Scratched my new X front rim :(

[cbdream99]

it’s my wife’s turn. She curb rashed 2 rims really bad. One even cut into the alloy beneath the black coat. Are they fixable?

We have never had this issues with other car brands. Is it how Tesla design their rim? Seems so easy to get curb rash

This is very minor, you can do it yourself if you want to save some money and don’t have the copd perfection requirement. Wheel repair shop can even repair a slightly bent rim.

 

[cbdream99]

I never understood why this is such a big deal to people. I never, in my 40 years of driving had a car without some damage to the wheels, living in the city means curbs everywhere you park, tight spot in parking garages and what more. Just spray it in color and forget about it.

And lets not talk about the door dings and parking dents you will recieve……

It’s a personal choice, some people care more, some people care less, some worries fees at the end if it is a leased vehicle … just like someone keep using a cracked screen iPhone, some will replace the screen immediately. Once a lady flagged me down in San Mateo when I was walking in the side street to help her to parallel park her car

 

[HadoukenZR]

Highly suggest looking into rim protectors. Personally I've used 22" Alloygators on all my cars. One of my dumb moments where I turned too early and completely hit a high curb. Super loud BANG !

Not 1 scratch on the wheel... only banged up plastic protector thats easily replaceable. With OPs damage at the rim edge the Alloygator may just cover that up too.

 

[TexSam]

it’s my wife’s turn. She curb rashed 2 rims really bad. One even cut into the alloy beneath the black coat. Are they fixable?

We have never had this issues with other car brands. Is it how Tesla design their rim? Seems so easy to get curb rash

It’s not the rims that causes the problem. It’s the tire shape that Tesla uses. Notice the flat sides? Most tires bulge out slightly from the rim and where they contact the rim they the tire is sunk in. Normally with slight curb bumps, the tire contacts the curb and the rim is untouched. Tesla uses the tires which are essentially flat on the sides since they feel are more aerodynamic . At least that’s what I’ve been told. Another reason might be with the weight of ev’s the sidewall might need to be stiffer and with 40lbs+ they don’t have much give.

 

[Leo N.]

Highly suggest looking into rim protectors. Personally I've used 22" Alloygators on all my cars. One of my dumb moments where I turned too early and completely hit a high curb. Super loud BANG !

Not 1 scratch on the wheel... only banged up plastic protector thats easily replaceable. With OPs damage at the rim edge the Alloygator may just cover that up too.

How long have you had the Alloygators for? I saw Amazon reviews are concerning where the protectors could get loose on high way and cause body paint damage. How are yours?

 

[akacaj]

I just re-finished all 4 of my 22" turbine wheels with a couple of cans of spray paint. Body shop quoted me $150/wheel. Since I like to DIY everything, I put that money towards some tools. Floor jack, jack stands, torque wrench, breaker bar.

Great investment! I can now swap my winter/all season wheels on my own as needed. I also ended up fixing an annoying rear axle click using said tools.

 

[Leo N.]

Did you sand the rim before you paint? What the paint color did you buy to match?

I just re-finished all 4 of my 22" turbine wheels with a couple of cans of spray paint. Body shop quoted me $150/wheel. Since I like to DIY everything, I put that money towards some tools. Floor jack, jack stands, torque wrench, breaker bar.

Great investment! I can now swap my winter/all season wheels on my own as needed. I also ended up fixing an annoying rear axle click using said tools.

 

[akacaj]

Did you sand the rim before you paint? What the paint color did you buy to match?

I did sand it down to remove the large burrs. I then used a primer/filler spray to fill the smaller scratches followed by more sanding to make it smooth. I finally applied several coats of Rust-Oleum 248928 High Performance Wheel Spray Paint, 11 oz, Matte Black. It wasn't a perfect match which is why I ended up refinishing all 4 wheels.
In retrospect, the primer/filler wasn't needed and it made the job more difficult because it was a gray color. I then needed to lay down way more coats of black to get a thick enough layer.

However, in your case the scratch is very small. You are better off finding a close enough matching paint and touching it up with a brush. You wont even notice it from 6 feet away. Save the big job for when you get more scratches down the road.

 

[mbp11]

I recently had some unfortunate experience with this. Backed into a low-hanging tree branch while parking and dented the back hatchback. Took it into a highly rated body shop and they offered to fix the dent and even rehabilitate my curb-rashed rims. I drive using the braille technique.
When I got the car back, the front wheel passenger side was grinding on a right turn and when I looked at the sentry cam videos, someone was approaching my car and jacking up the side of the car with the damaged rims while it was at the body shop. Sure enough, I looked underneath the car and found torn undercarriage and scratches in the battery pack on that side.
To make a long story shorter, when you have the rims refinished, they remove the wheels from the car to refinish them, and if someone does not know how to jack up the model X in the jack points, and if they mix up the front and back wheels (not knowing that the wheels are staggered in size), they will tear up your undercarriage and the large rear wheel will grind against the steering gear and wheel well. Had to get the tires rotated to the proper locations, undercarriage rebolted, and new rear tires from the Tesla service center.
Make sure if you take your X in for rim rash repair, you provide them with model X specific jack pads and show them were they fit in the undercarriage, and remind them that the larger rear tires need to be replaced in the back. I learned the hard way, I had no idea what I was getting into.
Mike P

 

[Qasim715]

I got similar scratch on my two passenger side wheels.I looked you tube and it looks to me easy to do it yourself project.I ordered T-sportline paint from Amazon,also ordered rim protection all fit strips.Prep the wheels wheel and painted the scratches.After that I put the protective strip and it looks good.

 

[Damager99]

I love how the OP wants Tesla to fix this and wants to blame Tesla for the design of the wheels. This is poor driving, and nothing else. I've done it too! But take responsibility and either 1) live with it or 2) pay to get it fixed. It's that simple.