M3 wheel alignment difficulty

[TitaniumC]

Hi all,
Just had 4 tyres replaced on my M3LR (21,000miles). Old tyres very evenly worn except the front passenger side which was worn more on the inner edge (I suspect a wheel alignment issue as a result of a pothole I hit a few months back, prior to that there were no signs of inner edge wear, I know as I check often). However the tyre fitting shop (ATS) said they could not align a Tesla model 3 wheels.
I've since called 4 more local tyre fitters (Halfords, KwikFit, TNT, Malvern Tyres) who all advertise wheel alignment but say they cannot align a Tesla model 3.
Are M3 wheels that difficult to align? Why are all these garages unable to align my wheels?! I find it very strange; other threads on here suggest it's just the same as any other car.
Has anyone had their M3 wheels aligned and can recommend a garage (somewhere near Kidderminster/Bridgnorth would be perfect but I'm thinking I'm going to have to travel!).
Thanks, Mark.

 

[Cardo]

I recently had my rears replaced and noticed all four wheels are wearing noticeably more on the inside and probably need the camber sorting out. I asked about this when the tyres were being replaced and the chap at my local garage said they can only fix the direction (toe in/out) and not the camber and that for camber I should look for a place with a Hunter wheel calibration machine. I’m guessing most big name franchise tyre places only have basic alignment equipment that can’t sort out camber.

 

[M00cow]

Try F1 Autocentres - they have Hunter 4 wheel alignment setups - it's £40-£50 from memory.
Also - Align My Car | Specialist Hunter Wheel Alignment Centres - think that is the Hunter alignment finder with postcode checker, but it's not working for me today.

 

[TitaniumC]

Thanks for the info. Tried F1 and indeed they say they can align my M3! (they have a 'supertracker' apparently). Will report back.

 

[Dangerous Fish]

I recently had my rears replaced and noticed all four wheels are wearing noticeably more on the inside and probably need the camber sorting out. I asked about this when the tyres were being replaced and the chap at my local garage said they can only fix the direction (toe in/out) and not the camber and that for camber I should look for a place with a Hunter wheel calibration machine. I’m guessing most big name franchise tyre places only have basic alignment equipment that can’t sort out camber.

Inner tyre wear is rarely camber. There is very little camber adjustment on a Model 3 in any case. Toe is the usual culprit and the acceptable spec. is quite wide on these cars so alignment can be 'within spec' but still with excessive toe causing inner wear. Apologies for American spelling.

It's possible you bent something of course, which could then lead to excessive camber on that one wheel but you'll more than likely need a replacement control arm if that proves to be the case.

 

[Cardo]

Inner tyre wear is rarely camber. There is very little camber adjustment on a Model 3 in any case. Toe is the usual culprit and the acceptable spec. is quite wide on these cars so alignment can be 'within spec' but still with excessive toe causing inner wear. Apologies for American spelling.

It's possible you bent something of course, which could then lead to excessive camber on that one wheel but you'll more than likely need a replacement control arm if that proves to be the case.

All my wheels have similar extra wear on the inner side of the tyre. More so on the rears, but then they wear out more anyway. It’s not damage, it’s the way they’re set up.

Looking at the car, the wheels do visibly tilt inwards, though.

 

[doats1]

Just had to a book and a wheel alignment with Tesla for £380 .

No other garage was willing to touch it. Tried multiple Merityre, F1, Halfords and Kwikfit. All said they don’t have the equipment to adjust camber on Tesla’s.

 

[Dangerous Fish]

Just had to a book and a wheel alignment with Tesla for £380 .

No other garage was willing to touch it. Tried multiple Merityre, F1, Halfords and Kwikfit. All said they don’t have the equipment to adjust camber on Tesla’s.

What equipment did they think they needed?
I can recommend a place about an hour west of London who will do a good job and not charge the earth if you're prepared to make the trip.

 

[doats1]

What equipment did they think they needed?
I can recommend a place about an hour west of London who will do a good job and not charge the earth if you're prepared to make the trip.

That would be great; will they adjust the camber? That's what sends them running in the opposite direction.

I went all the way to Woking to try and get this done so West London is not a problem for me!

 

[pheo]

Note that I had mine done but the steering offset was all wrong. I suspect given this needs accessing of the gateway etc etc most places are not kitted out to do it.

Was quoted €250 by Florence to do it so might be worth querying that price

 

[Dangerous Fish]

That would be great; will they adjust the camber? That's what sends them running in the opposite direction.

I went all the way to Woking to try and get this done so West London is not a problem for me!

Not exactly West London, but west OF London, in Buckinghamshire... There is also a place near Woking I would recommend too if you wanted to go back that way

Camber can't be adjusted much on the standard suspension setup. There is a small amount of adjustment on the front if you understand the car or look at the service manual. The high street alignment places can't be bothered to look things like this up so they'd rather just say no.

What makes you think your camber needs adjusting? If it's a long way out you'll need something replacing as it will be bent or damaged in some way. As I've pointed out above, tyre wear on the edge is usually a toe issue, not camber.

Anyway, either of these two places will do an excellent job and not run a mile at the mention of the 'T' word.

Black Boots, Chesham Bucks. : Chesham Tyres Black Boots, Servicing | Book Same Day Car Tyre Fittings in Chesham | Protyre (ask for Joe)
HAS, Knaphill Surrey : Harding Autos – Servicing | MOT's and More

Black Boots used to be an independant but got bought by Protyre a while ago. Not all Protyre branches have someone like Joe doing their alignments. He is a real master and has lots of experience on all Tesla models.

HAS is a local garage with a wealth of experience preparing and setting up all sorts of cars from historic racing cars to Model 3s.

 

[KennethS]

I can second the recommendation of Black Boots in Chesham. I had our 3 there for a check and they were excellent and definitely have a lot of knowledge of Teslas.

 

[doats1]

Not exactly West London, but west OF London, in Buckinghamshire... There is also a place near Woking I would recommend too if you wanted to go back that way

Camber can't be adjusted much on the standard suspension setup. There is a small amount of adjustment on the front if you understand the car or look at the service manual. The high street alignment places can't be bothered to look things like this up so they'd rather just say no.

What makes you think your camber needs adjusting? If it's a long way out you'll need something replacing as it will be bent or damaged in some way. As I've pointed out above, tyre wear on the edge is usually a toe issue, not camber.

Anyway, either of these two places will do an excellent job and not run a mile at the mention of the 'T' word.

Black Boots, Chesham Bucks. : Chesham Tyres Black Boots, Servicing | Book Same Day Car Tyre Fittings in Chesham | Protyre (ask for Joe)
HAS, Knaphill Surrey : Harding Autos – Servicing | MOT's and More

Black Boots used to be an independant but got bought by Protyre a while ago. Not all Protyre branches have someone like Joe doing their alignments. He is a real master and has lots of experience on all Tesla models.

HAS is a local garage with a wealth of experience preparing and setting up all sorts of cars from historic racing cars to Model 3s.

Thanks for this! I've ended up going to Tesla (there right now) because I need it done before a European road trip this weekend ideally.

I had a wheel alignment check done by a local garage a little while back. The report showed my front NS camber was misaligned by quite a bit. I don't know if that is 'within spec' but the guy was equal parts shocked and unwilling to repair. We shall see

 

[doats1]

Finished my alignment at Tesla and I spoke to the engineers to understand what can and can’t be adjusted; turns out the camber can be adjust. But according to the engineer, mine was fine anyway. I have reports from both Tesla and the other garage and might post them if I remember later this evening.

 

[MrBadger]

Did they adjust anything or all within spec?

‘Fine’ and 100% correct are different things in my book and at that price I would be expecting near 100%

 

[Dangerous Fish]

Thanks for this! I've ended up going to Tesla (there right now) because I need it done before a European road trip this weekend ideally.

I had a wheel alignment check done by a local garage a little while back. The report showed my front NS camber was misaligned by quite a bit. I don't know if that is 'within spec' but the guy was equal parts shocked and unwilling to repair. We shall see

That probably shows that the local garage didn't do a good job of measuring the initial alignment. But please do post the alignment sheets if you can as that will tell us a lot more than just opinion.

 

[doats1]

So this is from the local garage who have a Hunter system:

…and this is from Tesla Gatwick, who use a Beissbarth system:

It was measured by different systems, so different calibration targets or ways of measuring them. Tesla’s report didn’t paint such a concerning picture, and it makes me wonder if the local garage would be aligning the car incorrectly if I was happy with just getting the toe done.

Glad I got it done with Tesla in the end because of what I needed it for but frustrated that it had to be Tesla at that price.

Did they adjust anything or all within spec?

‘Fine’ and 100% correct are different things in my book and at that price I would be expecting near 100%

They didn’t adjust the camber as it was within spec, which was the actual phrase they used rather than fine.

 

[Dangerous Fish]

That's a perfect example of what I've been saying in many ways. Without the actual measurements it's easy to guess wrong when it comes to alignment and how/why tyres are wearing unevenly.

It also demonstrates (assuming nothing happened to change the settings between those two initial reports) that you can't assume the data coming out of the alignment centre is 100% accurate all of the time. What's more concerning here than the actual numbers is the big discrepancy in rear camber readings between the two places. It doesn't really matter that one is a Hunter and the other a Beissbarth. Both are top notch systems, but they all rely on the operator knowing what they're doing.
If it were me and I got that initial reading, I'd double check everything, take the targets off the wheels and re-mount them to ensure I'd set it all up correctly. Maybe they did that, you probably weren't there to see so we may never know.
However, considering there is no adjustment for rear camber on a Model 3 and Tesla's report does look a bit odd, it is still 'within spec.' and that amount of camber isn't going lead to premature tyre wear.

Anyway, when it comes to mis-alignments, excessive toe is the usual culprit because it's easily knocked out and that's what was wrong in your case. Toe is relatively easy to adjust and a decent alignment centre such as the two I linked to earlier will only charge you for the work they do and I'd expect a bill way under £380 for what you've had done there. It is true that Teslas can take a little longer than some other cars to adjust because of the aero covers needing to be removed to gain access, but anyone who's done one Tesla will know this and it adds maybe 5 minutes to the job unless you've only got a 10mm spanner to take the bolts out.

Regarding 'within spec.', there has to be some degree of leeway on all mass-produced cars when it comes to geometry because the chassis and suspension parts aren't built to the tolerance of a Swiss watch. I've seen many alignment sheets far worse than this. Many car owners don't even know it's a thing until they shred a set of tyres.

 

[doats1]

I was there as he set everything up. To be honest I wasn’t too convinced by the readings because it would suggest my rear wheels would be sort of crabbing, which it doesn’t do. If they had adjusted the toe according to the readings, no doubt there would have been issues. There comes a point where it’s not worth the risk. That was my point.

 

[Robt350c]

Just had front tyres replaced, the passenger side was worn through to threads on outside edge.

Got a quote from tesla for wheel alignment - £380.

Can anyone recommend any garages around warrington / manchester that are able to do this yet for sensible money?