My "No Spare Tire" Kit

[RIP->OPEC]

Unless tires suffer from structural damage, radial ply tires will always remain repairable. It's way more than just about money, or lawyers. Speak to any tech at any tire manufacturer and they'll tell you the same thing, that even though tire design and technology have advanced greatly, tires remain just as vulnerable as ever before. These improvements were made in part because of the increased forces placed upon them by the latest advancements in suspension designs even during normal driving speeds. These forces and how tires respond are very complex to go into detail, but please take my word for it, they exceed your wildest imaginative comprehension. Tires do way more than you think since they are the only connection a 2.5 Ton Tesla mass traveling at 70+mph has with the road. Therefore as stresses and thermal temperatures fluctuate, all improper repairs will fail with time. Yes, Tires will cause havoc if disrespected by improper maintenance especially at speed. So please give them your full respect, especially if you have families.

Two more things, you're referring to my shop and its team posting on the net after we discovered that by removing the silencing pads from punctured Tesla Model 3 tires, it not only rendered the tires completely & properly repairable, it enabled both temporary road fixes (by injectable tire sealants and/or plugs). Our team also helped design the Reverse Logic lift tool for the Tesla Model 3.

 

[RIP->OPEC]

Model S
(See link below for Model 3)
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#1) Rope kits can certainly work long term.

#2) I also see no reason the foam would interfere.

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#1) Please, please heed my warning above. Consider yourself very fortunate.

#2) Here's the reason why the foam interferes, and please follow the link or pic above: (From a previous post by my team)

"The issues with the Tire Sealant Kits you have all heard about are correct. If your Tesla tire has the sound deadening pad lining the inside of the tread, neither the Tesla nor the Green slime (etc) kits will work. https://carwitter.com/2013/08/17/quieter-tyres-from-continental-contisil... The reasons are simple. The pad is so dense and thick, it prevents the sealant from reaching and entering the hole. The sealants simply run alongside the outer edges of the pad, seep into the pad like a sponge, harden and will render the tire completely useless and unrepairable by a professional shop because the goo will disproportionally absorb into the sponge making rebalancing impossible. If you use a rope or mushroom plug, the foam silencing pad will prevent the plug from properly sitting up against the inner wall of the tire where the puncture was made, causing it to fail even sooner possibly. The ONLY solution Tesla offers right now is a complete tire replacement or you can go to an independent shop to dismount the tire and then physically remove the contaminated thus damaged silencing pad entirely so that it can properly be serviced from within. If this has happened to you, you can get your money back if you complain. In fact I read that one Tesla owner had the company replace the unserviceable tire for free and refund him for the Tesla Repair kit as well!"​

 

[mswlogo]

Model S
(See link below for Model 3)
__________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

#1) Please, please heed my warning above. Consider yourself very fortunate.

#2) Here's the reason why the foam interferes, and please follow the link or pic above: (From a previous post by my team)

"The issues with the Tire Sealant Kits you have all heard about are correct. If your Tesla tire has the sound deadening pad lining the inside of the tread, neither the Tesla nor the Green slime (etc) kits will work. https://carwitter.com/2013/08/17/quieter-tyres-from-continental-contisil... The reasons are simple. The pad is so dense and thick, it prevents the sealant from reaching and entering the hole. The sealants simply run alongside the outer edges of the pad, seep into the pad like a sponge, harden and will render the tire completely useless and unrepairable by a professional shop because the goo will disproportionally absorb into the sponge making rebalancing impossible. If you use a rope or mushroom plug, the foam silencing pad will prevent the plug from properly sitting up against the inner wall of the tire where the puncture was made, causing it to fail even sooner possibly. The ONLY solution Tesla offers right now is a complete tire replacement or you can go to an independent shop to dismount the tire and then physically remove the contaminated thus damaged silencing pad entirely so that it can properly be serviced from within. If this has happened to you, you can get your money back if you complain. In fact I read that one Tesla owner had the company replace the unserviceable tire for free and refund him for the Tesla Repair kit as well!"​

Foam won’t Interfere with the rope kits (plugging tire externally)

Using the goo. Of course. I wouldn’t use that stuff even without the foam. Ruin tire, TPMS and probably a bunch of work cleaning up the RIM too.

I have no plans of stopping using an external rope plug. I’ll use my own judgement on a case by case basis on what I’ll do with a tire. A GOOD tire isn’t gonna explode from a rope plug installed correctly on a SMALL puncture in the TREAD.

Any tool/technique can be misappropriately used or applied. In many cases the rope plug is less invasive/damaging to the tire as I explained above. If hole is so bad that it needs a glued in plug. I’d probably replace the tire.

Some folks won’t repair a tire at all, that’s their choice, and that’s fine too.

I’m more concerned with the structure of the tire than the leak.

 

[RIP->OPEC]

Foam won’t Interfere with the rope kits (plugging tire externally) I’m more concerned with the structure of the tire than the leak.

I beg to differ, that's what I am talking about as well. But that's okay, suit yourself... BTW, modern "Goo" sealants are unlike those from just a few years ago. They're not solvent based anymore and therefore will not damage TPMS sensors. After it firms up, it simply peals right off the inner tire surface and wheel with no issues, unless it soaked into the silencing pad as discussed. One of my friends had us remove the pads from all 4 wheels on his 3 after he picked up a small short screw. He did not use his Tesla kit. Took us a little over an hour as we did not wish to damage the inner tire surface. The adhesive was very powerful. Fast evaporating solvents such as Naphtha helped remove any left over traces of the adhesive. Rebalancing was a snap, in fact they took less weights with the pads removed. Doing my Teslas next week.

 

[siminoff]

Where did you purchase that jack and what is it rated at? Has it lifted the rear of your Tesla M3 without showing signs of stress?

I picked up the jack at a local auto dismantler because I wanted to find a pristine one. From what I can tell this one had never previously been used. Anyway, there lots of 'em available cheap at the online auction sites.
The Audi A4 jack is rated at 2100lbs and it effortlessly lifts the Model 3 (curb weight = 4100lbs).

 

[rlb4]

I beg to differ, that's what I am talking about as well. But that's okay, suit yourself... BTW, modern "Goo" sealants are unlike those from just a few years ago. They're not solvent based anymore and therefore will not damage TPMS sensors. After it firms up, it simply peals right off the inner tire surface and wheel with no issues, unless it soaked into the silencing pad as discussed. One of my friends had us remove the pads from all 4 wheels on his 3 after he picked up a small short screw. He did not use his Tesla kit. Took us a little over an hour as we did not wish to damage the inner tire surface. The adhesive was very powerful. Fast evaporating solvents such as Naphtha helped remove any left over traces of the adhesive. Rebalancing was a snap, in fact they took less weights with the pads removed. Doing my Teslas next week.

Was there any noticeable difference in tire noise?

 

[Feathermerchan]

I want to chime in on 'rope' style tire repair. I cannot count the number of repairs I have done with no problem. They all remained leakless until the tire wore out and was replaced. There was one hole that was just too big for the plug to hold. I'm sure there was cord damage based on how it looked. We replaced that tire. I have never had a plugged tire that failed in any way. They just wore out.
Some say plugs are better than patches because they seal the hole thru and thru preventing moisture from working its way into the steel belts. They usually do not require removing the wheel and tire from the car, eliminating the risk of the car falling off the jack. A patch requires removal of wheel and tire then removal of tire from wheel increasing the risk of tire damage.

 

[Jedi2155]

And, how can one tell if his or her tires are the kind with sound deadening foam? Does it say on the sidewall?
And who has done sound measurements? Is there really that much difference?

(My tires are noisy enough, I guess I must not have foam)

I've talked to a few Tesla owners who replaced their stock tires to one's without foam and they said they all heard a difference. Car and driver did a test and said it does help but not much, but I trust people's ears more than numbers (despite being a numbers guy) since everyone is basically saying it rather than 1 or 2.

Also, I read foam tire manufacturers allow grinding out the foam to apply a patch inside on some repair document.

Yep, simply remove the foam in the area, and fix the patch there. You literally just have to rip out that section. If a shop says they can't repair it, then they're just trying to shift the blame to tell you to buy new tires.

 

[silentcorp]

So as someone about to drive through the rocky mountains, is there any kit I should have with me just in case?

 

[RIP->OPEC]

I picked up the jack at a local auto dismantler because I wanted to find a pristine one. From what I can tell this one had never previously been used. Anyway, there lots of 'em available cheap at the online auction sites.
The Audi A4 jack is rated at 2100lbs and it effortlessly lifts the Model 3 (curb weight = 4100lbs).

Thanks! It sure looked brand new, I was thinking you may have bought a brand new one from BMW or something. Thanks for the tip! I'll sure look into it, all I'll need is the lift tool.

 

[dgpcolorado]

I've talked to a few Tesla owners who replaced their stock tires to one's without foam and they said they all heard a difference. Car and driver did a test and said it does help but not much, but I trust people's ears more than numbers (despite being a numbers guy) since everyone is basically saying i

I wonder about the placebo effect of those sort of user reports. I'd rather see blind testing of tire noise.

 

[RIP->OPEC]

Was there any noticeable difference in tire noise?

Funny you should ask, we were all blown away!... NO there wasn't any noticeable difference! ... Go figure.. lol Think about it for a second... if you're a tire manufacture making tires for a hottest EV automaker on the planet, that doesn't provide a spare, how else can you guarantee higher $ales, hype the automaker into silencing pads by claiming a quieter ride, equip the cars with a sealant kit that not only doesn't work very well if at all but renders the tire irreparable if used, thereby forcing Tesla service centers and independent shops to replace the tire with a new one regardless of its age and reparability! A perfect scam IMO.

 

[dgpcolorado]

So as someone about to drive through the rocky mountains, is there any kit I should have with me just in case?

A sleeping bag or warm blanket is a must when driving the mountains in winter (I keep a sleeping bag in my frunk all the time, given where I live and because I do a lot of camping. Water, flashlight and food are also helpful if you get stuck and have to spend a night in your car. I would assume that you would have warm clothing, gloves and hat, as well as a snow brush/ice scraper. 12 V charge adapter and cable for a cell phone. Chains if you don't have snow tires on your car.

It is all basic stuff for winter driving — you can even get stuck in a blizzard in the flatlands.

 

[RIP->OPEC]

I want to chime in on 'rope' style tire repair. I cannot count the number of repairs I have done with no problem. They all remained leakless until the tire wore out and was replaced. There was one hole that was just too big for the plug to hold. I'm sure there was cord damage based on how it looked. We replaced that tire. I have never had a plugged tire that failed in any way. They just wore out.
Some say plugs are better than patches because they seal the hole thru and thru preventing moisture from working its way into the steel belts. They usually do not require removing the wheel and tire from the car, eliminating the risk of the car falling off the jack. A patch requires removal of wheel and tire then removal of tire from wheel increasing the risk of tire damage.

Hey listen, I happen to fall into that category myself, I have used hundreds of plugs on my cars since 1977, even raced on a plugged tire back in 1981, until it failed on the track and was forever banned from racing there again. Since then I have always heeded the manufacturer's warnings and repaired the tire professionally at a reputable shop with state of the art Hunter equipment (we use Hunter Revolution/Roadforce®) even if the plug was holding. Better to be safe than sorry IMO. Clearly the Gods have been smiling upon you!

 

[Eno Deb]

Can anyone recommend a compact and lightweight scissor jack with a suitable jack pad for the Model 3? All the ones I've looked at have saddle pads that would probably damage the round jackpoints on the Tesla. Yes, I know there are various jack pad adapters, but they reduce the ground clearance under the jack points by an inch or so which makes it too low for the rated lift range of most scissor jacks.

 

[RIP->OPEC]

I've talked to a few Tesla owners who replaced their stock tires to one's without foam and they said they all heard a difference. Car and driver did a test and said it does help but not much, but I trust people's ears more than numbers (despite being a numbers guy) since everyone is basically saying it rather than 1 or 2.



Yep, simply remove the foam in the area, and fix the patch there. You literally just have to rip out that section. If a shop says they can't repair it, then they're just trying to shift the blame to tell you to buy new tires.

Correct because different tire tread patterns (especially softer compound performance tires) generate more noise. But I'd bet if someone took a decibel reading with the same Tesla OEM tire by Conti or Michelin, then measured it with and without the silencing pad, it would be a 1-2 decibel difference at most. Also keep in mind that all tires get louder as they wear down and age.

 

[RIP->OPEC]

So as someone about to drive through the rocky mountains, is there any kit I should have with me just in case?

We're working on it with Reverse-Logic as we speak. Beware of the Spare Tire kits being sold on the net for reasons stated earlier.

 

[RIP->OPEC]

Can anyone recommend a compact and lightweight scissor jack with a suitable jack pad for the Model 3? All the ones I've looked at have saddle pads that would probably damage the round jackpoints on the Tesla. Yes, I know there are various jack pad adapters, but they reduce the ground clearance under the jack points by an inch or so which makes it too low for the rated lift range of most scissor jacks.

We tested the Big Red scissors etc currently for sale all over the net. We custom fitted a Reverse Logic jack-point tool to it and we were not confident on its structural integrity so we abandoned the idea. Siminoff's BMW A4-6 jack sure looks like a winner, but it requires a custom made jack-point adaptor.

 

[brkaus]

I wonder about the placebo effect of those sort of user reports. I'd rather see blind testing of tire noise.

I'm getting new tires installed next week. I opted to skip the foam.

I expect new non-foam tires will be quieter than very well worn foam lined tires.

Will see what I experience.

 

[RIP->OPEC]

We tested the Big Red scissors etc currently for sale all over the net. We custom fitted a Reverse Logic jack-point tool to it and we were not confident on its structural integrity so we abandoned the idea. Siminoff's BMW A4-6 jack sure looks like a winner, but it requires a custom made jack-point adaptor.

Correction, Audi A4-6 jack, not BMW... my bad!