Changing Tires

[flipb]

Last winter was my first with my S 60, and fearing a winter in a big, heavy RWD car, I bought a set of Pirelli Sottozeroes from the SC and had them mounted & balanced on my current wheels. I stored the all-season tires in my garage. There was hardly any snow in my area last winter, and I took the car to a local tire shop (with very good reviews/ratings) to have the all-season tires swapped back, mounted & balanced, etc. in the Spring.

Now that winter is approaching again, I'm considering my options. I could buy a set of wheels for about $200/ea and have my Sottozeroes permanently mounted on those. I own a 2.5T floor jack, so I figure that maybe I could change tires in my driveway (one at a time) if I had the winter tires on their own set of wheels. But I also know that there are differing opinions on jacking a Model S without specialized equipment. One benefit of changing them myself: I could wait until any significant snowfall materializes in the forecast.

If I don't buy wheels, I'm looking at maybe $250 annually to have the tires swapped, mounted and balanced twice a year (estimating $125 each time). Plus being without my car for 1/2 day or more, depending whether I use the SC or a general tire shop.

So here are a few questions:
1. With a floor jack, could I realistically change the tires on my own?
2. Besides another set of wheels, would I also need to invest in another set of TPS sensors? How expensive is this?
3. Is it causing undue wear & tear on my tires to have them dismounted, remounted and balanced every year?
4. What else should I be considering?

 

[Mdad17]

i know someone who has 2 sets of original tesla wheels. I think he wants $600 for a set of 4. As far as mounting balancing, i believe you can work with some telsa service centers and they might do it for free depending on when you catch them, i.e if they are not busy that day. As long as they are tesla wheels, they are pretty cool about it. You will need another set of TPMS sensors though.

 

[flipb]

i know someone who has 2 sets of original tesla wheels. I think he wants $600 for a set of 4. As far as mounting balancing, i believe you can work with some telsa service centers and they might do it for free depending on when you catch them, i.e if they are not busy that day. As long as they are tesla wheels, they are pretty cool about it. You will need another set of TPMS sensors though.

Thanks. If your friend is selling 19"s, I may be interested.

 

[Don85D]

Without a spare tire for the Tesla an off season one in the trunk will do in an emergency. An extra set of rims is always a good idea in my opinion and if they match the originals you have options if one gets bent.

I bought one matching rim from Tesla for a road trip spare and when I get winter tires I'll look for 3 more rims. They last the life of the car.

Just my thoughts for your consideration.

 

[Mdad17]

i'll find out if they are 19's and let you know tomorrow.

 

[SomeJoe7777]

1. With a floor jack, could I realistically change the tires on my own?
2. Besides another set of wheels, would I also need to invest in another set of TPS sensors? How expensive is this?
3. Is it causing undue wear & tear on my tires to have them dismounted, remounted and balanced every year?
4. What else should I be considering?

1. Absolutely. I change and rotate my tires myself all the time.

2. Yes, you will need another set of TPMS sensors. The ones from Tesla are the cheapest at $50 each ($200 for a set of 4). Be aware that there are two different types of TPMS sensors, depending on what your vehicle VIN is. VINs less than 50900 need the "gen 1" TPMS sensors manufactured by Baolong. VINs from 50900 and above need the "gen 2" TPMS sensors manufactured by Continental. Make sure Tesla sells you the correct type.

3. Yes, it not only causes wear on the tires, but puts the wheels at risk of being scratched during the mount/dismount process. Not to mention the wheels/tires must be re-balanced every time.

4. When putting the new wheels on the car, it takes 5-10 minutes of driving for the car to recognize the new TPMS sensors. The touch screen will tell you that the sensors have been recognized & reset, and then ask you if the wheels you just put on the car are 19" or 21" wheels. Select the proper size at that point.

When jacking up the car to change your wheels, if you have air suspension, put the car in jack mode first (see owner's manual). This step is not necessary if you have coil suspension.

When using the jack point on the car to jack it up, make sure the jack contacts the jack pad only and does not clip the edge of the battery pack. Most people use some type of object between the floor jack and the jack pad to minimize this risk. A hockey puck works perfectly.

Lug nuts are to be torqued to 129 ft-lbs, which is quite a bit higher than most other cars. Use a good torque wrench.

The Tesla lug nuts on your 2013 vehicle are likely the older lug nuts that have a steel cap. This cap tends to deform and stick in the socket wrench, and cannot be used with an impact wrench. I recommend getting an aftermarket set of lug nuts that do not have the steel cap, such as the Gorilla 61147CX.

 

[ev-now]

Just echo most of what SomeJoe7777 says.
1. Me too. Make sure you read up and buy/make the necessary shim for your jack the plate of which almost certainly does not quite sit right for the jack points on the MS (they're real easy to find). Note, I've seen Tesla jack mine one one corner, remover wheel, change TPMS and reinstall - leaving it jacked on one corner. So the whole twisting affecting battery stuff is the nonsense you'd expect with a vehicle which has independent suspension.
2. Covered.
3. This is a big issue, even the best of tire techs can make am mistake - I feel that me swapping the rims means only a person who really cares is handling them!
4. Think you've got the right ideas.

 

[jammertwo]

3. If your tires/wheels are balanced how do you know when to rebalance? How can you balance them yourself?

 

[DarkMatter]

3. If your tires/wheels are balanced how do you know when to rebalance? How can you balance them yourself?

If they shake, redo the balance. You can do it home as a static balance, but don't. Look up a local tire place with a road force balance machine and have them do it. It's inexpensive and the results will be much better than you could ever do at home.

 

[Iluvpcs]

Thanks everyone for this thread! Just made my winter decision to use 2nd set with new lug nuts

I’ve been swapping myself 2 sets for past 15 years with my past Audis and MBs for summer and winter. Honestly for people on the fence it’s a 15-30 minute job yourself, but if you have issues or stress about this as others have said any local shop will do the labor for you quickly. I highly recommend this practice for anyone Dealing with 3+ months of cold to have the 10-15-20% improvement over all season tires... this just continues the tradition. If you have summer tires please for the safety of others don’t drive with them in the winter.

PS I have a torque bar, don’t remember ever setting it that high in my life for anything.

 

[DFibRL8R]

I'm in the Northern Va area also, I swap out the all seasons for winters every year due to the improved performance characteristics of winter tires in cold weather even when it's not snowy/icing (better dry braking etc). I have the OEM 19"wheels with winters and 20" T Sportlines for spring-fall. Relatively easy DIY to swap with a floor jack, a hockey puck and a good torque wrench. Extra set of TPMS is required too. The wheels/tires are heavy (54lbs or so) so not a great chore if you have a bad back but other than that it's pretty straight forward. Also +1 for the gorilla lugs mentioned above. The OEMs were crap.

 

[flipb]

Time for a follow-up.

First of all, thanks to @Mdad17 for the lead. I just picked up a complete set of Slipstreams from your contact.

Now, the questions:
The Slipstreams came with a set of Goodyear Eagle Touring tires in very good shape, with most of their tread left.

1. Any thoughts on the Eagle Touring tires vs the Eagle RS-A that came on my CPO Model S? TireRack doesn't have ratings on the former...
2. Presuming my wheels/tires were pulled off a Model S, is it likely they have TPMS sensors?

• Is there a way to check without unmounting the tires?
• Since the Slipstream wheels came out in 2016 (as far as I can tell) and the TPMS system changed over to show individual tire pressures in 2014, I presume that if my new tires have TPMS sensors, they're the wrong ones for my 2013. Correct?

 

[Murphy’s Law]

1. Absolutely. I change and rotate my tires myself all the time.

2. Yes, you will need another set of TPMS sensors. The ones from Tesla are the cheapest at $50 each ($200 for a set of 4). Be aware that there are two different types of TPMS sensors, depending on what your vehicle VIN is. VINs less than 50900 need the "gen 1" TPMS sensors manufactured by Baolong. VINs from 50900 and above need the "gen 2" TPMS sensors manufactured by Continental. Make sure Tesla sells you the correct type.

3. Yes, it not only causes wear on the tires, but puts the wheels at risk of being scratched during the mount/dismount process. Not to mention the wheels/tires must be re-balanced every time.

4. When putting the new wheels on the car, it takes 5-10 minutes of driving for the car to recognize the new TPMS sensors. The touch screen will tell you that the sensors have been recognized & reset, and then ask you if the wheels you just put on the car are 19" or 21" wheels. Select the proper size at that point.

When jacking up the car to change your wheels, if you have air suspension, put the car in jack mode first (see owner's manual). This step is not necessary if you have coil suspension.

When using the jack point on the car to jack it up, make sure the jack contacts the jack pad only and does not clip the edge of the battery pack. Most people use some type of object between the floor jack and the jack pad to minimize this risk. A hockey puck works perfectly.

Lug nuts are to be torqued to 129 ft-lbs, which is quite a bit higher than most other cars. Use a good torque wrench.

The Tesla lug nuts on your 2013 vehicle are likely the older lug nuts that have a steel cap. This cap tends to deform and stick in the socket wrench, and cannot be used with an impact wrench. I recommend getting an aftermarket set of lug nuts that do not have the steel cap, such as the Gorilla 61147CX.

One thing you missed is setting the suspension to its highest level THEN jack mode, this is on the S and on the X you set it to its lowest level.

 

[khalkhin]

In my opinion, the Eagle Touring tires are the best tires for everyday S driving. They have foam inside to damp sound, and since road noise is the major source of sound inside the Model S cabin, you're looking at a significant improvement in the quality of your experience. You should feel lucky that you have these tires - they can be difficult to find and expensive. The only other foam tires I know of are the Contisilents for 21 inch rims.

For you, aside from the resale value, it probably doesn't matter if the tires came with TPMS or not, since you would have to change them out for the older TPMS anyway.

FYI I purchased a second set of Tesla wheels with Michelins and swap tire sets myself every 6250 miles with a floor jack and torque wrench. (Long story short, I wanted a spare tire and it made more economic sense to buy a set of four wheels than one.) The wheels came with TPMS and it's easy to get the computer to recognize the change.

I agree with the earlier posts, the metal on the lug nuts is soft and I've had to replace two of them. I also don't balance tires with each rotation and never noticed a problem. I was kind of surprised to hear about it on this thread and discovered that the Cartalk guys say you don't have to:

Is it necessary to re-balance the tires every time they're rotated?

After doing about three or four of these changes, it's gotten pretty routine. My experience came in real handy on a rocky, single lane mountain road when my Tesla came down on a rock and got stuck. I jacked up the car, removed the rock, and was good to go. The alternatives - mashing the gas pedal, or blocking the road for hours until a tow truck came - were rather unpalatable and I'm glad I had the jack with me.

My biggest gripe is my worry that the rubber on the tires will degrade because I'm effectively using two sets of tires, not one. Tires get old when oxygen in the air reacts with the rubber, causing it to break down over time. So I put each wheel in an airtight plastic garbage bag when I'm not using it, hoping that it will make a difference.

The other bummer is that I didn't get the Touring tires, and now have to wait a long time to get them...