Shops that won't change tires - List

[scottm]

Use Costco for tire mounts, balance, fill, and repairs for your Tesla. They don't charge any more than any other car.

Cheap source of rubber too.

Done deal.

 

[brantse]

I also didn't appreciate their recent attempt to "sell" me on new tires. I recently had my car in the SvC and the advisor called me in a panic to tell me that I NEEDED new tires, as one was down to 1/32 and others were below 3. I have new tires sitting in my garage, waiting to be mounted (most likely not until next spring, as I run winters half the year). I declined the offer to have new tires installed and was a little ticked off when I measured them after the car was returned. All tires were easily 4-5/32, with some measurements exceeding that.

Correction to my previous post, just to set the record straight. It turns out my rear tires are/were severely worn in the center and absolutely do need replaced. They were definitely correct, and not trying to "sell me" on new tires. I'm surprised by how badly the tires are actually worn in the center groove, as both sides are easily 4/32" yet the center is nearly 0. I guess it's largely due to overinflation.

Additionally, I ordered a changer and balancer last night, so hopefully will be able to finally replace this set without the need of a tire shop.

 

[Tech_Guy]

Mind telling us the cost?

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

Normal balance is about $15 USD, however I prefer Road Force balance, which pins a 1200 lb weight against the tire, simulating the weight of the car on it.

I've had vibrations before, which road force fixed... so now it's RF for me...

 

[brantse]

Mind telling us the cost?

Cost for changer/balancer? $1400 on ebay. As I mentioned upthread, this wouldn't make sense for someone to purchase their own equipment, unless they were going for extremely low-end stuff. Will it balance as well as a high end machine....I'm sure not. Maybe after getting very used to the machine it would be possible, but I would most likely not attempt to mount 21's on a machine like this. Hopefully I won't have any issues with my 19's, but they'll probably be the most difficult out of the dozen or so vehicles that we'll use this machine for.

 

[jaguar36]

Places that won't do "Tesla" wheels/tires.
L.B. Smith Ford | Ford Dealership in Lemoyne PA
Mechanicsburg's Sun Motor Cars BMW

Wait, you went to a Ford dealer, and a BMW dealer to get tires mounted and balanced on a Tesla? Why didn't you go to a tire shop?

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

These places offer Road Force tire balancing. They also mount and balance dozens of tires a day.

 

[scottm]

actually worn in the center groove, as both sides are easily 4/32" yet the center is nearly 0. I guess it's largely due to overinflation.

Mind telling us what pressure you typically kept these tires at? (and the dimensions of the tire)

 

[brantse]

Mind telling us what pressure you typically kept these tires at? (and the dimensions of the tire)

They are standard OEM 19's. I generally filled them to 42 PSI, as this is what's listed in my door jamb. Honestly, I've always run tires a little hard (used to fill 36 PSI spec'd vehicles to 38-39), but hesitate to even fill these to 42 for this concern. However, every time the service center ever did anything to my car, they'd overfill them to 45 PSI and list that on the invoice.

In hindsight, I probably got about 12k miles on these rear tires. I never rotated them, as the rears were replaced when I got the car 12 months ago and always had more tread than the fronts (up until they didn't). For what it's worth, I run a separate set of winter tires/wheels for about 5-6 months a year.

 

[scottm]

Thanks.

I run my 19's at 45 psi too... some people run them hard up to 50.

I try to rotate them once per season that they're on... which reminds me.. is due now. Before my road trip this week.

And rotate them off the car for winter change overs.

Given that all the torque for "go" and regen are on the rears for non-D cars.. they're going to wear way faster than fronts, so not surprising there. Take traction control off, and they'll last a day!

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

My door jamb says 45 PSI. 19" wheels. S85 2013.

 

[brantse]

We got the tire changer and balancer yesterday. I have to say, for the price ($1400), I'm impressed with the appearance and overall quality of construction. I understand that you generally get what you pay for, but I'm hoping these will perform satisfactorily.

I'm hoping to mount the set of Firestone Firehawk Wideoval AS tires I have this weekend and will report back on how it goes. I've also never heard any reports about this particular tire, so I'll be interested in how they perform.

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

Let us know how it works out!

 

[brantse]

I'm happy to report that I was able to successfully mount and balance my own tires yesterday. This has always been a frustration to me, as I take pride in being an extreme DIY'er, and this is one of a very short list of things that I have never been able to do myself. I did mount a pair of tires manually on an old truck once, but will never attempt that again.

The equipment worked beautifully. There's certainly a learning curve and hopefully they'll go on much easier next time, but it really isn't that difficult. Considering even the 19's don't have a significant sidewall, they were much trickier to get on than a 15" rim that we initially practiced on. It took two of us, each with a bar and palm on the tire while trying to get the outer bead over the rim. Without a lot more practice, and even with it, I wouldn't even attempt to install 21's with this type of machine.

The tires I mounted are Firestone Firehawk Wideoval AS, standard 245/45-19. I certainly can't critique the limit to their performance, but they ran smooth and quiet. No noticeable change from the OEM Goodyear RS-A2. I'm gauging it off of a single 25 mile drive, but my initial observation is that they have a little more rolling resistance, as I noticed nominally (~6%) more energy than normal (many other variables could influence this).

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

Very neat. I'm feeling some vibes in mine around 68 MPH but it's on and off... but I'm 95% sure it's the tires.
whats the max you can do? I had 35" tires on a 16" wheel on my wrangler

 

[brantse]

According to the specs, it appears it can handle up to a 39" tire OD. The table can clamp a 22" rim on the outside, 24" on the inside.

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

Here's how we do it