Model 3 rim protection

[Garlan Garner]

I can't speak from experience as I have never scraped a rim (although you will see me parked a mile from the curb and my wife laughing at me...). I can think of only one solution for you:

OMG....is that crown molding on the front? That looks horrible.

 

[Garlan Garner]

I have a bad history with tires and rims so I picked up these:
Wheel Bands

They weren't too hard to install, and I like the look ( I got black track with white bands). They've been on pretty solid for about 2 months now, no problems. I do notice some grime accumulating around them when I clean.

I have not yet had an opportunity to "test" them by driving into something. I'm trying real hard to treat this car better than my old Impreza.

I used to have some Wheel Bands.

Lasted 1 week. Touchless car wash removed them for me. <----- without my permission. They didn't survive.

 

[TydalForce]

Odd. Mine have been on for almost three months and they’re still on solid. Even drove through a touch less wash today.

 

[rotus8]

I got a set of Rim Ringz. Run away, they are horrible! The install is literally painful, and they don't sit tight against the tire even if you manage to get them tight against the rim. Then I touched another curb (dammit!) and the ring exploded into pieces. Useless.

I have been practicing my right side wheel placement driving between rows of empty soda cans, gotta learn how to drive all over again.

 

[P85Alkmaar]

Since I had to park in very narrow streets, I had the Alloygator mounted on my previous P85+, and they protected the rims, but at one point in time my tire pressure was dropping as a result of alligator rings pushing the tire from the rim.
Having the ring removed off the 21"rims, unfortunately the dark grey paint was partially damaged.
The rings were mounted by an official dealer, so no wrong procedure followed.

 

[Watts_Up]

Does any Model 3 owner have issues with rim scratches specially the 19" when hitting the street curves?
What kind of rim protection did you used ?? please paste any vendors sites...

I have also 19" and I plan to get wider 255/40/19 tires. (see the following thread #6 Widest tires on 19x9" Rims )

I was considering installing some Alloygator but considering the extra installation cost and the not always perfect solution
(see this posting #25 ) I feel that getting wider tires will provide a better protection.

There might be a slight range penalty, but I expect getting also a softer ride from my experience with my previous car.

About the 255 width, it seems that (see #8) the 20" wheel might rub on the front and there is a need to install a spacer.

 

[augkuo]

Here are alloygators on my wheels -

 

[Garlan Garner]

For those who are concerned about 0-60 times..... wider tires add weight.... exponential impact the wider they are.

Wider tires also impact body roll. It may not seem like it but there is much more body roll with wider tires. As soon as the edge of the tire leaves the edge of the rim …… you get more body roll.

Its kinda like splitting a wall in your house. Offset the bottom of the wall from the top and you now have a weaker wall.

I would rather just spend some time and learn how to park/drive without hitting a curb.

 

[jkoya]

Here are alloygators on my wheels -

Are those Titan7 T-S5 wheels ?

 

[Ilikestuff]

I have some experience to share, and something to recommend based on my experience. I purchased Rim Savers from rpmtesla.com (no affiliation). I had them installed by the company that did PPF and ceramic for me - They did a great job, and said they'd only charge me an hourly shop rate. The things looked great IMO, worked perfectly for many months, didn't come off at all... Until, blammo - I hit a curb pretty hard, and part of it came off of the tire I curbed.

I looked around for some replacement edging, and found a cheap one on Amazon - The Rim Savers were kinda pricey ($80 for a set, I believe), and I just needed it for one tire. Big mistake. First of all, it didn't perfectly match color & shape. But more importantly, even though I had the same guy install it, it started coming off by the time I got home.

So I "suffered" with having one rim saver off for a few weeks, but when a friend was over I told her (yes, a female) about my plight, she said, "well let's go do this." So she and I took leftovers from the originals such that we could piece together enough for one whole tire. So we got all the original materials, including the cleaning agents, pieced it together and installed it. It looks great, and hasn't come off, even a little bit!

Here are some tips if you do it yourself:

• Cleaning the rims is easily the most important part. Do it thoroughly, just as they describe using the materials they provide / describe. You have to get every bit of grime and what-not off of there. Can't stress this enough.
• We wore gloves when handling this stuff and was careful not to touch any adhesive.
• They give you this little piece where you cover the "joint" as you roll the thing up. We think it looks better if you cut it a little long, then carefully cut and super tightly stuff the thing in there. If you do it well, you have to look pretty close to even tell that there's a joint there at all.
• When you cut it, try to make it as clean a cut as possible such that it is fully flush with the other end you're "connecting" it to. I think a sharp razor works best. We first tried regular scissors and the edges were a tad uneven, which made it difficult to smush together at a joint (the goal was to make it look as seamless as possible).

Anyway, some people hate the look. If you do, you can still use the rim protectors, just get black or some color that you can't really tell is there. Personally, I like the look and the functionality, and as long as you do it right I definitely recommend it.

20190504_101721

• Ilikestuff
• Mar 23, 2020
• jules rim savers

 

[focher]

I put Alloygators on our 22 inch wheels for our X. I wouldn’t do it again. Once you hit a curb with them, they look terrible and then you often need to replace it. I can get a damaged rim fixed for $200. The number of times that’s necessary versus the hassle of the protection device just wasn’t worth it, in my opinion. I’ve put nothing on the 20s for my 3P.

 

[upkerry14]

Wouldn't a small bit of paint touch up do just as well? From a distance I'll bet you can't tell thew difference. Cheaper and easier to do yourself as well. I seem to recall Tesla selling touch up paint on their website.

 

[LordMelkor]

This won’t help on 19s but there’s a funded kickstarter for an aftermarket cap that covers up the protruding part of rim to offer some protection. (They protrude more than any other car I’ve owned... this thing is a curbing magnet...)

Orbital

I currently have reflective rim bands from evannex installed. Have had a couple light curbing events where the bands did their job, and I had to replace the bands on those wheels immediately after.

 

[augkuo]

Are those Titan7 T-S5 wheels ?

yes 18" black

 

[PNWLeccy]

This won’t help on 19s but there’s a funded kickstarter for an aftermarket cap that covers up the protruding part of rim to offer some protection. (They protrude more than any other car I’ve owned... this thing is a curbing magnet...)

Orbital

I currently have reflective rim bands from evannex installed. Have had a couple light curbing events where the bands did their job, and I had to replace the bands on those wheels immediately after.

How do you like the evannex ones? I saw the reflective ones when they launched and they looked pretty cool but never pulled the trigger or have seen them on any cars out in the wild.

 

[LordMelkor]

How do you like the evannex ones? I saw the reflective ones when they launched and they looked pretty cool but never pulled the trigger or have seen them on any cars out in the wild.

They do their job, and I like how they look, but I haven’t seen how they look while I’m driving, because I’m the one usually at the wheel

Without the reflective glare (under normal light conditions) they are a bit on the subtle side, unlike the thick red stripe you get with alloygators. That may be part of the appeal depending on what you’re going for.

I did a black track with red insert, so the red is especially thin. If I could go back, I’d probably go Reflective red insert + Red track.

But going forward, if I mess them up again (I’ve used up all the spare track), I’m probably gonna go with something like the Orbitals that I linked above rather than rimbands.

 

[wtwieder]

The only thing that rim protectors do is cover up the road rash you get when the rim protectors fail to protect. I may luck into the Orbital solution as a coverup, but wonder how well they will hold up when you enevitably hit a curb.

 

[Stretch2727]

I have tried the rim protectors, 2 different brands. 1 that glues on and another that went between the tire and wheel. Did not work as they are not strong enough and will break if you hit a curb. The protection added is minor.

I am basically doing 2 things.

I never go front first into a parallel parking spot even if I have plenty of room. I back in and use the rear camera guidance to keep my distance from the curb.

I recently changed my tire size to 255/35R19. I have the optional wheels. This adds about 10mm width on each side of the tire. I just did this on the rears to verify they will fit front and rear. There is plenty of room. I will change the fronts shortly. The tires are now slightly proud of the rim and the overall diameter change is less than 1.5%. I like the look and it appears it will offer some protection but likely not in every case.

 

[Tez~La]

My rim damage came from a pot hole that was covered with water and at night almost invisible.
I have the low profile tires which are more prone to damage I think. Was thinking of getting some rim guards
but those glue ons look like a cheap solution. The gator ones look more solid but just wonder ho much real protection that would have given me on that pot hole.

 

[mh4k]

Those rim protectors look worse that curb rash. Better to practice your parking technique and repair the wheels as needed if/when you do curb one. Wheel repair is cheap and convenient anyway.