I finally picked up my 19" stock wheels from Wheel Tech in Chicago. I sent them there since all four of them had some (what I would consider) nasty curb rash. Today has a light day, so I figured it would be a good day to swap out my Rial Luganos :crying: and put the all season wheels back on.
As some of you know, the rear rotor hats seem to be prone to some unsightly rust. It can be visible close up:
I also got the opportunity to try out my new Milwaukee Impact Wrench. This thing is a beast.
After I loosened up the lug nuts, I used my recently purchased Powerzone 3 ton floor jack (there was some discussion about this in another thread, but any durable jack will do of course) as well as put to use for the first "real" time my Jackpoint Jackstands. Here's a few pictures of the Model S going up and on the stands (from another day).
With the rear two wheels up on the stands, I was able to take the Rials off and get a look at the rotor hats as well as the wheel well, which was quite dirty from the winter.
I started to work on the rust and the wheel well by spraying the well with Tuf Shine and the wheel with Iron X. You can just see the iron deposits melting away...
I then draped off the wheel well with your standard sterile extremity drape, courtesy of my local operating room. (It had a puncture injury so it's not usable anyway.) I cleaned it with a series of APCs and degreasers before I masked off the areas that couldn't be painted.
I took some steel wool to the area with rust again, and got most of it out. I then used VHT high heat primer and some VHT silver paint to follow. For some strange reason, I don't have any pictures of the paint after the masking tape was removed, but I do have some final pictures that showcase the change as well as the new anthracite grey powder coated 19 inch wheels:
Picked up some lug nut caps from Tesla Highland Park (20 of them for $56 I think), and they really improved the look since my stock lug nuts were silver in color.
Anyway, it was a nice afternoon project. More work than I expected, but they turned out nicely.
As some of you know, the rear rotor hats seem to be prone to some unsightly rust. It can be visible close up:
I also got the opportunity to try out my new Milwaukee Impact Wrench. This thing is a beast.
After I loosened up the lug nuts, I used my recently purchased Powerzone 3 ton floor jack (there was some discussion about this in another thread, but any durable jack will do of course) as well as put to use for the first "real" time my Jackpoint Jackstands. Here's a few pictures of the Model S going up and on the stands (from another day).
With the rear two wheels up on the stands, I was able to take the Rials off and get a look at the rotor hats as well as the wheel well, which was quite dirty from the winter.
I started to work on the rust and the wheel well by spraying the well with Tuf Shine and the wheel with Iron X. You can just see the iron deposits melting away...
I then draped off the wheel well with your standard sterile extremity drape, courtesy of my local operating room. (It had a puncture injury so it's not usable anyway.) I cleaned it with a series of APCs and degreasers before I masked off the areas that couldn't be painted.
I took some steel wool to the area with rust again, and got most of it out. I then used VHT high heat primer and some VHT silver paint to follow. For some strange reason, I don't have any pictures of the paint after the masking tape was removed, but I do have some final pictures that showcase the change as well as the new anthracite grey powder coated 19 inch wheels:
Picked up some lug nut caps from Tesla Highland Park (20 of them for $56 I think), and they really improved the look since my stock lug nuts were silver in color.
Anyway, it was a nice afternoon project. More work than I expected, but they turned out nicely.
Last edited: