Shop Tire Change Gone Wrong.

Shop Tire Change Gone Wrong.

In the auto shop dong a job in a efficient timely manner can be very curtail, especially if you happen to be working flat rate. But the slightest thing wrong can make the simplest job, take as long as a more complex job. Lately I have been working at my trade school shop in Brakes, and have just got done with my GM turm "General Matenence." And one of the one things I have been doing, is taking time to slow down and slowly observe my work. At times my mind tends to go much faster than the rest of me, and it can lead to me forgetting steps, so to counter this I came up with a clever plan.
Working as a Auto Technician, or Mechanic, can be compared to driving a Race Car, if you drive the car with the pedal to the floor all the time, you will lose control, slow down around the turns, hit your Apexes, and drive as smooth as you can. Lately I have been adding a Approach to my auto job, taking my time to cool and slow down my mind, and it has been working. The day before I did a Sealed Bearing Replacement because the Sealed bearings on a 2001 Ford explorer to the front wheels had a faulty built in wheel speed sensor, I applied the technique and the job ended and finished in a timely manner with very few flaws… to none… I was very pleased.
The next day was a half day of class in the shop, and the instructor instructed last day of the week shop clean up be performed more towards the afternoon, so with little time to do work people where given simple jobs, oil changes, tire rotations, tire balances, Ect… I was given a tire changing job on a Massive Doge 1500 prime time van… we got it on the lift and it was so large that the tires almost over lapped over the boards on the lift. I started my routine with the simple tire change, being extra carful to pay attention to all the details. My instructor had told me the customer had the passenger side rear tire with belts sticking out, and it needed changed with the spare tire below the vehicle, if the spare tire rim was not chrome like the primary rim, the good tire was to be swapped with the bad tire, and placed on the standard chrome rim, peace of cake… in addition both tires where to be balanced… also a peace of cake, or so I thought.
The job began and I immediately started work without wasting time, vehicle positioned on the lift, vehicle hoisted in the air, chucked from both sides, back end lifted, then I noticed that the passenger side rear tire was not the one with the belts sticking out, it was the drivers side rear tire. I removed that tire, and then began searching for the way to get the spare, and had a little trouble, I did not know where the tools where located to remove the spare, so I called my instructor over. He immediately noticed that I had not removed the passenger side rear tire and told me that I had not listened to his instructions, but I explained to him I clearly understood his instructions, and noticed that though the passenger side rear tire was in bad need of replacing, the drivers side rear tire was much worse off, and was the one with the belts sticking out, and the one the driver was referring too… my instructor understood my reasoning, and without hesitation let me continue with my job. Once both tires where out and ready tire swap was a peace of cake, removed both tires, switched them, bead seated them, and inflated them to a pressure of 38PSI as specified buy the vehicle sticker on the door, then came balancing.
This is where everything took a turn for the worst… and every thing started crashing down, the weights where completely scattered all over, and finding the correct weight became a hassle, and it easily doubled the time it took to do each balancing job, not to mention the closer tire balancer was already occupied, so I had to wheel the tires from the vehicle all the way to the other end of the shop, this wasted precious time, my intent of taking my time took a turn, and I started to feel a little stress, and a lot of frustration, because the people using the tire balancer had neglected to organize the weights. Once both tires where balanced I lifted the vehicle in the air, in my haste to make up for lost time, I forgot to shut the back doors, my instructor noticed this, as the huge doors just barley cleared a structure beam on the roof, and he told me I got lucky I did not damage the customers vehicle, this further added to the mixture of frustration.
It was now time for the tires to be placed on the vehicle, and torqued to specification, 110LBFT, upon trying to get one of the lugs on the vehicle, I was having trouble, one of the shop captains or leaders, Rob, came to my assistance and we noticed that one of the lugs where mushroomed out like someone had been smashing on it, coincidentally one of the lug nuts upon removal was also like this and required a different size socket just to get it off because it was so badly damaged. Once again my instructor came over, immediately noticed the damage and immediately told me it was not like this before, and said that I had caused the damage, even though I did not, there was no way possible I could have. Before I continue, I don't think my instructor was trying to be rude to me, he was trying to act like a employer would, I guess you could say it was sort of a "Test" to see how I would react when treated this way. With his help we where able to finally get the lug on. Then he told me that I was several hours behind, and that I needed to hurry and get the vehicle out of the shop, this added even more stress to the situation, and buy this time I was a nervous wreck. Rob and James, the two shop leaders, really cool guys, helped me out to get the rest of it finished, the saw I was now under extreme pressure, and saw that I was a little flustered, and immediately came to my assistance to get the vehicle out of the shop. They where trying to guide me in the right direction, and told me to back the vehicle of the hoist, which led me to forget to torque the wheels…. I got into the vehicle, noticed the keas where missing, could not find them, this added even more stress to the mix!
By this time I was about a bomb waiting to go off, and both Rob and James noticed this, and completely understanding, told me not to worry I started taking care of some of my tools, and found the keas which had been covered buy something that had fell, and began backing out off the lift, I quickly then remembered that the wheels had not been torqued…. And rushed over to stop them. yet again more stress to the mix, buy this time I had steam coming out my ears I was so angry. I then got the proper sized socket, for 4 of the 5 lug nuts… then I got to the smashed and stripped lug nut, noticed the socket would not fit, rushed back for another socket that would, this added even more stress and anger. Then… one of the shop leaders made a mistake, to help keep his dignity… I will keep his name anonymous… he noticed I was at this point really stressing, and instead of being polite and helpful, blurted out "what is your malfunction?!" this was it, this was not the first time he has said something of this nature too me before, he often goes around the shop acting like he knows everything, and he will try telling everyone what to do instead of being helpful at times. usually I am quite nice to people despite there actions, but for the first time I displayed my teeth. "My malfunction, is one of these lug nuts require a larger socket!" I replied glaring at him with intencity. the expression on his face was priceless, I guess he was not expecting me to respond this way, added some humor to the situation, he replied "ok, calm down." From that point on he sort of left me alone.
The Vehicles wheels where torqued, it left the shop, i never finished the paper work, which made me frustrated, but in a way, I did not care, however, I will include the paperwork with this little "story." What did I learn? Several lessons, that when it comes to a simple task, a simple thing wrong, like un organized tools, can make a simple task, a big pain. I have also had a good taste of a stressful situation in the Auto shop, and also learned that even when your having a hard time, some people are not going to be helpful. A good lesson here is that a Employer may not care if its your fault or not, you may be to blame, even though it may not be your fault, you just need to learn to take the bullet and keep going. And one other very good lesson here is how to handle stress, breath, slow down, like driving a race car, smooth and precise…

Vehicle Make (Dodge)

Vehicle Model (Ram 1500 Van)

Year (1999)

Job performed
A vehicle came in, the owner was complaining of belts sticking out from one of the tires, tires where changed, vehicle left the shop with wheels torqued to specifications.

Wheel Torque (110LBFT)

Tire pressure (38 rear 32 Front)

Tire condition (Poor, tires in need of replacement soon! And buy the indicated tire wear a alignment may be needed!)