Tire rotation/balance at Tesla

[SeminoleFSU]

Hey everyone- I was told by my service tech manager that the 21" Continentals need to be rotated around every 3k miles. I was planning to do it more like every 5-7k... The first time I had them rotated was at the service center for my annual check-up, which was probably around 12-13k miles. I'm now up to 16k and I'm wondering... if you bought the 4-yr prepaid service, is rotating/balancing included just on the annual checkups, or will they do it every 3-5k?

 

[RiverBrick]

I'm wondering... if you bought the 4-yr prepaid service, is rotating/balancing included just on the annual checkups, or will they do it every 3-5k?

Tire care at the recommended intervals is included in the service plan.

 

[SeminoleFSU]

Thanks River! I thought it was included but didn't want to call and bug them. I kinda wish they would call you proactively based on how many miles you're racking up to let you know it's that time again... especially considering the MS doesn't have any kind of maintenance "minder" like most other cars..

 

[JonathanD]

I know my local service center is pretty busy, is it really necessary to take it to them just for tire rotation? I mean any half decent shop should be able to rotate and torque the lugs to specification, yes?

 

[Chipper]

I know my local service center is pretty busy, is it really necessary to take it to them just for tire rotation? I mean any half decent shop should be able to rotate and torque the lugs to specification, yes?

Since I am a couple of hours away from the Service Center, I bought the unlimited rotation at Sam's Club. It was $48 if I recall and good for the life of the car. I have already used it twice.

 

[SeminoleFSU]

I know my local service center is pretty busy, is it really necessary to take it to them just for tire rotation? I mean any half decent shop should be able to rotate and torque the lugs to specification, yes?

I've thought this before- but since these wheels scrape so easily I don't know if I'm ready to let Joe schmo down the street handle it... and I'd have to pay for it, when I already have paid for it once with my pre-paid service...

 

[RiverBrick]

I know my local service center is pretty busy, is it really necessary to take it to them just for tire rotation? I mean any half decent shop should be able to rotate and torque the lugs to specification, yes?

I'm imagine a competent shop can take care it, but it's not the least bit unreasonable to ask Tesla to do the work, considering it's included in the high-priced service plan. Also, aren't there some wear and adjustment issues particular to Model S tires that would be better spotted and handled at a service center than at an outside shop?

 

[jerry33]

Also, aren't there some wear and adjustment issues particular to Model S tires that would be better spotted and handled at a service center than at an outside shop?

Any competent tire person should be able to spot tire wear issues. The key word here is "competent". It's a lot like the recipe for rabbit stew: first catch a rabbit.

 

[paulkva]

For what it's worth, the Rockville service center told me all tire rotations are free (well, included), and I did not purchase the prepaid service plan. I presume they mean only rotations for tires purchased from and installed by Tesla, but I didn't ask. I also didn't ask about mileage recommendations for 21"s since my wheels are 19".

 

[iffatall]

From what I have read in various threads here, the response from SCs regarding this has been very random. I have read all possible responses.

My own experience with the Sunnyvale CA center: They said the first one was complementary. This is my first rotation, so I did not ask further questions. I do have the (extended) service plan.

 

[yobigd20]

Tires should really get rotated every 3-5k miles. This is by tire manufacturer specifications. If you don't rotate often, the treads will form an uneven wear pattern and wear out prematurely. This is like Tires 101 for noobs. If you wait until 12k miles by then the tires have already formed a good uneven wear pattern and rotating that late is too late to reverse the effects. Basically if you wait that long you are screwed. The first tire rotation is the most critical to get as early as possible so the tires from a correct even wear pattern for the rest of the tires life. You should really rotate at the first 3k mile market and every 5k after that. I rotated my first time that early and I got 48k miles out of my 19s and I still had decent 4/32" when I upgraded my wheels and tires. I could have drawn it out another 7-10k miles (55k-58k) if I wanted to.

Honestly one of the "problems" is that because there is no required 3-5k "oil change" forcing people to bring it into a shop where tires would also rotated at the same time in their old ICE cars, people are forgetting that yes you do need to rotate your tires often in a Model S!! Doohhhhh

 

[jerry33]

A first early rotation is correct, although the best wear happens when you do the rotation between 1500 and 2000 miles. 3000 is a bit too long. The idea is to give every tire a turn on the drive axle so that an even wear pattern can be set up. After that, assuming the car is properly aligned, it's not so important and rotating to keep the tread depth even is the goal. More frequent rotation doesn't hurt but it really shouldn't be necessary.

The trick is getting the car aligned properly to start with. Many cars have the alignment thrown out during transport, so it's a very good idea to make sure the car is aligned properly when new.