Replika R187 wheels causing issues..

[Ditto]

I'll try to make this short..

So everything was going fine with my car until i Installed my existing winter tires on my new Replika R187 wheels. After installing, I noticed my front left side was making a weird knocking sound when making sharp turns (especially in roundabouts or when reversing out of a driveway). The garage who installed them said my car had an issue and I needed to bring it to Tesla, so I did. After checking my car Tesla said it was perfectly fine and they weren't able to reproduce the sound. I therefore gave a ride to one of the workers and he immediately noticed the sound and after verifying he concluded my front left wheel was touching the car knuckle when doing sharp turns. He switched it with the back tire and it didn't fix the issue. He suggested returning them.

Now before buying the wheels I made sure to do a lot of research and concluded no one had any issues with them. Tomorrow I am going to put a summer tire with the OEM wheels to see if it still makes the sound. If it doesn't, something is wront with the R187 wheels, but if it does, perhaps when installing my winter tires they messed up something?

Has anyone experienced somethiny similar with these wheels? Any experts that could enlighten me on what could be done? Here's a picture where you see the dent that the wheels made on the knuckle.

 

[CRASHER]

I am thinking of returning my replica too. I tried them without mounting the tire to check the clearance. While clearance is same as OE rims, the counterbore is 5mm smaller. Also the 60 degree countersink is not deep enough to have a full contact with the cone face of the lug nut. The nut also do not have full thread engagement, as it do not sit deep enough.
However I find it strange that neither your local garage or tesla could point out this obvious fault. You should avoid them both.

 

[Ditto]

Tesla did not really look into the wheel much. And tons of users here use the Replika, yet no one seems to have had any issues. I really want to figure out if my car is the issue here..

 

[CRASHER]

Tesla did not really look into the wheel much. And tons of users here use the Replika, yet no one seems to have had any issues. I really want to figure out if my car is the issue here..

If driving straight has no issues then driving on turns should be fine too, unless your wheel bearing is really bad. I would suggest is to try OE nuts. Do not put those nut caps, it will be very hard to take them off from replica. Leave a comment on replica website, or call them. They may know better.

 

[Struja]

I am getting mine installed on Monday. Now I am concerned.

Are your tires 19”? I know a lot of owners here have the R187 rims and I’ve never heard of any problems. Maybe some of the other owners could chime in.

 

[SmartElectric]

Two years with Replika R187 on summer OEM goodyear tires, no issues.

The OE lug nuts from the original 5 star Tesla OEM rims (pre-turbine) do not fit the R187 rims. Kal Tire put on proper lug nuts that fit the R187.

Multiple owners have put on Replika R187 at the Kal Tire in Scarborough Ontario, and to my knowledge, none of us have issues.

 

[Struja]

Two years with Replika R187 on summer OEM goodyear tires, no issues.

The OE lug nuts from the original 5 star Tesla OEM rims (pre-turbine) do not fit the R187 rims. Kal Tire put on proper lug nuts that fit the R187.

Multiple owners have put on Replika R187 at the Kal Tire in Scarborough Ontario, and to my knowledge, none of us have issues.

I called Tires23, they told me they are using the same lug nuts from my OEM rims. Is there a specific lug you are using? Really trying to avoid problems.

 

[jelloslug]

I would be hesitant to buy replica wheels.

 

[SmartElectric]

Where is it said Replika is an imitation part?
The parent Canadian company Fastco sells rims for all makes of cars, it's not imitation if it's just a rim, the Replika does not say "Tesla" or whatever on the rim or on the advertising or their product page. Please explain posting that video and saying not to buy them? What evidence?

Happy owner of Replika rims, no issues, low price, great looking and working product, have no affiliation with company, but love the product.

 

[SmartElectric]

I called Tires23, they told me they are using the same lug nuts from my OEM rims. Is there a specific lug you are using? Really trying to avoid problems.

When switching from my winter to summer rims, I forgot the lugs at home, Kal made sure and confirmed the lugs are not compatible between the OEM original Tesla 5 star rims and the Replika rims.

Kal secured lugs from their inventory that fit the Replika rim. I paid extra for the lugs (forget, it was cheap enough).

 

[jelloslug]

Where is it said Replika is an imitation part?
The parent Canadian company Fastco sells rims for all makes of cars, it's not imitation if it's just a rim, the Replika does not say "Tesla" or whatever on the rim or on the advertising or their product page. Please explain posting that video and saying not to buy them? What evidence?

Happy owner of Replika rims, no issues, low price, great looking and working product, have no affiliation with company, but love the product.

"Cheap" wheels are cheap for a reason.

 

[SmartElectric]

"Cheap" wheels are cheap for a reason.

So, you provide absolutely no evidence for your claim. Fair enough. Next time, why not say "I have no evidence for my claim, but am basing quality of a product on price alone".

I buy food at "no frills" sometimes, still standing. Guess price isn't the only determinant of a products suitability for purpose?

 

[Ditto]

I bought seperate black nuts for mine. I am not saying the replika wheels are bad, tomorrow I will put my summer tire with OEM to see if it does the same thing. Pretty sure it won't, but I want to eliminate the possibility of my car being the issue. Not sure what I will or can do if the wheels are the problem.

 

[Struja]

When switching from my winter to summer rims, I forgot the lugs at home, Kal made sure and confirmed the lugs are not compatible between the OEM original Tesla 5 star rims and the Replika rims.

Kal secured lugs from their inventory that fit the Replika rim. I paid extra for the lugs (forget, it was cheap enough).

Oh, I don’t care about price, I want the right lug nuts. I will have to insist on them.

 

[jelloslug]

So, you provide absolutely no evidence for your claim. Fair enough. Next time, why not say "I have no evidence for my claim, but am basing quality of a product on price alone".

I buy food at "no frills" sometimes, still standing. Guess price isn't the only determinant of a products suitability for purpose?

People are having issues right in this thread. Go ahead and put bargain basement wheels on you $100,000 car, it's your money.

 

[SmartElectric]

People are having issues right in this thread. Go ahead and put bargain basement wheels on you $100,000 car, it's your money.

Again, you lack evidence for your claims.

I also use a cheap USB adaptor for MP3's in my Model S, should I worry about blowing up the internal electrical system?

Where do baseless claims come from, why post in a thread if you have zero to add.

At least I have direct experience with the topic, did my original research for many hours before purchase, determined the load rating of the rims, and otherwise exhausted my understanding of the problem and choose a product to match needs.

Whereas you come in with no data, no experience, no value to add.

As for the issues with the rims posted here, I am attempting to provide value by my replies to those posters.

 

[x90ca]

I have noticed the same noise when turning left after recently swapping to these wheels for the winter. I don’t remember hearing this last winter. Weird.

 

[agloutney]

I had the same issue a few years ago with OEM Tesla 19" wheel and Pirelli winter tire package. Front left had some rubbing issues while turning and driving in reverse. Oddly going forward was ok. I don't think its the wheels.

 

[Ditto]

I had the same issue a few years ago with OEM Tesla 19" wheel and Pirelli winter tire package. Front left had some rubbing issues while turning and driving in reverse. Oddly going forward was ok. I don't think its the wheels.

What did you do to fix it?

 

[agloutney]

Nothing, I just turned less sharply. The next winter it was ok but I had rotated the wheels and the tires had more ware. Now that I think about it, probably more a tire issue than a wheel issue but I still think something is a little off in the wheel well in some cars. My car was delivered with misaligned panels around the left headlight and I can't help but think there's slight irregularities in the wheel well area in some cars (2014 S85).