April 9, 2024 • 19 mins
In this blast from the past Ron opens the hour talking about how to be a successful auto repair shop. One of the factors he states is how much auto repair varies by region and location. He offers up his "Dirty Dozen", the basic list of things to always check to ensure a vehicle is in good operating condition. He then takes a call from a listener in Maine who is having problems with tire wear on a 2011 Ford F150. Ron speaks at length about proper tire maintenance, covering mounting, balancing and wheel alignment and why these steps are important to ensure tire longevity.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Ron Aian.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
So my question is what have you seen in these
Prius coming through your shop?
Speaker 3 (00:07):
My comments on a Prius or this Tom I like
them as a vehicle, I wouldn't own one.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Maybe one day I'll be reincarnated and collect as a
sensitive guy. Sure driving a blue fricking Prius? I think
you say.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Your the Car Doctor two thousand and six. Kia came
into the shop this week. You just won't believe it.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Wait, he comes to Mikia.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
What's a Michia, my Keia.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Welcome to the radio home of ron Aanian, the Car Doctor.
Since nineteen ninety one. This is where car owners the
world overturned to for their definitive opinion on automotive repair.
If your mechanics giving you a busy signal, pick up
the phone and call in. The garage doors are open.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
But I am here to take your calls at eight
five five five six ninety nine.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Hundred and now he running?
Speaker 3 (01:03):
Did I ever tell you about the Dirty Dozen? I
mean for auto repair? Hi, and welcome runnin Ny in
the card Doctor. Here you can call in on the
Car Doctor's studio hotline eight five five five six nine
nine zero zero. That's the toll free number to call
into the Card Doctor's studio eight five five five six
O nine nine zero zero and it's twenty four to seven. Anytime,
day or night you call that number leave a message
(01:23):
if we're not on the air. This radio show originates
Saturday afternoon two to four pm Eastern Time. You can
leave a message at eight five five five six nine
nine zero zero and we'll call you back. Hey, there's
a message service there, Fast Harry Fastarry dot com. We'll
call you in, hook you up and get you in
que and we can talk to you here on air
for the next round of Card Doctor Radio the following weekend,
(01:44):
and for everyone's benefit, answer your question and solve your problem.
Take everything on about cars and throw it away on
a weekly basis. That's our new battle cry. Because cars
are just always changing, so's auto repair. Auto repair is
an ever evolving business, and it's a constantly moving target,
and it's a target that has a sweet spot, and
hit in that sweet spot is what really keeps business
(02:07):
humming and customers happy and cars rolling along. And it
seems that over the years I've learned to pay attention
to the little things, because the little things are very important,
you know, auto repair is a regional business. Someone once
asked me, they said, you know, what do you think
is important for a successful auto repair shop and what
(02:27):
makes a good repair? And my answer was, it depends
on what part of the country you're standing in when
you ask that question. Because auto repair is a regional
business with national consequences. What's important to me in the
North is different for the guy down in Florida than
for the guy in California than for the guy in Arizona.
And you get the point. Everything is predicated by environment
(02:51):
and operating conditions and traffic level and age of the
vehicle fleet. And you know, overall, an indicator of what
part of the country you're in predicates how you're going
to take care of that fleet. Each part of the
country really has a unique stream of consciousness and that's
(03:11):
what keeps the vehicles going and it keeps them safe
in their operation in that part of the world. Over
the years, I put together a list it's the little things,
and I want to share some of them with you
today as we kick off this hour of the Car Doctor.
I sort of affectionately call it my dirty dozen, and
these are some of my dirty dozen tips for taking
care of your car wiper blades. You know, wiper blades.
(03:35):
It just amazes me. They're so overlooked, and it's one
of the most critical components for any car, regardless of
how new or old it is. You know, as dumb
as it sounds, if you can't see where you're going,
then you can't get to where it is you got
to be. And if you're in bad weather, not being
able to see is going to bring things to a
halt very quickly. And it's funny, you know, auto repairs
(03:57):
a study in human emotion. Right, do you ever notice
that everybody thinks of changing wiper blades when it's raining
or snowing. Nobody ever says, on a nice sunny day,
I wonder how my wiper blades are, or when they
bring the car in for an oil change, hey, by
the way, check the wiper blades. They always wait for
the crisis to happen before they actually do something about it.
(04:19):
And the really weird thing is, wiper blades are right
in front of you all the time, unless you're driving
with your eyes closed, in which case you don't need
wiper blades. And we've got a whole bunch of other problems.
But you know you're staring at them, look at them.
And I can't tell you how many times a new
customer will come into the shop and we'll be looking
(04:40):
at the wiper blades. On the first initial road test,
the right blade is half falling off. There's a gouge
in the glass a sixteenth of an inch deep from
where the metal bracket is. They don't notice that, but
the car's in for the squeak out of the back
in the right rear corner and I can't even hear
it because the radio's turned up so loud, or all
(05:00):
the glass bottles are rolling around in the rear of
the trunk area and people are interesting. It's a study
in human emotion, truly. The Rodney dangerfield of autoparts, good
wiper blades are really a necessity, especially in fall and
winter driving bulbs. Bulbs are another favor for my Dirty
dozen list. Break light, tail light, headlight, license plate light.
(05:23):
And it's not just a safety issue. I mean, have
you ever seen a car with no brake lights and
then you find out all of them are burned out?
And you say, how could that happen? Well, because it's
been that long since anybody ever actually checked them. If
you live in a state where safety is no longer
part of the inspection program New Jersey, then you'll see
an issue with more cars are becoming cyclops. One headlight
(05:47):
and no brake lights, and it's really kind of an issue.
You see the big issue with bulbs because not only
is it a safety hazard usually not for long mom
because if it has no brake lights, you usually find
out the hard way when the person runs into the
back of you, Which kind of makes me wonder. So,
if you've got no brake lights because the bulbs are
(06:08):
burned out, and the person behind you hits you, how
will you be able to prove that in court that
it was their fault? Well, it is their fault if
they hit you, But how are you, as the person
that hit them, how can you prove it in court
if the back of the car is all smisched in
and the bulbs are broken. Kind of makes it that
much so important to check brake lights on a regular basis.
But I wonder why so many people notice burnt out headlights,
(06:32):
But how many of you checked all your lights on
a regular basis? You should, or you're going to get
an invitation from the Boys and Girls in blue radiator caps.
Radiator caps, how old is your car? How many miles
you got on it? If your car is four to
five years old and it's got somewhere between eighty and
one hundred thousand miles on it, you may need a
(06:53):
radiator or an expansion tank cap. You know that poor
radiator cap has gone through so many cooling and heating
cycles that its ability to maintain pressure and work as
designed is compromised, and a bad or a weak cap
can cause overheating. It's funny, but I've sold probably a
(07:14):
half a dozen or so radiator caps in the last
three weeks from new customers coming in vehicles fit into
this category, and every one of those caps that I
tested did not hold pressure, didn't have a problem. It
was just part of a winter physical or a winter
get ready physical where they said, hey, look the car over,
(07:34):
we're going into the fall. I want to be sure
I'm ready for the winter in the fall driving season.
What kind of shape is the vehicle in? And part
of it is we'll do a pressure test on the
vehicle's radiator cap, and sure enough, week caps week caps
on all of them. By the way, stant is the
radiator cap you want National product been around forever, makes
(07:54):
the best radiator and caps in general. But we're talking
radiator caps here. Stant radiator caps a way to go. Remember,
a radiator cap will cause you to lose coolant, It
could cause the engine to overheat, and for the price
of an eight to fifteen dollars radiator cap, you can
cause major engine damage. And obviously, you know, for want
(08:16):
of a nail, the shoe was lost. For want of
a shoe, the horse was lost. And you know the
end of that riddle, the bottom line, and this is
what's so important. You really need to formulate or your
mechanic needs to formulate a dirty dozen list. Have you
ever asked them? Have you ever thought about it? You know,
what are the critical little things that you need to
(08:37):
do to keep your car going in your part of
the country. The worst thing you can do is try
to maintain a car the exact same way, regardless of
your make and model, regardless of where it operates, because
not looking at the details, not looking at that dirty dozen,
not generating that small list of things to do and
(08:59):
be aware of, will not help ensure that in the
end you're going to get the need to where you
be and safely, Drive safe, get a dirty dozen. Hello
and welcome rodin Ady and the Card Doctor here eight
five five five six so nine nine zero zeros the
phone number here to answer your questions and solve your problems.
This is an interview free hour. We are here to
(09:19):
take your calls. As always. I should point out that
this radio show is available on podcast. If you're not
podcasting and you're listening live, but you want to take
the Card Doctor with you, you can get out to cardoctorshow
dot com. Tom gets podcasts up there on a regular basis.
He's our engineering department or part of our engineering department.
Tom gets podcasts up at cardoctorshow dot com very quickly
(09:40):
right after the show. You can also get out to iTunes.
If you're an euner, you can get out to iHeartRadio.
The Card Doctor's on iHeart. Get out to iHeart dot com,
and you can also go over to tune in and
find a list of Card Doctor affiliates and figure out
where we are and take this radio show live if
that's your case. But we're just trying to make it
easy for everybody to get good solid repair information, because
(10:01):
in the end, that's why I'm here. I'm here to
help solve your car's problem and answer your question. Remember
what I always say, The only bad question is the
one you don't answer. So the phone bank is full.
We're just gonna pull over and take a quick pause,
and when we return, we're gonna kick open the garage doors.
I'm running any in the car doctor, stay tuned. Shut
(10:22):
up your bad name. By the way I got it,
(11:01):
Welcome back. Why don't they need the car doctor dancing
along this hour? I guess, as the beach boys would say,
let's get over and talk to Sam Oakland, Maine, twenty eleven,
Ford and some problems and questions about wire Sam. Welcome
to the card Doctor at eighty five to five, five
six nine nine zero zero. How can I help? Hi?
Speaker 2 (11:17):
Thank you for taking my call. Like everybody else, I's
appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
Well.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
Well, I have a Ford F one fifty Lariat twenty eleven, okay,
and I had to change my tires at thirty six
thousand miles and because of that, the inside tread towards
the engine and I'm both tires was bold and the
rest of the tires to get involved. I used to
(11:44):
I have my tires balanced every five thousand miles right,
and I'm a ford A one fifty. I had it
a line every five thousand miles. I know you don't
need to do it every time, but I did. But
at the end of the thirty six thousand miles that
were no good. Now I just recently bought some other tires.
I don't want to say the name because of the
(12:06):
sheer competition.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
Listen, say the name. We're an equal opportunity offender. Here
say the name.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
It doesn't matter, Okay. I just bought some Mischelins alex
D's ats P two seven time sixty five our eighteen.
Now I have about thirty eight thousand dollars on it.
And I went to the dealer yesterday for some stupid
thing that I do. Anyways, I had them come out
(12:35):
and take a look at the tire and he says, yeah,
it's kind of capping on the inside. Now I am
going when I do get my old change, and I
am going to have it realigned. We're going to check
the alignment the last time and this time. But my
question is if there is a discrepancy between the last
(13:00):
time I had a lined and this time, do you
have any suggestions?
Speaker 3 (13:05):
Let me ask you a couple of questions, Sam, what
do you do for a little? Does this truck carry weight?
Speaker 2 (13:11):
No? Okay, so it's like a vehicle to me. It's
my later life intrigued. I always wanted a truck, and
I bought a truck.
Speaker 3 (13:21):
Okay, gotcha? All right? That's good. Okay, that tells me
a lot. So you're getting the tires balanced every five
thousand miles. Are they rotating them as well? Yes, sir, okay,
so they're rotating them. Are they crossing them? Are they
just moving them front to back? Are they moving them
where needed?
Speaker 2 (13:42):
I think radios they just move them from rare to front.
Speaker 3 (13:46):
Okay. Well, And the fact is, in the last twenty years,
most radios, if they are not directional or positional, meaning
they have to rotate a certain direction or they have
to be in a certain position on the vehicle, you
can cross them. You can make the right front, the
left front, the right front, the left rear, and so on.
You can put it any position.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
So go ahead, real quick. I had original tires on
the vehicle from board. I don't know if they're directional
or not. Right now, these new mission lens I have,
I do not know if the directional are not right?
Speaker 3 (14:23):
They they probably are not. If you look on the
side of the tire, it will if they are a
directional tire, they will show you an arrow and say
direction of rotation. If they're a positional tire, it will
say mount outer or mount to outside of tire, something
like that. But you can on you know, if it's
(14:48):
just in any position tire. And the whole idea of
rotating tires is putting them where they're going to provide
the maximum amount of life and the minimum amount of wear.
One of the things I don't like. One of the
things I don't like about rotational tires, and it seems
like the market is driving in that direction is when
they start to chop. And some cars, regardless of how
(15:12):
well they're aligned or what alignment numbers you make up,
they still will chop the tire. And that's just the
design of the vehicle. You can't straighten yeah, right, and
you just can't. You can't correct that tire because it
is a positional it's got to be on the right
side or it's got to be you know, facing this direction,
(15:35):
and it becomes an issue and you will chew up tires.
So I am very selective about what I will put
on a vehicle. When someone says, hey, give me a
set of tires, I will give them a good, better,
best scenario. Obviously, we will look at the general tire
selection in the general tire family and see what's there.
And you know, we like general tires at the shop. Listen, Michelin,
(15:59):
you said, miss right, I'm going I'm going to tell
you my perspective. One of the things I don't like
about Michelin is they tend to be very expensive, and
I question whether or not I question whether or not
you get banged for the buck out of them. And
when you start the price a set of Michelins versus
a set of Generals, And in your case, you're not
getting thirty thousand miles out of the tires. You know,
(16:21):
if you got thirty thousand out of a set of Generals,
and you'll ride just as safe and just as comfortable.
The money you save can be put towards the next
set of tires, if that's going to be the characteristic
of this vehicle. So it's one of the reasons before
I start just you know, staying with a brand or
trying a Michelin like that, I will consider, Hey, let's
look and see what General has generaltire dot com for
(16:43):
more information if you're interested, and see what's there now?
In your case, is the dealer aligning it? Really aligning
it every five thousand miles? Is that what you said?
Speaker 2 (16:57):
I asked somebody else to the alignment the last time
I had a dealer do it?
Speaker 3 (17:01):
Okay?
Speaker 2 (17:01):
Now the question I have. I have a four by
four right, and he says you only align the front end.
Is that true?
Speaker 3 (17:08):
Well, you're gonna set toe on the front end if
it needs something, and it's a shimmable, alignable front end,
you can change things. Let me ask you this. Who's
the other person doing the alignment?
Speaker 2 (17:20):
Is it just a person? Was like a Sam's Club.
I can't think of the name. It's a big box
type of place. Right for a hundred bucks, they aligned
the balance and do all kinds of jot.
Speaker 3 (17:33):
Let me, let me, let me, let me ask you
a question, Sam, because you seem like you seem like
a reasonable guy. Let me and let me say it
like this, and and don't take offense, please, But if
if if you had a major illness, all right, if
you had something wrong with you, would you go down
to the clinic, or would you go to a hospital
and seek out a specialist.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
I would go to the hospital, take out a special Okay,
your car, I went to the dealer.
Speaker 3 (17:55):
Now right, You're right. Your car has got an illness
and it's it's time to You know, the guys at
the box clubs and the guys at the mass merchandisers,
they're good. Some are better than others. But in general,
a repair facility is only as good as the guys
inside and how much they care. And I'm not saying
every dealer is perfect, and I'm not saying and I'm
not condemning every mass merchandiser, but if you've got a
(18:17):
specific problem with a vehicle, this is where. And if
you're a longtime listener, and I encourage you to keep listening.
If you're not, that relationship you have with your mechanic
is so gosh darn important, because by now at the shop,
we would have had more than a few conversations about
tire selection, alignment selection, and avoided tearing up tires every
(18:39):
thirty thousand miles if we didn't have to. Because it's
just that important, Sam, do me a favor. Let the
dealer take a look at alignment. See what that turns
out to be, and give me a call back next
week and let me know what's going on. I'm running
Endy and the Car Doctor. We're back right after this
Speaker 2 (19:01):
Bank by No
Ron Aian.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
So my question is what have you seen in these
Prius coming through your shop?
Speaker 3 (00:07):
My comments on a Prius or this Tom I like
them as a vehicle, I wouldn't own one.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Maybe one day I'll be reincarnated and collect as a
sensitive guy. Sure driving a blue fricking Prius? I think
you say.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Your the Car Doctor two thousand and six. Kia came
into the shop this week. You just won't believe it.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Wait, he comes to Mikia.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
What's a Michia, my Keia.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Welcome to the radio home of ron Aanian, the Car Doctor.
Since nineteen ninety one. This is where car owners the
world overturned to for their definitive opinion on automotive repair.
If your mechanics giving you a busy signal, pick up
the phone and call in. The garage doors are open.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
But I am here to take your calls at eight
five five five six ninety nine.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Hundred and now he running?
Speaker 3 (01:03):
Did I ever tell you about the Dirty Dozen? I
mean for auto repair? Hi, and welcome runnin Ny in
the card Doctor. Here you can call in on the
Car Doctor's studio hotline eight five five five six nine
nine zero zero. That's the toll free number to call
into the Card Doctor's studio eight five five five six
O nine nine zero zero and it's twenty four to seven. Anytime,
day or night you call that number leave a message
(01:23):
if we're not on the air. This radio show originates
Saturday afternoon two to four pm Eastern Time. You can
leave a message at eight five five five six nine
nine zero zero and we'll call you back. Hey, there's
a message service there, Fast Harry Fastarry dot com. We'll
call you in, hook you up and get you in
que and we can talk to you here on air
for the next round of Card Doctor Radio the following weekend,
(01:44):
and for everyone's benefit, answer your question and solve your problem.
Take everything on about cars and throw it away on
a weekly basis. That's our new battle cry. Because cars
are just always changing, so's auto repair. Auto repair is
an ever evolving business, and it's a constantly moving target,
and it's a target that has a sweet spot, and
hit in that sweet spot is what really keeps business
(02:07):
humming and customers happy and cars rolling along. And it
seems that over the years I've learned to pay attention
to the little things, because the little things are very important,
you know, auto repair is a regional business. Someone once
asked me, they said, you know, what do you think
is important for a successful auto repair shop and what
(02:27):
makes a good repair? And my answer was, it depends
on what part of the country you're standing in when
you ask that question. Because auto repair is a regional
business with national consequences. What's important to me in the
North is different for the guy down in Florida than
for the guy in California than for the guy in Arizona.
And you get the point. Everything is predicated by environment
(02:51):
and operating conditions and traffic level and age of the
vehicle fleet. And you know, overall, an indicator of what
part of the country you're in predicates how you're going
to take care of that fleet. Each part of the
country really has a unique stream of consciousness and that's
(03:11):
what keeps the vehicles going and it keeps them safe
in their operation in that part of the world. Over
the years, I put together a list it's the little things,
and I want to share some of them with you
today as we kick off this hour of the Car Doctor.
I sort of affectionately call it my dirty dozen, and
these are some of my dirty dozen tips for taking
care of your car wiper blades. You know, wiper blades.
(03:35):
It just amazes me. They're so overlooked, and it's one
of the most critical components for any car, regardless of
how new or old it is. You know, as dumb
as it sounds, if you can't see where you're going,
then you can't get to where it is you got
to be. And if you're in bad weather, not being
able to see is going to bring things to a
halt very quickly. And it's funny, you know, auto repairs
(03:57):
a study in human emotion. Right, do you ever notice
that everybody thinks of changing wiper blades when it's raining
or snowing. Nobody ever says, on a nice sunny day,
I wonder how my wiper blades are, or when they
bring the car in for an oil change, hey, by
the way, check the wiper blades. They always wait for
the crisis to happen before they actually do something about it.
(04:19):
And the really weird thing is, wiper blades are right
in front of you all the time, unless you're driving
with your eyes closed, in which case you don't need
wiper blades. And we've got a whole bunch of other problems.
But you know you're staring at them, look at them.
And I can't tell you how many times a new
customer will come into the shop and we'll be looking
(04:40):
at the wiper blades. On the first initial road test,
the right blade is half falling off. There's a gouge
in the glass a sixteenth of an inch deep from
where the metal bracket is. They don't notice that, but
the car's in for the squeak out of the back
in the right rear corner and I can't even hear
it because the radio's turned up so loud, or all
(05:00):
the glass bottles are rolling around in the rear of
the trunk area and people are interesting. It's a study
in human emotion, truly. The Rodney dangerfield of autoparts, good
wiper blades are really a necessity, especially in fall and
winter driving bulbs. Bulbs are another favor for my Dirty
dozen list. Break light, tail light, headlight, license plate light.
(05:23):
And it's not just a safety issue. I mean, have
you ever seen a car with no brake lights and
then you find out all of them are burned out?
And you say, how could that happen? Well, because it's
been that long since anybody ever actually checked them. If
you live in a state where safety is no longer
part of the inspection program New Jersey, then you'll see
an issue with more cars are becoming cyclops. One headlight
(05:47):
and no brake lights, and it's really kind of an issue.
You see the big issue with bulbs because not only
is it a safety hazard usually not for long mom
because if it has no brake lights, you usually find
out the hard way when the person runs into the
back of you, Which kind of makes me wonder. So,
if you've got no brake lights because the bulbs are
(06:08):
burned out, and the person behind you hits you, how
will you be able to prove that in court that
it was their fault? Well, it is their fault if
they hit you, But how are you, as the person
that hit them, how can you prove it in court
if the back of the car is all smisched in
and the bulbs are broken. Kind of makes it that
much so important to check brake lights on a regular basis.
But I wonder why so many people notice burnt out headlights,
(06:32):
But how many of you checked all your lights on
a regular basis? You should, or you're going to get
an invitation from the Boys and Girls in blue radiator caps.
Radiator caps, how old is your car? How many miles
you got on it? If your car is four to
five years old and it's got somewhere between eighty and
one hundred thousand miles on it, you may need a
(06:53):
radiator or an expansion tank cap. You know that poor
radiator cap has gone through so many cooling and heating
cycles that its ability to maintain pressure and work as
designed is compromised, and a bad or a weak cap
can cause overheating. It's funny, but I've sold probably a
(07:14):
half a dozen or so radiator caps in the last
three weeks from new customers coming in vehicles fit into
this category, and every one of those caps that I
tested did not hold pressure, didn't have a problem. It
was just part of a winter physical or a winter
get ready physical where they said, hey, look the car over,
(07:34):
we're going into the fall. I want to be sure
I'm ready for the winter in the fall driving season.
What kind of shape is the vehicle in? And part
of it is we'll do a pressure test on the
vehicle's radiator cap, and sure enough, week caps week caps
on all of them. By the way, stant is the
radiator cap you want National product been around forever, makes
(07:54):
the best radiator and caps in general. But we're talking
radiator caps here. Stant radiator caps a way to go. Remember,
a radiator cap will cause you to lose coolant, It
could cause the engine to overheat, and for the price
of an eight to fifteen dollars radiator cap, you can
cause major engine damage. And obviously, you know, for want
(08:16):
of a nail, the shoe was lost. For want of
a shoe, the horse was lost. And you know the
end of that riddle, the bottom line, and this is
what's so important. You really need to formulate or your
mechanic needs to formulate a dirty dozen list. Have you
ever asked them? Have you ever thought about it? You know,
what are the critical little things that you need to
(08:37):
do to keep your car going in your part of
the country. The worst thing you can do is try
to maintain a car the exact same way, regardless of
your make and model, regardless of where it operates, because
not looking at the details, not looking at that dirty dozen,
not generating that small list of things to do and
(08:59):
be aware of, will not help ensure that in the
end you're going to get the need to where you
be and safely, Drive safe, get a dirty dozen. Hello
and welcome rodin Ady and the Card Doctor here eight
five five five six so nine nine zero zeros the
phone number here to answer your questions and solve your problems.
This is an interview free hour. We are here to
(09:19):
take your calls. As always. I should point out that
this radio show is available on podcast. If you're not
podcasting and you're listening live, but you want to take
the Card Doctor with you, you can get out to cardoctorshow
dot com. Tom gets podcasts up there on a regular basis.
He's our engineering department or part of our engineering department.
Tom gets podcasts up at cardoctorshow dot com very quickly
(09:40):
right after the show. You can also get out to iTunes.
If you're an euner, you can get out to iHeartRadio.
The Card Doctor's on iHeart. Get out to iHeart dot com,
and you can also go over to tune in and
find a list of Card Doctor affiliates and figure out
where we are and take this radio show live if
that's your case. But we're just trying to make it
easy for everybody to get good solid repair information, because
(10:01):
in the end, that's why I'm here. I'm here to
help solve your car's problem and answer your question. Remember
what I always say, The only bad question is the
one you don't answer. So the phone bank is full.
We're just gonna pull over and take a quick pause,
and when we return, we're gonna kick open the garage doors.
I'm running any in the car doctor, stay tuned. Shut
(10:22):
up your bad name. By the way I got it,
(11:01):
Welcome back. Why don't they need the car doctor dancing
along this hour? I guess, as the beach boys would say,
let's get over and talk to Sam Oakland, Maine, twenty eleven,
Ford and some problems and questions about wire Sam. Welcome
to the card Doctor at eighty five to five, five
six nine nine zero zero. How can I help? Hi?
Speaker 2 (11:17):
Thank you for taking my call. Like everybody else, I's
appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
Well.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
Well, I have a Ford F one fifty Lariat twenty eleven, okay,
and I had to change my tires at thirty six
thousand miles and because of that, the inside tread towards
the engine and I'm both tires was bold and the
rest of the tires to get involved. I used to
(11:44):
I have my tires balanced every five thousand miles right,
and I'm a ford A one fifty. I had it
a line every five thousand miles. I know you don't
need to do it every time, but I did. But
at the end of the thirty six thousand miles that
were no good. Now I just recently bought some other tires.
I don't want to say the name because of the
(12:06):
sheer competition.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
Listen, say the name. We're an equal opportunity offender. Here
say the name.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
It doesn't matter, Okay. I just bought some Mischelins alex
D's ats P two seven time sixty five our eighteen.
Now I have about thirty eight thousand dollars on it.
And I went to the dealer yesterday for some stupid
thing that I do. Anyways, I had them come out
(12:35):
and take a look at the tire and he says, yeah,
it's kind of capping on the inside. Now I am
going when I do get my old change, and I
am going to have it realigned. We're going to check
the alignment the last time and this time. But my
question is if there is a discrepancy between the last
(13:00):
time I had a lined and this time, do you
have any suggestions?
Speaker 3 (13:05):
Let me ask you a couple of questions, Sam, what
do you do for a little? Does this truck carry weight?
Speaker 2 (13:11):
No? Okay, so it's like a vehicle to me. It's
my later life intrigued. I always wanted a truck, and
I bought a truck.
Speaker 3 (13:21):
Okay, gotcha? All right? That's good. Okay, that tells me
a lot. So you're getting the tires balanced every five
thousand miles. Are they rotating them as well? Yes, sir, okay,
so they're rotating them. Are they crossing them? Are they
just moving them front to back? Are they moving them
where needed?
Speaker 2 (13:42):
I think radios they just move them from rare to front.
Speaker 3 (13:46):
Okay. Well, And the fact is, in the last twenty years,
most radios, if they are not directional or positional, meaning
they have to rotate a certain direction or they have
to be in a certain position on the vehicle, you
can cross them. You can make the right front, the
left front, the right front, the left rear, and so on.
You can put it any position.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
So go ahead, real quick. I had original tires on
the vehicle from board. I don't know if they're directional
or not. Right now, these new mission lens I have,
I do not know if the directional are not right?
Speaker 3 (14:23):
They they probably are not. If you look on the
side of the tire, it will if they are a
directional tire, they will show you an arrow and say
direction of rotation. If they're a positional tire, it will
say mount outer or mount to outside of tire, something
like that. But you can on you know, if it's
(14:48):
just in any position tire. And the whole idea of
rotating tires is putting them where they're going to provide
the maximum amount of life and the minimum amount of wear.
One of the things I don't like. One of the
things I don't like about rotational tires, and it seems
like the market is driving in that direction is when
they start to chop. And some cars, regardless of how
(15:12):
well they're aligned or what alignment numbers you make up,
they still will chop the tire. And that's just the
design of the vehicle. You can't straighten yeah, right, and
you just can't. You can't correct that tire because it
is a positional it's got to be on the right
side or it's got to be you know, facing this direction,
(15:35):
and it becomes an issue and you will chew up tires.
So I am very selective about what I will put
on a vehicle. When someone says, hey, give me a
set of tires, I will give them a good, better,
best scenario. Obviously, we will look at the general tire
selection in the general tire family and see what's there.
And you know, we like general tires at the shop. Listen, Michelin,
(15:59):
you said, miss right, I'm going I'm going to tell
you my perspective. One of the things I don't like
about Michelin is they tend to be very expensive, and
I question whether or not I question whether or not
you get banged for the buck out of them. And
when you start the price a set of Michelins versus
a set of Generals, And in your case, you're not
getting thirty thousand miles out of the tires. You know,
(16:21):
if you got thirty thousand out of a set of Generals,
and you'll ride just as safe and just as comfortable.
The money you save can be put towards the next
set of tires, if that's going to be the characteristic
of this vehicle. So it's one of the reasons before
I start just you know, staying with a brand or
trying a Michelin like that, I will consider, Hey, let's
look and see what General has generaltire dot com for
(16:43):
more information if you're interested, and see what's there now?
In your case, is the dealer aligning it? Really aligning
it every five thousand miles? Is that what you said?
Speaker 2 (16:57):
I asked somebody else to the alignment the last time
I had a dealer do it?
Speaker 3 (17:01):
Okay?
Speaker 2 (17:01):
Now the question I have. I have a four by
four right, and he says you only align the front end.
Is that true?
Speaker 3 (17:08):
Well, you're gonna set toe on the front end if
it needs something, and it's a shimmable, alignable front end,
you can change things. Let me ask you this. Who's
the other person doing the alignment?
Speaker 2 (17:20):
Is it just a person? Was like a Sam's Club.
I can't think of the name. It's a big box
type of place. Right for a hundred bucks, they aligned
the balance and do all kinds of jot.
Speaker 3 (17:33):
Let me, let me, let me, let me ask you
a question, Sam, because you seem like you seem like
a reasonable guy. Let me and let me say it
like this, and and don't take offense, please, But if
if if you had a major illness, all right, if
you had something wrong with you, would you go down
to the clinic, or would you go to a hospital
and seek out a specialist.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
I would go to the hospital, take out a special Okay,
your car, I went to the dealer.
Speaker 3 (17:55):
Now right, You're right. Your car has got an illness
and it's it's time to You know, the guys at
the box clubs and the guys at the mass merchandisers,
they're good. Some are better than others. But in general,
a repair facility is only as good as the guys
inside and how much they care. And I'm not saying
every dealer is perfect, and I'm not saying and I'm
not condemning every mass merchandiser, but if you've got a
(18:17):
specific problem with a vehicle, this is where. And if
you're a longtime listener, and I encourage you to keep listening.
If you're not, that relationship you have with your mechanic
is so gosh darn important, because by now at the shop,
we would have had more than a few conversations about
tire selection, alignment selection, and avoided tearing up tires every
(18:39):
thirty thousand miles if we didn't have to. Because it's
just that important, Sam, do me a favor. Let the
dealer take a look at alignment. See what that turns
out to be, and give me a call back next
week and let me know what's going on. I'm running
Endy and the Car Doctor. We're back right after this
Speaker 2 (19:01):
Bank by No
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