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Alloygators?
- Thread starter Tslynk67
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- Belgium Netherlands
Ton S90D
Member
I also fitted a "few" including a couple of Model X's.
If you want more info, let me know.
If you want more info, let me know.
Thanks, didn't see they had an NL website. Pretty poor presence in Belgium though :-/
I've had Alloy gators on my Model S with 21" wheels, and can tell you about my experience.
I installed them myself, and it is time consuming. I deflated the tires a bit, one at a time, and used water with soap and a good mallet to whack them into place.
When you first get the Gators installed, they look pretty good. And they definitely provide protection. They did save one of my wheels on one occasion when I was coming out of a parking garage with a circular driveway and the Model S was just a little too big for the small turning radius and I rubbed the curb. That's the good part...
The not-so-good part is what happens when you need new tires, which for the 21" wheels is about every 25,000 miles. The tire shop I use had never seen them before. They agreed that they would just take off the gators when dismounting my old tires, and they put them in the trunk.
My original plan was to put them back on myself after the new tires. But coincidentally, the tire shop had scuffed two of my wheels with a wire brush / drill motor when pulling off the balancing weights. Frustrating. But they paid for a local mobile service to come to the house and refinish those two wheels. It looked great after the refinish, a perfect match in color (silver).
But before that refinish work was done, I also realized that the act of me putting on the gators originally had put marks on the edge of the wheels (after all, they use these serrated edge bits to grip the wheel and stay on when you pound the he!! out of them to get them in place between the tire and wheel. In addition, the original gators looked a little weathered, and I didn't want to put them back in place as-is. And there was the one wheel that rubbed the curb. That gator didn't look good at all.
I thought about buying a shiny new set of gators to put back on, but ultimately decided that I didn't want to go through the hassle of doing that and going through the installation. And having the first set of gators while driving my Model S for the first 25K miles was probably a "Training ground" for how to avoid curbs, etc.
So for the sake of keeping my wheels from getting additional installation marks on them, and avoiding the cost of buying another set of gators (not exactly cheap), I decided to go without. If I ever have an incident with a curb, now that I know about the mobile refinish service and their great work (Velvet Touch, if anyone in San Diego cares), I will just use them to keep the wheels looking nice...
That's my two cents worth....At the end of the day, I'm not sure that the "cure" is any better than the "disease" when it comes to the gators...
I installed them myself, and it is time consuming. I deflated the tires a bit, one at a time, and used water with soap and a good mallet to whack them into place.
When you first get the Gators installed, they look pretty good. And they definitely provide protection. They did save one of my wheels on one occasion when I was coming out of a parking garage with a circular driveway and the Model S was just a little too big for the small turning radius and I rubbed the curb. That's the good part...
The not-so-good part is what happens when you need new tires, which for the 21" wheels is about every 25,000 miles. The tire shop I use had never seen them before. They agreed that they would just take off the gators when dismounting my old tires, and they put them in the trunk.
My original plan was to put them back on myself after the new tires. But coincidentally, the tire shop had scuffed two of my wheels with a wire brush / drill motor when pulling off the balancing weights. Frustrating. But they paid for a local mobile service to come to the house and refinish those two wheels. It looked great after the refinish, a perfect match in color (silver).
But before that refinish work was done, I also realized that the act of me putting on the gators originally had put marks on the edge of the wheels (after all, they use these serrated edge bits to grip the wheel and stay on when you pound the he!! out of them to get them in place between the tire and wheel. In addition, the original gators looked a little weathered, and I didn't want to put them back in place as-is. And there was the one wheel that rubbed the curb. That gator didn't look good at all.
I thought about buying a shiny new set of gators to put back on, but ultimately decided that I didn't want to go through the hassle of doing that and going through the installation. And having the first set of gators while driving my Model S for the first 25K miles was probably a "Training ground" for how to avoid curbs, etc.
So for the sake of keeping my wheels from getting additional installation marks on them, and avoiding the cost of buying another set of gators (not exactly cheap), I decided to go without. If I ever have an incident with a curb, now that I know about the mobile refinish service and their great work (Velvet Touch, if anyone in San Diego cares), I will just use them to keep the wheels looking nice...
That's my two cents worth....At the end of the day, I'm not sure that the "cure" is any better than the "disease" when it comes to the gators...
My experience is more along the lines of that of @RandyS , I installed them myself. I did save myself from curbing my tires once.
When I got a tire puncture I opted to replace a pair of tires, and the shop had to remove the gators. I realized that they catch a little grime and dirt underneath them, and gum up the edge of the rim underneath them. Most of that cleaned off, but I've heard of others say it actually wears the rim finish over time.
I ran with just two for a while, and when I changed the other set of tires, did without. I've been careful and not curbed my rims in 100K miles. I also don't have a small tire air leak that plagued me for a while.
They do work for their intended purpose, but they aren't without considerations elsewhere.
When I got a tire puncture I opted to replace a pair of tires, and the shop had to remove the gators. I realized that they catch a little grime and dirt underneath them, and gum up the edge of the rim underneath them. Most of that cleaned off, but I've heard of others say it actually wears the rim finish over time.
I ran with just two for a while, and when I changed the other set of tires, did without. I've been careful and not curbed my rims in 100K miles. I also don't have a small tire air leak that plagued me for a while.
They do work for their intended purpose, but they aren't without considerations elsewhere.
busaman
Member
yes the look good (the last iphone i fixed i cracked the glass lol)
here in the UK the roads are much smaller than in the US so the chances of curbing ar dramaticly increased when i changed tyres @25ki threw them away and fitted new (the tyres were £1300 so £80 for a new set of gators is no sweat)
BjörnTM
Member
I had them installed, but when they were removed later, my wheels were damaged due to tiny sand/stones between the alloygators and the rims. Not using them again. If I now damage a rim, I know I can have them fixed at around € 100 per wheel.
@RandyS which mobile service was that? Until now I only found services where you need to bring in your car/wheels, which is quite inconvenient
@RandyS which mobile service was that? Until now I only found services where you need to bring in your car/wheels, which is quite inconvenient
pvh
Active Member
busaman
Member
the early ones with the pointed edge were ugly the new rounded ones are much better an a pretty close coulor match on my 21" turbines. its easy to say learn to park but i live in the countryside with small windy lanes and narrow streets with kerbs parking is not the issue but eavsive action from cars coming at high speed towards you with nowhere to go.
pvh
Active Member
I had them installed, but when they were removed later, my wheels were damaged due to tiny sand/stones between the alloygators and the rims. Not using them again. If I now damage a rim, I know I can have them fixed at around € 100 per wheel.
@RandyS which mobile service was that? Until now I only found services where you need to bring in your car/wheels, which is quite inconvenient
The mobile service is here in San Diego, CA...A long way away from you, unfortunately. The service is called "Velvet Touch" and they come to your home or business to refinish the wheels...They have figured out the exact match for the Tesla paint colors and their work looks really great when they are done. They prep the wheel very well, and then use an airbrush to do the painting....
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