How do you choose who does Truck and Tire repairs?

Find a big commercial tire dealer close to your home location. I deal with a couple of commercial tire dealers. One in Murfreesboro, TN and another in Nashville, TN. At Murfreesboro they know me by name I've been a customer there for years. The one in Nashville is a newer one but I am sure I'll be on a first name basis there too in the years ahead. Sometimes you can get a great deal from T/A, Petro or Loves on a set of 8 or 10 tires or more. But I prefer dealing with the same sales people in the local area and normally their prices are better anyway.

 

i work with a local tire dealer at home, just buy the tires from them do my own mounts and dismounts and patch repairs, also carry plugs to help limp a tire home as well. normally know a tire is going to need replacement before it needs it, other than say a sidewall cut or something like that. in that situation its normally who ever is covenant.

 

Funny thing I was in there at the Murfreesboro location getting a spare tire patched when I posted that message earlier. They didn't even charge me anything to patch that tire up. That's why you want to deal with local businesses as much as possible.

 

Be carefull with the road repairs. Called a place one snowy afternoon. They said they would come take care of me but only take pre payment com check over the phone. I dont use any of that stuff. Called a regular place, they told me there is a nation wide scam of taping into local buissness phone numbers, getting the CON check then never show up.

 

Pay by credit card. If they scam you, you can always reverse the transaction, for services not rendered. If they can't take a credit card, they aren't reputable.

 

Nttsbreakdown.com to find shops based on location. Then call a few to get best price on tires.

 

I've got a local tire place where I buy my tires. I mount them myself.

Sooner or later you're going to need tire service out on the road though. I've got a list of tire places at different locations that have treated me well in the past so I use them when I can. Most places are just trying to make a honest living and treat you right, some will understand your situation and try to take advantage.

I've been known to carry a spare, jack, and 1" impact and do my own roadside tire service. Using truck air is slow but it will get it done.

We do most of our own truck service also. We also have a local guy that will do stuff when we can't get to it or it's over our head, but we can handle most stuff.

Unless you go to a dealer, getting truck service out on the road is a real crap shoot (even sometimes with a dealer). Lots of mechanics out there that think they know what they are doing but don't have a clue. I've called roadside service in the past and fixed the truck myself using the roadside guy's tools. I knew how to fix it, I just didn't have the tools needed. Roadside got there and he didn't have a clue how to do anything more than changing fuel filters and I wouldn't trust him with that. He did let me use his tools for me to fix it myself (broken injector line that required also removing the air compressor). Worse part about it is he didn't even give me a discount, oh well, It got me going.

 

I go select the tires myself as a driver if away from company shop which should already have tires on hand and a pickup to deliver same to a truck that needs it and the necessary tools to throw em on there. This dates back to the days where spoke wheels on rim were common and you swapped them yourself.

Fast forward to my later years on the road. About once a year I ordered tires for the tractor pending winter and they are never recaps. Regardless of the cost. I made sure that would be one of the things I talked it over with the DM in the company, the day they put a single recap on that truck is the day I leave the company. Recaps do not have the strength or quality that virgin rubber new does. Im pretty certain the recaps are ok for a while, why wouldnt they be. But spend a few more dollars and buy good new fresh tires and be done worrying about them.

Recaps have failed, but retail new ones never did as far as Im concerned. Also migrating from container work and chassis which was infested with cheap recaps that exploded like bombs at any time, sometimes several times a week... it's too much. So I quit container work for that reason. The last one that went boom pretty much caused me to stop the heart for a few moments as a vehicle near me caught the shrapnel.

I am not here to make trouble. Ive gotten extremely picky if not downright stubborn when it comes to tires. Good tires mean the world and sometimes save you the cost of a tow which itself is more than what a brand new tire is worth.

 

The very first question you ask your mechanic is do they rebuild trannys,engines rear ends in house,if you are a regular customer they should get you in next day,if you have a newer truck. its really hard to find a good mechanic for the check engine lights,you would honestly be better off to buy a scanner and read you tube. keep a full tool kit on truck and learn yourself. most of the repair shops employ 10 dollar an hour part changers,and charge 125,tell you its fixed .then you break down.a shop that can do the first thing i mentioned can do all the hard parts changing,Most of these guys dont like working on electronics on newer trucks,but the dreaded check engine would be a wise thing to learn on your own .youtube will tell you how to check switches with mutimeter as well as diagnose codes,if its hard to get to yourself, you trouble shoot buy the part and pay them to change part.i have had very good luck with aeroulos (240,000 on drives) tires from loves,there cheap reliable and available all over,i never plug or recap a tire,always new ,expensive tires are a complete waste. nothing worse than getting a hole in a tire that cost 700 a peice,look at the shoulder of road, hole pokers all over.Ps i only let ta change oil,better off to call local roadside