Since most nail and screw punctures seem to occur in the rear tires, I made a pair of “Puncture Guards” to protect the rear tires of my Model S. For the last 50 miles, they’ve kept my rear tires puncture-free! 
Time will tell if they’ll continue to work their magic in the future.
I don’t plan on testing these by driving over a road full of nails. But if someone wants to volunteer their car to do so, let me know. I did confirm that the guards stayed on at well above freeway speeds.
Here’s what I did:
1. Popped out the two fasteners at the bottom of the forward inside portion of the rear fender wells (see photo)
2. Trimmed (though rather crudely) and drilled a pair of stiff thick rubber mud guards (Highland 1007100, www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002MA588 ). Allowed them to curl at the inside of the wheel well to provide some high-speed stiffness and air/debris deflection.
3. Replaced the fasteners with longer TESLA 1006535-00-A Plastic Clips from the SC parts department. (Also available at www.belmetric.com/tesla-c-12_688_1061/d10075-tesla-clip-p-5823.html?zenid=97eabddi9b7mbtcj87p7001fp3)
Easy on. Easy off. No new holes in the car. And easy to restore to the original condition (just save the old fasteners). The guards shouldn’t pose any problems with tire changes or car washes. You may hear them briefly scrape the ground on stepped surfaces. Not to worry. They’re rubber. They can take it.
My Model S doesn’t have air suspension. If yours does, you’ll need to keep this in mind when setting the guards ground clearance and the cars ride height. Protection will be reduced as the guard-to-road clearance increases.
Why only the rear tires?
Most screws, nails, glass chards, chunks of tire wire, unicorns, etc., lie flat on the road until run over by your front tires (or the vehicle in front of you). After which, they bounce around and, with bad luck, point the sharp end up just before they reach a rear tire. Ouch!
Time will tell if they’ll continue to work their magic in the future.I don’t plan on testing these by driving over a road full of nails. But if someone wants to volunteer their car to do so, let me know.
I did confirm that the guards stayed on at well above freeway speeds.Here’s what I did:
1. Popped out the two fasteners at the bottom of the forward inside portion of the rear fender wells (see photo)
2. Trimmed (though rather crudely) and drilled a pair of stiff thick rubber mud guards (Highland 1007100, www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002MA588 ). Allowed them to curl at the inside of the wheel well to provide some high-speed stiffness and air/debris deflection.
3. Replaced the fasteners with longer TESLA 1006535-00-A Plastic Clips from the SC parts department. (Also available at www.belmetric.com/tesla-c-12_688_1061/d10075-tesla-clip-p-5823.html?zenid=97eabddi9b7mbtcj87p7001fp3)
Easy on. Easy off. No new holes in the car. And easy to restore to the original condition (just save the old fasteners). The guards shouldn’t pose any problems with tire changes or car washes. You may hear them briefly scrape the ground on stepped surfaces. Not to worry. They’re rubber. They can take it.
My Model S doesn’t have air suspension. If yours does, you’ll need to keep this in mind when setting the guards ground clearance and the cars ride height. Protection will be reduced as the guard-to-road clearance increases.
Why only the rear tires?
Most screws, nails, glass chards, chunks of tire wire, unicorns, etc., lie flat on the road until run over by your front tires (or the vehicle in front of you). After which, they bounce around and, with bad luck, point the sharp end up just before they reach a rear tire. Ouch!
