Posted on 12/05/2021 6:59:22 PM PST by algore
On Friday, two of the largest tire suppliers in the U.S. announced they are choosing to pool resources rather than continue to compete against one another.
Arizona-based Discount Tire is in the process of acquiring Indiana-based Tire Rack, and the transaction is expected to close at the end of this year on December 31. With unpredictable rubber supply challenges and price increases in play, this could mean a stronger base for the two suppliers.
Both family-run brands, Discount Tire and Tire Rack have similar histories. Bruce T. Halle rented an old plumbing supply building in Ann Arbor, Michigan with an inventory of six tires, running the whole place himself.
Store by store, Halle grew the business, and now 1,100 Discount Tire stores are open across 37 states in the U.S. Meanwhile, Tire Rack was founded in Indiana in 1979 by Dutch immigrant Peter Veldman. Today, Tire Rack runs 2.7 million square feet of distribution center space.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
on the other hand I went to a different Chain Tire store a few days ago (they had no free beef :(
Instead of just fixing the suspected leaky tire they Insisted on my wearing a mask spent a few minutes doing a drive-through scan on my car to see if my wheels had any random alignment variants.
Granted Drive through alignment scanners are a cool new Tech and they were excited cause they only just got it.
( I have talked to some of mfgrs in the last year because I could see the potential profit. )
Regardless of the coolness of the tech my car for example was not liked. Then it claimed my rear camber was out of spec, but since I am an alignment snob and have spent way to much time with string theory and I knew that was not true if you loaded the seats with bags of rice as is specified in the owners manual.
(besides that is not realistically adjustable without welding new brackets into the rear subframe)
On a separate note check out Quicktrick cause they are good people that gave me some alignment tools once.
I drive an electric car, so I don’t have to worry about this stuff.
I don’t go to that free beef chain store anymore. After the original owner died the company changed. They scam just like some of the older larger chain auto repair outfits. Replacing expensive parts that don’t need replacing.
No you will just be worried about getting a charge
I would not go that far.
But if pressed I might say they are 30-50% overpriced on some things.
But then so are many other places.
I only get estimates anymore to give me good motivation to do it myself.
Your car doesn’t need tires?
Ha ha. I was thinking the same thing!
Methinks your humor may be too subtle on this thread.
I got a set of tires from Discount in September. One picked up a nail last week. Took it in and they fixed it. Next day it was flat again. Went in and they replaced it even though I didn’t have the road hazard insurance. I’ve bought 6 sets at that location and they decided that trumped “policy”.
Discount Tire is a sponsor of the #2 Mustang of Penske. The owner is a good friend of Roger Penske, iirc..
Tires, suspension and alignment are still areas of maintenance for electric cars. In fact electric cars are harder on tires due to their higher torque output when starting from a stop.
There is a Discount Tire at the entrance to my subdivision. I don’t think I’ve ever had to pay for a tire repair there. Great company.
“Please feel free to bring it back“
Discount has been great here in Georgia
I’ve always been pleased with Tire Rack, and I hope they don’t change.. I liked the free hazard protection, and the one time I had to use it, they honored it with minimal fuss.
Proving the IQ of EV drivers. You have tires, Einstein.
Proving the IQ of EV drivers. You have tires, Einstein.
My alignment is as near perfect as I can make it on all my cars.
I spend lots of time making it so.
In this case the mfg specifies are with the car in a “normally loaded position” which would be 68kg in each front seat, 68 in the center of the rear sear, and 28kg in the trunk with a full fuel tank.
If my car had been loaded properly it would measure within specs.
would they have told someone they needed an alignment even though the one spec they could not adjust was “wrong” I would hope not.
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