scurvy
Good Ol' Boy
I just had Costco install a new set of tires on my Golf (BFGoodrich Traction TA 195/65R15 91H on the stock Jarama wheels) as the stock Wingfoots were at or past the wear bars... and VERY noisy as of late. The tires came quicker than expected and they completed the job in the timeframe estimated. So far, so good.
On the way home, I noticed a slight rhythmic ticking noise from the front wheels and immediately figured I had picked up some gravel, both due to the cavernous tread depth and the neverending road construction in my fair city. I pulled out a few pieces of gravel but noticed the ticking later than evening while running a quick errand.
Same story the next morning. While waiting at a railroad crossing for a Metra train, I got out and looked closer - and realized the tape-on balance weights they used were juuuuuuuuuust grazing the brake calipers on each revolution. I dropped the car off at Costco for them to remedy the situation later that evening. Turns out they have two kinds of weights - high profile "ounce" weights and low profile "gram" weights. The tech who was working on my car said they preferred to use the taller "ounce" weights because they are approximately twice as heavy as the "gram" weights - so it takes fewer individual weights to balance a wheel.
These weights do not rub the brake calipers at all. So, MkIV owners who take your car to Costco for tires, make sure you request the low-profile "gram" weights from the start or you will have to make a trip back. Even with stock wheels & brakes, they will rub and make an annoying ticking sound.
And no matter where you get your tires, make sure they hand-torque the lug bolts to 120 Nm or 88 ft-lbs by hand or with a torque-limiting bar on the impact gun.
A brief rant: I have no idea why they would try to use "ounce" weights on an obviously "metric" car, but I also don't understand why they think their fancy-shmancy nitrogen inflation is so fantastic & I most certainly don't understand why they ran the lug bolts back on barely snug with the impact gun. I am beginning to understand why they were less expensive than other facilities, however. I'm looking forward to having them rotate my tires every 10k (I go to Costco frequently anyway) but cannot yet say if this lack of brain function will extend further into my ownership of these tires. I still believe that so far, they've made good on everything. I especially look forward to not having to put my car up on jackstands every oil change to rotate the tires myself.
On the way home, I noticed a slight rhythmic ticking noise from the front wheels and immediately figured I had picked up some gravel, both due to the cavernous tread depth and the neverending road construction in my fair city. I pulled out a few pieces of gravel but noticed the ticking later than evening while running a quick errand.
Same story the next morning. While waiting at a railroad crossing for a Metra train, I got out and looked closer - and realized the tape-on balance weights they used were juuuuuuuuuust grazing the brake calipers on each revolution. I dropped the car off at Costco for them to remedy the situation later that evening. Turns out they have two kinds of weights - high profile "ounce" weights and low profile "gram" weights. The tech who was working on my car said they preferred to use the taller "ounce" weights because they are approximately twice as heavy as the "gram" weights - so it takes fewer individual weights to balance a wheel.
These weights do not rub the brake calipers at all. So, MkIV owners who take your car to Costco for tires, make sure you request the low-profile "gram" weights from the start or you will have to make a trip back. Even with stock wheels & brakes, they will rub and make an annoying ticking sound.
And no matter where you get your tires, make sure they hand-torque the lug bolts to 120 Nm or 88 ft-lbs by hand or with a torque-limiting bar on the impact gun.
A brief rant: I have no idea why they would try to use "ounce" weights on an obviously "metric" car, but I also don't understand why they think their fancy-shmancy nitrogen inflation is so fantastic & I most certainly don't understand why they ran the lug bolts back on barely snug with the impact gun. I am beginning to understand why they were less expensive than other facilities, however. I'm looking forward to having them rotate my tires every 10k (I go to Costco frequently anyway) but cannot yet say if this lack of brain function will extend further into my ownership of these tires. I still believe that so far, they've made good on everything. I especially look forward to not having to put my car up on jackstands every oil change to rotate the tires myself.