Wheel alignment / tire wear

[cpf01]

Like many others, I had extreme wear on the inside of the rear tires. Even though I checked them regularly, I didn't see it as it was right on the edge, then I had them rotated and therefore ruined 4 tires with tons of rubber left.

Once I finally notice it, I brought it to Tesla for a 4 wheel alignment. I've attached an image of the alignment (they couldn't provide an electronic copy.) Would someone please comment if it all looks good? Don't want to ruin more tires.

I bought 2 tires for the rear, Goodyear OEM, since they were making so much noise, but I'm a little uncomfortable regarding how the tire shop changed the tires. They drove the car on a lift and used a built into the lift, a component that raises out of the lift and raised the car via the rear control arms. Is this just another approved method to remove tires?

Thank you.

 

[TLLMRRJ]

For reducing rear tire wear, the before looks better to me than the after.

 

[cpf01]

For reducing rear tire wear, the before looks better to me than the after.

That's not good.

 

[TLLMRRJ]

That's not good.

What Model S do you have?

 

[cpf01]

2017 75D

 

[Plaidness]

They basically didn't fix the problem, which is that there is too much negative camber in the rear. Maybe you should try another independent alignment shop.

 

[cpf01]

Ok, great, thanks, will do.

 

[TLLMRRJ]

2017 75D

I didn't think the pre-refresh had the horrible rear inner tire wear that plagues especially the Plaid's with 21" wheels?

 

[cpf01]

The report is showing everything in green. Is it wrong? What should the rear numbers be to prevent inner wear?

 

[TLLMRRJ]

I don't know what the specs should be for the 2017, but if I was having rear tire wear, I would rather the rear toe was very close to zero, like the before, than close to half a degree in the after.

 

[maximizese]

Looks fine to me but I'm no expert. The tire wear issue is most commonly caused by toe issues (think of how one slows down when skiing...you turn the skis inward creating a plow). Toe-in is essentially similar. The other common cause is excessive camber but that appears to be in spec and the rear is not adjustable without aftermarket parts. One thing you could do is compare your average energy consumption both before and after the wheel alignment, I would think the average before the alignment would be at least 15Wh/mi higher.

Model S Owner's Manual | Tesla

Understand the various wheel and tire specifications for your vehicle.

www.tesla.com

 

[TLLMRRJ]

Looks fine to me but I'm no expert. The tire wear issue is most commonly caused by toe issues (think of how one slows down when skiing...you turn the skis inward creating a plow). Toe-in is essentially similar. The other common cause is excessive camber but that appears to be in spec and the rear is not adjustable without aftermarket parts. One thing you could do is compare your average energy consumption both before and after the wheel alignment, I would think the average before the alignment would be at least 15Wh/mi higher.

Model S Owner's Manual | Tesla

Understand the various wheel and tire specifications for your vehicle.

www.tesla.com

What you posted shows that the rear toe for both air and spring suspensions should be toed IN approx.. 0.20 on each side, but his printout is toed OUT approx. 0.20 on each side.

 

[KalJoMoS]

Wasn’t the camber setting that had affect on the inner tire ware? Here is short description from already 2014. And the only solution had been aftermarket camber arms.

 

[airborne spoon]

Your rear camber and toe are trash. The Tesla spec is wrong, just because it's green and "in spec" doesn't mean it's good or even correct.

Here is what N2itive recommends and it's what I've had mine at for several years now and it handles perfectly and the tires wear evenly.

You will NOT be able to achieve this spec without installing aftermarket adjustable camber and toe arms. Because the stock ones are not adjustable they have an eccentric bolt and that is not nearly enough to get it fixed.

 

[rducharme]

I also had a set of 21" wheels wear out in 7K miles. Except for 1 or 2 times to see how it felt, I had the car in chill the entire time. On my other cars I would normally get 50-60K range on the tires. Based on discussions above and the service center telling me the rears are not adjustable, this appears to be a manufacturing defect. Has anyone contacted a lawyer about this yet?

 

[airborne spoon]

I also had a set of 21" wheels wear out in 7K miles. Except for 1 or 2 times to see how it felt, I had the car in chill the entire time. On my other cars I would normally get 50-60K range on the tires. Based on discussions above and the service center telling me the rears are not adjustable, this appears to be a manufacturing defect. Has anyone contacted a lawyer about this yet?

That's what's wrong with you people these days always wanna sue someone over every little thing. It's not a *sugar* that you'd win and it may even get thrown out as a frivolous lawsuit.

Just like every car on the road if you want to make it better than stock which is a pretty low standard by any company you need to buy aftermarket parts. So go buy yourself some @N2itive camber and toe arms then take it to a reputable Indy shop (Tesla won't align aftermarket parts, like most car companies) and get an alignment for like $125 and enjoy your car that now handles better and has longer lasting tires.

 

[maximizese]

What you posted shows that the rear toe for both air and spring suspensions should be toed IN approx.. 0.20 on each side, but his printout is toed OUT approx. 0.20 on each side.

View attachment 959669

I see what you're saying but what matters most is how the car drives and how the tires wear. In the printout referenced by the OP, the original setup looks like the front tires were the main culprit in premature tire wear from toe being so far out of spec, while the rear setup was fine. After the adjustments, the front look better but the rears look to be a little out. Again, I'm not an expert but I wouldn't be surprised if the tire wear was corrected even though the spec sheet looks the way it does. But if it was my car, I would take into a different shop for an alignment check. Oh and lifting by the control arms is a no-no on Teslas. There are specific lift-points and jackpads available.

 

[ChooseFreedom]

I didn't think the pre-refresh had the horrible rear inner tire wear that plagues especially the Plaid's with 21" wheels?

Friendly correction: 1st refresh was mid-'16. Debatable if the Plaid is considered a 2nd "refresh".
So this '17 would be a refresh model.

As for the OP's issue, I've heard it's worse with air suspension, less so with coils.
But I concur with @airborne spoon that the best (maybe only) way to fix is with aftermarket adjustables.

 

[TLLMRRJ]

I see what you're saying but what matters most is how the car drives and how the tires wear. In the printout referenced by the OP, the original setup looks like the front tires were the main culprit in premature tire wear from toe being so far out of spec, while the rear setup was fine. After the adjustments, the front look better but the rears look to be a little out. Again, I'm not an expert but I wouldn't be surprised if the tire wear was corrected even though the spec sheet looks the way it does. But if it was my car, I would take into a different shop for an alignment check. Oh and lifting by the control arms is a no-no on Teslas. There are specific lift-points and jackpads available.

What you just said doesn't jive at all with the OP: "Like many others, I had extreme wear on the inside of the rear tires."

 

[maximizese]

What you just said doesn't jive at all with the OP: "Like many others, I had extreme wear on the inside of the rear tires."

Right. So what I mean is that the printout of before doesn't look right from what the OP experienced, therefore I don't exactly trust the print of the after either. It's garbage-in garbage-out (GIGO), but what I'm saying is that there's a possibility that the after might have corrected the issue regardless of our interpretation of the printout. Might not be probable (again, I'm no wheel alignment expert), but it is possible especially since the before readout doesn't seem to make much sense. Again, if it was my car I would take it in for a 2nd opinion.