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Vendor TESLA Spare Wheel Kit Space Saver Tyre for Model Y & 3 - NOW AVAILABLE for AUST NZ-Fits all models.
- Thread starter Braumach
- Start date
About 5 minutes, once I worked out the trick to doing it. It’s a little counter-intuitive, but if the puncture hole is small you need to use the reamer tool to make the hole bigger so that the plug can be inserted. Initially I could not insert the plug, no matter how hard I pushed. And it seems to be an immediate fix. Pumped the tyre back up and no leaks!
Obviously plugging can’t fix sidewall damage.
Yeah, not just sidewall but close to sidewall.
I've once had an unrepairable tyre due to being too close to sidewall & on another occasion similar where one company was unwilling to repair while second 'opinion' was.
So for me, I'll take the space saver.
I bought one early last year when I first got the car - good service from Braumach
just the basic wheel and tyre initially, then boosted the kit when the other bits became available
good quality tools too
still, I haven’t needed it yet
it’s a space saver but takes up a lot of the boot in a model 3
I use a roof box when travelling anyway
OzTzlaBloke
Member
Nice
Youll end up doing it half that easily. Ream it, plug it, good to go. Ive been into offroad motorsport / expeditions for decadesMy 4WD expedition vehicle has a high end twin cylinder 12v compressor - even still I wait far longer for that to refill a big 4WD tyre than the tyre repair time
I know from experience many air compressors wont cut it on the reliability front
Also the amp draw is significant - can be 56 amps for 10 minutes on all 4 easily, 20 minutes on bigger tyres. As I learn more about Teslas this is a curiosity to me. The 12v battery in the frunk cant have much in the way of decent AH's in it given its size?. What amps does the main hv bank send there? Where are you guys picking up power for air compressor on tyre fixes?
OzTzlaBloke
Member
Also on sidewall repairs. In an extreme need, if were talking about radials and not bias plys, with radials you can when you absolutely need it bodge up something most of the time thatll be limpable into a more used road for help or so forth. One group I was with had a medical emergency in the bush we drove 150klms on a patched radial with like 15 plugs gouged into the sidewall it worked ok.
Bias plys are easier to repair and far less prone to sidewall damage
Bias plys are easier to repair and far less prone to sidewall damage
Ryobi 18v auto inflatorNice
My 4WD expedition vehicle has a high end twin cylinder 12v compressor - even still I wait far longer for that to refill a big 4WD tyre than the tyre repair time
I know from experience many air compressors wont cut it on the reliability front
Also the amp draw is significant - can be 56 amps for 10 minutes on all 4 easily, 20 minutes on bigger tyres. As I learn more about Teslas this is a curiosity to me. The 12v battery in the frunk cant have much in the way of decent AH's in it given its size?. What amps does the main hv bank send there? Where are you guys picking up power for air compressor on tyre fixes?
OzTzlaBloke
Member
Thanks. Not really a fan of that unit. The pressurized flow is really low. So it'll take forever. Plus having the power for the compressor in separate small AH battery(s) like as in cordless tools is playing with fire when it matters in remote locations in my view. When you look at the amp draw of compressors thats a huge risk. Its made worse by the poor flow and extended time. These sorts of compressors are never constant rated and many many will overheat / fail on longer use. A far more reliable setup would be figuring out how/where/what part of the various electrical components to tap into with a Tesla. LIke the electric steering rack uses a far whack of amps in it.
I still have a 2005 Twin Tongue air compressor which I used for the LC100/200 when I went off road. Reliable unit with consistent output whatever the temperature when I have to re-air Mud terrain tyres - it never slowed down. I once used it to air up 3 vehicles in a convoy one after another without needing to cool down. Obviously I have the engine on to keep the battery at 14V as it can draws 16A
BTW: The low voltage Li-Ion battery in the newer Teslas are 16V. But its a very small battery - only 100Wh and 7Ah rating. This replaced the Lead acid 12V which had a 45AH rating.
If Im going on long trips on the Tesla, I would just carry a full size spare - its not going off road.
RichardV
Member
It is not recommended to plug in directly to the 12v(16v more recent cars) battery directly. There is a 'cigarette' style outlet in the front console on both the 3 and Y and a second one in the rear of the Y. I think this only has a max continuous draw of something like 120W. If you can tap into the low voltage (12V or 16V in new cars) DC to DC converter that is powered directly from the high voltage battery I believe there is something more like 2000W available, though the car itself will need some of that power for its own low voltage components. You would probably need to do more research into the implications of tapping into that directly though.
OzTzlaBloke
Member
Gawd 7AH's thats next to nothing. Yep thanks for the heads up thats useless and I can see why Tesla say dont use it ha
Well theres like 100 amps going to the electric steering box so clearly the vehicles have current of significance going places other than the drive units only.
"Someone" is going to nut this out for sure with a packaged tested DC DC convertor product. Just the number of people camping in their model Ys overnight with sleep apnea machines alone will cause people to push this and thats just one use case out of many many.
Well theres like 100 amps going to the electric steering box so clearly the vehicles have current of significance going places other than the drive units only.
"Someone" is going to nut this out for sure with a packaged tested DC DC convertor product. Just the number of people camping in their model Ys overnight with sleep apnea machines alone will cause people to push this and thats just one use case out of many many.
OzTzlaBloke
Member
Yes I agree with your wisdom. Spare = fix by the road. Then, get to a servo and fix the tyre. In a model 3 type use case
If someone was into a model Y and wanted to air down for mild beach use or something well theyve got a bigger issue to solve for that use case if they dont want to limp to a servo from the beach
I’ve been using the auto inflator heaps of times for 5 years now. Easy set & forget. Haven’t used petrol station inflator in the same period. Used it on a few occasions for flats from slow leaks - no problem
OzTzlaBloke
Member
I personally use these cos it was given to me for free but Ive found it great honestly. Bonus you can have the tools incase you need to do a valve core change too etcetc. The tools arent cheap useless things either Ive smashed mine pretty hard and theyre reliable under pressure in motorsport etc
aus4wd.shop
ARB Speedy Seal Puncture Repair Kit Series II - 10000011
Coming in a compact, high visibility carry case, the Speedy Seal Kit Series II includes all the components necessary to repair tubeless radial or cross ply tyres, without removing the tyre from the vehicle or rim. A pencil type tyre gauge with dual chuck makes setting pressures a snap, while a...
aus4wd.shop
Last edited:
Thanks. I've been looking at that style of repair kit, and also the plug type ...I personally use these cos it wasnt given to me but Ive found it great. Bonus you can have the tools incase you need to do a valve core change too etcetc
ARB Speedy Seal Puncture Repair Kit Series II - 10000011
Coming in a compact, high visibility carry case, the Speedy Seal Kit Series II includes all the components necessary to repair tubeless radial or cross ply tyres, without removing the tyre from the vehicle or rim. A pencil type tyre gauge with dual chuck makes setting pressures a snap, while a...
I got the Slime Deluxe kit from Repco. It’s not Deluxe compared to the ARB one above, but most of the plugging kits are similar and they do the job. In addition to the Slime kit I got the little tyre tackle box (valve tool, valves, caps), long nose pliers (to remove the object from the tyre) and a retractable blade knife (to trim the plug after insertion) which makes my kit the same as the ARB one without the box
. It’s also a good idea to get mechanics gloves for extra grip and to keep your hands clean, and a workmat or old sheet to lie on if you are plugging a rear tyre.Having now plugged a tyre, I think a tyre plugging kit is not a “just in case” but essential and would be my first port of call not last resort. You are back on the road within minutes.
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