Uggh, tired of flat tires, suggestion for wheel/tire combination 18 vs 19"

[Mr Limpet]

OK, was not looking forward to having to post this thread. I have had my 2022 M3P since the end of February and I am on my 3rd flat. I have had a total of 1 flat in the preceding 12 yrs in my Tacoma, when I took it off road, in 2010.
Done with this. First flat was going past a huge accident, with glass spewed across the highway, and slow leak. Second was a huge nail, about a month ago, and finally yesterday I got a warning light on the way to work and my pressure was down to 26#. Thankfully I was only a few miles from the house and was able to go home and swap vehicles. This morning pressure was down to 23# and when I took the tire off the car I found a 1" metal brad in the tread. I have been blessed that all three incidences occurring while either I was close to home or home and I was able to remove the tire and either fix it myself or have it repaired.
I know these cars are heavy and anything on the road will potentially be a foreign body in the tire, but did I mention I am DONE....
I have decided that the Uberturbine wheels and 20" tires are the devil. Call it bad luck or time catching up with me, but I am DONE....So I am looking to find a wheel/tire size that will be a bit more amenable to handling the garbage of the road, but I am uncertain if 18 or 19 inch is more accommodating.
Looking for some guidance as far as road comfort, noise and the ability of the tires to handle road trash.
@TSportline any recommendations?
Thank your for reading my rant.
signed
Urberturbines are the devil

 

[canasion35]

OK, was not looking forward to having to post this thread. I have had my 2022 M3P since the end of February and I am on my 3rd flat. I have had a total of 1 flat in the preceding 12 yrs in my Tacoma, when I took it off road, in 2010.
Done with this. First flat was going past a huge accident, with glass spewed across the highway, and slow leak. Second was a huge nail, about a month ago, and finally yesterday I got a warning light on the way to work and my pressure was down to 26#. Thankfully I was only a few miles from the house and was able to go home and swap vehicles. This morning pressure was down to 23# and when I took the tire off the car I found a 1" metal brad in the tread. I have been blessed that all three incidences occurring while either I was close to home or home and I was able to remove the tire and either fix it myself or have it repaired.
I know these cars are heavy and anything on the road will potentially be a foreign body in the tire, but did I mention I am DONE....
I have decided that the Uberturbine wheels and 20" tires are the devil. Call it bad luck or time catching up with me, but I am DONE....So I am looking to find a wheel/tire size that will be a bit more amenable to handling the garbage of the road, but I am uncertain if 18 or 19 inch is more accommodating.
Looking for some guidance as far as road comfort, noise and the ability of the tires to handle road trash.
Thank your for reading my rant.
signed
Urberturbines are the devil

I'll trade you my v2 19' sport wheels.

 

[jwharnish]

18's is what I been on since day 1. Been a few times I had to check if rims were damaged from road issues. 43k no flats yet.

 

[Mr Limpet]

I'll trade you my v2 19' sport wheels.

Possible, one wheel has a bit of road rash at the very top of the rim. A second got a little rash from the handle of my torque wrench today. I have a repair kit for it......

 

[roblab]

Flat tires are caused by junk in the road, which pretty much depends on where you drive. When my neighbor was building, several of us got leaks and flats. But any more, I'm just glad for the tire pressure indicator and flat indicator on my dash, which generally allow me to check and repair before there's a problem.

I carry a plug kit in my trunk, and I know how to use it. Any significant loss of pressure in a tire and I fill it up to 50 lbs next time I'm in my garage, spread soapy water on the tire to look for bubbles, and when I find the hole, I plug it. Tire and rim stay on the car, and the whole process takes less than 15 minutes. Plug kits do not work for holes in sidewalls, but nearly all leaks and holes are in the tread, so if it's a sidewall, you're pretty much going to have to buy a new tire. That scenario has happened once in four Teslas, with over 250,000 miles of driving, so it's not often.

 

[stopcrazypp]

OK, was not looking forward to having to post this thread. I have had my 2022 M3P since the end of February and I am on my 3rd flat. I have had a total of 1 flat in the preceding 12 yrs in my Tacoma, when I took it off road, in 2010.
Done with this. First flat was going past a huge accident, with glass spewed across the highway, and slow leak. Second was a huge nail, about a month ago, and finally yesterday I got a warning light on the way to work and my pressure was down to 26#. Thankfully I was only a few miles from the house and was able to go home and swap vehicles. This morning pressure was down to 23# and when I took the tire off the car I found a 1" metal brad in the tread. I have been blessed that all three incidences occurring while either I was close to home or home and I was able to remove the tire and either fix it myself or have it repaired.
I know these cars are heavy and anything on the road will potentially be a foreign body in the tire, but did I mention I am DONE....
I have decided that the Uberturbine wheels and 20" tires are the devil. Call it bad luck or time catching up with me, but I am DONE....So I am looking to find a wheel/tire size that will be a bit more amenable to handling the garbage of the road, but I am uncertain if 18 or 19 inch is more accommodating.
Looking for some guidance as far as road comfort, noise and the ability of the tires to handle road trash.
@TSportline any recommendations?
Thank your for reading my rant.
signed
Urberturbines are the devil

I thought you were getting damage from potholes, which the wheel size would play a role in. But none of your flats appear to have anything to do with the wheel size. I don't see how switching to 18-19 inch wheels would have made any difference in those examples.

 

[Candleflame]

I (used to) drive a lot in the Australian outbreak.
Get 18" rims (if you dont like the aero look get yourself some uberturbine covers from aliexpress or orbitals) and drive with slightly increased pressurs i.e. 45-47psi cold.

Your car will eat potholes and nails for breakfast.

 

[Candleflame]

Flat tires are caused by junk in the road, which pretty much depends on where you drive. When my neighbor was building, several of us got leaks and flats. But any more, I'm just glad for the tire pressure indicator and flat indicator on my dash, which generally allow me to check and repair before there's a problem.

I carry a plug kit in my trunk, and I know how to use it. Any significant loss of pressure in a tire and I fill it up to 50 lbs next time I'm in my garage, spread soapy water on the tire to look for bubbles, and when I find the hole, I plug it. Tire and rim stay on the car, and the whole process takes less than 15 minutes. Plug kits do not work for holes in sidewalls, but nearly all leaks and holes are in the tread, so if it's a sidewall, you're pretty much going to have to buy a new tire. That scenario has happened once in four Teslas, with over 250,000 miles of driving, so it's not often.

its largely a result of of course the crappy road conditions but also that people dont want sidewall anymore and drive around with these skinny tires. Of course thats inappropriate. The Model 3 should come with 17" rims and at that point itd be equivalent to other touring rims. 20" tires are for the looks and european roads but you are just asking for flats ,explosions, sidewallbreaks etc in the USA or Australia.

 

[Mr Limpet]

Flat tires are caused by junk in the road, which pretty much depends on where you drive. When my neighbor was building, several of us got leaks and flats. But any more, I'm just glad for the tire pressure indicator and flat indicator on my dash, which generally allow me to check and repair before there's a problem.

I carry a plug kit in my trunk, and I know how to use it. Any significant loss of pressure in a tire and I fill it up to 50 lbs next time I'm in my garage, spread soapy water on the tire to look for bubbles, and when I find the hole, I plug it. Tire and rim stay on the car, and the whole process takes less than 15 minutes. Plug kits do not work for holes in sidewalls, but nearly all leaks and holes are in the tread, so if it's a sidewall, you're pretty much going to have to buy a new tire. That scenario has happened once in four Teslas, with over 250,000 miles of driving, so it's not often.

Thank you for your reply. I have a plug kit and luckily I was able to do the last 2 leaks. Took me about 15-20 minute. Damn those plugs are tough to push in......
lots of lube and full body weight and I was grunting

 

[Mr Limpet]

its largely a result of of course the crappy road conditions but also that people dont want sidewall anymore and drive around with these skinny tires. Of course thats inappropriate. The Model 3 should come with 17" rims and at that point itd be equivalent to other touring rims. 20" tires are for the looks and european roads but you are just asking for flats ,explosions, sidewallbreaks etc in the USA or Australia.

As I said originally, call it bad luck or whatever you want but 3 flats in 7 months is a bit over the top considering I have had1 flat in 12 years.
.The wheels and tires are just bad luck at this point, I need to change them out, more for comfort than anything, but hoping I have better juju with more side wall and less firm tires.

 

[Petermcg]

Thank you for your reply. I have a plug kit and luckily I was able to do the last 2 leaks. Took me about 15-20 minute. Damn those plugs are tough to push in......
lots of lube and full body weight and I was grunting

I had two flats in the first ten days of owning my M3. I used my plug kit and inflator to fix them in my garage. You’re right about pushing in the plug taking a lot of effort. I can’t imagine doing that on the side of a busy highway. I now carry the Modern Spare kit as well as my compressor and plug kit. Haven’t had a flat since I purchased it.

 

[Candleflame]

As I said originally, call it bad luck or whatever you want but 3 flats in 7 months is a bit over the top considering I have had1 flat in 12 years.
.The wheels and tires are just bad luck at this point, I need to change them out, more for comfort than anything, but hoping I have better juju with more side wall and less firm tires.

honestly from talking to people who also used to live rurally with their various model 3 trims the 20" rims are just asking for flats. Especially potholes they cant deal with at all. id say one flat every 2500-5000km or so is normal if you drive rurally.

 

[firstkill]

if you don’t mind giving up traction. Just get the 18 with non sport tires. The sticker the tire the more chance you will pick up debris.

Otherwise it’s just bad luck with where your driving.

 

[Lindenwood]

Feel free to change the wheels, but none of those flats were caused by the Uberturbine wheel combo.

 

[sTuKat]

I managed 5K on the Ubers and just switched to 235/45-18 high-performance all-season Perelli elects with Tsportline wheels for the rural roads in CT. Early returns are I will not be switching back to the Ubers. The handling is excellent. They add a small amount of firmness to the ride which I appreciate. Recessed sewer plates no longer have me holding my breath. The steering is heavier also much to what I prefer. There is just a very small amount of additional noise from the tires. Efficiency is improved if it happens to be a day when my right foot feels tired , which is not very often. I literally still look forward to my daily fix, err ride.

 

[Apprunner]

I managed 5K on the Ubers and just switched to 235/45-18 high-performance all-season Perelli elects with Tsportline wheels for the rural roads in CT. Early returns are I will not be switching back to the Ubers. The handling is excellent. They add a small amount of firmness to the ride which I appreciate. Recessed sewer plates no longer have me holding my breath. The steering is heavier also much to what I prefer. There is just a very small amount of additional noise from the tires. Efficiency is improved if it happens to be a day when my right foot feels tired , which is not very often. I literally still look forward to my daily fix, err ride.

I got the 18s in December with PS4s tires. I had the older 20s and had a couple pothole induced flats. Switching to the 18s has been the best mod i've done to the car yet. Its a noticeable and significant upgrade IMO...noticeably better ride quality, a bit more efficiency, and they will be much cheaper to replace. I also think the the faux arachnid wheels look way better than stock too

 

[tm1v2]

18s will be much less likely to give you cracked or bent wheels, or pinch flats. Both are real issues with super short sidewalls on big Tesla wheels. But @Lindenwood is right that they won't help with the debris-induced flats @Mr Limpet mentioned. At least, I don't see why wheel diameter / tire sidewall would matter for handling road debris.

 

[jackmott]

The kinds of flats you are getting would happen with 18" or 19" wheels/tire too. However the tires would be cheaper!

 

[Gasaraki]

OK, was not looking forward to having to post this thread. I have had my 2022 M3P since the end of February and I am on my 3rd flat. I have had a total of 1 flat in the preceding 12 yrs in my Tacoma, when I took it off road, in 2010.
Done with this. First flat was going past a huge accident, with glass spewed across the highway, and slow leak. Second was a huge nail, about a month ago, and finally yesterday I got a warning light on the way to work and my pressure was down to 26#. Thankfully I was only a few miles from the house and was able to go home and swap vehicles. This morning pressure was down to 23# and when I took the tire off the car I found a 1" metal brad in the tread. I have been blessed that all three incidences occurring while either I was close to home or home and I was able to remove the tire and either fix it myself or have it repaired.
I know these cars are heavy and anything on the road will potentially be a foreign body in the tire, but did I mention I am DONE....
I have decided that the Uberturbine wheels and 20" tires are the devil. Call it bad luck or time catching up with me, but I am DONE....So I am looking to find a wheel/tire size that will be a bit more amenable to handling the garbage of the road, but I am uncertain if 18 or 19 inch is more accommodating.
Looking for some guidance as far as road comfort, noise and the ability of the tires to handle road trash.
@TSportline any recommendations?
Thank your for reading my rant.
signed
Urberturbines are the devil

A smaller tire will not help in your situations...

 

[tm1v2]

A smaller tire will not help in your situations...

@Gasaraki Maybe skinny tires would though! Less likely to run over the debris. @Mr Limpet BMW has the solution.

(I'm kidding, please don't sell your Model 3 for an i3.)