Cnixon
Member
My AWD rears wear significantly faster than fronts. I am ready for rears soon 20k ish but fronts look like they will do double. Drive in Chill most of the time. Was planning on front to back swap.
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- Thread starter Bootneckshuffl
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There’s a frustrating amount of misinformation out there about tyre rotation, and Tesla / Elon don’t help the matter.
I think it comes down to personal preference (just like replacing tyres - I’d much rather rotate rear to front at the appropriate point in time and do one appointment to have all 4 new tyres done at once so they bed evenly etc. than have to do that twice).
The EU-U.K. Model Y service intervals (in the official manual, which is what would be referred to by any service department or warranty department) specifically mention rotating tyres every 6k miles or so, or sooner if you see a tread differential above a certain level. Tweets are not binding, Elon is giving his opinion on Twitter. It’s fun when he confirms or debunks stuff, but his tweets are not official company policy statements, anyone would tell you this.
I can’t say I’ve ever stuck to that guidance fastidiously in any car, not that I will definitely rotate them at 6k miles, but there it is. They never sold the SR+ in Europe so we can assume this applies to the LR.
Also, just because a car is AWD does not mean torque is being applied to all four wheels evenly all the time. Depending on road conditions and driving style there will be a corner or front to rear bias… such is the nature of traction control on these cars. In fact most AWD systems are set up in order to give a favourably sporty driving feel and reduce under steer, which often means a rear bias whenever possible, and a front rear balance or front bias when rear traction is limited. Or am I missing something?
I think it comes down to personal preference (just like replacing tyres - I’d much rather rotate rear to front at the appropriate point in time and do one appointment to have all 4 new tyres done at once so they bed evenly etc. than have to do that twice).
The EU-U.K. Model Y service intervals (in the official manual, which is what would be referred to by any service department or warranty department) specifically mention rotating tyres every 6k miles or so, or sooner if you see a tread differential above a certain level. Tweets are not binding, Elon is giving his opinion on Twitter. It’s fun when he confirms or debunks stuff, but his tweets are not official company policy statements, anyone would tell you this.
I can’t say I’ve ever stuck to that guidance fastidiously in any car, not that I will definitely rotate them at 6k miles, but there it is. They never sold the SR+ in Europe so we can assume this applies to the LR.
Also, just because a car is AWD does not mean torque is being applied to all four wheels evenly all the time. Depending on road conditions and driving style there will be a corner or front to rear bias… such is the nature of traction control on these cars. In fact most AWD systems are set up in order to give a favourably sporty driving feel and reduce under steer, which often means a rear bias whenever possible, and a front rear balance or front bias when rear traction is limited. Or am I missing something?
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Of course. There was a spurious reference to equal wear in a post above which is not accurate. AWD shifts the drive around according to circumstances but you will always end up with more wear on the back.
You are not missing something. It is as you describe... so the rears will wear faster on AWD and, as you say, it's a choice as to whether you swap them around or not. My view is that it's an American car so it comes with their usual tyre rotation advice (that can be applied to all cars). I don't think there's anything special about a Tesla that makes it different. (For folks who are swapping winter tyres anyway it provides the opportunity to put the least worn pair on the back of course.)
TJ63
Member
I had a Tesla chap working on my car last week, replacing both front upper suspension arms (already!). I asked him about tyre rotation, and he said it should have been done at 2.5k miles! Oops - a bit late for me at 12,000. He also said that it has to be done by Tesla - not really sure why. How hard can it be?
Terry F
Model 3 owner
I haven't seen anybody mention braking! Surely acceleration, steering and braking all use grip and so impact tyre wear, so the more acceleration, braking and hard cornering you do the faster the tyres wear. Just look at the F1 tyre changes!
I used to drive a 250 mile round trip at least once and often twice per week and mostly at a steady 60-70mph with another 30-50 miles local driving during each week (18k miles per year), I always got at least 40k miles out of a set of tyres as I was not being hard on them. It was BMW RWD so the rears always went first, but not by that much. The bigger issue was uneven wear caused by the front wheel alignment going out and ending up with 2mm tread depth on the outside and yet 4mm still on the inside edge, or vice versa. AFAIK rotating the wheels will not fix such an issue.
I used to drive a 250 mile round trip at least once and often twice per week and mostly at a steady 60-70mph with another 30-50 miles local driving during each week (18k miles per year), I always got at least 40k miles out of a set of tyres as I was not being hard on them. It was BMW RWD so the rears always went first, but not by that much. The bigger issue was uneven wear caused by the front wheel alignment going out and ending up with 2mm tread depth on the outside and yet 4mm still on the inside edge, or vice versa. AFAIK rotating the wheels will not fix such an issue.
So he hasn't read the manual then?
You'll find that the techs can't always be relied upon for accurate information.
And many cars (BMW) have different sizes front and rear so rotating not an option. Agree that front wear is mostly tracking related and even if tracking is good there’s often more wear on the outside of the front.
Louis0w
Member
Most of the time the dual motor AWD models run on the rear, permanent magnet, motor only as it’s more efficient than the front induction motor. Our AWD cars are essentially RWD, only using AWD when either the conditions or acceleration require both motors. Hence the completely expected faster tyre wear on the rear.
Just re-read the manual (was looking for something else) and I note that's its just a recommendation:
Much the same as they recommend installing updates as soon as they are available or using winter tyres if driving in cold temperatures.
So I can't see you having any service or warranty issues by not rotating your tyres if they are above the legal tread limit. More to the point, how would they ever know you hadn't rotated them?
It won't really save you money or make you any more safe. It'll just delay the inevitable replacement of all 4 tyres. Might prevent you from doing this though
The point is to avoid ending up with a grip imbalance and helps make wet weather driving less dangerous. It’s 100% a good practice for safety.It won't really save you money or make you any more safe. It'll just delay the inevitable replacement of all 4 tyres. Might prevent you from doing this though
Cnixon
Member
Mmm... mines just had both upper suspension arms changed too. Looks like this problem is not going away. Is this going to be a regular visit to SC..much like ICE have oil changes only more costly out of warranty?
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