GT3 RS Tyre Fitting

[kenneth ritchie]

Can anyone advise on confident tyre fitter in Central Scotland who will fit 2 tyres (325/30 ZR19 N1) supplied by myself to centre lock wheels on 997 GT3 RS. I have been advised by my OPC that they can no longer fit tyres supplied by customer.
They will off course fit same tyres supplied by themselves at substantial cost. The centre locks are not a job for the local Kwik Fit Fitter and I do not have a torque wrench capable of the 600Nm required for the fitter to use so am relying on someone who knows what they are doing otherwise it will be an expensive trip to OPC. I am also paranoid that the wheels may be damaged unless the fitter has had experience with centre lock wheels.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[lauris]

very specialist Kenny,

the only other person I can think of is the main porsche repair centre - kenny inglis, but I wouldnt be surpirsed if they borrow the wrench from porsche,

you would be as well to buy the proper torque wrench, then you can take your wheels anywhere you want, gung ho gordon does a trade in tyre fitting and balancing,

I dont know anywhere I would trust other than gung ho or porsche since Drivers shut,

cheers
scott

 

[ds7_uk]

Kenny

When we spoke about a torque wrench I recall some time back using a multiplier - see links below

http://www.norbar.com/Products/tabid/54/mid/1202/view/category/category_multid/2/Default.aspx

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzpTU7lBxBA

Believe you can get one for around £150 upwards.

That way you can at least choose where you go


cheers

Darren

 

[ds7_uk]

before you change the rears would like to suggest how you get the final few miles out of the rubber


http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=pGYpmTlWMos


darren

 

[John H]

ORIGINAL: kenneth ritchie

I have been advised by my OPC that they can no longer fit tyres supplied by customer.

That's ridiculous ... the first thing I'd do is ask another OPC. []

 

[GreigM]

ORIGINAL: John H

ORIGINAL: kenneth ritchie

I have been advised by my OPC that they can no longer fit tyres supplied by customer.

That's ridiculous ... the first thing I'd do is ask another OPC. []

Yes, especially irritating since the OPC won't supply non-N rated rubber which is commonly used on track cars like the RS.....so even if you wanted to pay their prices they probably won't supply the tyres you want!

It'll be elf n safety though guvnor.....just like when they wouldn't program my child seat (which has been in for 2 years now and works like a dream!)

 

[lauris]

Im having my car serviced at OPC also but no simliar problems.


I bought the oil at halfords, I got the brake pads at Euro car parts and couple of track tyres from ebay, i got some second hand coil packs from gung ho gordon and I already had a 2 litre bottle of brake fluid to flush the brake fluid, major service so need spark plugs, which ebay are cheapest for also

i got a 20% discount on labour and used OPC just to fit all my parts, then negotiated them supplying their own petrol to conduct the test drive, one of the ebay tyres blew out on the test drive and the car spun and took out the whole rear end of the RS,

i think its OPC's fault and they should sort everything under their insurance.

they agreed !

so went out to celebrate, went to '29 glasgow' one of my favourites, took along my own steak as theirs is too expensive and a bottle of sparkling wine from tesco as they only supply moet, and you know know what, they cooked my steak and opened my wine, their chips were a bit on the expnesive side so asked them to pop out to mcdonalds and get some fries,

if only carlsberg did porsches,

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

 

[kitchens]

Wow.... did notice your car in the yard when i was in last week for some work getting done ,and was wondering how the damage was done but did not like to ask.A lesson to us all .
By the way do not believe the bit about the Mc D chips [] []

 

[kenneth ritchie]

Yes very good Scott, preferential treatment then, not!!!

I take the point but its not as if the tyres I was going to supply were an alternative to the standard rubber on the car, exact same Michelin Pilot Sport Cups 325/30 ZR 19 N1, exact same as supplied by OPC, made on same production line, transported in same container and probably supplied by same distributer in UK.

Did call anotherr OPC who said they would call me back, still waiting!!!

kenny

 

[lauris]

ORIGINAL: kenneth ritchie

Yes very good Scott, preferential treatment then, not!!!

I take the point but its not as if the tyres I was going to supply were an alternative to the standard rubber on the car, exact same Michelin Pilot Sport Cups 325/30 ZR 19 N1, exact same as supplied by OPC, made on same production line, transported in same container and probably supplied by same distributer in UK.

Did call anotherr OPC who said they would call me back, still waiting!!!

kenny

you are of course correct kenny, same tyres some manufacturer,

without getting on my soap box, OPC glasgow spent about 30mins to an hour on most peoples car recently, then washed them for zero cost, your car included. they told you about the issues of having to use specialist tool to remove the centre lock wheels for tyres, then you buy tyres elsewhere providing profit for someone else and expect OPC glasgow to fit your tyres, if it was my business I wouldnt turn you away, but i would charge you a premium for that,

i dont buy tyres from porsche, i generally watch ebay for deals, but i wouldnt expect to take my tyres to OPC glasgow or very many other places to ask for them to be fitted, its easy to buy tyres cheap on line when the companies supplying dont have the overheads of having premises located around the country to fit them and discard of the old ones. This is the reason that Drivers went bust. George Gibson who owned Drivers did all the work on my tyres for a long time, and I actually paid £60more for last set of tyres from him for the boxster as i trusted him to not damage my wheels or car when he worked on it, think it was about £980 as opposed to £920, and online I could have got them for just under £900. George reckoned the online big dealers can work with margins of £1 to £2 per tyre and that can make them cheap, hence he went bust.

I dont know the ins and outs of your situation, did you get porsche to price them as well, did you offer to buy them from porsche if they could price match them, kim has managed to get porsche to supply her tyres before and price match within £50 anyone else, then you get the benefit that you trust who is fitting your tyres to treat your car and wheels the way porsche intended.

I now use motortune to change tyres for me, cos I hear gordon hurt his fingers recently and they look like sausages ! (right gung ho) or at least Mike B says so []


end of soap box, speak to gordy, im sure he can sort you out, or give iain easdale a call direct and see if he will do you a favour !

regards
Scott.

 

[John H]

The modern reality is that on-line tyres are here to stay, whether dealers like it or not, and simply turning folk away is shooting themselves in the foot. I buy tyres on-line and have them fitted locally, but I pay for the service and would not expect it to be free. Both me and my tyre place are fine with it, we have both simply adapted to new trading conditions. The OPC in question need to get their head out of the sand or they will go the way of record shops, travel agents, bookshops and all the others who did not see the danger from the big bad internet. OK, rant over! []

 

[ralphmusic]

Although not a GT3, I too have centre locks thus a similarly limited tyre supplier list. My local OPC match or very nearly so alternative suppliers' prices and give me no reason to go elsewhere. OPC attitudes seem very variable.

 

[kenneth ritchie]

Fully accept the points made above by Scott and I personally hold OPC Glasgow in high regard as I have had very good service from them in the past and appreciate any work they have carried out on my cars.

I have still not made my mind up as whether to buy the tyres on line or not but the cost difference is substantial although by getting OPC to fit them I would have piece of mind that the centre lock wheels had been removed and put back on properly which is one of my main concerns and in my opinion is worth paying additional cost for.

However in saying that the difference in cost cannot be over looked.

Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 325/30 ZR 19 (N1) supplied by Camskill - £371.79 each including vat & delivery but not fitting or balancing
as above supplied by OPC - £594.00 each including vat etc, balancing and fitting
new price from another OPC - £560.00 each including vat etc, balancing and fitting

The problem is there is no one else in this part of the world who has the correct tools to remove the wheels and fit back on correctly. OPC also do not advise the use of torque multiplier.
TBC, any opinions?

kenny

 

[944s2]

Think the phase short and curlies comes to mind Over £200 per tyre for balancing & fitting because of centrenut wheel is just a wee bit much

 

[sulzeruk]

It is 370 ft/lbs for the wheel nuts. Any good 3/4 inch torque wrench will go to that I would think. Get a 6 foot bar and a 3/4 drive socket to get them off. Probably get that lot for between £100 and £200 on Ebay. You can also use a mulitplier as well as shown here. All the details are in the owners manual.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzpTU7lBxBA
Alasdair

 

[chard]

As a previous posted stated, OPC service varies greatly. I've been in touch with both OPC Glasgow and OPC Edinburgh this week with regards to servicing my recently acquired 996.
Glasgow was the first point of call as it's closer to home and my office is in the city. Unfortunatly the service desk attitube was one of "I couldn't care less" in that the price it the price and no we can't arrange a courtesy car. Could be something to do with the fact that I drove in in an old company pool vehicle.

Edinburgh on the other hand could not have been more helpful. The cost of the service is just over the indy cost and a courtesy car was no problem. Guess who getting my trade.

However, I have to say, and I'm not dealer bashing here, I contacted both Edinburgh and Glasgow sales teams a couple a months ago enquiring about a Cayenne and neither got back to me............ A new Landrover Disco 4 is on its way.

 

[majorporsche]

You should have phoned Belfast OPC, great service and sales there, or even the new OPC in Dublin, it would have been worthwhile.

 

[GreigM]

ORIGINAL: kenneth ritchie
OPC also do not advise the use of torque multiplier.

Of course they don't.......ask them for a good reason why

 

[lauris]

nothing wrong with a torque multiplier, but they are more likely over time to suffer from loss of accuracy and should be re-calibarated i would imagine,

most people dont realise that even normal torque wrenches should be slackened off completly before storing or you will end up putting too much torque on once the spring has been left compressed.

think Porcshe Glasgow's prices are way to high against what you can get on the net, but have you quotes from anyone else that can actually fit them,


I would buy a torque wrench and take them off myself at gordons and have gung ho swop them, as I dont know anyone else I would trust to swop tyres - there must be someone but have had so many bad experiences over the years. Look for someone who supplies lots of shiny new alloys and tyres packages, they will perhaps look after you.

the advantage of buying the multiplier is that you can keep it in the car, will come in handy the first time you have a puncture - especially on the ring trip, you will find someone at the ring probably that can sort it but its a long way there and back,

cheers
scott

 

[gordon]

Kenny Sealey STW104 Torque Wrench Micrometer Style 3/4"Sq Drive 140-700Nm/103-516lb.ft
one for £270 from toolbox but ill try a few garages on mon for u Gordon