4 Bent Rims - 20" - Anyone else?

[Nate977p]

Hello All,
I had a shake in the car and brought it in for service. Just got a call saying it's 4 bent rims, all of them are bent and that will be $3,090.

Obviously my jaw dropped. The car was picked up end of September, has sat for about 2 weeks, and been driven a bit over 6k miles. Not one flat or damage to rims. I am blown away by this and have to ask if anyone else with the 20" have bent rims?

As background, I am an extremely cautious driver to avoid pot holes. And I realize 20" is more prone to damage, but not this much this quick. My Audi with the sport rims has 1 bent rim in over 100k miles. And as reference, I am accustomed to large rims with low profiles tires...

Thanks all!

 

[Trips]

I would guess you hit a spot where the concrete was lifting up all the way across the road. Did they send you pictures?

 

[2much3time]

Bring them to a wheel repair place. They should be able to fix them all for super cheap. I think the last time I had a pair of 20’s that got bent it cost me around $50/wheel.

 

[SMAlset]

Seeing as how you didn't notice the shake before now I suspect it must have been something that got run over recently. Wow that sucks. When we had our Avalon we hit a huge rainfilled puddle (so couldn't see it was as deep as it was) and blew the two right tires and bent both rims. Yep can be expensive thing to have happen.

 

[acoste]

And as reference, I am accustomed to large rims with low profiles tires...

Before I read this^^, my first guess was that you are not used to them.

How about the tire pressures?

 

[Nate977p]

I would guess you hit a spot where the concrete was lifting up all the way across the road. Did they send you pictures?

Not that I recall. I am extremely cautious with driving in generally, especially with this car and these rims. I would remember a hit that big and hard

Bring them to a wheel repair place. They should be able to fix them all for super cheap. I think the last time I had a pair of 20’s that got bent it cost me around $50/wheel.

Metal is fatigued now though

Seeing as how you didn't notice the shake before now I suspect it must have been something that got run over recently. Wow that sucks. When we had our Avalon we hit a huge rainfilled puddle (so couldn't see it was as deep as it was) and blew the two right tires and bent both rims. Yep can be expensive thing to have happen.

I have had that happen in mine and family members cars. Totally stinks! But if that happened, I would understand. I cannot believe 4 bent rims, bent enough for very noticable shake, and not one flat....

Before I read this^^, my first guess was that you are not used to them.

How about the tire pressures?

Haha yeah I wanted the disclaimer there before the hate flowed in (sure it still will ). I can imagine people coming from Toyota and Honda with 16/17/even 18 rims and not realizing 20" take much more care and awareness. Factory 40-45.

To all, my point of this thread is to see if there is something more going on here. I am very weary of the quality of the rims if I have 4 bent rims with under 6500 miles on them, no flats, no visual damage, and it's not even winter pothole season!

Thank you all!

 

[MountainPass]

Do you have kids who drive your cars? This is a common question from mechanic to confused parent when there are issues like bald rear tires or bent wheels.

 

[Nate977p]

Haha nope just me. Occasionally the GF, but she is much more cautious than even I.

 

[Vines]

Last time I had my careful GF drive, she went over a bridge at speed and broke one of the rear springs of my volvo 850 turbo.

Could be she really was embarrassed, or maybe just didn't realize. The 20" rims are pretty soft from what I hear. I have them myself and have been super careful with them, so no damage so far.

 

[Rogstar]

Hello All,
I had a shake in the car and brought it in for service. Just got a call saying it's 4 bent rims, all of them are bent and that will be $3,090.

Obviously my jaw dropped. The car was picked up end of September, has sat for about 2 weeks, and been driven a bit over 6k miles. Not one flat or damage to rims. I am blown away by this and have to ask if anyone else with the 20" have bent rims?

As background, I am an extremely cautious driver to avoid pot holes. And I realize 20" is more prone to damage, but not this much this quick. My Audi with the sport rims has 1 bent rim in over 100k miles. And as reference, I am accustomed to large rims with low profiles tires...

Thanks all!

Hi,
Try contacting Ian Pavelko
@IanPavelko on twitter
Or via model 3 owners club channel.

He's a Tesla owner and a wheel / tire supplier.
I suspect he'd be very interested in your situation.
If you do need wheels, I'm sure he'll either supply them or advise on the best choice.

 

[Big Earl]

Our Cadillac ELR has 20" wheels and all four were bent when we bought the car used. The Cadillac dealer wanted some crazy amount of money to replace them, so we had them straightened/repaired instead. The Caddy dealer even arranged the repairs through one of their wheel vendors.

 

[SMAlset]

....Haha yeah I wanted the disclaimer there before the hate flowed in (sure it still will ). I can imagine people coming from Toyota and Honda with 16/17/even 18 rims and not realizing 20" take much more care and awareness. Factory 40-45.

To all, my point of this thread is to see if there is something more going on here. I am very weary of the quality of the rims if I have 4 bent rims with under 6500 miles on them, no flats, no visual damage, and it's not even winter pothole season!

Thank you all!

I know from owning a MS that people with the 21s on the MS reported more flat tires than on the 19s so expected that would be true of the 20s over 18/19s on the Model 3, so not all Toyota/Honda owners are unaware of that . I do understand why you are perplexed having bent rims and not getting a flat along with it. They would seem to go more hand in hand.

 

[BLKMDL3]

Our Cadillac ELR

I am so so sorry......

 

[Brentt]

Ditto on finding a wheel repair shop. I had 20" rims on my daughters Hyundai and recently took them off for just this reason.
They were constantly getting flats and if you went over a set of rough, rail road tracks it would bend a rim.

 

[tomas]

Bring them to a wheel repair place. They should be able to fix them all for super cheap. I think the last time I had a pair of 20’s that got bent it cost me around $50/wheel.

This. I paid $100 per wheel. Where are you? Maybe someone can post a local referral.

 

[TORQU3]

The factory 20” wheels should be forged. The cast OEM ones just aren’t strong enough for regular driving on a sidewall so small with a car so heavy. I’m going to be selling my factory wheels and tires and going down to 19” forged wheels.

 

[Xenoilphobe]

Once you get your insurance monies, order some quality mono-block forged wheels.... see signature for group buy.... also avoid the 20's or it will happen again... 19 is a good compromise..

https://teslaowner.wordpress.com/2017/05/16/downgrading-to-19-wheels/

 

[nvx1977]

sucks. i can believe it. been driving in Boston Metro for 20 years now. the roads are awful.

 

[Superspectral]

Where/how did you feel the shake? In the steering wheel? Was there any new noise from the wheels?

 

[kbecks13]

The factory 20” wheels should be forged. The cast OEM ones just aren’t strong enough for regular driving on a sidewall so small with a car so heavy. I’m going to be selling my factory wheels and tires and going down to 19” forged wheels.

Agreed. Tesla also has the audacity to sell the 20" set with tires for $4000, but hey i guess that's good for those of us who want to sell

Oh and btw, @Nate977p if you want to buy my rims (perfect condition, no rash) i'll even include some ~30% worn tires and sell them to ya for $2500 right now. I just cracked my main screen and have a ~$1500 repair bill to cover!