Yes, this could be done. Some tires are directional (they must rotate in a certain direction), but even for ones that aren't directional, it might be wiser to do this than just moving the rims and risking a slipped belt (this may be a myth about cross rotation, but myth or not, many tire shops avoid it claiming this reason). Not rotating them is also an option, the option that happens to be default in our cases.
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The stock Michelins are directional and most alternatives are too, so this isn't an option I'm afraid.
This is true in theory, BUT in practice it is highly dependent on your car's specific factory camber settings (as they have a tolerance and possibly quite a wide tolerance!). I've read of cars run on low setting that have actually worn out the OUTSIDE of the tyre. In that case running standard ride height would have been even worse.
As a practical step, all you can do as an owner is take regular tread depth measurements across all your tyres and take action sooner rather than later if you see uneven wear. If you see early signs of uneven wear, you can either adjust your ride height to compensate, adjust tyre pressures if out of spec and in more extreme cases get onto Tesla to re-set your camber angles.
I think the reason the cars now come from the factory with a default low setting is because of driveshaft issues at higher ride heights (google the acceleration judder issues). I prefer the low setting for most road use because of the handling advantage and if I see uneven wear I'm going to ask the SC to adjust my camber angles to compensate for the lower ride height (presuming there is enough adjustment range in the hardware).
Edit: Just checked my tyre wear at 3000 miles (mostly on low setting)
Front left: 7.5 / 8.0 / 8.0 / 7.5 (inside to outside)
Front right: 7.8 / 8.0 / 7.8 / 7.8
Rear left: 7.5 / 7.2 / 7.2 / 7.5 (inside to outside) - original tyre was replaced at around 500 miles (puncture)
Rear right: 7.0 / 7.0 / 6.7 / 6.5
Looks pretty reasonable to me, so I'm going to continue running on the low suspension setting.
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My response was to this quote, emphasis mine:
Yes, you can do this with a directional tire (directional meaning the tire needs to spin a specific way, some, but not all directional tires are symmetrical). You can also do it with tires that aren't directional (tires that don't specify a rotational direction are most likely asymmetrical). I did forget to answer this part of the post I was responding to: The only time you can't do this is when a tire has a an outside and an inside specified, which is the case on some asymmetrical tires but never the case on a directional tire.
Sorry for the confusion. The stock 20" Michelins are specifically marked inside and outside edges, so swapping them round on the rims is not an option.
My stock 20" are ContiSilent and have direction arrows on them. The best answer from me would have been to look at the tires closely to determine if they have either restriction. In the case of your Michelins, they could be cross-rotated without dismounting, assuming the slipped belt issue is a myth (or not worrying about it since the miles the tires are good for is so low a slipped belt is unlikely anyway).
Tires can be asymmetrical, directional, neither or both. Staggered mounting prevents rotating front to back. Asymmetrical you can rotate side to side, with limited results. Directional can only be rotated side to side if they’re remounted. Tires with both characteristics are pretty rare. Since my Conti DWS06s are asymmetrical and were worn 0.5/32 more on the right, I had them rotated side to side.
I got 13k miles even wear out of the original ContiSilents. I’m about 7k into the DWS06s now with 7/32 remaining, so I’m only expecting 15-18k or so from them. They’re also worn evenly, so it’s the Xs weight, ludicrous mode and my lead foot that’s to blame.
I got 13k miles even wear out of the original ContiSilents. I’m about 7k into the DWS06s now with 7/32 remaining, so I’m only expecting 15-18k or so from them. They’re also worn evenly, so it’s the Xs weight, ludicrous mode and my lead foot that’s to blame.
X Fan
Active Member
You don't mention which tires you have...for my X, I have Contis and got 23K for first set (Tesla folks advised I would probably reach 30K but I changed due to long travel needs plus safety in heavy rain scenarios).
Agree with statement that Contis are staggered and not rotatable.
btw: Tesla Ranger advised that Contis are performing much better than Michelin in his experience.
I have Nokian wgr3's as my winter tire on stock rim. These are all weather tire that I used in winter since they are snow rated. Next winter before putting them on I will ask Kaltire if I can swap left to right like I stated above. As far as the stock Conti's seems like I can't do it from what everyone is saying.
If I can rotate the Nokian maybe I will use them year round and get an actual winter tire for winter. I originally wanted Nokian R2 but couldn't find them so settled on wgr3. Will get pretty expensive to replace tires.
Went about 70k kilometers on my wife's Lexus GS with michelin tires.
If I can rotate the Nokian maybe I will use them year round and get an actual winter tire for winter. I originally wanted Nokian R2 but couldn't find them so settled on wgr3. Will get pretty expensive to replace tires.
Went about 70k kilometers on my wife's Lexus GS with michelin tires.
Both the Michelin Latitude Sport 3 and Continental Crosscontact LX Sport OE tires are asymmetrical, not directional. You should be able to swap them side to side just fine.
I've never used the Nokians, but a google search seems to show both asymmetrical and directional versions of the WRG3, so rotating them would depend on which you have. If you're swapping tires on the same set of rims though, I don't see any reason why you couldn't mount them as needed to balance wear. Obviously front to back remains an issue if they're staggered.
Yinn
Active Member
After 20,000 miles on the stock 20" conti's my tires read 6/32 on the front and 7/32 across the rear tires. Measurement taken at 4 different points on each tire with a digital tire gauge. The only maintenance performed was keeping it inflated to the proper PSI. Suspension setting was kept to standard w/lowering @ 55mph for the majority of the miles with maybe 5,000 miles or so of Always Low. I also have a habit of hitting Very Low if I'm doing more than an hour of smooth highway.
You could swap the wheels left-right, if you think it necessary. Even with our many UK clockwise roundabouts, wear on the left side is barely different from the right. But I suppose it might help a little if your camber settings are out of spec on one side - but in that case probably better to get them aligned.
I'm seeing a little more rear wear than front, but nothing I can do about that due to the different front and rear sizes.
I presume you are talking about wear rate? The Michelins have great grip and low noise, but I haven't tried Contis yet on the Tesla. Both quality tyres for sure, I've used both extensively on other cars. But Michelin are usually the best for pure performance.
X Fan
Active Member
THe tire problem reminds me of a problem several years ago with Continental. Check this link.
Continental Tire Class Action Settlement
Continental Tire Class Action Settlement
I had mine swapped side to side. My rears were worn 1/32 more than my fronts, but the right sides were worn 0.5/32 more than the left for some reason. I think it has more to do with my right foot than it does the alignment, I just assumed the differential favored the right side a little and ludicrous mode was taking its toll. As long as the tires are worn evenly, blame for short tread life falls solely on me. It's been a long time since I've seen a tire last 20k miles.
Yinn
Active Member
hill
high fiber member
Some Michelin's have 90K warranties. Continental? Not so much. Thank GOD for "Americas Tire Store". Those folks are a God's send, as the Continentals are so horribly prone to flats (we had 3 in less than 12K miles)- while narry a flat at all running Michelin's. And the Michelin's lasted NINTY thousan miles!!! Crazy wear! If we're lucky? The Contenental's (with NO wear warranty) may - if we are in sane-ly lucky - may last 20K miles. Just our 3¢ .... YMMV.
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Looks like you didn’t read my entire post from where you quoted me. I also said...
“Turnsout, because the 20" Tesla Model X tires are staggered (front and rear tires are 20x9, 20x10, respectively I believe), you cannot/should not rotate the tires. So, nothing to really do...”
My delivery specialist at the time suggested rotating the tires, but my guess is he was new or not aware Model X ties cannot be rotated.
