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Cold weather experience with the tires
- Thread starter Oceanwolf
- Start date
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- Driving Dynamics Model X
I do agree. I bought Slime 70004 Power Spair 48 Piece Tire Repair Kit. My logic was, first try to put some air, if that fails use the plug kit, if that fails use Slime, if that fails call Tesla.
That looks cool. Still cheaper than buying a new tire, I may have to add it to my line of defenses.I have ordered a tire-repair (plug) kit and once I get it, I'll keep it with my Tesla Repair (foam) kit. I like to have options.
SMSMD
Active Member
Please keep us posted..Noted in one of the reviews that the plugs package kit had no oil or lubricant. If there is no lubricant the plug gets stuck in the nose of the gun. Thanks for sharing, I will order once you endorse it.
aesculus
Still Trying to Figure This All Out
SMSMD
Active Member
Mix up detergent and water to create a soapy liquid. Spay or use a soft-bristle brush to mop over the surface of the tire tread. The pressurized air within the tire should escape from the puncture. As it does, the air will create bubbles in the soapy liquid. Look for a blossom of bubbles on the tire surface to pinpoint your leak - The age old BUBBLE test!!
McManX
Member
By the time all that has happened I'll be at America Tire Co.
I have the Tesla pump/goo thing just in case but otherwise headed straight for the tire shop.
aesculus
Still Trying to Figure This All Out
The times I have had nails or screws in the tire it generally stayed inflated for a few hours at least, enough to probably get to a tire shop or at least enough to pump it up a time or two if needed for a longer trip. I am kind of favoring the goop thing too as a last resort before being flat bedded in after a few pump up attempts.
goneskiian
Active Member
If you hear the telltale "tick, tick, tick" with each wheel revolution, don't ignore it. Take it in straight away. I ignored it on my last car and it went low and then shredded itself on the freeway at 70mph. Not fun. At all.
goneskiian
Active Member
I bet some saliva would be enough lubrication. No, I'm not endorsing licking your tire but a simple spit on the plug before putting it in the nose of the gun should suffice.
goneskiian
Active Member
Excellent. Looking forward to the report.I should be receiving my Tire Plug kit today. Now I just need a tire to work on. If anyone in Southern Ontario gets a flat, feel free to drop by.
Another question, what jack and tools did you get to remove the wheel in emergencies? I suppose a nice scissor jack would do the trick. Need a lug nut cover remover and then a socket too. Any idea what size the lug nuts are?
Thanks!
I don't have a portable jack just yet, I have one of those heavy duty hydraulic jacks.
With regards to the lug nuts, they are compatible with Audi, so I have the following lug nut cover removal tool. Works great.
You'll need a 13/16" socket to remove the lug nuts.
I'll report on the initial look and feel of the product when I get it, but don't expect much more until I get my first repair job. Might be never (at least that's what I'm hoping). Still have an ICE vehicle too, so if either vehicle gets a nail, I'll get a chance to test it out. You might say, I'm drooling to get my chance (needs lubrication, right?)
McManX
Member
Okay, here is the initial review of the Tire Repair Kit.
Initial quality looks good. Not cheap plastic, but also not heavy duty industrial-grade quality either. Closer to industrial strength than cheap plastic.
My biggest surprise is the following note in the instructions:
Precautionary Information: Puncture repairs made "On-the-wheel" are classified as emergency repairs. If an emergency repair is made, the tire must not be run more than 100 miles at speeds no greater than 50 MPH until the tire is removed from the rim, inspected carefully, and a permanent repair is made.
Not sure if the above is just legal CYA text, or if the plug is genuinely not considered a long-term solution. I'm leanings towards the former.
Initial quality looks good. Not cheap plastic, but also not heavy duty industrial-grade quality either. Closer to industrial strength than cheap plastic.
- The reamer tool has a plastic handle and metal reamer. IMO, this is the greatest area of weakness.
- The probe tool also has a plastic handle, but looks perfectly fine. These two handles are the only plastic that comes with this kit, everything else is metal.
- The Gun is a powder-coated metal and seems sturdy enough.
- The bag of plugs are also pre-lubricated, but I can see that drying out over a few years if not properly stored. I might put them into another zip-lock bag, especially considering that once open, there won't be a way to reseal in the existing bag.
- There are 2 sets of instructions, simple ones with nice pictures (totally sufficient) and some written ones.
- The package does not come with pliers, which are required to pull the tail of the plug towards you to properly seat the plug.
- Nice compact carrying case. Gun just fits inside. A full-size set of pliers will just fits inside - very snug fit.
My biggest surprise is the following note in the instructions:
Precautionary Information: Puncture repairs made "On-the-wheel" are classified as emergency repairs. If an emergency repair is made, the tire must not be run more than 100 miles at speeds no greater than 50 MPH until the tire is removed from the rim, inspected carefully, and a permanent repair is made.
Not sure if the above is just legal CYA text, or if the plug is genuinely not considered a long-term solution. I'm leanings towards the former.
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OK, I'm a moron, but Tesla gave me some help in that.
First, in my earlier post on the subject of road noise, I called Tesla roadside assistance and they told me I had a particular Michelin tire on my car. Having read the posts about swapping the noisy Michelins for the ContiSilents, I assumed that was correct and ordered 4 of the Continentals. They arrived today and when we went to put them on the car, guess what? That's what I had all along. I know, I know, I should have looked but the rep said she checked my build.... (BTW, I just spoke to roadside assistance, and their notes clearly show they told me that, for what it's worth.)
Unfortunately those are the tires I was complaining were noisy, so that kind of validates a noise study I saw on the web that said the Contis with ContiSilent were not appreciably quieter than without.
Obviously I should have looked myself, but the roadside assistant said she checked my build and those were the tires I had. I've got about 5k on the car, and the flat left front can't be repaired-- a nick in the sidewall--so I'm going to replace both fronts and keep the third as a "spare." Trying to decide whether to return the rears. What is the expected wear life for this car?
Second, and I'm on my own on this one, when the installer arrived today he didn't have a lug socket to fit these lugs, and when I looked in the trubk (in vain) for some sort of tire change kit, what did I find? A tire inflating/sealant pump.... who knew? But I've never bought a car that didn't come with some sort of lug wrench. I assume Tesla does not supply such a thing?
Anyway piority one is the road noise and now I'm back to where I started. Road noise is definitely objectionable on all but smooth asphalt roads. I'm not persuaded that the noise I hear would have been masked by a gasoline engine car, because I haven't sold my BMW 750 yet, and I can tell you it is appreciably quieter than the tesla other than when accelerating. And obviously I have the silent tires. Any thoughts?
First, in my earlier post on the subject of road noise, I called Tesla roadside assistance and they told me I had a particular Michelin tire on my car. Having read the posts about swapping the noisy Michelins for the ContiSilents, I assumed that was correct and ordered 4 of the Continentals. They arrived today and when we went to put them on the car, guess what? That's what I had all along. I know, I know, I should have looked but the rep said she checked my build.... (BTW, I just spoke to roadside assistance, and their notes clearly show they told me that, for what it's worth.)
Unfortunately those are the tires I was complaining were noisy, so that kind of validates a noise study I saw on the web that said the Contis with ContiSilent were not appreciably quieter than without.
Obviously I should have looked myself, but the roadside assistant said she checked my build and those were the tires I had. I've got about 5k on the car, and the flat left front can't be repaired-- a nick in the sidewall--so I'm going to replace both fronts and keep the third as a "spare." Trying to decide whether to return the rears. What is the expected wear life for this car?
Second, and I'm on my own on this one, when the installer arrived today he didn't have a lug socket to fit these lugs, and when I looked in the trubk (in vain) for some sort of tire change kit, what did I find? A tire inflating/sealant pump.... who knew? But I've never bought a car that didn't come with some sort of lug wrench. I assume Tesla does not supply such a thing?
Anyway piority one is the road noise and now I'm back to where I started. Road noise is definitely objectionable on all but smooth asphalt roads. I'm not persuaded that the noise I hear would have been masked by a gasoline engine car, because I haven't sold my BMW 750 yet, and I can tell you it is appreciably quieter than the tesla other than when accelerating. And obviously I have the silent tires. Any thoughts?
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Hans Allis
Member
My guess would be that, unfortunately, the MX is just not designed as soundproof as some other luxury cars. The German cars are designed to still be relatively quiet @ 250 km/h on the Autobahn after all.
SMSMD
Active Member
Lug nut Removal tool:
1x Auto Wheel Bolt Nut Covers Caps Remover Tool Tweezers For AUDI VW 8D0012244A | eBay
1x Auto Wheel Bolt Nut Covers Caps Remover Tool Tweezers For AUDI VW 8D0012244A | eBay
ferdboyce
Member
I ran afoul of a large bungee cord on the NY Thruway that punctured the tread and chewed up the sidewall as well, although I'm not certain the sidewall was punctured through. I used the "slime" kit to successfully inflate and seal the tire and drove about 20 miles to the only tire repair shop in Canajoharie in the Mohawk Valley. They confirmed that the slime did it's job and easily held 42PSI, but when they got it off, the tire was no longer serviceable. Can you believe that they had a used Michelin Primacy 235x45x19 in stock, with more tread than mine that failed. They charged me a total of a hundred bucks for the tire, the repairs and the balance/install !!! Good folks. And it's better to be lucky than smart . . .
Postscript: We got the lug covers off but had some trouble getting them back on; they were loose and didn't snap into place. I called Roadside to ask what the secret was, and they said I should have had a tool in the case with all the charging gear. I had already looked there, but looked again. Not there, so they're sending me one along with some extra caps in case these fall off. So anyone who cares should see if they have the tool, and if not Tesla will give you one.
