I need a spare tire rim - Help!

[BJHEN]

I posted the following on the Garage forum yesterday but received only one response. I am reposting here in hopes of some additional help.


While I was out of town my wife had a flat tire on the T-Bird. A friend called their AAA and had them come out and change the tire. The AAA tire changer told my wife he thought the lug bolts were striped but installed the spare and left. My wife drove the T-Bird home, about 20 miles, and she could hear a loud bumping from the tire. It was late at night and there was no safe place to stop for help. The next day she took the car to a tire shop and they had to replace three lug bolts and nuts and the spare tire rim has three lug bolt holes elongated because the rim was not installed correctly and the lug nuts were not tightened properly. There was no problem when the original rim was on the car so it is obvious to me that the AAA person installed the rim wrong and did not tighten the lug nuts properly.

Since we used a friend's AAA membership, I don't know if I will seek recourse from AAA.

The spare tire rim is ruined and I need to replace it. Anyone have any ideas on where best to purchase one without buying a new one from Ford. I'm sure there are used ones around but the shipping would probably cost more that a new rim.
Cliff

[Rick]

Re: I need a spare tire rim - Help!

Since we used a friend's AAA membership, I don't know if I will seek recourse from AAA.

One word. KARMA?

I would check with the salvage yards that have the wrecked T-Birds that are always posted here with front end damage to find one, but in the long run it may be less expensive to order from the dealer without shipping charges. Good Luck!

[worldclasswheels]

Re: I need a spare tire rim - Help!

Hi Cliff, At the Dealer part # 1w4z1007BA Alloy Mini Rim is 275.00 then you have to have yours mounted and bal-valve stem now you are up to almost 300.00 I have one Brand New in stock from the 05 Steel Blue Rear Clip, [Wheel and Tire] 100.00 plus shipping. Thanks again, Rick

[blue731]

Re: I need a spare tire rim - Help!

Cliff...
even if that were your AAA membership, you can forget about any recourse against AAA. AAA is only an intermediary, and a piss poor one at that. I have a buddy who had AAA send a tow truck for his pickup that had a flat... they towed it to the nearest station. The tow truck busted his headlights and scraped his bumper. AAA said take it up with the tow company. The tow company said take it up directly with the driver! He's still waiting to get reimbursed.

[BJHEN]

Re: I need a spare tire rim - Help!

Problem solved thanks to Rich (worldclasswheels).

I have bought and sold a fair number of items on-line through ebay and several other sites that specialize in some of the types of items that interest me. In all of those transactions I've never had one that was any smoother than dealing with Rich. He contacted me promply, described the item perfectly, and communitated his sales terms clearly. After the deal was closed he emailed me with shipping and tracking info. The item arrived on time and was perfect as he described.

What a pleasure to do business with someone of Rich's class and a fellow TBN'er.

Thanks Rich!

Cliff

[worldclasswheels]

Re: I need a spare tire rim - Help!

Thanks Cliff for the Kind words, I am so Glad it made it there safely. Thanks again, Rick

[joe166]

Re: I need a spare tire rim - Help!

I agree. Rick is a class act. I bought several things from him but one time it just wasn't right for my car. He did the right thing without any prodding. A real gentleman and an honest man.