I have the same issue. Back in May my left rear was completely flat. Turn out the inner side of the tire was worn down to the steel. Now 3 months later the same thing has happened to the rear right. Service says it’s the result of driving with the tire under inflated. I told service I have never had a warning light regarding low tire pressure and the fact that it’s happened to both rear tires in 3 months suggests some other problem.
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Plaid 21” rear tire woes - factory defect?
- Thread starter KOL2000
- Start date
same order as me - left first at 6k miles then right shortly after. Tesla is lying. this is not normal- I'm running at 45 psi now but was always 42 before. will file NHTSA report. We all need to do that.
Yep, along with posting here to make other owners aware, a complaint needs to be filed with NHTSA
I will also file a NHTSA complaint. I am a Tesla fan having owned 4 models starting with a P85D, so no hate agenda here. This is a major and dangerous design flaw. I keep my tires at 42psi and have never let it get below 39psi at any time. I had a 4 wheel alignment done hours before the failure. My rear specs were all normal and no major adjustments done. There is no way the tire is riding at an angle that could cause this.
But who do you file the complaint against? Tesla and the vehicle? Or Michelin and the tires? (Or maybe you do both and let NHTSA sort it out.)
Just got my Plain back from Tesla service - replacement of the drivers side rear tire for the exact same inner wear failure which the passenger side rear experienced 3 months earlier. The Tesla rep said the Plaid is a very heavy car and the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S is a high performance tire and he commented "i'm actually surprised you got 17k miles on them."
I told him I'm familiar with high performance cars and tires yet this wear - which is to the point of near structural failure before the problem becomes evident via an air leak doesn't seem right. I asked him if he was aware of all the other similar cases of this failure via this community site and he said no (which I found hard to believe).
I have seen the other posts about filing a safety complaint but had another idea if there are other Tesla Plaid owners in the SF Bay area who have also experienced this problem - joining together and bringing the issue to the local news investigative units. My guess is nothing motivates Tesla more than thje local media showing up running a story on Plaid owners whose rear tires are experiencing dangerous inner wall failures. If you're interested reply back - I will do the leg work in terms of contacting local news media.
I told him I'm familiar with high performance cars and tires yet this wear - which is to the point of near structural failure before the problem becomes evident via an air leak doesn't seem right. I asked him if he was aware of all the other similar cases of this failure via this community site and he said no (which I found hard to believe).
I have seen the other posts about filing a safety complaint but had another idea if there are other Tesla Plaid owners in the SF Bay area who have also experienced this problem - joining together and bringing the issue to the local news investigative units. My guess is nothing motivates Tesla more than thje local media showing up running a story on Plaid owners whose rear tires are experiencing dangerous inner wall failures. If you're interested reply back - I will do the leg work in terms of contacting local news media.
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MFrunkerOG
Active Member
… and then there were three 
mine are getting installed tomorrow
www.mountainpassperformance.com
mine are getting installed tomorrow
Adjustable Rear Lower Control Arms For Model S Plaid
Precision. Artful Design. Sealed Spherical Bearings. The Ultimate rear Lower Control Arms For Model S Plaid & Long Range.
www.mountainpassperformance.com
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Why isn’t Michelin or Tesla covering these multiple tire failures?
Is anyone else perplexed by the speed with which people will shell out their own big money to repair what may well be a factory or tire defect?… and then there were three
Adjustable Rear Lower Control Arms For Model S Plaid
Precision. Artful Design. Sealed Spherical Bearings. The Ultimate rear Lower Control Arms For Model S Plaid & Long Range.
Why isn’t Michelin or Tesla covering these multiple tire failures?
MFrunkerOG
Active Member
Yes it’s really perplexing as to how people will do that! I believe we should not do this to cover up for some lack of engineering QA! At all
I guess it depends on if you want to be able to drive your car while the issue is researched and root cause is identified. (Some people need their car for transportation and can't wait while that happens.)
MFrunkerOG
Active Member
Ah, no.
As in, “no way whatsoever.”
Was debunked several posts ago. The marks you see are from sloppy wheel removal which allowed the tire to slide vertically against the shock absorbe/damper and the component near by.
If there was any circular wear from the tire the weat pattern would be far different.
To my knowledge no one has yet posted any such physical contact wear pattern, thus strongly suggesting widespread tire defects from Michelin which are either exacerbated or caused by the tires‘ interaction with the Palladium MS suspension geometry and/specific alignment issues.
Similar experience with my plaid. Rear tires started leaking air at about 10k miles. All the wear happened in a crazy narrow 1 inch band right on the inner sidewall. The rest of the tire looked brand new. Tires were always kept between 40-42 psi cold. Tesla said this was normal but it definitely is not…
On the 2nd set, I’m leaking air again at 4k miles. Of course, the air leaks are unrepairable since they’re so close to the sidewall so the tire has to be replaced at this point.
I had an alignment done about 1k miles ago but too early to tell if that’s going to fix anything. If it chews up another set I’ll be seriously considering aftermarket parts, though I’d like to avoid that given the potential for warranty headaches down the road.
But yeah, this is definitely something that Tesla needs to acknowledge as a problem. Just telling all of us that it’s normal is BS.
On the 2nd set, I’m leaking air again at 4k miles. Of course, the air leaks are unrepairable since they’re so close to the sidewall so the tire has to be replaced at this point.
I had an alignment done about 1k miles ago but too early to tell if that’s going to fix anything. If it chews up another set I’ll be seriously considering aftermarket parts, though I’d like to avoid that given the potential for warranty headaches down the road.
But yeah, this is definitely something that Tesla needs to acknowledge as a problem. Just telling all of us that it’s normal is BS.
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Have other tire brands have been tried with the same results? If so then it is a suspension geometry problem
UNTIL SOMEONE WITH ANY INFLUENCE TWEETS THIS INCESSANTLY TO ELON IT WILL NEVER GET ATTENTION. If I had to bet this is not Michelin's fault - this must be a design flaw.
I hope this thread keeps getting attention and somehow somebody can make someone at Tesla make this right for customers. This is so F-ed up.
I hope this thread keeps getting attention and somehow somebody can make someone at Tesla make this right for customers. This is so F-ed up.
Tweeting Elon will do nothing, the best course of action is to file a complaint with the NHTSA, Tesla is reluctant to fix a lot of problems under warranty.
Report a Safety Problem | NHTSA
File a complaint with NHTSA if you experienced a vehicle, tire, car seat or equipment safety problem that could be a safety defect.
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