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Wheels/tires directional?
- Thread starter 2020
- Start date
iamnid
Active Member
They aren't directional. If you order a new set, you'll get 4 identical wheels and tires and can put them where you like.
pkeller
Member
When I asked earlier about tire rotation, I was told that when rotating tires they should be front to back. This would indicate that they are directional. Not sure what the failure mode would be if you took the right rear and made it left front and installed the new tires on the rear.
iamnid
Active Member
They are all the same. EDIT: unless OP ordered a set of tires that are specifically directional, but the OEM and most others are not.The tread of the OE 19" Continental ProContact RX tires and the 20" Goodyear Eagle F1 tires on the Long Range Model Y are not directional. On the Long Range Model Y Tesla's recommended tire rotation is front to back. (You can't rotate the tires on the Performance Model Y front to back as the rear are wider than the front.)
How so? The Long Range Model Y originally came with either 19" (standard) or 20" (optional) wheels. The OE 19" tire was the Continental Procontact RX. The OE 20" tire was the Goodyear Eagle F1. The tread on these two model tires is not unidirectional. The Tesla Model Y Owner's Manual currently states:
"Vehicles with staggered wheels (i.e. Performance Model Y) and non-directional tires can be rotated side-to-side (left-to-right) but not front-to-back as the front and rear tire size is different. Left-to-right rotation can increase tread life by changing the direction of rotation for each tire and balancing shoulder wear.
The Tesla Model Y Owner's Manual does not currently state how you should rotate non-staggered tires. It is my understanding that Tesla Mobile Service will normally rotate tires front to back (where applicable). Left to right rotation would require jack stands. I do not know if Tesla Mobile Service is able to perform left to right and cross over tire rotation.
While it’s true that you can cross rotate non-directional tires, it doesn’t prevent Tesla from recommending front to back only.
That being said, it’s more likely it isn’t anything other than simplifying the process because the jack points can raise the entire half of the car, rather than just a corner like most cars.
You could do it without jack stands, it just requires an additional wheel and more work. Pick a corner, lift, swap with the extra wheel, then lower. Move to the next corner in rotation and repeat until you’re back to the first corner and swap out the extra wheel.
With a mobile service appoint for tire rotation, they can easily prepare an extra wheel… but whether they’re willing to put the extra work is a different story.
Thanks. An odd thing came up this spring, in the 2nd year owning our TMY LR with the 20" induction rims used in warmer weather, I noticed a right front sound that is similar to a turboprop airplane propeller when driving at highway speeds. I wonder if the direction of the wheels makes a difference at least on the front right position? Maybe I just didn't notice this sound before? I do thing the wheels look identical. Odd but just another little quirk about these amazing vehicles.
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I'd be surprised if that wasn't some anomaly of your tyres. Otherwise 20" Inductions singing on the right side would be a talking point. Soon find out.
Tires are not directional, there’s no preference in which way they spin when driving.
They are asymmetrical, so it does matter when mounting onto the wheel (so that one side always faces towards the center of the car, no matter where the wheel mounts onto the car).
Did you leave your car sitting for a while? Or similarly, if you swap out the tires for seasonal changes, stored the tires standing up? When a tire stays in a single spot for too long, a “flat spot” on the tire will happen where the tire contacts the ground. You’ll get a thumping sound while you drive. It goes away as you flex the tire through more driving.
It's true that the Induction and the Uberturbine are all produced in a single-sided style, which means that the blades on left vs right side of the car are not symmetric. I would imagine that the blades are merely cosmetic and do not produce too much of an effect that is sensitive to the direction of the wheel. If it strongly perturbed brake cooling or drag negatively they would have discovered such in testing
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