Rim damage from pinch weights

[voomdoom]

Hey y'all,

I had a nail in my tire and Les Schwab was nice enough to patch up for me. The following day my tire was still leaking air and realized it came from a pinch weight they placed on the inside of the tire. I took it back and after they banged away they got the pinch weight off and use adhesive weights instead. The whole fiasco has left gouges and paint removed from the rim. I worry about future corrosion or if future tires might not be as properly if the rim is compromised on the inside.
I wanted other people's opinions if you all think this is okay or should I go back to Les Schwab and bring this to their attention?
What would you all do?

Thanks

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[Cancunbadlands]

I'll go back to Les Schwab and let them know

 

[Maverick123]

If it's a free repair, come on let's be realistic

I'd let them know but wouldn't raise a stink. It's on the inside of the wheel, if you're worried about corrosion you could get some black spray paint and do a touch up. Is road salt used in your state? If not I wouldn't even worry about it

 

[notfast]

Hey y'all,

I had a nail in my tire and Les Schwab was nice enough to patch up for me. The following day my tire was still leaking air and realized it came from a pinch weight they placed on the inside of the tire. I took it back and after they banged away they got the pinch weight off and use adhesive weights instead. The whole fiasco has left gouges and paint removed from the rim. I worry about future corrosion or if future tires might not be as properly if the rim is compromised on the inside.
I wanted other people's opinions if you all think this is okay or should I go back to Les Schwab and bring this to their attention?
What would you all do?

Thanks

As a former tire shop tech...yeah, the tire tech that hammered the weight on and the other that removed it could use some training. I'd go back and speak to the manager, at least so that they don't keep damaging more cars. You might be able to find their email address on the Les Schwab website and then you could just send them an email outlining this whole fiasco.

If you came through the Les-Schwab-like franchise place that I worked at, the manager would offer to get the wheel repaired at their cost, but you'd be on a spare or your car would be parked in the corner of the shop on a jackstand for a couple days while the wheel was sent out to the repairer.

If they don't budge after some nudging, you could escalate to corporate, or just write a bad review and move on.

That looks like an alloy wheel, so at least it won't rust. Future tire mounting shouldn't be a problem. If the ugliness of the gouges bother you, you could carefully file them flat and then hit it with a bit of spray paint. Fortunately it's on the inside of the wheel so the only people that will see anything are the people changing your oil.

 

[MikeS1942]

Hey y'all,

I had a nail in my tire and Les Schwab was nice enough to patch up for me. The following day my tire was still leaking air and realized it came from a pinch weight they placed on the inside of the tire. I took it back and after they banged away they got the pinch weight off and use adhesive weights instead. The whole fiasco has left gouges and paint removed from the rim. I worry about future corrosion or if future tires might not be as properly if the rim is compromised on the inside.
I wanted other people's opinions if you all think this is okay or should I go back to Les Schwab and bring this to their attention?
What would you all do?

Thanks

Hey y'all,

I had a nail in my tire and Les Schwab was nice enough to patch up for me. The following day my tire was still leaking air and realized it came from a pinch weight they placed on the inside of the tire. I took it back and after they banged away they got the pinch weight off and use adhesive weights instead. The whole fiasco has left gouges and paint removed from the rim. I worry about future corrosion or if future tires might not be as properly if the rim is compromised on the inside.
I wanted other people's opinions if you all think this is okay or should I go back to Les Schwab and bring this to their attention?
What would you all do?

Thanks

Whom ever banged away to remove a pinch weight is a definite hack. There are tools to remove those with zero damage to the rim. Also, pinch weights, if that is an alloy rim, are not the way to go. That's why they have stick on weights.

 

[mdsalemi]

My goodness, an [aluminum or magnesium] ALLOY wheel does NOT get clamp on weights. Never. It is supposed to get tape weights specifically to prevent the issue you are having.

As others have indicated, the damage to the inside of the wheel is minimal; a little paint will fix it. Not optimal of course.

But, any tire place worthy of the name needs to have tape weights. 50 years ago, steel wheels ruled and alloy was rare. Today, the other way around. They should have more tape weights than clamp on.

 

[Darnon]

Aluminum wheels don't necessarily always use only stick-ons. There are specific wheel weights for aluminum bead profiles for a reason.

 

[notfast]

Aluminum wheels don't necessarily always use only stick-ons. There are specific wheel weights for aluminum bead profiles for a reason.

Correct. The inner (and sometimes outer) rim of alloy wheels can accept hammer-on weights. But TBH, they aren't that common. The tire tech probably saw the OEM weights, pried them off, then hammered on weights designed for steelies.

 

[mdsalemi]

Of course they are not common. Hammering a lead weight with a steel bracket molded in onto anything made of aluminum is going to cause some damage. Y’all know aluminum is quite soft.

FWIW my factory wheels on my 2025 Lariat are tape weights.

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