Moderator comment - thread renamed from "WARNING! Aero caps damage alloys!" - caps -> covers
So after 7 months and 7k miles I decided to take off my aero caps to clean and with a view to maybe leaving them off.
I was rather upset when I saw what they have done to my alloys.
The aero caps clip to the spokes of the wheels and the wheel centre and that part of the system seems to work pretty well the problems comes where they touch against the front of the wheel. The wheel has several pads built into it where the wheel is designed to touch the surface but it reality it touches in several other places as well including most of the way around the very edge of the rim. At all of these touch points and around the rim of the cap it has caused significant damage to the wheel surface.
The wheels themselves are undercoated in a very dark grey or black then painted anthracite and lacquered. They are clearly not powder coated which is part of the problem since that is much tougher.
Where the caps have rubbed on the wheel, in some places it is just the lacquer that is scuffed and can easily be touched up but in others the abrasion is all the way through to the undercoat.
It probably doesn't look quite as bad in reality as the attached photos make it look but its not good.
To try to stop further damage I have used a Dremel type tool to grind down the inside edge of the rim of the Aero cap ( which is very sharp BTW) and all of the touch points. Since the touch points are probably needed I have then built them up again with padded tape. I am hoping that this mod will prevent further damage. I mean I could go to Tesla about it but I am sure it would be considered "fleet standard or something"
Anyway I wanted to warn others. If you have Aeros and think you might take them off at any point you might want to do it sooner rather than later while your wheels are still in good condition. You could also try my mod but I can't say yet whether it will actually help at all or have any downside. I have done 1000 miles since the mod and no evidence so far that it has made things worse at least.
So after 7 months and 7k miles I decided to take off my aero caps to clean and with a view to maybe leaving them off.
I was rather upset when I saw what they have done to my alloys.
The aero caps clip to the spokes of the wheels and the wheel centre and that part of the system seems to work pretty well the problems comes where they touch against the front of the wheel. The wheel has several pads built into it where the wheel is designed to touch the surface but it reality it touches in several other places as well including most of the way around the very edge of the rim. At all of these touch points and around the rim of the cap it has caused significant damage to the wheel surface.
The wheels themselves are undercoated in a very dark grey or black then painted anthracite and lacquered. They are clearly not powder coated which is part of the problem since that is much tougher.
Where the caps have rubbed on the wheel, in some places it is just the lacquer that is scuffed and can easily be touched up but in others the abrasion is all the way through to the undercoat.
It probably doesn't look quite as bad in reality as the attached photos make it look but its not good.
To try to stop further damage I have used a Dremel type tool to grind down the inside edge of the rim of the Aero cap ( which is very sharp BTW) and all of the touch points. Since the touch points are probably needed I have then built them up again with padded tape. I am hoping that this mod will prevent further damage. I mean I could go to Tesla about it but I am sure it would be considered "fleet standard or something"
Anyway I wanted to warn others. If you have Aeros and think you might take them off at any point you might want to do it sooner rather than later while your wheels are still in good condition. You could also try my mod but I can't say yet whether it will actually help at all or have any downside. I have done 1000 miles since the mod and no evidence so far that it has made things worse at least.
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