect pressures including the majority which had supposedly been serviced every year by 'reputable' companies including the Gas Board / British Gas which I'd have thought was rather worrying and shows what a joke cash cow servicing has been considered by many operatives and companies over the years.

The point being that if there had been any major incident with a particular appliance, I or any other engineer would have been legally responsible as the last persons to work on them if the pressures or other installation requirements weren't spot on.


So how come tyre depots seem to have little or no conscience, standards or obligation to ensure that the tyres that they have just fitted conform to manufacturers recommendations and would they be legally responsible if an incident occurred that the police then pinned down to vastly over inflated tyres soon after new ones had been fitted.

As my wife mentioned, if I hadn't known that her new tyres would be vastly over inflated then she wouldn't have known what was going on and wondering why her car was driving differently.

Surely its easy enough for the Department of transport to circulate to tyre depots that it is their legal responsibility to adjust the pressures of newly fitted tyres to their correct operating pressure or they would be held responsible in the event of an accident attributed to such a scenario and incumbent on the DOT to hold random checks to ensure that this is being done?

My general beef with tyre fitters is over tightening wheel nuts/ bolts , especially on older vehicles with finer pitch threads rather than the relatively course metric ones .

Coming originally from the motor trade, the low standards, poor attitude and knowledge of a few in it depresses me.

Had the same problem a couple of times. Now, when I go for tyres, I always specify tyre pressures and that the rim beads should be thoroughly cleaned - I've got serpents and if the beads are not cleaned I always get a slow through the bead on one or more tyres.
So far, last two tyre changes all ok!

Hello , I not tyres fitter but as you say you gas person surely you should know tyres need check when they cold that was 1 and second where you check ??? when last time that pressure gage was checked? against that work shop or what ever that place is , yes I understand a bit atacking BUT??
surely 42 psi even in the hot tyre is too much it is max should reach 36 psi AND that depends on driving style and milege
Please don't get me wrong but (anything can be)
P.S. compare to my local BP and work place they pressure gage difference 4psi my gage calibrate every 6 months , my point is you not be too bouncing on the road if you have over pressure it is more fill like you in hard chair what a reson to change the tyres and may be just need done simple geometry check?
I not protect them , I not critic you just a toughs .