Got New Primacy Tires on the Rear and now Car handles Weird...

[bareyb]

Has anyone noticed weird handling with the Primacy Tires on the Freeway? I just had the rears replaced and now the car is all over the road. The steering kind of jerks back and forth almost like it's following the rain grooves in the Road. It's quite unsettling.

Is the because of the Tires or is this an Alignment issue? Makes it super hard to relax while driving at hight speeds. Anyone else noticed this???

 

[Xenoilphobe]

Check the torque on your lug nuts.

 

[Don85D]

I would test this recent change in behaviour by placing the newest tires on the front. If the problem goes away it was due to worn front tires. I had a similar issue with a BMW using the early generation of run flat tires. My sport suspension didn't like the run flat tires and tram lining was the symptom which sounds like your description of symptoms.

Alignment with increased caster can correct this to a degree but more than a few times I have chased strange suspension issues to find they were caused by the tires. Moving the worst tires to the back axle fixes a lot of problems.

 

[dhanson865]

+1 on checking lug nuts but also check tire pressures. If the pressure is too low or two high it will change the ride considerably.

 

[patrick40363]

Has anyone noticed weird handling with the Primacy Tires on the Freeway? I just had the rears replaced and now the car is all over the road. The steering kind of jerks back and forth almost like it's following the rain grooves in the Road. It's quite unsettling.

Is the because of the Tires or is this an Alignment issue? Makes it super hard to relax while driving at hight speeds. Anyone else noticed this???

Take it back to the place that put the tires on.

 

[Nosken]

My Primacys "hunt" all over in grooved roads, but not smooth pavement.

 

[Dborn]

Just put primacy 3’s on all 4 wheels. Absolutely superb road holding and quietness. 19in.

 

[chipmunk]

Just put primacy 3’s on all 4 wheels. Absolutely superb road holding and quietness. 19in.

Actually, we have two Model S’s with 19 inch wheels. One pre-refresh 2015 with Michelin Primacy tires and the other post-refresh 2016 with Goodyear Eagle Touring tires on the new wheels. The Goodyear’s have far less road noise...assuming that isn’t somehow related to the newer wheels.

Edit: and neither of them have any hunting issues on smooth pavement.

 

[kort677]

you could also make certain that the tires were properly balanced, are these directional tires? if yes maybe they were installed wrong

 

[Retired]

Do you have the same tires on the front. If different mfger or just a different model tire from the same company, that can cause problems exactly as described due to different sidewall flexibility.

 

[dsm363]

Agree. How worn are the front tires? Typically best to replace all 4 tires at the same time if possible.

 

[mspohr]

You should really replace all four tires at once. New tires mixed with worn tires will not handle well.

 

[bareyb]

Actually, we have two Model S’s with 19 inch wheels. One pre-refresh 2015 with Michelin Primacy tires and the other post-refresh 2016 with Goodyear Eagle Touring tires on the new wheels. The Goodyear’s have far less road noise...assuming that isn’t somehow related to the newer wheels.

Edit: and neither of them have any hunting issues on smooth pavement.

UPDATE: The Tram Lining is much less now that the new Tires have had a few weeks to break in. I am strongly considering changing to the Goodyears on the next set.

Are any of you guys running any other brand/model of Tire on your Model S that you are happy with?

 

[TaoJones]

Drove barely 20,000 miles with the current set of Goodyear Eagle Touring tires, with significant doubt that they'll get to 25,000 miles.

Drove 53,000 miles with tread to spare with Michelin Primacy MXM4s with the previous chariot.

As soon as the GETs give up the far-premature-by-comparison ghost, effectively doubling my cost of ownership in that regard, back I will go to a set of Primacy MXM4s. That's if I haven't found a suitable AP1 replacement for this current AP2 experiment.

The Goodyears were not, and are not that much quieter.

Further, the Michelins, per previous testing by Tesla, will provide purportedly 3% more range. Dunno about that, but we shall see.

I did have Goodyear Eagle RS-A2s on the last chariot for the final 10,000 or so miles that I had it. Didn't notice a range impact.

 

[bareyb]

I'm only averaging about 15k miles on my Primacy Tires so far.

 

[Xenoilphobe]

Check your alignment especially the Toe. Tesla Model S Tire Rotation and Tire Care Tips

That's the only tire I buy and I have over 150K on three different model s's and find it to be the best balance or road feel, durability and handling.

 

[Xenoilphobe]

Also re-torque your lug nuts. https://cdn.teslarati.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Tesla-Model-S-Tire-Cheat-Sheet.pdf

 

[Dborn]

Most tire issues are alignment related. Have Tesla check it for you.