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Rear camber issue caused Pilot Sports to fail at 24k miles (M3P+)

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This would have been caught earlier if OP had done a tire rotation.

One issue is that the wear on the inside edge would have been hidden from casual tire inspection on the car.

Solution may become obvious with a visit to either Tesla or your friendly neighborhood alignment shop.

Warranty coverage at 24,000 miles is probably not going to happen.
 
Well, Tesla doesn't run dealerships! No car wash or a full tank or electricity either! lol
S***, even the bathrooms were out of service at the delivery center where we picked up our Model 3. So was their registration/paperwork system, we needed the portapotties in the rain after spending hours there while they escalated and then hand-wrote and kept making mistakes on the paper forms.

Their staff were suffering too of course, not really their fault. Though compared to a dealership, it has to feel embarrassing when your customer points out the same loose trim piece on 3x new Model 3s parked in a row, and you have to tell the customer (me) you can't fix it there. At least the rest of the car has seemed well put together (by Tesla standards).

Not saying I actually miss car dealerships...but the seeming lack of PPI at delivery centers is pretty obnoxious.
 
Hi everyone. I'm just looking to see if anyone has had their rear Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires to wear so badly that the cords were showing only on the inside edge/sidewall at 24k miles?

The vehicle (M3P+ with factory 20s) alerted me to a flat on one side and after reinflation I could hear air leaking from the inside sidewall of the tire. To my surprise the entire circumference had exposed cord. The Tesla tire tech came out to inspect and replace it when he noticed exactly the same wear on the other side. The tires themselves still have 6/32s of tread except for the innermost inch. The fronts have even wear.

Evidently the alignment is way out on the rears. I assume it's been like this from the factory. Would that be a fair assumption? In addition to the $410 for each of the two tires Tesla also want almost $340 for an alignment (which they can't do in any Los Angeles service center until January 24). I wonder if I have any recourse here?

Thanks in advance. View attachment 747709
Yes, on my 2021 m3P, 28k miles, no alignment, no rotation. Went flat on the freeway. Both rear tires looked like this.
 

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Do your alignment specs actually change that much to warrant such frequent alignments? What's the before/after like at 6k miles? There's not even that many adjustment points on these cars without aftermarket parts.

I know some shops offer lifetime alignments for a pretty low price, but I can't imagine spending that much time at a service shop. That would be an alignment every 2-3 months for me, at 6k miles.
Doing alignments every 12k is normally not necessary. But some cars have crappier adjustment than others. Hopefully the model 3 rear camber and toe isn't getting out of whack in 12k miles. But if you bonk any curbs or otherwise pound your suspension real hard, it can be a good idea to get it checked.
Definitely get the alignment checked after delivery, Tesla doesn't do a good job of QC there.
 
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This is a toe issue, not a camber issue.

Have you ever had it aligned since new? Literally hitting a single pothole could cause your toe to change. Have you ever rotated your tires?

I do alignment's every 6k miles, which is probably overkill, but if you're not doing them every 12k don't expect your tires to last long. Tire maintenance is on you.
Seeing this is a toe issue, what do you run your front and rear toe at? I just got MPP camber arms and going to align soon and want to prolong my PS4S’ life!
 
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Seeing this is a toe issue, what do you rub your front and rear toe at? I just got MPP camber arms and going to align soon and want to prolong my PS4S’ life!
Yes it's for sure an expensive Tire to sacrifice at the altar of poor alignment. We try to run both of our Model 3s which have the Uber wide 275 Tesla spec Pilot Sport 4S at the rear at zero rear toe and close to zero front toe also. I believe that the stock alignment calls for very slight toe out in the front I suspect that's to compensate for toe changes under front motor torque but I'm not sure.
 
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Yes it's for sure an expensive Tire to sacrifice at the altar of poor alignment. We try to run both of our Model 3s which have the Uber wide 275 Tesla spec Pilot Sport 4S at the rear at zero rear toe and close to zero front toe also. I believe that the stock alignment calls for very slight toe out in the front I suspect that's to compensate for toe changes under front motor torque but I'm not sure.
I almost worry about zero toe in on the front and rears as under hard acceleration the car squats hard and toes out at that point in the rear. Am I overthinking this and should just run 0 degrees toe F/R?
 
I almost worry about zero toe in on the front and rears as under hard acceleration the car squats hard and toes out at that point in the rear. Am I overthinking this and should just run 0 degrees toe F/R?
As others have said the fact that there is toe change both front and rear on braking and acceleration (found on virtually all suspensions by the way) shouldn't deter you from what is the best alignment both for tires and range. You can run a tiny bit of toe in at the rear if you like and I believe the stock alignment specs call for anywhere between very small toe out at the front or minimal toe in. This suggests that zero toe in the front is more than okay as far as Tesla is concerned.
 
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What rear camber are you and most folks shooting for on the Model 3? I have adjustable camber arms coming and want to dial it all in.

It depends on your usage. For street I would stick with anything from -1 to -1.5 on the more aggressive end. For a hybrid setup -1.8 to -2.2 is good. For primarily/only track use I target about -2.5.
 
Sorry to keep bumping up an old thread - I wont be able to get an appointment with the good local guy until Monday. Anyone with the MPP rear camber arms know how much one hex "expanding" the arm will yield for adding positive camber? I know that these come shipped at stock arm length, but i lowered the car another inch or so and would like to add 0.8 degrees of camber on each side until i can get on the rack.

I have about 150 miles of driving to do over the weekend and dont want to chew out my tires.

@MountainPass
 
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Sorry to keep bumping up an old thread - I wont be able to get an appointment with the good local guy until Monday. Anyone with the MPP rear camber arms know how much one hex "expanding" the arm will yield for adding positive camber? I know that these come shipped at stock arm length, but i lowered the car another inch or so and would like to add 0.8 degrees of camber on each side until i can get on the rack.

I have about 150 miles of driving to do over the weekend and dont want to chew out my tires.
You shouldn't be worrying about camber you should be worrying about rear toe changes. That's what's going to chew up your tire. Dropping the car changes toe significantly both front and rear. You could reach out to Mountain Pass to get this information in terms of expected toe changes. The good news is it's fairly easy to do toe alignment if you have the MPP toe arms. You can get some pretty decent toe plate kits off of Amazon for around a hundred bucks that will allow you to do toe in front and rear. Much harder if you have to struggle with the eccentric cam bolt toe adjustment that is part of the stock mechanism.
 
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