As for the spare... (probably should put this in some spare tyre thread somewhere else)
Yesterday, Harald, his MX90D and me spent the best part of the day "playing spare tyres"
. It was fun and we learnt a lot.
I had done a lot of "research" and settled on a BMW 19" space saver as a suitable "skinny spare" for our MX100D that has just lobbed off the boat in Melbourne. Off to a BMW wreckers with no luck and then to Swan Tyres in Osborne Park. Lucky me scored a 155/80 19R BMW alloy space saver wheel. $200. Back to my place Harald and I go.
MX in to Jack Mode, check the jacking points under the car which are rubber blocks with two bolt hole in them, trolley jack and the wheel is off the ground.
First problem, getting those chrome wheels nut caps off. Anyway, slim pointy nose pliers with electrical tape wrapped on them was the best option. Front wheel off and inside tread wear after 10000kms was obviously more than the outside. Harald had been advised to run on "LOW" suspension setting for better range. More on that later.
Wheel off, skinny spare on and you'd be hard pressed to get a sheet of paper between the caliper and the spokes of the rim but it did rotate. It looked like a better bet on the back BUT the stud nuts are deeper in the rim as the back is a 10" vs a 9" on the front. the skinny on the back of the MX was going to rub the caliper
Back to Swan tyres for a refund/plan B. Stuart at Swan tyres couldn't have been more helpful. For some reason he thought we had a BMW X5, probably because there are some side on similarities but we explained the difference. They'd never seen a Tesla before. BMW uses studs/bolts but Testa uses nuts. Anyway, around to the back of the shop for a guaranteed fix. We jacked the front, put on a 8mm wheel spacer and some wheel nuts that are sleeved to get the extra thread needed because of the spacer. Apparently, 6 threads on a wheel stud is the magic number. This worked for the rear too.
A full size spare and a MX seem mutually exclusive. Won't fit in the frunk, won't stand up in the rear, won't fit in the rear boot and would only lay flat in the rear taking up a huge amount of space. Skinny spare is the way to go for me with two dogs, two large (tall and skinny) kids.
Back to the low suspension setting. Harald and I put the spirit level on the back wheel and did really low, standard and really high. Pics are worth a 1000 words
Forgot to add that the 155/80 19R was a little short on the front and a smidge shorter for the back but within the 3% variation allowance. I spoke to Bob Jane's tyres today because the tyre on the rim I bought today was manufactured in 2005, a little old. They list a 175/80 R19 with a higher load rating of the 155 which is 1180kgs and this should making the rolling diameter spot on for front and rear. Now I'm just looking on Ebay for a billet 8mm spacer although Swan tyres gave me the spacers and wheel nuts for free.
Now I need a scissor jack and wheel nut spanner/lever.
