Tire Wear / Alignment - the bottom line?

[laalan]

I have the 21 in tires with the infamous inside edge wear. I am biting the bullet and putting new tires on and after reading through multiple pages on this I was wondering if there is a fix as I get close to my second service center visit for my first annual.

I meet strangers now that are aware of this infamous problem and just want the best advice on how to make the second set of tires last longer.

There must be a market for Tesla tires with extra rubber on the inside edges.

The car is awesome and the company is awesome, but I know someone has figured out a solution.

Thank you all in advance.

 

[FlasherZ]

Have the service center check your alignment and install the camber adjusting bolts as required to reduce negative camber.

 

[laalan]

Sounds easy. Wish they did that 5 months ago. Thank you

 

[laalan]

Annual service Thursday. I am encountering push back as to setting less aggressive camber. It appears that bad tire wear is something that comes with the S. 15,000 miles with worn edges doesn't seem to be an issue from a Tesla point of view. Stay tuned

 

[zwede]

Honestly, 15K miles for performance tires is expected. The cars with bad alignments were getting 5K-8K miles out of a set of rear tires.

I've had many performance cars over the years and never had tires last more than 15K miles.

There are tires that will last 20k or even 30k miles on a MS, but they will not be performance tires.

 

[FlasherZ]

Honestly, 15K miles for performance tires is expected. The cars with bad alignments were getting 5K-8K miles out of a set of rear tires.

I agree with this. In my case, I hadn't reached any wear bars on the contact surface of the tire but the inside shoulder of the tire was stripped to cords. Tesla measured my tires and found 5/32 of tread on the inside wear surface while the cords were exposed. That's the key to the premature wear. If you reach wear bars on any part of the surface, then you have a worn out tire.

 

[Kraken]

I had my alignment done after blowing the right rear on a pothole at that time. They found the alignment was out. I didn't check the left rear at that time fire inner wall wear, as the issue came to my attention after the car was in the shop. At 15k the alignment was still in good shape, but they updated it. They found inner wall wear on the left rear at this time. My guess is that it was pretty much the same as at 5k. The right rear showed no evidence of it after 10k on it. Both tires looked like they would last another 10-15k based on the rest of the wear patterns. My guess is that an initial fix of the alignment will solve all of these issues. The factory was/is just shipping them already out of alignment.

 

[FlasherZ]

In my case, it happened afterwards. In the early days of ownership, I had heard a fairly quiet "pop", like a traditional suspension bottoming out, as I pulled off the road and onto a steep driveway (V-channel gutter). After that, the car pulled a bit, so the service center did a re-alignment. Unfortunately, this was done when Hunter had the wrong specs for Model S in their alignment machine software, and it was set for a good amount of toe-out that just shredded the insides of the tires every 3-4k miles, while leaving a fairly new contact patch surface.

 

[vin]

Tire wear. So far I have been thrilled with my car and service. But tire wear (19") is annoying. I drive normally, not on a track, and have a commute on the freeway. My car at 18,500 miles needs new tires!
1) I asked if it was true that lowering the car (we have that option now wears out the tires faster. I was told yes. Yet Tesla never informed anyone of this and despite the many emails that Tesla is fond of sending out to it's customers, they never mentioned this even though this was a known issue. I know because when the software was very recently changed to allow customer choice, I asked someone.

2) When I first bought the car, I asked about rotation (normally on most cars every 4,000 miles). I was told that Tesla recommends rotation every 6,000 miles and that is what you manual said. I thought that was odd since I drove a BMW and was told that frequent rotation improves the life of the tires. But I was told to follow the official recommendation. Yet when I spoke with a service rep today, he told me that I should have been rotating my tires more often and that since I have the service plan and ranger service, there was no cost for this. This simply adds insult to injury since I was pushing for more frequent rotation and was told that the policy is 6,000 miles per the manual!

3) When I asked for a quote, I was told it was $450 for the two tires. The natural question is: what does it cost elsewhere? Currently, I am searching to look at my options.

I would be interested in others' experience and dealing with Tesla service. Seems that they are not being forthcoming.

 

[Chipper]

Tire wear. So far I have been thrilled with my car and service. But tire wear (19") is annoying. I drive normally, not on a track, and have a commute on the freeway. My car at 18,500 miles needs new tires!
1) I asked if it was true that lowering the car (we have that option now wears out the tires faster. I was told yes. Yet Tesla never informed anyone of this and despite the many emails that Tesla is fond of sending out to it's customers, they never mentioned this even though this was a known issue. I know because when the software was very recently changed to allow customer choice, I asked someone.

2) When I first bought the car, I asked about rotation (normally on most cars every 4,000 miles). I was told that Tesla recommends rotation every 6,000 miles and that is what you manual said. I thought that was odd since I drove a BMW and was told that frequent rotation improves the life of the tires. But I was told to follow the official recommendation. Yet when I spoke with a service rep today, he told me that I should have been rotating my tires more often and that since I have the service plan and ranger service, there was no cost for this. This simply adds insult to injury since I was pushing for more frequent rotation and was told that the policy is 6,000 miles per the manual!

3) When I asked for a quote, I was told it was $450 for the two tires. The natural question is: what does it cost elsewhere? Currently, I am searching to look at my options.

I would be interested in others' experience and dealing with Tesla service. Seems that they are not being forthcoming.

Hey, vin, first let me say welcome and I am glad you have joined the forum. Sorry your first post ended up being a rather negative one, but I know those on this forum will be able to answer any questions you have. Your first point I thought was almost humorous--not your issue, but the fact that you think Tesla is fond of sending out e-mails. Personally I wish Tesla would send far more. I am not sure I have had more than a handful of e-mails from Tesla. 18,500 miles on a set of 19" does seem quite low, especially since you were trying to be so careful rotating them and taking care of them. Had they been kept properly inflated? Did the serve center offer any other suggestions as to why they wore out this quickly? What Model S do you have? S? P? P+? 65? 85? Since you ahve the 19's I assume you do not have the +, right?
On your second point, I doubt whether 2,000 miles difference in a rotation would result in that great a variance in the need for tires. Were they wearing unevenly? Inside edge? Did service install the camber bolt upgrade?
Your third point really depends on where you are and what is available. Many on this forum have mentioned tirerack.com. You are certainly free to explore ALL your options in regard to tires.
I have had nothing but positive experiences with the Tesla service center in Marietta, GA and with Tesla in general. Yes, there have been some things that have been wrong, but they have ALWAYS bent over backwards for me to make them right. Sure hope you get the resolution that you are looking for here.

 

[jerry33]

3) When I asked for a quote, I was told it was $450 for the two tires. The natural question is: what does it cost elsewhere? Currently, I am searching to look at my options.

Depending upon which 19" tires they are $450 may be okay. However, many places have a road hazard warranty, which Tesla does not. With that low miles on the tires, the alignment is likely bad. Lowering the suspension won't wear out the tires that fast unless there are other alignment problems--such as no camber bolts and toe-out or too much toe-in.

The idea of rotation is so that all four tires will wear out at the same time. If you get only two new tires, be sure they are installed on the rear.