'Say Less, Dude:' Customer Needs Work Done On His Tire. Then The Mechanic Sees The State Of The Rim
A mechanic’s customer wanted work done on his tire but then quickly realized it was going to be a bigger job than initially anticipated after seeing the rim.
In a TikTok that’s generated over 2.6 million views as of this writing, Trevor (@trevorstires3220) reveals the damaged rim. To simply put it, it’s bad and will need to be removed.
“Gotta love starting your day with something fun after a long weekend,” Trevor captions the video.
The rim appears to have been thrashed up by Wolverine before it was taken to the mechanic. The damaged rim has two missing lugnuts that seem to have been clawed off. The two missing lugnut areas are heavily scratched and marked up.
“It came in like this, now we gotta get it off,” Trevor begins.
“I don’t care about the rim,” he says the customer replied.
“Say less dude,” the mechanic says, then jokingly pans the camera over to two cannisters of some type of gas.
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While the context on how this happened is unknown, commenters wasted no time to start trolling the owner’s perceived lack of care for the rim.
“‘I don’t care about the rim’ that was out of the question first off,” one said.
“The rim? Oh you mean the battle hardened shield in your tire,” another replied.
“I don't care about the *enter car part here* is the best words a mechanic can hear when they know they have to remove it,” a third added.
How Do You Remove A Damaged Rim?
According to AutoZone, removing a damaged rim can be done at home with the proper tools and safety protocols.
To begin, it’s important to keep safety a top priority. Incorrectly removing the rim of your car can potentially cause more damage. Injuries and accidents can also occur if the tire is improperly placed or set during the process.
Before starting the rim removal process, the proper tools are needed. To do this job, you’ll need tire irons, a lugnut wrench, valve stem tool, safety glasses, and gloves. Having all these tools will make the job more efficient and easier.
AutoZone says the following steps need to be followed to remove a damaged rim properly:
- Position the Vehicle Correctly: Have the vehicle parked on a flat, stable, and safe location. Once parked, engage the parking brake to secure the car in place. To secure the wheels, use wheel chocks on the opposed end of the car from the one that is being worked on.
- Remove Air Pressure: To begin, remove the valve caps from the tire being worked on. Once the caps are off, take the valve stem tool and decompress the valve core. This will start releasing the air from the tire and the tire will need to be completely deflated before moving on.
- Loosen Lug Nuts: Place the lugnut wrench over the lugnuts and turn the wrench counterclockwise to loosen. At this point, the lugnuts just need to be loosened and not completely taken off. This stops the wheel from spinning when taking the tire off.
- Dislodge the Tire: Using the tire iron, insert the curved end between the tire and rim. Once inserted, mindfully pry the tire away from the rim. As you pry away, work your way around the tire. This will slowly release the tire from the rim and allow you to pry it over the lip. If the tire has been on the rim for a long time, this may require some effort to pry away. Be mindful of movement during prying and avoid using extra force than needed.
- Remove the Tire from the Rim: After the tire gets dislodged from the rim, the tools can be put aside and your hands can complete the rest. Go from top and work your way around with your hands pulling the tire off the rim. While doing this, proceed with caution to avoid damaging the rim in the process.
Even with the right preparation of tools and following these steps, it’s still possible to make a mistake. Common mistakes that can occur when removing a damaged rim is not fully deflating the tire, leaving the lugnuts on tight, using excessive force, and not having the right safety gear.
Motor1 has contacted Trevor via TikTok direct message. The story will be updated if he replies.
