13,000 Miles and First Screw Job!

[Skione65]

As the title says 13,000 Miles and first screw. Q is this repairable? I know it has to be inside of 1/2” from tire sidewall to be repairable. I took it to Ken Towery and the guy said is it a “Special Tire”? I said well it’s the OEM Tesla Summer Performance Tire. He said Acoustic Foam? I said……yes. He said we’ve never done that and are not sure how to do it! Not the warm fuzzy from that response. I know you just cut out the foam, plug and patch from the inside and then either glue the foam back or some don’t. Rebalance if necessary etc. Reinstall. He said if they had to “we could try and figure it out”, but we close in 10 minutes. I left. Slow air leak got home with 37 of 42. Saw the nail in the tire out from grocery not a low tpms warning.
Nevertheless……I’ll enclose photos. I think it technically is repairable but looking for opinions on sidewall proximity. I’m actually probably just going to get 2 replacements installed on the rear axle (Screw is in the right passenger rear) and use the good used tire as a spare piece of rubber in the basement.
Yes it’s Sunday. Tire rack is out until mid September. My next is to call Tesla SC in Cincinnati in the morning (Mon)(3 hour round trip) to see if they have any or can get some shipped to CVG from another SC if not. Any idea on installation cost? And will they just sell me the rubber and I can get them installed here?
I do have a plug kit but would feel better with a vulcanized plug/patch from interior job if I went that route. 8/32s on all four after 13,200 miles for those inquiries.

Ski

 

[Perscitus]

Ouch. Aside from the fact that this is indeed close to the sidewall.... a decent shop should be able to fix it, easy. No need to do it by the book either, even with the meh acoustic foam inside.
Been there done that with construction bolts and nails in tires on three Teslas.

They can do the repair from the inside and outside or first try it first from the outside with a good quality plug.

The foam has a tendency to separate and bunch up anyway in at least one out of four tires (given enough time, miles, climate and other external factors) causing all kinds of fun side effects in the process. Best to get rid of it either at the next tire change or seasonal swap.

 

[jmaddr]

Is it losing pressure? Perhaps you can just unscrew it if it has not punctured the belt.
If during unscrewing you start to hear air hiss out, screw it back in to save what you got and get it repaired. Most shops will not repair that tire when it's that close to the sidewall. It's a safety issue for them as if it doesn't hold and you have a catastrophic failure at speed, bad things can happen. Some will but won't warranty the repair. Tires and brakes aren't worth skimping.

 

[Rice&Curry]

Very unfortunate... most tire shop will not do the repair because of liability and safety issue. You will need to talk to the tire shop and see if they are willing to patch it for you ...best of luck

 

[techlogik]

First, are they look to be stock tires with foam inside? I know some shops are willing to deal with foam, remove it..whatever. But any good shop I know and trust my car with, they won't touch a Tesla wheel with foam inside. Don't blame them. They aren't going to be liable for Tesla and Michelins bright idea to fix build/insulation/sound issues from the factory while trying to save you $400. Again, another Tesla shortcut and QC issue they can't figure out like other makers. Foam in a tire, what a stupid idea. Leave it to Tesla. Rant over on that.

If any other tire, as a rule of thumb, you won't know if it is repairable until they pull the tire off the wheel and see if it has been patched already, if it has a prior patch job performed, they won't do it...see above, any shop willing to patch a tire multiple times..no thanks, replace the tire. That is life, the one thing that will wear out on these cars and lifeline for performance/handling/stopping, are your tires. Pay the money, sucks I know...I live in a construction area of new homes, have had two cars needing tires patched due to nails in the past year...sucks. Fortunately, no replacement yet.

Otherwise, if never patched, and on the flatter part of the tire and not puncturing the sidewall at all, can be fixed. It looks close those to me from that photo. Around here, most tire shops will fix at no charge. But if you have aftermarket wheels (I see that you don't so any local tire shop could do it, but this is just and FYI for people) that cost $$$ and any kind of lip etc...I would only trust one or two shops locally to take my car that has the right tire equipment, that ain't cheap like Tire Kingdom or whatever uses. This equipment is nearly a touchless install and it won't f*ck up your wheels. Like an Artiglio 500 machine.

That was a long answer for a seemingly simple question I know...but patching a tire depends on a lot of things. Run of the mill, usually patching no problem.

Let us know what happens...curious.

 

[Ormond]

I had one Model X tire patched from the inside. A small area of foam was removed by the shop. The shop then ordered a new tire for me. And I drove on the repaired tire until the new one arrived.

 

[Skione65]

Thanks guys. Set up an appointment for Service Center (3 hour round trip) and it scheduled me almost a month out on Sept 8th. Thought that was funny. (Not Really). Called Blue Ash SC in Cincinnati. He’s got 2, which I jumped on because Tire Rack is mid September and can’t find these anywhere being mid-summer. I’m taking them both. Driving up there for a 2:45 pm appointment today (Mon) he’s squeezing me in. Told him about the month out Service appointment via the app and he laughed. I did too. Drop my wife and daughter off at the airport at noon and drive hour and a half up there for the swap.
I’m replacing the screwed rubber on the passenger side rear as well as the drivers side rear (will be new rubber on rear axle both sides) and taking the left rear home as a spare back up I can change locally in the future if needed.
Rubber was same price as TR but like I said they’re a month out on stock. For the inquiring minds $867 OTD at Tesla. $700 both tires, $100 labor, $67 tax. Works for me. Be back on the “road” so to speak by 6 pm tonight.

Ski