New set of tires needed? One tire damaged.

[YellyYeti]

Some advice needed. My rear passenger tire on my Model X got shredded somehow, the inside of the tire is bulging and the metal mesh is poking through. So not safe to drive at all. We don't know when it happened, the damage is not easily visible and the only indication we had was a low pressure warning. The car is safely in the garage and we won't be driving it until it is fixed.

These are the original 20 inch Continental Cross Contact 275/45R20 and I just hit 25K miles after 19 months. The tire depth on all 4 tires is between 3/32 and 4/32, as measured with a cheap tire depth gauge.

I am assuming that at this point I just need to replace all 4? The Orlando Service Center is my SC, does anyone know how much they charge for a new set? Searches on here have yielded $400-$450 per tire for other SC's. I see Tire Rack has them for $288, Discount Tire has them for about $300, comes out to about $345 per tire after insurance, labor, and tax. If I get the wheel off, can I get one tire mounted, then drive there with 1 new tire and 3 old tires without breaking anything?

Does Orlando's mobile service install tires? If not, do they have to flatbed my Model X to the Service Center? Would I get charged for that? I do have a floor jack, and I am sure I could take the tires off myself (after figuring out the jack points), but it is one of those potential savings vs manual labor type things. The Service Center has been backed up lately too, do they prioritize undrive-able type problems? We want our X back drive-able as soon as possible of course.

Thank you for any advice!

 

[mongo]

Some advice needed. My rear passenger tire on my Model X got shredded somehow, the inside of the tire is bulging and the metal mesh is poking through. So not safe to drive at all. We don't know when it happened, the damage is not easily visible and the only indication we had was a low pressure warning. The car is safely in the garage and we won't be driving it until it is fixed.

These are the original 20 inch Continental Cross Contact 275/45R20 and I just hit 25K miles after 19 months. The tire depth on all 4 tires is between 3/32 and 4/32, as measured with a cheap tire depth gauge.

I am assuming that at this point I just need to replace all 4? The Orlando Service Center is my SC, does anyone know how much they charge for a new set? Searches on here have yielded $400-$450 per tire for other SC's. I see Tire Rack has them for $288, Discount Tire has them for about $300, comes out to about $345 per tire after insurance, labor, and tax. If I get the wheel off, can I get one tire mounted, then drive there with 1 new tire and 3 old tires without breaking anything?

Does Orlando's mobile service install tires? If not, do they have to flatbed my Model X to the Service Center? Would I get charged for that? I do have a floor jack, and I am sure I could take the tires off myself (after figuring out the jack points), but it is one of those potential savings vs manual labor type things. The Service Center has been backed up lately too, do they prioritize undrive-able type problems? We want our X back drive-able as soon as possible of course.

Thank you for any advice!

Since Tesla have no center differential, you could get away with only replacing 2 tires. However, minimum tread depth is 2/32 so you are bumping up against the limit.

Tire damage may be due to misalignment.

How far would you need to drive with one new tire? Having mismatched sizes will make the rear differential spin more than is typical. Not sure how well it handles that, but people gave gotten loaner tires from roadside service, so it seems do-able.

 

[animorph]

I had something similar, but not as catastrophic. Tesla said a belt shifted in the passenger side rear tire. It was like a bubble in the tread. In parking lots it was bouncing the car as if the pavement was uneven. At speed it smoothed out and everything seemed fine. Drove quite a bit with it since we were heading home on a road trip. Of course I was thinking it was a suspension issue since the tires looked OK to me. The treads had always looked evenly worn and not close to replacement. But Tesla said the very edges were done for. 21k miles, replaced all four tires.

Probably due to running on the low suspension setting routinely (we're set to "always") to avoid acceleration shudder. I think it might also be due to setting the tire pressure to 45 PSI during that trip. Normally I was running 42 PSI or below, but I didn't want to fool with it on the trip.

I have a tread depth gauge now and I've got readings for the very edge of the tire. We'll see how it looks after a few thousand miles.

 

[Helmuth]

Some advice needed. My rear passenger tire on my Model X got shredded somehow, the inside of the tire is bulging and the metal mesh is poking through.

Have you set the suspension to low? Or lowering the car at set speed?
I had my front tires with the inside mesh showing on both of my front tires after 37,000 miles.
I had it set to auto lower the car above 50 mph... Changed it to never after we got the new tires and the wear is even after 40,000 additional miles driven and plenty of tread left!

 

[YellyYeti]

Have you set the suspension to low? Or lowering the car at set speed?
I had my front tires with the inside mesh showing on both of my front tires after 37,000 miles.
I had it set to auto lower the car above 50 mph... Changed it to never after we got the new tires and the wear is even after 40,000 additional miles driven and plenty of tread left!

Car is set to standard, with lowering at 60 MPH. I may have to try turning that off. I think I saw some threads about having them align the car to wear better at low? I am thinking I will need an alignment anyway, I will probably do the 2 year service while it is at the SC.

 

[YellyYeti]

You are right @Helmuth , upon closer inspection, this definitely looks like extreme uneven wear on the inside of the tire, as opposed to some sort of road damage. This is only with the passenger rear tire. All the other tires look evenly worn. Definitely taking it to the SC to have them look at it.

 

[brkaus]

It’s wearing due to alignment. I believe the toe setting, but I don’t remember. I’m not sure how adjustable it is in a Tesla. It also makes the car handle better.

My S with coils is doing the same thing. Only noticed when the tires hit the wear mark.

Call around and find a place that sells tires at a price your happy with. Service center, discount tire, Costco, etc.

They may have to order them.

Drive there at a reasonable safe speed. I don’t personally see the need to have it towed or a temp tire, unless your hundreds of miles away. I certainly would not drive 80mph on them. But the photo doesn’t show the inside, so it may be much worse than I can tell.

Once new tires are installed, have the alignment checked. Service center. Mine quoted $175.

With the wear on all your tires and the mileage you need a complete set, at least that’s what I would do.

Have you had the tires rotated?

 

[mongo]

It’s wearing due to alignment. I believe the toe setting, but I don’t remember. I’m not sure how adjustable it is in a Tesla. It also makes the car handle better.

My S with coils is doing the same thing. Only noticed when the tires hit the wear mark.

Call around and find a place that sells tires at a price your happy with. Service center, discount tire, Costco, etc.

They may have to order them.

Drive there at a reasonable safe speed. I don’t personally see the need to have it towed or a temp tire, unless your hundreds of miles away. I certainly would not drive 80mph on them. But the photo doesn’t show the inside, so it may be much worse than I can tell.

Once new tires are installed, have the alignment checked. Service center. Mine quoted $175.

With the wear on all your tires and the mileage you need a complete set, at least that’s what I would do.

Have you had the tires rotated?

Agree with most all of that, but the 20 and 22 inch tires on the X are asymmetrical front to back and cannot be rotated in the typical fashion. However, they can be swapped left/right assuming the tire is not directional (which these do not seem to be (would have arrow on sidewall)).

I looked up wear, those tires start at 10/32. So 3/32 means 12.5% tread life remaining, 4/32 is 25% left (2/32 being the must replace point)

 

[YellyYeti]

The tires do not look asymmetrical. I did take it in for the 1 year service at around 12.5K miles, but I didn't explicitly ask them to rotate them, and I do not recall seeing it on the work order. Oh well.

The tire is slowly losing pressure, it went from about 30 psi last night to 20 psi this morning. Tesla has a flatbed on the way to take it to the SC, but it won't be for 2 hours. In the meantime I called around some, and the local Tire Kingdom doesn't have the tire in stock, but will check around. If they find tires I will probably get them there instead of at Tesla. It looks like local shops charge $350 per tire vs $450 per tire at Tesla. The local Tire Kingdom claims to have done several Teslas yesterday and claim to be very comfortable with the jack points, etc. I am sure I can safely drive the 3 miles to get to the Tire Kingdom at this point if I had to.

Now as for getting an alignment... any reason I need Tesla to do it vs Tire Kingdom? Do I need to see if they have a mythical Hunter machine? I do have an appointment next week to get my 2 year service done, I could get tires today and get the alignment at Tesla next week.

 

[brkaus]

Thanks @mongo - I always forget about asymmetrical tires. My BMW I bought used had asymmetrical rims and previous owner didn't realize and put same size tires all around. Didn't even keep same size rims on front vs back. Had to fix that...

I’m getting tires put on my S at Costco tomorrow. They have pro-rated road hazard included and are less expensive. I also have wires just starting to show on the back passenger side.

I don’t know if the hunter machine makes a huge difference. You’re referring to the road force balancer?

I’ve been told alignment can be done anywhere, but the air suspension is tricky. Not sure if you save money doing the annual service a la cart. I have the same question as I’m not due for service until March and need an alignment now.

 

[DCGOO]

Personally, I would recommend having Tesla do the alignment. At least there you have some assurance the tech has actually touched a Tesla before, or at least watched the video.

 

[YellyYeti]

Thanks everyone. I have a flatbed on the way to take it to Tesla. The final price quoted by Tire Kingdom, while lower, is not as convenient as Tesla with the alignment and all. Flatbedding because of a flat, ah the joys of owning a Tesla!

 

[mongo]

The tires do not look asymmetrical. I did take it in for the 1 year service at around 12.5K miles, but I didn't explicitly ask them to rotate them, and I do not recall seeing it on the work order. Oh well.

The tire is slowly losing pressure, it went from about 30 psi last night to 20 psi this morning. Tesla has a flatbed on the way to take it to the SC, but it won't be for 2 hours. In the meantime I called around some, and the local Tire Kingdom doesn't have the tire in stock, but will check around. If they find tires I will probably get them there instead of at Tesla. It looks like local shops charge $350 per tire vs $450 per tire at Tesla. The local Tire Kingdom claims to have done several Teslas yesterday and claim to be very comfortable with the jack points, etc. I am sure I can safely drive the 3 miles to get to the Tire Kingdom at this point if I had to.

Now as for getting an alignment... any reason I need Tesla to do it vs Tire Kingdom? Do I need to see if they have a mythical Hunter machine? I do have an appointment next week to get my 2 year service done, I could get tires today and get the alignment at Tesla next week.

Only slightly different,. but the rears will not fit in the front...

 

[brkaus]

I’m getting tires put on my S at Costco tomorrow. They have pro-rated road hazard included and are less expensive. I also have wires just starting to show on the back passenger side.

I did get the new tire installed. Nothing scientific, but believe most surfaces the new non foam tires are quieter than the well worn foam lined tires. Of course, as they age they may end up getting louder.

Still, saved $300 and have a tire that can easily be patched. Figure I can afford to replace it earlier in the lifecycle if necessary. That would benefit noise and wet road handling.

 

[Fairchild]

Some advice needed. My rear passenger tire on my Model X got shredded somehow, the inside of the tire is bulging and the metal mesh is poking through. So not safe to drive at all. We don't know when it happened, the damage is not easily visible and the only indication we had was a low pressure warning. The car is safely in the garage and we won't be driving it until it is fixed.

These are the original 20 inch Continental Cross Contact 275/45R20 and I just hit 25K miles after 19 months. The tire depth on all 4 tires is between 3/32 and 4/32, as measured with a cheap tire depth gauge.

I am assuming that at this point I just need to replace all 4? The Orlando Service Center is my SC, does anyone know how much they charge for a new set? Searches on here have yielded $400-$450 per tire for other SC's. I see Tire Rack has them for $288, Discount Tire has them for about $300, comes out to about $345 per tire after insurance, labor, and tax. If I get the wheel off, can I get one tire mounted, then drive there with 1 new tire and 3 old tires without breaking anything?

Does Orlando's mobile service install tires? If not, do they have to flatbed my Model X to the Service Center? Would I get charged for that? I do have a floor jack, and I am sure I could take the tires off myself (after figuring out the jack points), but it is one of those potential savings vs manual labor type things. The Service Center has been backed up lately too, do they prioritize undrive-able type problems? We want our X back drive-able as soon as possible of course.

Thank you for any advice!

I had the same experience with Continentals (right rear passenger) and I am sure it was due to leaving the height setting on VERY LOW or LOW to avoid take off shudder.

I have had Pirellis on the back for 10,000 miles. Amazing feel and wear. And I now leave the height on STANDARD with lowering at 70

Continentals were horrible. Had two blowouts. Lasted only 23,000 miles.
About to replace my fronts soon with Pirellis.

Agree....go to the TireRack installer list near you and negotiate a deal with them or ship them and use installer.

This says it all.
https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tire...all=Blackwall&partnum=645HR0SVASPXL&tab=Sizes

You can probably get two rears and get a couple of more months out of your fronts.

GO PIRELLI 50,000 mile warranty! $220 each on line with TireRack

 

[Fairchild]

Orlando does Tires at $$400 each.
They will flatbed for no charge if you are within 50 miles.
My blowout occured 47 miles away.
Even if the mobile did them. Too expensive.

It would be worth driving it slowly to your nearest TireRack where Pirellis were $268 each or on line $220 each.
About a three week wait on service center. My X is there now to get a new 12V Battery. Goes out at about 2 years. NC
And door handle replace (Drivers side sticking, but they replace both). They offered to do the front tires at $400 ea. Continentals.
No way in hell.

GO Pirelli at TireRack

 

[Silicon Desert]

I have had Pirellis on the back for 10,000 miles. Amazing feel and wear. And I now leave the height on STANDARD with lowering at 70

Continentals were horrible. Had two blowouts. Lasted only 23,000 miles. About to replace my fronts soon with Pirellis.
Agree....go to the TireRack installer list near you and negotiate a deal with them or ship them and use installer.
GO PIRELLI 50,000 mile warranty! $220 each on line with TireRack

I certainly agree about the Pirelli tires. On my X, recently replaced tires, they are just as quiet as those foam-filled Continental tires and were $250 cheaper for the set. I like the way they handle on various roads and weather conditions. However, in my case, TireRack was not an cheaper than just going to my local Discount Tire Center and getting them there. Price was the same.

 

[Stasla]

Somewhat related story: my 2 front tires got extremely worn out in under 22000 miles. To the point where the vehicle wouldn't pass the state safety inspection without replacing both fronts. Rears were in a much better shape.

Continental said there's no premature wear mileage warranty on these because it's a "sport tire" but they did end up opening a claim for me and covered 50% of the cost of replacements.

Got 2 new fronts at a local Continental dealer for about $380 all in with tax, mounting & balancing. Not too terrible on the wallet. Included 1yr hazard warranty to boot.

TIL: DR PSA - if your Contis are wearing out early- call them to see if they will cover part of replacement cost through a claim.