First, a little backstory. I'll try to keep it short, but you guys know me........
Friend has a wrecker service. Used to own a building and about a one acre lot which he shared with a mechanic friend of mine.
Things were crowded, so when a larger place opened up about 5 years ago, from a friend of his, he made the jump.
Sold the old shop to my mechanic friend.
The friend who owns the place he is now, is really tight. They are good friends, go out four wheeling together, get along well.
But the best way to describe the friend, is that he is a used car salesman.
Now the friend wants to sell everything he owns around here and move farther south. Since my wrecker guy has been renting from him for 5 years, has done lots of improvements to the place, and hauled a lot of stuff for the owner, he figured he would get a decent deal on buying the property.
NOPE
He had an appraisal done by a questionable appraiser, who brought in a very overpriced number. And he will not budge off it.
My friend will not pay it.
Meanwhile, our mechanic friend is having problems. Great mechanic, lousy businessman. He has gotten a nice offer to run the shop for a large company, and jumped at it.
My wrecker guy has decided to take over the shop, scrap the equipment in it, which is in bad shape, put in new and open a repair shop.
He will keep renting where he is, while the guy tries to sell it for more than its worth. If it sells, he will just move to the new shop and keep on keeping on.
Meanwhile, he will be able to do the servicing for his wreckers in the new shop.
So far, so good. I've run out of money right now, so I can't help that way, but networking, computer stuff, whatever, I'm there.
However I think he has lost his mind.
When I showed up there Friday, he had a Hunter rep demoing a balancer and tire machine.
I realize that, especially with the new taller rims and narrower sidewalls, imperfections in the sidewalls will show up as a vibration that cannot be balanced out. Also misaligned belts can cause a pull to the side that is not an alignment problem.
And this Hunter Road Force machine will detect all those problems and prove it to the tire companies so that they will warranty the tires,
But, this is a fairly small country town, not Beverly Hills.
I see a few BMWs, some Mercedes, but no top end stuff. Some of the local boys have 20 inch aftermarket rims, but the cars are not worth the wheels.
He is going to sell tires and alignments as well as regular repairs. So he needs good tire equipment, but just the Road Force machine lists for 26K.
It will be the only one within about 40 miles or more, so hopefully other shops will send him business that they cannot find the vibration.
The tire mounting machine is a marvel. Fully automatic, you just lay the tire on, and it does the rest. No metal touches the tire or rim, so you don't have to worry about wheel damage.
Even he says that is probably more than he needs.
Anybody have any idea if the Road Force machine will even break even in a reasonable time? Are there that many defective tires coming out of the manufacturers these days?
Back in 1978, I had an alignment problem with my Torino that no one could find. It just always pulled slightly to the right.
When I replaced the tires, the right front had a broken belt that was plainly visible when unmounted. But other than that, I have never had a set of tires that needed special balancing.
I like the machine, and think it will do its job. I just don't think he needs it now.
Especially since he still has to get a four post lift, an alignment machine, and lots of other stuff.
Comments?
Friend has a wrecker service. Used to own a building and about a one acre lot which he shared with a mechanic friend of mine.
Things were crowded, so when a larger place opened up about 5 years ago, from a friend of his, he made the jump.
Sold the old shop to my mechanic friend.
The friend who owns the place he is now, is really tight. They are good friends, go out four wheeling together, get along well.
But the best way to describe the friend, is that he is a used car salesman.
Now the friend wants to sell everything he owns around here and move farther south. Since my wrecker guy has been renting from him for 5 years, has done lots of improvements to the place, and hauled a lot of stuff for the owner, he figured he would get a decent deal on buying the property.
NOPE
He had an appraisal done by a questionable appraiser, who brought in a very overpriced number. And he will not budge off it.
My friend will not pay it.
Meanwhile, our mechanic friend is having problems. Great mechanic, lousy businessman. He has gotten a nice offer to run the shop for a large company, and jumped at it.
My wrecker guy has decided to take over the shop, scrap the equipment in it, which is in bad shape, put in new and open a repair shop.
He will keep renting where he is, while the guy tries to sell it for more than its worth. If it sells, he will just move to the new shop and keep on keeping on.
Meanwhile, he will be able to do the servicing for his wreckers in the new shop.
So far, so good. I've run out of money right now, so I can't help that way, but networking, computer stuff, whatever, I'm there.
However I think he has lost his mind.
When I showed up there Friday, he had a Hunter rep demoing a balancer and tire machine.
I realize that, especially with the new taller rims and narrower sidewalls, imperfections in the sidewalls will show up as a vibration that cannot be balanced out. Also misaligned belts can cause a pull to the side that is not an alignment problem.
And this Hunter Road Force machine will detect all those problems and prove it to the tire companies so that they will warranty the tires,
But, this is a fairly small country town, not Beverly Hills.
I see a few BMWs, some Mercedes, but no top end stuff. Some of the local boys have 20 inch aftermarket rims, but the cars are not worth the wheels.
He is going to sell tires and alignments as well as regular repairs. So he needs good tire equipment, but just the Road Force machine lists for 26K.
It will be the only one within about 40 miles or more, so hopefully other shops will send him business that they cannot find the vibration.
The tire mounting machine is a marvel. Fully automatic, you just lay the tire on, and it does the rest. No metal touches the tire or rim, so you don't have to worry about wheel damage.
Even he says that is probably more than he needs.
Anybody have any idea if the Road Force machine will even break even in a reasonable time? Are there that many defective tires coming out of the manufacturers these days?
Back in 1978, I had an alignment problem with my Torino that no one could find. It just always pulled slightly to the right.
When I replaced the tires, the right front had a broken belt that was plainly visible when unmounted. But other than that, I have never had a set of tires that needed special balancing.
I like the machine, and think it will do its job. I just don't think he needs it now.
Especially since he still has to get a four post lift, an alignment machine, and lots of other stuff.
Comments?
