Plaid 21” rear tire woes - factory defect?

[Russell]

We’re talking about 2 different things. The uneven wear over time is a low suspension settings issue that we have known about for years both on the S and X... This post appears to be about the tire defect where the sidewall actually starts to come apart, only on the Michelin stock tires.

I think the tire comes apart because of the excessive wear on the inner edge, which is caused by the factory alignment.
Most new owners were not expecting the excessive inner edge wear and were caught off guard when the wheels started to lose air.

After it has happened to them once, I anticipate they will be vigilant to not let it happen again with their new tires.


I would love to find out if anybody installed a non stock tire, not adjust the alignment, not inflate above factory recommended psi and not have inner edge wear. Only that would prove the fault is with the stock tires and not the car's setup.

My request for a picture of the inside of a tire was just for curiosity's sake.

 

[TSLA Pilot]

Add me to the list. Had an air pressure warning show up on my panel this morning (the red variety). I thought it was a sensor or software issue. Went to Discount Tire and the guy knew exactly what the problem was. He showed me and then said, you probably have the same issue on the other side. Sure enough, he was correct. He said it's an issue with Tesla's. Of course, they had no such tires in stock. Fortunately, Tesla will take care of me early tomorrow morning but for a cool price of $1,500 for 2 tires and alignment.

Please, please, please provide us with the Before and After alignment specs as I believe that the camber is NOT adjustable on the rear tires.

And this appears to be a camber issue, no?

Can't wait to see what you hear back from Tesla.

 

[MFrunkerOG]

I just thought I should let y’all know that I just passed 12k on my -1.5deg camber modified car and my wear is at 7/32 inside and 8/32 outside with absolutely no tire delaminating issues around the inner edge.

Disclaimer - I’ve got reduced offset, 20” wheels and pilot AS 4 tires, so…

 

[xkwizit]

100% correct. they told me to F-off with regards to any discount or freebee. Tesla is far beyond the days that few of us remember. There is nobody to complain to or reason with. To another posters point, I drive mixed highway/city 10k miles a year mostly commuting and driving kids around.

Funny thing is back in 2013 when my rears were worn out (P85+) after like 3k miles in the inner rim they replaced the tires free of charge and re-aligned (made it a little bit better, able to get 5-6k miles per pair).

So for the last 10 years the party line has been "heavy performance car goes really fast instant torque not our problem". Whats shocking to me is that there are not 20 people chiming in on this thread saying "ME TOO".

guess I'm just unlucky on this!

I had a very similar issue recently on my 2016 X. I put new tires and new Tesla wheels in Jan 2022 at the Tesla SC. The alignment was off and the SC did alignment twice last in April. Before I put 8500 miles the two rear had gone completely bald and in fact one of them blew on the highway as I was driving to America’s Tire for them to inspect. After getting new tires installed took it to Tesla. They changed some parts to fix the alignment. Of course no one is covering the tires so I am paying for two new tires because Tesla couldn’t align correctly in April.

 

[misc3r]

There is no difference betwren T1 and T2’in terms on what happens to it, evidenced by the attachment

 

[TSLA Pilot]

NHTSA "Safercar.gov" update.

There is no difference betwren T1 and T2’in terms on what happens to it, evidenced by the attachment

Yet another example of a tire with mild wear across the normal tread area, yet the tread has separated at the inner sidewall. It's effectively invisible and impossible to inspect, unless Model S owners get on their hands and knees every other day to check.

Flat out crazy that no one at Tesla or Michelin gives a damn. I guess they're just waiting for fatalities and then they might do something?

Please file a complaint, with photographs, at SaferCar.gov.

Thanks.

 

[Jack Oak]

I just thought I should let y’all know that I just passed 12k on my -1.5deg camber modified car and my wear is at 7/32 inside and 8/32 outside with absolutely no tire delaminating issues around the inner edge.

Disclaimer - I’ve got reduced offset, 20” wheels and pilot AS 4 tires, so…

Nice. What offsets if you don’t mind me asking?

 

[MFrunkerOG]

Nice. What offsets if you don’t mind me asking?

Offset is 30 in the front and 35 in the rears

 

[Muzzman1]

I have 20x10 +35 on all 4 with Michelin PS4's 275/25/20 and have no issues. I rotate tires every 4k.

 

[daddymalu]

My dealer just replaced my rear tires and scratched the wrap and possibly scratched the hood underneath the wrap. While they are replacing the wrap I noticed they also put 47 miles on the car. Is this acceptable?

 

[TSLA Pilot]

My dealer just replaced my rear tires and scratched the wrap and possibly scratches the hood underneath the wrap. While they are replacing the wrap I noticed they also put 47 miles on the car. Is this acceptable?

Tesla has no "dealers."

Is this your tire dealer?

Tesla has Service Centers.

And, no, it's not acceptable either way.

 

[daddymalu]

The Tesla Service center, which also sells cars in this scenario.

 

[TSLA Pilot]

NHTSA "Safercar.gov" update.

Yet another example of a tire with mild wear across the normal tread area, yet the tread has separated at the inner sidewall. It's effectively invisible and impossible to inspect, unless Model S owners get on their hands and knees every other day to check.

Flat out crazy that no one at Tesla or Michelin gives a damn. I guess they're just waiting for fatalities and then they might do something?

Please file a complaint, with photographs, at SaferCar.gov.

Thanks.

SaferCar.gov isn't up; try NHTSA.GOV for better results . . . .

 

[TSLA Pilot]

UPDATE.

I am pleased to report that an engineer from Michelin has been in contact, I suspect this is a result of this and other threads.

QUESTION:

Has anyone that has already had to replace a Model S tires due to tread separation kept their old tires? Mine are "getting there" but are nowhere near as bad as what has been documented in the many photographs here.

If so, please DM so that I may forward your contact info to a Michelin field engineer ASAP.

If you are one of those to soon replace your tires, PLEASE consider keeping the delaminated tire for possible inspection by Michelin.

Second, if you don't keep the old tires, please at least post photographs of your bad tires.

Thanks!

 

[wgoetzmann]

Mine just gave up, 9,749 miles with -1.8 degrees camber in low setting.........

 

[sonofagunn]

I'm having my 21" front tires (Pilot Sports) replaced tomorrow or the next day due to delamination on the inside edges. But, to be fair, they were pretty worn down. My rear tires failed similarly a year or two ago.

 

[TSLA Pilot]

I'm having my 21" front tires (Pilot Sports) replaced tomorrow or the next day due to delamination on the inside edges. But, to be fair, they were pretty worn down. My rear tires failed similarly a year or two ago.

Please retain the tires, if possible, or at least take a lot of pictures, to include the full DOT ID numbers.

Thanks!

 

[KOL2000]

Thanks @TSLA Pilot for taking the lead on this!

 

[TSLA Pilot]

Thanks @TSLA Pilot for taking the lead on this!

My pleasure, if not obligation.

It’s an offshoot of my day job where component failures can be catastrophic, as decades of aviation experience have demonstrated.

For us, the issue driving my push is two-pronged: a tire failure at high speeds could result in a high energy accident, and the failure/delamination is at the hardest place to discover it in advance at the inner sidewall.

Worse, Tesla is about to start selling the MS in the EU and China as well, making a tire recall that much more difficult.

Let’s hope there’s movement on this soon.

 

[daddymalu]

The Tesla plaid Facebook group has a lot of people complaining about these same issues with the tires as well.