Topic: Save of the Month: The importance of visual inspection

[Autos_Editor]

This month's culprit learned the importance of occasional checks of his ride's underside, even when no symptoms are present.
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[northsparrow]

Did the mechanic have to replace both tires on that axle?

[Noto]

I saw (with mine own two eyes  ) the mechanic do an underside check on the Fozzie when we had the brakes last serviced.

...apparently he spent so much time checking the underside that he forgot to actually do the brake job.  As$hole. 

Yes, I agree that this check is superbly important and likely not done often enough.  I just had to get my bit out

[tooscoops]

we just had one like that last week... had a screwdriver *in* the tire... was holding enough air that it wasn't was made them bring it in, it was the unbalanced wobble they were getting... i'm sure it wasn't in long, but it was a crazy one...

[aaronk]

Good point to tell your mechanic to spend the time for a thorough visual inspection. I found some disconcerting underbody rust on the frame of my Mazda in the same manner. It's tough to find a good mechanic who really knows their stuff and who is willing to take the time for a proper inspection...have gone through a few unsatisfactory shops before I found the place I use now.

[mnztr]

I saw a van that was actually wobbling on the highway, visibly. Yet the nutbar was still on the damn highway!!! it was a wobble the whole van would visibly tilt from left to right like it had a square tire ...

[Cord]

Recently had a customer come into service with a "noise coming from the right rear tire." When the adviser walked over to that side of the car she could clearly see a heavy duty rubber bungee cord had hooked into a tread block like a fish hook. The free end was left to flail around and had destroyed the rear quarter in a nice circular arc. The customer claimed the noise had only been present "for a few days."

Sometimes you don't even have to look under the car to find trouble.

[sjrw11]

An inspection is only as good as the person doing the job.
I had mine inspected and everything was checked off as good. 2 weeks and 300 Km later, the brake wear indicator started squealing.  Puts the rest of the inspection as questionable.