1st time owner. Nail in induction tire. Suggestions.

[mykalt45]

Hi guys,

1st time Tesla owner here. Got a low pressure warning and see there is a nail in the middle of my tire. Should be patchable. Wasn’t sure if anyone could do it or if I should call Tesla. Ended up setting an appointment for tomorrow morning to repair. Wasn’t even sure how to get to the lug nuts of the tire. Do you just pop the middle off? Can any shop do it? Any guidance is appreciated. I want to be better prepared next time this happens.

 

[Chisale]

Where I live in the midwest some shops will do EVs and some won't. You just have to call and ask. The ones that are relunctant are afraid of damaging the battery which you can do if you don't follow the instructions. Once you find a shop that will do it, I suggest you take the instruction page from the manual and show them that. If they've worked on Teslas before they are liable to say "we know how to do it and don't need that" but it's good to have just in case. Also, keep in mind that even some shops that will agree to work on Teslas will still refuse to patch tires with acoustic foam. So be sure to ask about that to if you have those type of tires.

 

[Jjrss]

Go to Les Schwab. They fixed mine for free (current customer on a different car).

 

[roblab]

If you are able to push a piece of rubberized rope into a hole, go buy a tire repair kit that has that. Cheap, effective, lasts the life of the tire, and NO NEED TO REMOVE TIRE. I have used these for years, including at my business where I owned a dozen trucks and cars and drove around construction sites where screws and nails were abundant. NEVER removed a tire, never used a patch, and the rubberized rope lasted the life of the tire. You get a T-bar handle that is hooked to a large needle-eye. Thread the rope into the eye and shove the needle/rope into the hole with the tire on the wheel on the car, then trim off excess. Easy peasy and actually dumb to do anything else. Seals even with the noise-deadening foam liner, just fine.

 

[Fourdoor]

If you are able to push a piece of rubberized rope into a hole, go buy a tire repair kit that has that. Cheap, effective, lasts the life of the tire, and NO NEED TO REMOVE TIRE. I have used these for years, including at my business where I owned a dozen trucks and cars and drove around construction sites where screws and nails were abundant. NEVER removed a tire, never used a patch, and the rubberized rope lasted the life of the tire. You get a T-bar handle that is hooked to a large needle-eye. Thread the rope into the eye and shove the needle/rope into the hole with the tire on the wheel on the car, then trim off excess. Easy peasy and actually dumb to do anything else. Seals even with the noise-deadening foam liner, just fine.

I use these as well, none of my vehicles have a spare tire, so I always carry a plug kit and air compressor.

Keith