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Post by PICTUP on Oct 9, 2019 18:17:55 GMT -8
Bad news. J-Speeds are no longer available. Damn. Even used?
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Post by Volktales on Oct 9, 2019 21:00:07 GMT -8
Turning into a saga. The Konig Lightenings (the blue rims), just went out of stock. Unbelievable...
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Post by magikbus on Oct 10, 2019 8:41:11 GMT -8
You're just a hair behind the bleeding edge Russ. How about looking for vintage? Torque thrust? Stan
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Post by CrazyBrit on Oct 10, 2019 15:24:27 GMT -8
I still think it would look wicked on Fuchs. It would be even more tongue in cheek than a stock 1200cc VW running Fuchs
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Post by Volktales on Oct 10, 2019 21:59:56 GMT -8
Back to my original choice, which was the Konig Rewinds. These are still in production, and not out of stock, either. At the moment. Sent yet another e-mail to the supplier, to find out why there lugnut package cannot be added to the cart... Damned internet...
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Post by Volktales on Oct 20, 2019 19:44:48 GMT -8
So with too much Thanksgiving eating going on last week, not much has been accomplished. Until now... As usual, I couldn't help myself and started removing some more parts. Why? Because this car was last painted almost 15 years ago, and has been outside most of that time since then. Dirt builds up underneath the exterior, and eventually this leads to rust. We can't have that... Off came the rear bumper, to reveal a buildup of dirt and rocks. Wonder where my wifey was actually driving this thing... These bumper brackets had so much crud in them, that the drains were plugged solid. Unacceptable. All this was removed of course, and cleaned and repainted as required... It just had to be done. Car has a permanent parking spot in the garage, so lets clean it up right. Bumper back on, light units were all cleaned and polished. And carefully reinstalled to avoid trunk leaks on this design. Then the cowl cover was removed to reveal more ick. All was cleaned out, and the cover was scrubbed and polished. Wiper arms were repainted as well. Much better. Now the back wheels are off and the brakes are being cleaned and serviced. In anticipation of the new rims and tires which still are not ordered yet, as their website is still not co-operating with me yet...
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Post by Volktales on Oct 25, 2019 19:47:21 GMT -8
Sooo, I have been doing a few boring things like cleaning the wheel wells and suspension, and getting some paint and fresh undercoat where appropriate. This is anticipation of bolting on those new rims and tires with their shiny new chrome lugnuts... Except I can't, because these parts are not ordered yet... And it certainly is not for a lack of trying. It seems that in the modern age of easily buying anything online, this should have been a simple task. Nope. Not at all. The frustration just continues, and here is a quick re-cap of what has happened so far...
First attempt: Go to my favourite tire store (Cedar Tire), and see what rims they could get. They were very helpful, as usual, and gave me a listing of the suppliers of rims that they deal with. I looked carefully at the three different companies, and what they could supply. None of them had much in the way of nice rims, so that was the end of that idea...
Second attempt: After looking at a LOT of websites that deal in rims and tires, AND are located and/or have branches in Canada, I settled on KX Wheels based in Langley. They listed the Enkei J-Speeds I really liked, and had attractive prices on the appropriate tires as well. I did have a couple of questions regarding availability, given the J-Speeds were listed as discontinued on other sites. Sure enough, KX Wheels website was FAR out of date, with both wheels and tires that have not been available for years listed, and at prices that were much out of date (like 65% higher than what was listed!). It became clear very quickly, that this company has no stock, and orders in from others to resell. I decided to look elsewhere...
Attempt three: One of the many sites I visited, was one that I had heard of: 1010tires.com. This is an American company, but has branches in Canada. Their website "seemed" to work, and it was obvious that it was updated regularly. So I carefully made my selections of rim, tire, centering rings, and lugnuts. Of course I chose the "premium" installation kit, which was made by McGard, a product I have used before. McGard lugnuts are US made, and actually last for years without rusting, so naturally this is what I wanted. The rims, tires, and rings all loaded into the on-line cart, but the lugs would not. Nothing like getting an "unexpected error has occurred" message. Tried to add this product to cart in many different ways, would not work no matter what...
Continued...
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Post by Volktales on Oct 25, 2019 20:24:53 GMT -8
Attempt four: Sent an email to 1010tires about the non-working section of their site. They came back stating it works fine on their computers. I guess the implication was that I must be doing something wrong. Given I tried four different devices, two at home, one at work, and one a co-workers smart phone, AND tried entering a variety of McGard products (none of which worked), I don't really think I was the one to blame here... Attempt five: Decided to phone the 1-800 number. This was not exactly convenient, as I had to get up very early as this was the only possible time to make the call. Things got off to a poor start, with being on hold for almost 15 minutes... Then the guy who answered, sounded like he was about 16 years old. I told him I knew exactly what I wanted to buy, and had my part numbers ready to go. "Um, we need to start off with what year your car is". Ok, it is for a 1991. Silence, followed by "Um, our system only goes back to 2002. We um, don't have anything for cars that old". Well your website goes back much further than that. (Guy in background tells kid that yes the listings go further back)... "Um, what kind of car?" It is a 1991 Toyota Tercel. "Tercel?" Yells to coworker, "Do we have products for a 1999 Tercel?' 1991! Not 1999! "Um sorry, 1991 Tercel" "Um, we can't do fitment on this. We have no listing". I know what I want, and it should fit. And your site even says it will. " Our fitment doesn't show that. You will have to agree to a fitment waiver, and then if the wheels don't fit, you can't return them". Getting irritated. I am sure they will fit. This is what I want. Here are the exact part numbers. " What model is this for again?" After an eternity of this, I finally managed to get him to enter the required parts into his computer. And then I requested he read the part numbers back to me, and they actually were correct. Then he dropped the bomb. "What is your PayPal number?" Say whaaat? "We don't accept credit cards over the phone. You must use your PayPal." I don't have no friggen PayPal account! Didn't word it like that, but you know I was thinking it. Now what? Well you don't HAVE to have a PayPal account, but the system uses the PayPal system for credit cards over the phone. How do I do that? Well you will have to go to the website and sign in. Yeah, my still sleeping wife is going to like that when I turn on the computer which is conveniently in our bedroom. Besides this conversation has been going on forever, and I have to go to work. I will have to call back some other time. "Um, ok. I will send you an estimate" Didn't offer his name, and I didn't really want to talk to him again either... Didn't phone him back... Attempt six. Looking around, I discover Amazon.ca has the lugnut kit I need for exactly the same price. Ok, so here is the solution. I will order the rims/tires/rings from 1010tire, and the lug kit from Amazon. And I had already had an Amazon account (amazingly), so what could go wrong??? Go to the 1010tire site, fill up my cart with the rims/tires/rings, and go to the checkout. Start filling in the billing address. The computer decided to "autofill" previous address information like it has in the past. So naturally something screwed up and the street address comes up with an error message. So I backed on out to the previous section to re-enter the information. Nope, won't clear out. No memory clear button. So back out of site completely, try to sign up again. Nope, still remembers all old info. Try to sign in and set account via e-mail. Nope, that e-mail has been previously used, error message. ARRRRRRRGHHHHHH! Send an e-mail to 1010tires, telling them to make this work or else I am quite ready to pack in the whole damn idea. Although not a spiritual or superstitious person, I really think the universe is trying to tell me something here!!!
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Post by Volktales on Oct 25, 2019 20:53:50 GMT -8
If all else fails, I still have these rims. Shown on my "first" Tercel years ago. That is the current project in the background...
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Post by PICTUP on Oct 26, 2019 18:51:19 GMT -8
I do like that look!
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Post by Brenticon on Oct 26, 2019 19:52:13 GMT -8
Meh, keep looking.
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Post by CrazyBrit on Oct 27, 2019 10:34:34 GMT -8
It's the Universe telling you to fit Fuchs😉
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Post by Volktales on Oct 27, 2019 10:43:14 GMT -8
Can't wait to see what 1010tires says back to me in their e-mail... IF they e-mail...
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Post by Volktales on Oct 30, 2019 11:24:41 GMT -8
Attempt Seven: 1010Tires e-mails me an invoice, and a link button to pay it. Numbers are all correct. It actually seemed to work, as Paypal sent the receipt after the transaction. I was also given a $10 discount for all my frustrations. Can't wait to blow it all at once... Now we play the waiting game, and see if the parts actually show up....
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Post by Volktales on Nov 6, 2019 22:03:03 GMT -8
Sooo, here we are nine days after I paid for my order from 1010tires. And what do I get? Another e-mail. This time it states that I have ordered incorrect sized tires for my 1991 Tercel, and they may rub on the fenders. AND that the "too tall" tires will negatively affect my anti-lock brake system and traction control too! Would I like to order different tires, or cancel the entire order??? Unbelievable. It took them nine days to come up with this response? Ok, time to send off another e-mail. "Yes these wheels and tires will fit. Your website even says that they will depending on what model of Tercel is entered. None of the choices listed are accurate anyway, all the models have the same fender clearance, and no 1991 Tercels ever came with ABS or Traction Control. Please continue with my order as stated". So later that day another e-mail arrives... "So just to be clear, you are asking us to proceed with your order as it is (no changes), correct?" "YES! Send me my F****N order like I have previously asked for the last umpteen times!!! I maybe phrased that a bit differently, but you get the idea... I also stated that I have used tires even bigger than the ones ordered, on this very car, and they DON'T rub. They WILL fit. OK? And finally a message: "We will proceed with your order as requested." Wow! Just wow. Can you really believe it is this difficult to buy products on line... Or is it just me?
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