A4 owners - a cautionary tale when at Costco Tire Center

scurvy

Good Ol' Boy
Joined
Feb 21, 2006
Location
Chicago IL USA
TDI
2006 Golf
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.
 

dieselvet

Member
Joined
Feb 10, 2004
Location
Montreal
TDI
MB GLK 250 4M BT
I had exactly the same problem at a local tire place. Had to go back a few times the same day before they realized it was not my imagination. Put on the gram weights-problem solved.
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
Yeah, that is what happens when you have $9/hr burger flippers touching your car with tools. :rolleyes:
 

je

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2000
Location
Chesterton Shores, Ontario
TDI
-
Where can one get gram-weights? I have bought the taller ounce-weights at NAPA before. They barely cleared the calipers - after they shaved some of the paint off the lead.
 

mannytranny

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 14, 2003
Location
CA
TDI
02 Jetta (sold, such a great car) '16 Touareg
I had this same problem at costco with mine.

Went to 17", so no problems now.
 

scurvy

Good Ol' Boy
Joined
Feb 21, 2006
Location
Chicago IL USA
TDI
2006 Golf
oilhammer said:
Yeah, that is what happens when you have $9/hr burger flippers touching your car with tools.
Hey, I said Costco, not Sam's Club. :D I'm sure these guys were making at least $14/hour plus benefits.
je said:
Where can one get gram-weights?
From the trays on the balancing machine at Costco. I also found plenty on fleabay or Google when searching for "adhesive tire balance gram weights" or similar.
 
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je

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2000
Location
Chesterton Shores, Ontario
TDI
-
Well Ive looked on Ebay and google in the past actually, and they're good to find a box of 800 weights - but I want two or three strips - and from a store, not the net. Ive looked in many stores like NAPA or Canadian tire - they even looked at me funny when I asked for stick on weights. Maybe I look funny.
 
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