Had a bad, bad, bad couple of weeks. On Thursday the 17th of July I had to drive from my home in Houlton WI (Just across the bridge from Stillwater MN) to the site of the Wolf’s Head Motorcycle Rally in Cloquet MN, stopping at St. Croix Harley-Davidson in New Richmond WI. A little bit out of the way but I was looking forward to the drive out of New Richmond on Hwy 65 North. Hwy 65 between New Richmond and Hwy 8 is a very twisty road with only a couple of straights; perfect for a Crossfire Roadster, and the weather was also perfect. Got about 18 miles north of New Richmond, came around a 10mph corner at about 20mph which was way below what I could have done, and “thump, thump, thump”, a blown right rear tire. Argh!!!!!!!!
I won’t bore you with the story of talking to Chrysler Roadside Assistance, only to find out that they do not cover tires, only mechanical failure. So then on the telephone to try to find a flat-bed to carry the car back to Bernard’s Chrysler in New Richmond where I had bought the car. They tried to find a tire but the only one in that size was in Chicago so they shipped it overnight. The car only has 8,000 miles on it but the dealer said that there wasn’t the required tread depth to get any warranty on it. Bummer. So the car was left overnight and on Friday morning at 11:00 a.m. they called to tell me that it was ready. Got there and almost fell over when I was handed the bill for $443.00. The tire was $262, then towing and labor. Ouch, but paid it so I could get on the road.
Went to my Rally in Cloquet and stayed at my business partner’s house. The next morning he came in to tell me that I had a flat tire. Sure enough the same right-rear tire was flat. I finally pulled the air pump out of the trunk, pumped up the tire and headed to Carlton to the Truck Stop/Tire Dealer. Sat for three hours on a Saturday morning while they tried to work it into their schedule. When they finally got it up on the lift they took one look at it and said, “we aren’t touching that.” Sure enough there was a crack in the center of the rim. Was a slow leak so I took my chances and drove it home stopping only once to air it up. I don't believe I've ever hit any more than a very small pot hole, and certainly nothing that could have done this to a wheel and rim.
Monday morning I went to Bernard’s and left the car. They gave me a loaner, MINIVAN!!!!!! The only car they had available. Coming home my neighbors pointed and laughed, when I got there my son pointed and laughed. Even my 11 year old grandson, who has never seen me in anything but a sports or muscle car, pointed and laughed. I’m sure his psyche is damaged for good. He will always picture his old granddad driving that monstrosity. The dealer called me last Tuesday morning and said that it looks like something may have cut my tire and hammered the crack into the rim. I argued my point with no apparent success. They told me the new rim would be $700 and the closest one (the Special Edition SRT6 wheels with grey centers) was in San Diego CA. Can’t be too much further from here. I told them to order it and if I have to pay for it I will, but still insisted that it should be warranty and that might have been what caused the tire to go down in the first place. On Friday I ran up there to photograph the rim and they told me they were expecting it to arrive on Monday the 28th and that the Chrysler rep. would be there also on Monday. They called me Monday to tell me that the wheel had arrived, and that the Chrysler rep. said that he would warranty the wheel, but only with “customer participation.” He only hit me for $100 which at that point I thought was fair. I also turned in the $141 towing bill to State Farm and they issued a check the next day. So counting the $10 the guy in Cloquet charged me to look at it I was out a total of $412.oo and I got my car back on Tuesday the 29th.
I guess I should be grateful that they warranted it at all.
And then... The last time I saw the car was when it was sitting on the north side of their building with one wheel off and up on blocks. When I picked it up and drove away I got about three blocks before I realized something was wrong with my Wind Restrictor.
I pulled over and gave them a call and they told me that they had needed that spot so they'd moved the car to the main lot. Full sun for several days with the temps in the upper 80's f. to 90, black top, black interior. Must have been like a blast furnace in there and it got hot enough to warp my custom Wind Restrictor. Oh well. Called Stephen at Wind Restrictor and he told me that the only other time this had happened it was to a woman who lived in the desert Southwest. They said, no problem they would replace it. I guess I lucked out again but from now on I will surely park in the shade or crack the windows.
Anyone else lose a wheel like this?
Sheldon