[s-cars] Speaking of wheels

[Lee Levitt]

Almost lost one today...not a wheel, but a friend and an S6.

My friend with the red S6 (that matches her hair), was stopped by 
a postal truck driver on her way to meet me for coffee. The driver 
mentioned that her wheels were wobbling. Weird. She just had her 
summer tires put on, today, by her regular shop.

We had coffee and then took a look at her car. Everything seemed 
tight at first check. I grabbed each wheel and gave a firm shake.

So she drove down the street with me following. It took all of 10 
feet to identify a serious issue. Looked like those wobbly wheels 
in the cartoons. She pulled over and we popped off the center 
caps. Seems the monkey lads at her shop had put the wheels on, 
tightened one bolt on each wheel and left the others finger loose. 
Wow.

She had driven about 5 miles this way and noticed a bit of a 
wobble.

The scary thing is that her mechanic drove the car to her house 
and never mentioned the wobble. Asshole. Either stupid or just 
didn't care. Either way, she's done with him.

So I tightened each bolt on the wheels, moved the car a few feet 
and retightened. Good enough for now. If she were going anywhere, 
I would have jacked the car up and properly tightened them.

I can't believe how loose they were...or that I couldn't tell by 
shaking the static wheel. I guess the weight of the car masked the 
issue when I did so.

Unbelievable. And this is a guy she's trusted to do all of her 
service. I think she'll be going to my mechanic from now on.

Lee