Hello everyone. I'm considering a model 3 in the future and was open to both rwd or DM, but a question I had was about the tires. I know that the tires go pretty fast on the model 3, but what about on a rwd car vs DM. When the tread is low in the back, will they be equally or mostly gone in the front as well? Please let me know your experiences. Thanks!
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Do you change all 4 tires on a RWD Model 3?
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RayK
Active Member
I have a 2018 LR RWD. Put on almost 28K miles on the factory fronts (Michelin MXM4 18") before I thought it was time for new rubber (4/32nds depth). TWO pairs of rears lasted 14K miles each before they were also at 4/32nds. First rear set was replaced due to one of them having a second puncture which was not repairable but the other side was 3-4/32nds. Second set just plain wore down. I never rotated the tires.
E90alex
Active Member
You are supposed to rotate them regularly so the wear on all 4 remains fairly even
DeepBlue3
Member
Replacing tires because you don’t want to rotate them is excessive.
I’d love to know if you had the same mindset when it came to oil changes on your ICE cars.
Weirdly, on our 2018 LR RWD, the OEM Michelin's wore out in FRONT after only 8K miles - I assumed it was my wife's spirited driving as she's somewhat heavy on the pedals. Was so quick didn't even have a chance to rotate to even out the wear, so replaced the two fronts, expecting the rears would need replacement sometime thereafter.
Now four more years later, the OEM rears are finally getting down to the wear bars at 31K miles (there were a couple of COVID years where she didn't drive much). The replacement fronts (Sumitomo) still have about 5-6/32's or so.
So there was either some misalignment or mismounting of the original front tires that must've caused the premature wear on the original front's, but it seems like it self-corrected when the tires were changed. Car has never had an alignment done, so it's a mystery....
Now four more years later, the OEM rears are finally getting down to the wear bars at 31K miles (there were a couple of COVID years where she didn't drive much). The replacement fronts (Sumitomo) still have about 5-6/32's or so.
So there was either some misalignment or mismounting of the original front tires that must've caused the premature wear on the original front's, but it seems like it self-corrected when the tires were changed. Car has never had an alignment done, so it's a mystery....
355rockit
Member
I have Michelin Pilot Sport 4S on my 2018 Model 3 LEMR. The car has around 26K miles now and I recently rotated the rear to the front. Still had a bit of tread left on rears and the fronts don't need to be replaced for a while longer. I plan to replace all 4 tires next year (probably not the PS4S due to cost and availability).
PianoAl
Active Member
I just went to the garage and used my depth gauge, and all the measurements were exactly the same.
However, I only measured in on spot on each tire. I suppose one should measure near the two edges to check for uneven wear that could be another reason to rotate, yes?
DeepBlue3
Member
I can replace them as an axle set, 2 tires as needed. I think you're talking about uneven wear across the tread, like alignment wear?
DeepBlue3
Member
I suggest measuring near each shoulder and near the center so you can understand if the tread is wearing evenly across the tread width. You can use the measurements to diagnose alignment wear and catch issues before they create a noisy - unevenly worn tire.
If the outside edge is worn more it could suggest you're turning hard and rolling the tire over a bit.
If the center is worn you might be overinflated because the tire is crowning.
If the inside edge is worn it could be high negative camber or a combination of negative camber and toe-in.
blackT3$!@
2021 LR Model 3
21 3LR AWD here and the OEM Michelins needed to be replaced at 30k miles because the left front toe was out from the factory and wore the inside edge of the tire down. I had Tesla perform a wheel alignment after I had 4 new https://www.tirerack.com/tires/continental-extremecontact-dws-06-plus Conti Extreme Contact DWS 06 plus tires installed and I am completely happy with them. I have 41k miles in 14 months on them and the tread life is at 6-7/32. I rotate them every 6-7k miles front to back and wear is even.
The main argument to rotate tires is to even out the wear between front and back so that one has to replace all four tires at the same time. There is no advantage to this. I have been replacing tires an axle at a time my whole life (never replace just one tire: always the axle) and putting the new set on the front and the old set on the rear.
Making a comparison of changing tires to changing oil is a non-sequitur. There are four tires (paired two to an axle) but there is only one supply of engine oil in an ICE bucket.
If you replace two at a time, you will have the following disadvantages:
- Tire models go out of production, so the tire model of the not-worn-out tires may no longer be available.
- Even if they are, do you want to match the old tire model or get something better (but mismatched).
- Mismatched tire models or amount of wear may cause unusual handling characteristics due to differences in grip.
#1 and #2 only matter if one is worried about aesthetics (I am not)
On #3, one might notice a difference, but no more than a difference when switching from (as I did a while back) from MXM that came with the car to the AS4 (although I did swap all four at that time). But when I had a recent sidewall puncture, it was thankfully on the rears which were getting close to needing replacement anyways and put two new tires on the front and moved the fronts to the rear. I noticed a difference in driving characteristics (which I would have had moving from old tires to new anyways) and was able to adapt on my first commute.
DeepBlue3
Member
..and the "worn" engine oil accelerates the wear on the engine. Worn tires don't "wear" the car much.
