Among the universal concerns facing tire dealers of every generation is how to prevent wheel-offs. It’s an issue that so far has not been eliminated by advancements in technology and instead often relies on consumers returning to a tire store for a torque check.
At the recent Safety Leadership Summit, which was held in Nashville, Tenn., tire dealers talked about this age-old struggle. Three shared how their teams are presenting torque checks to customers.
Charles Campagna, loss prevention and safety manager for Auburn, Maine-based VIP Inc. dba VIP Tires & Service, said his dealership’s service advisors “are supposed to have the conversation with the customer at (vehicle) pick-up to explain that any time we have a wheel off the vehicle, (the customer needs) to come back and get the lug nuts rechecked.”
VIP Tires asks its customers to return for that torque check after 25 miles of driving “as a precautionary measure, just to make sure that there’s no issue. If we find that the torque wasn’t correct, we may disassemble (the tire/wheel combination), reinspect it, make sure everything’s clean and put it back together and ask them to come again, just to verify.”
Josephine Foley, manager of safety and fleet at Norwell, Mass-based Sullivan Tire Co., said front counter personnel are supposed to have a similar conversation, except that Sullivan Tire asks its customers to return within 50 miles of the wheel being installed. She noted a message alerting customers to the need for a torque check is printed on the invoice. And for those customers who do follow the rules and return, Foley said there’s a code in Sullivan’s point-of-sale system to note that on the customer’s record.
Sam’s Club customers are also advised to return after 50 miles of driving. Tim Gearhart, Sam’s Club senior project manager, said the recommendation is printed at the bottom of every service order. “We do a wheel retention analysis on every wheel retention claim that occurs and unfortunately, we have had too many. But the number-one common denominator in all wheel retention claims was the consumer failed to return for the 50-mile retorque. It’s huge. Even though we have it printed on the bottom of the work order, we’ve encouraged associates to highlight it, circle it, have the (customer) initial it.
Sam’s Club is working on an in-house system that will send email reminders to customers to return for torque checks.
As for an industry standard, Kevin Rohlwing, chief technical officer for the Tire Industry Association (TIA), said the organization’s recommendation is to check torque after anywhere from five to 50 miles.
“For the most part, wheel and loosewheel incidents that happen shortly after installation can be traced back to failure to follow procedure. Once you cross that 100-, 200-mile mark, then it could have occurred because of a pothole. There’s a lot of things that could have happened for that loose wheel to occur.”
The issue is that so many customers don’t return for the torque check. Foley said most don’t come back. But in her investigations of incidents where wheels did come loose soon after installation, it’s been because the “procedure has not been followed … because proper torque was not completed.”
Invest in safety
After five years of Safety Leadership Summits, attendees have swapped ideas and brainstormed solutions to all kinds of problems in both commercial and retail tire dealerships. Sometimes, the fixes come down to equipment.
Jim Lanham oversees safety for the southern region of Wilkes Barre,Pa-based McCarthy Tire Service Co. Inc.’s territory. He said tools and equipment are needed to keep technicians safe.
“I don’t sell tools. I try to protect people.”
At McCarthy Tire Service, that investment has included the addition of tire safety cages for retail stores. Russ Devens, director of safety and risk management at McCarthy Tire, said he spotted a technician kneeling in front of a 39-inch tire as he aired it up on a lifted vehicle. The tire’s required air pressure exceeded that of the maximum available from the tire changer, so the only option was to inflate the tire on the vehicle. The compressor was pushing air at 180 psi.
“These tires on the passenger/light truck side are just getting bigger, wider, (with) more psi (and) more dangerous. My recommendation is make sure you have a cage in the retail shops.”
