I was wondering why this car was so far out of alignment myself. Talking with the customer they had to return the car to the local Ford dealer to have a new rear differential installed under warranty. Ford told them that the alignment was not part of the warranty repair. Mystery solved!
Was going to say the exact same thing--seeing Eric do work the right way makes me almost want to cry. It's criminal what sh*t work some other "shops" get away with... last tire shop I went to locally gouged my rims, both while installing the tire and while balancing. The left the old balance weights on and just stuck new ones on top of the old. Over inflated. Over torqued. When I went to the manager with the damaged paint (still flecking off 2 seconds after they pulled the car out) he told me "we didn't do that, if we did we wouldn't still be in business" :-/
Do it right first time, everytime. This is the problem with so-called "Fast-Fit" centres. Charge you a fortune for a rushed 5-minute fit. No fast-fit centre would clean the alloy wheel, the hub AND spray it so that whoever has to take the wheel off next doesn't spend wasted minuted banging it off with a lump hammer. I'm a mobile tyre fitter in the UK, and I wish half of the wheels I attend had got the "Eric O treatement". Because they havent, I then have to waste my time knocking the wheel off, then cleaning it and the hub. On numerous occasions I have been called by mechanic friends saying thank you for cleaning the wheel after they have done service work on the same car, as it saved them time & money.
I've never done it as a job, but have installed my own tires using a friends machine and it never really even occurred to me to remove the adhesive. Watching Eric do it made me realize I need to get myself an eraser wheel, which I should already own anyway.
I like how at 4:39 and 4:52 he let the bar hit the rim of the wheel. Nobody is perfect, but they make bars with plastic to prevent that nice clang. Even duct tape helps. Also I hope he changed the valves with new ones
@@steve45383 That's what I've always heard it called. It comes in various configurations. My cousin used one to remove adhesive from a trim piece when we tore it apart to paint his car.
Wake up watching SMA go to bed watching SMA. Get up go to work 1st job, get off work, work at 2nd job (my garage) on a few vehicles, eat, shower, watch more SMA. Got to be at work at 6am but watching SMA at 1:20am. Gonna be a long Monday for me but great video as always! Love the channel
I swear I learn something everytime Eric does a 'simple' job. Im a fairly competent DIY guy, but I never really thought about the cleaning steps on a tire change and balance. I imagine there are several thousand like me watching this video who are going to be much more vigilant when taking this job to the local tire shop.
Why am I watching this? What is wrong with my life? Oh, I know. It's watching a professional taking pride in everything that he does. It's definitely worth my time.
Really wish I lived closer to your shop; I would take both my cars there for everything if could. You take the time to do every job right, like it’s your own car. Such a high level of integrity.
If only other shops were more like him.. you know Eric sleeps great at night, knowing that he does things right and doesn't try to screw people out of money.
I mapped it, I live 3 hours away (in Pennsylvania) I was thinking of calling him to bring my nightmare 2000 Ford Ranger 4x4 manual with 240K miles in but I don't trust I can drive it that far I also have a 2002 Saturn SL1 manual with 180K miles, needs brakes and new tires 185-70-14 I trust the Saturn to drive that far, can I wait on it in the waiting room and sweet talk his wife?
Automobile manufacturers have pretty much engineered the shade tree mechanic out of doing a lot of things they could easily do in the past. Everything needs a special gizmo to make the computer happy. Like I've said before, we aren't driving cars anymore we are driving computers with wheels. With your desire to go the extra mile for your customers you will never hurt for business. We need more people like you with that attitude. My dad was not much of a talker but one thing he told me that stuck was, if you're going to do a job do it right.
Another great job well done. I like that you cleaned the rims and brake rotors. It's amazing how many times that a vehicle has lost a tire or tires because of dirty mating surfaces even though wheels were torqued. I like how you pay attention to detail!!👍😀
My "tire guy" actually came to my house to tell me to check the torque after he put new tires on my daughter s car. He lives a block away but still that's awesome service.
I remember when SMA didn't have alignment equipment. I think they've upgraded their tire machine too? It all means better service for the customer. It's oddly satisfying to see the big boss doing Josh's job. 😁
Eh, probably should have used a torque stix when tightening the nuts. Otoh he's probably done it so much he can feel it out. Oh well, I see a commercial for sma, I watch.
I am sick of these scumbag tire places that ugga dugga your tires on and call it a day. It is refreshing to know that there isn't lazy a holes out there that will clean your hub and actually use a torque wrench. Kudos to you sir.
boy that brings back some memories dont matter how good a mechanic you are if you work in a shop where they sell tires you are going to have to mount tires been retired for 4 years from tire kingdom where I worked the same store for 35 years one thing I learned was whenever possible test drive before and after alignment
The shop I'm at now has a Hunter alignment machine I was shown on 1 car how to use it I helped on 2 cars then the next car I did on my own I'm a little slower than the other tech but I can do it and videos help show tricks to save time same thing with tire machine we never did tires now I do I've already learned how to just got to get my speed up thanks for the helpful videos
As Eric keeps repeating....slow down to go fast..... believe it or not, I've been doing this for 27 yrs this year and I still remind myself of this at least a couple times a week. As far as the taking the extra time to take pride in my work, my boss and I have had a few talks about that, he's trying to get me to 'speed up"... understand, but there's a reason I am where I am today, I do what I do...
Worked at a farm implement dealer. The "tire guy" wouldn't make sure the tire dropped into the center rim relief when removing a tire. He'd also do them dry and wonder why he'd have to fight with them.
There's nothing wrong with learning how to use the machine, but in reality, you're not doing a wheel alignment. The most important thing is to understand what you are doing. 99% of alignment techs don't fully understand what they are doing when they make adjustments. They just follow the instructions on the machine. If you take the time to learn all of the angles, and how they work in relation to each other, you'll soon realize the machine is just a ruler. Its just another tool. An alignment machine from 50 years ago is just as good, and does the exact same thing a top of the line Hunter machine does. Its just more convenient.
I wish I could find a shop that took their time to do it correctly and completely like you do. I can't even get the shops to wipe the dust off the wheel before attempting to stick the weights on. Removing the old adhesive is next level!
Always go the extra mile. Wish i lived near avoca. Would work on all my cars and your brother would work on my truck. As long as his shop does a thorough honest job like you
Glad I don't live in Avoca, not that it doesn't have a Great Mechanic in residence, Sure would use his services if I did.... but on the other hand I don't have to suffer the wear and tear all the salt takes on all the virtually unprotected highly rustable steel....
@@wino99999 its atually a very beautifull part of the country. Take the good with the bad. My 68 camaro would only come out in fair weather and buy a beater to let rust out as a daily driver lol
mating surfaces cleaned up and protected, glue cleaned off from old weights, tyre labels taken off before balancing, and nuts torqued. Proper job. If only I could get that sort of service where I live - I wouldn.t have to do it all myself.
That's good to know, if a dealership fixes anything that can cause a misalignment, you probably need to get that checked since they won't go above and beyond to actually service the customer. Great pubic service message!!!!
Hey Eric, here's a tip for re-learning the TPMS on fords with the push-button start: Instead of the stupidity with the start button, simply punch the hazard light button 6 times, and it will trigger learn mode. Hope this helps!
Wow I wish I knew that trick when I worked at a tire shop. The push button nonsense with the memory seat constantly going back and forth the whole time drove me crazy
@@firstlast--- For real. When I found out about it from a co-worker, it hasn't failed once. I work full time in car repair, and when doing ford tires, this trick has spared me much headache. It got so bad at one point for me that I would just mark the inside of the rim with the tire position, and prayed that the time the tires were off the car wouldn't trigger the idiot light. Now that I know this trick, it's a piece of cake.
First time I ever did my own brakes was on a '95 Ford Contour. Spent half an hour with a maul getting just one alloy rim freed up from the hub...was young(er) and had no idea alloys could fuse to steel like that. Been applying a thin film of never-seize on the mating surfaces every since.
Loosen lug nuts. Drive around block once. No sledge hammer needed. (on fronts, loosen lug nuts and just turn wheels without rolling). Won't say it works every time, but almost every time for me so far.
Oh hell yeah, a guy is never "too old" or "too good" to knockout some hoops and some aligaments! I don't know what it is with FORD SUV's, but I've seen alot of them out of spec straight from the lot! Keep the alignment videos coming my friend, those boyz need to learn how to do it CORRECTLY!!! Being good at aligaments is an art!
The level of care that you put into your work is awesome. Going the extra step and cleaning off the rust, the old sticky weights from the previous balanced tire, ect. I gotta say after watching SMA for quite some time now, you'd be the only shop I would take my truck to. (Side note - I don't let anyone work on my truck LOL) Shame you're 4 hours from me though! =[
Last time I had my 235 40 18 tires changed they bent my rims, all 4. They said it was more difficult to change them. Seems in my younger years working in a shop I never had problems with low profile tires. Clearly you can change them in your sleep. Nice work. I do not know why I enjoy every video you make. Probably it’s your engaging personality and your impeccable integrity.
Nice to see someone that takes pride in their work and actually cleans stuff up. I have given up on tire shops and talking to guys it just makes me more mad. Specially when they over torque lug bolts or nuts.
I've had to try to beat some tires off before, about 3 hours later and I still couldn't. I called up my uncle and he said with half the lugs on just loose, drive over a bump really hard. Two tries at the end of my pavement where it goes into a dip and boom they come off. One at a time of course.
That sledgehammer brought back memories. Used one a lot harder than you did when my emergency brake was dragging and practically fused my rim to the axle.
@@jamesrdorn thanks James. Thats funny. I think they use "fake" metal crap. The true cost of cheap. $2.00 for a tool that breaks and for an added bonus, breaks your knuckles.
@@rayjburkhart1752 they’re trying to make a higher quality line of tools to go alongside their crappy Pittsburgh tools, 2 days ago I paid $90 for a Maddox harmonic balancer kit and it works ok.
Always impressed with your aggressive pursuit of excellence being a great mechanic!!! A lot of what you do should be common knowledge with your customer base. However in today's world, there is a vacuum concerning knowledge of an automobile and "aware" is relegated to the much older generation out there. Good to see you "youngsters" have the tiger by the tail and are carrying on with the thirst for knowledge. Keep em coming Eric!!
I am always amazed at how many garages don't put the proper tire pressure in tires.... it never fails. I get the car home & check it & always 3, 4 or 5 lbs under inflated.
I agree 100% on cleaning the wheel/brake mounting surfaces. I recently had an older Ranger in the shop. The guy brought the already mounted new tires and rims with him but his old left rear WOULD NOT budge. I HAD to hit the rim several times with a 16# sledge to knock it loose. Since he was waiting for it, I brought him out and showed him what was happening. He said that he didn't care about the old parts and do what I had to do. Luckily, the truck had steel rims so they didn't grenade. When he left, everything was cleaned up and sprayed.
I'm so glad to not have to deal with so much of the "crusties" that y'all up thar in Yankee Country have to mess with. Even a proper tire replacement has a ton of corrosion to deal with. You have some very fortunate customers!
I am like Nick H in that I never let anyone work on my rig,,, except I would not have any worries about you working on it,, I learn so much about newer cars and trucks from your channel,, Thanks,,, :-)
Well, after listening to the word of God preached by Dr. Charles Stanley and being blessed. I arrive at S. M. A. and see you go beyond what is expected. Thank you for taking the extra time and cleaning up the brakes, wheels and other parts as you go. Shows me that you care. God Bless The O family.
If you are worried about damaging the surface, like if its something expensive, an eraser wheel would be your safest bet. For aluminum, Ford also approves those rubber bristle brushes that go on a die grinder.
depending on how many cameras Mr. O has would greatly vary just how much effort he made to give all the different camera angles and editing involved; regardless, another great SMA video!
Wow alignment should be part of the replacement warranty beings their axle failed this sounds like a class action suit against Ford ! For all tires that get scrubbed off.
I live in eastern Canada and my brother's 86 Astro van needed rear brakes but had a stuck tire on the rear passenger side that would not come off. We finally gave up after an hour of beating on the tire and put the lugs back on loose and drove around the block 3 times turning left as fast as the road would hold and it finally broke loose. I didn't think they would ever come off. love the videos, keep up the good work !
@9:55 "Kind of weird for a 2019." Not really if you live in The Great Industrial Northeast. All it takes is one pothole that you can't avoid or see in time.
i wish my garage took the time and care to go into the detail you have gone to here. I'd visit your shop any time! Great work. Good to see people with passion working on these cars!
Those are very cool vehicles my brother is going to get his second one, I just don’t like the internal water pump on that engine that can leak coolant into the oil if the seal goes
@@branscoset keep an eye on your oil if the level rises or turns milky stop driving it immediately and get that addressed, I really do think those are cool vehicles though, I think there is a class action suit against Ford for that Engine design
I enjoy watching your channel. When using A puller to remove a hub will help greatly if you lube the main thread in the center. 80% of the force is used up by friction on the threads. If you lived in threads he will cut the friction in half. Keep up the good work
A true professional. In all my years of car ownership and DYI wrenching I have never seen my tire pro clean the wheel weight residue. Great job Eric O. You should be the poster boy for professional mechanics.
Why can't all mechanics be as trustworthy and as thorough as you are? Although I am not a car guy, I really enjoy watching you. Your work ethic is something I strive for in my own line of work. Great job, buddy!
Alloys are not the only wheels that get stuck. Had an Intrepid with steelies on it, and the rears would not come off. Sprayed them down, beat on them with a maul, yes even hitting on the rim, no go. Left lugs loose and driving around corners, rail road tracks, pot holes did not break them loose. Finally found an empty parking lot and drove around in a circle pulling about 5G's before I heard the right side crack loose. Went back and did the brake job on that side then back to the parking lot. Left side took twice as long to crack loose, felt like being on a Tilt-A-Whirl lol. Yes everything got cleaned and anti-seized.
