Model 3 OEM Tires Bald at 19,000

[SammichLover]

I’ll check later, but the psi was where the tire place set them. I assume stock psi, but will check.

I've had tire pressure on new wheels set crazy low by an otherwise quality shop. I assume they were going by what they normally put in those non-OEM tires. It is easy to misjudge how much PSI is appropriate for the Model 3, due to its weight.

 

[TW14 9LF]

I learned that OEM tires are generally made with inferior rubber than the exact same aftermarket tires, so OEM tires generally last much shorter than rated.

I'd like to see some concrete data, not just what some guy at the tire store said, to back this up. This makes absolutely no sense; in fact, if true, the manufacturer of the tires is hurting themselves, since they are essentially guaranteeing that the owner will choose another tire than OEM when it comes time to replace.

Second the recommendation to Discount Tire / America's Tire. I've had absolutely no problem getting them to honor the mileage warranty on OEM tires, specifically with Michelin and Continental tires (Michelin on my wife's Armada, Continental on my son's Focus RS). However, I rotate my tires as per their recommendations, which they also take care of at no charge (OEM or not).

Keith

 

[cnsf]

I'd like to see some concrete data, not just what some guy at the tire store said, to back this up. This makes absolutely no sense; in fact, if true, the manufacturer of the tires is hurting themselves, since they are essentially guaranteeing that the owner will choose another tire than OEM when it comes time to replace.

Second the recommendation to Discount Tire / America's Tire. I've had absolutely no problem getting them to honor the mileage warranty on OEM tires, specifically with Michelin and Continental tires (Michelin on my wife's Armada, Continental on my son's Focus RS). However, I rotate my tires as per their recommendations, which they also take care of at no charge (OEM or not).

Keith

Cool. Thanks!

 

[dr_rav]

I'd be ecstatic at 19k miles!
Prior cars I get 8-10k miles on Pilot Super Sports and Pirelli Pzeros before rears are bald!

Lets not make Teslas the new priuses on the road with everyone driving like a grandma! I'm already seeing people autopiloting at 60-65 in the far left lane and not budging with a line of cars behind them

Also have confirmed many OEM tires come with slightly less tread depth to save manufacturers/dealers overhead

 

[TW14 9LF]

Also have confirmed many OEM tires come with slightly less tread depth to save manufacturers/dealers overhead

Data?????

 

[SammichLover]

Data?????

8/32” vs 10/32” is somewhat common thing to see, check the Tire Rack spec lists.

Actual poor overall quality factory tires aren’t as much a thing anymore, especially as you go upmarket in vehicle price, but times past & budget end of the market it’s a real thing.

 

[Venomized]

I have my P3D with 20” OEM wheels and have about 17k and the center of the tires grooves are almost gone. I drive about 35k miles a year and would like a tire that would last longer but not lose too much performance. Which would be my best option? Michelin A/S 3?

 

[Glamisduner]

I don't think I got a receipt with mileage on it when I got my new wheels and tires.

 

[cnsf]

I have my P3D with 20” OEM wheels and have about 17k and the center of the tires grooves are almost gone. I drive about 35k miles a year and would like a tire that would last longer but not lose too much performance. Which would be my best option? Michelin A/S 3?

Finding the right balance of performance and treadwear is really tough. You also need to take load and speed rating into account.

My tire guy said the Premiers would be fine for my car. I am not driving 145 mph at full load, ever, so the Premiers work for me. I don’t notice a real difference except the ride seems quieter at times. Maybe a slight bit more oversteer, but not so much that I can definitely tell. I’m on the LR DM only with 18” Aeros. 20” may be a whole different story. I’ll tell you how they wore in 20k miles.

 

[mswlogo]

Finding the right balance of performance and treadwear is really tough. You also need to take load and speed rating into account.

My tire guy said the Premiers would be fine for my car. I am not driving 145 mph at full load, ever, so the Premiers work for me. I don’t notice a real difference except the ride seems quieter at times. Maybe a slight bit more oversteer, but not so much that I can definitely tell. I’m on the LR DM only with 18” Aeros. 20” may be a whole different story. I’ll tell you how they wore in 20k miles.

Let us know what the insurance company says running an under spec tire. Just tell them “my tire guy said...”. Or what Tesla says in the event of a problem down the line.

Just the fact the Max pressure is 44 instead of 50 is a red flag.

Nobody drives 145 mph. These metrics are used to measure a tires parameters.

Perhaps in a crash prevention situation the car puts an incredible amount of stress on tires. Yours blow out and slam in, instead of safely stopping.

With 42 psi cold, my tires easily reach 46 psi on a hot highway. What will your tires do?

A tire with a Max 44 is normally set to 36 psi. Not 42 !!!

You said the tires run great and you don’t even know how much air you have in them !!!

 

[Big Dog]

I have my P3D with 20” OEM wheels and have about 17k and the center of the tires grooves are almost gone. I drive about 35k miles a year and would like a tire that would last longer but not lose too much performance. Which would be my best option? Michelin A/S 3?

If the centers of your tires are wearing out faster than the outside of the tires, then your tire pressure is too high. (Or, am I misunderstanding your post?)

 

[cnsf]

Let us know what the insurance company says running an under spec tire. Just tell them “my tire guy said...”. Or what Tesla says in the event of a problem down the line.

Just the fact the Max pressure is 44 instead of 50 is a red flag.

Nobody drives 145 mph. These metrics are used to measure a tires parameters.

Perhaps in a crash prevention situation the car puts an incredible amount of stress on tires. Yours blow out and slam in, instead of safely stopping.

With 42 psi cold, my tires easily reach 46 psi on a hot highway. What will your tires do?

A tire with a Max 44 is normally set to 36 psi. Not 42 !!!

You said the tires run great and you don’t even know how much air you have in them !!!

Tires are all 42 cold and go up to 46/47. They run great so far.

 

[SammichLover]

If the centers of your tires are wearing out faster than the outside of the tires, then your tire pressure is too high. (Or, am I misunderstanding your post?)

Yes. Tesla's door sticker pressures do this. <edit> I should say some of the vehicle's stickers do, some are labeled 42 PSI which might be okay.

 

[SammichLover]

Finding the right balance of performance and treadwear is really tough. You also need to take load and speed rating into account.

My tire guy said the Premiers would be fine for my car. I am not driving 145 mph at full load, ever, so the Premiers work for me. I don’t notice a real difference except the ride seems quieter at times. Maybe a slight bit more oversteer, but not so much that I can definitely tell. I’m on the LR DM only with 18” Aeros. 20” may be a whole different story. I’ll tell you how they wore in 20k miles.

You may find them "fine" but I assure you I'd tell the difference, and wouldn't be happy with it.

I hadn't noticed the 44 PSI max pressure spec before. Although perhaps not critical, you probably should run them at a lower cold PSI, 39-40. Any potential deadness in steering won't be an issue if you aren't having a problem with the other performance step down.** With the newest software you can tell your car to accept 39 PSI as the new normal (just inflate your tires to that and follow the instructions in reseting the TPMS setting).

** As a bonus you might find it'll marginally increase front tire grip and lower the oversteer a bit, although you may see a bit of a drop in range.

 

[cwerdna]

The PSAs here are that a) Michelin treadwear warranties do not apply to OEM tires 2) Tesla will not cover the tires under the treadwear warranty 3) call Michelin directly to see if they can help 4) if you get aftermarket tires, make sure you rotate them (and get receipts) every 6,000-8,000 miles.

After a couple of calls to Michelin, getting friendly people to help, and going to a local authorized Michelin retailer, I was able to get my tires covered at 50%.

Long ago, I posted about OEM tires not generally including any treadwear warranty (I'd never heard of any that did) at Worn out rear tires at 13000 miles? and I got a disagree. I was surprised to learn of an exception.

Apparently, Michelin probably did but stopped doing so with model year 2018 and beyond per what I found and posted at Worn out rear tires at 13000 miles?.

 

[cnsf]

Long ago, I posted about OEM tires not generally including any treadwear warranty (I'd never heard of any that did) at Worn out rear tires at 13000 miles? and I got a disagree. I was surprised to learn of an exception.

Apparently, Michelin probably did but stopped doing so with model year 2018 and beyond per what I found and posted at Worn out rear tires at 13000 miles?.

Michelin honored a 50% treadwear coverage in the end, so they did the right thing. It took some negotiating, though.

 

[cnsf]

You may find them "fine" but I assure you I'd tell the difference, and wouldn't be happy with it.

I hadn't noticed the 44 PSI max pressure spec before. Although perhaps not critical, you probably should run them at a lower cold PSI, 39-40. Any potential deadness in steering won't be an issue if you aren't having a problem with the other performance step down.** With the newest software you can tell your car to accept 39 PSI as the new normal (just inflate your tires to that and follow the instructions in reseting the TPMS setting).

** As a bonus you might find it'll marginally increase front tire grip and lower the oversteer a bit, although you may see a bit of a drop in range.

Thanks for this! I’m happy to sacrifice a slight driving feel for extended treadwear life. $1,200 a pop for new tires every 19,000 miles is more than I bargained for when getting the car. If I can extend that to 40,000+, the cost overall for the life of the car becomes more palatable. I’m also not keen on reducing my range.

I love the feel of the drive of the car, but am much more sensitive to rattles than a slight oversteer feel (which may not actually be the case with the oversteer, it could possibly just be me looking for a problem).

I may try the lower psi at 40 when cold. Thanks for the tip!!!

 

[SammichLover]

new tires every 19,000 miles

Not sure what happened for you, but I only got that much out of my first set of MXM4s because the factory alignment (passenger front toe) was wack, as is the factory 45PSI. <edit> Oh, and those 2 times I took them to Autocross and murdered them. I expect more miles out of my PS4S (and 9K in they are looking good).

Whatever was driving it, you probably shouldn't expect much more miles out of these unless you change things. Like all Teslas, your car is going to be hard on any tires you put on them.

<edit> If you're feeling understeer than you're eating your tires. For specific conditions and use, lower tread wear tires can actually wear less because they stay in static friction mode [longer]. When the tire is at all noticeably sliding there's a lot more damage happening.

 

[Snow Drift]

My door label, on an AWD, says its enough.

Thought I was blocked?

SL max is 44 PSI. The door says cold is 42 PSI. My tires when hot are 47 (Tesla Service filled).

XL max is 50 PSI. The OEM tire is 98 XL, and TR doesn't recommend, nor do other tire information websites, going below that load rating. It's up to you as the buyer.

 

[VQTRVA]

Long ago, I posted about OEM tires not generally including any treadwear warranty (I'd never heard of any that did) at Worn out rear tires at 13000 miles? and I got a disagree. I was surprised to learn of an exception.

Apparently, Michelin probably did but stopped doing so with model year 2018 and beyond per what I found and posted at Worn out rear tires at 13000 miles?.

Michelin honored a 50% treadwear coverage in the end, so they did the right thing. It took some negotiating, though.

I remembered 3 past cars: 2006 Mazda 3 , 2011 Merc GLK & 2016 Audi Q3 had pro-rated OEM treadwear or pre-mature failure tire warranty separate from the bumper to bumper car warranty.
They usually stick the OEM tire warranty in the owner's manual folder in the glove compartment.

That said, my 2015 GTI - I can't remember seeing it this treadwear or pre-mature failure warranty.

Just confirming you folks aren't aware of this type of warranty either on the Tesla 3's?