Wheel Rash Protection

[Blu Zap]

How the wheel bands look

I have 21"s, so rim rash is on the horizon. I do have Wheel bands and thankfully they have save all four of my rims. Two were damaged in a carwash that I will not go back to, but the rims are okay. The two rims on the other side did hit the curb. One rim did get damaged through the wheel band. But the new band covered it up, so it cannot be seen. All in all, I have been through my first set of wheel bands. I did replace them with extra track from the first kit. I could reuse the old bands.

These things are great A pain to repair, the major part is to remove the previous track adhesive with rubbing alcohol on a rag. That is a tedious procedure. But once done, those bands stick very well and are a huge protection for our rims! And no issue with the rim/tire connection.

Here is a pic of the silver tracks and silver bands on the silver 21" turbines. I chose not to have an accent color. Although red would have highlighted the red brake calipers.

 

[Zroiron]

I have had three incidents with kissing curbs in the last year and Wheel Bands have save my bacon on two of those occasions. I'm ready to reorder another set but I'm holding out until I replace the tires (25,000 miles on 21 inch Conti's) later this year. They really work! I've used Goo Gone to remove the track adhesive and it's a tedious process!

I have 21"s, so rim rash is on the horizon. I do have Wheel bands and thankfully they have save all four of my rims. Two were damaged in a carwash that I will not go back to, but the rims are okay. The two rims on the other side did hit the curb. One rim did get damaged through the wheel band. But the new band covered it up, so it cannot be seen. All in all, I have been through my first set of wheel bands. I did replace them with extra track from the first kit. I could reuse the old bands.

These things are great A pain to repair, the major part is to remove the previous track adhesive with rubbing alcohol on a rag. That is a tedious procedure. But once done, those bands stick very well and are a huge protection for our rims! And no issue with the rim/tire connection.

Here is a pic of the silver tracks and silver bands on the silver 21" turbines. I chose not to have an accent color. Although red would have highlighted the red brake calipers.

View attachment 84602

 

[ZTrekus]

It's nice to hear other people's stories about WheelBands working. Makes me feel less like a pioneer.

Hey Blu Zap, those silver bands are invisible! If that is what you wanted, then well done. Love the colour of your car. I chose that colour too. The background of that photo is quite interesting. Tesla outside a barn door.

I can't understand why people who spend so much on a car, as well as so much on non standard wheels, don't spend a little more to protect them. They ought to come stock standard with the car IMHO.

mhh says he will repair the wheel when he damages it. But the truth is that that is a major pain in the derrière. From taking the car in, to whatever wait is required whilst they send your wheel off, min 24 hrs, but could be days if they have to send it somewhere. And then they flog you something like min $500- could be more. And what about the swearing and cursing that goes on as soon as you hear the ssscccrraaaaaapppeeee. That in itself is enough to ruin your day. PLUS with wheelbands, you also get a little peace of mind when your better half takes the car for a spin as well.

 

[Blu Zap]

@ZTrekus +1
BTW still Thursday night in California and Friday morning for you in NSW.
I did go for the "Can't see 'em" bands. So they are a good blend with the silver rims. The factory blue is a great color. As you know, It turns to black in some lighting, I love that. As far as the background, this is a winery in Sonoma County, California. The barn happens to be across the parking lot from the tasting room and always good light for a photo in the afternoon.

Back to topic, I am a believer in wheel bands as they do work. I got mine from Evannex. They have great customer service. If you are looking for replacement parts, contact them directly. They will work a deal.

Meanwhile, since I have been through the pain of replacing/repairing the wheel bands, I take even more caution in parking next to a curb. The tilting mirrors in reverse are a great help!

Good thread between Australia and the US!

 

[mhh]

I like the invisible effect of the silver ones. I might look at that. i'm not sure of my ability to install though. Most of my DIY efforts around the house end up costing more $ than I was saving.

 

[Mark E]

I can't understand why people who spend so much on a car, as well as so much on non standard wheels, don't spend a little more to protect them. They ought to come stock standard with the car IMHO.

With 21's maybe, but having damaged a wheel twice in the last 20 years it's not a huge priority. I'm very careful in carparks where you can't see the kerbs, but reverse parking with the tilting mirrors is a doddle.

 

[ZTrekus]

@ZTrekus +1
BTW still Thursday night in California and Friday morning for you in NSW.
I did go for the "Can't see 'em" bands. So they are a good blend with the silver rims. The factory blue is a great color. As you know, It turns to black in some lighting, I love that. As far as the background, this is a winery in Sonoma County, California. The barn happens to be across the parking lot from the tasting room and always good light for a photo in the afternoon.

Back to topic, I am a believer in wheel bands as they do work. I got mine from Evannex. They have great customer service. If you are looking for replacement parts, contact them directly. They will work a deal.

Meanwhile, since I have been through the pain of replacing/repairing the wheel bands, I take even more caution in parking next to a curb. The tilting mirrors in reverse are a great help!

Good thread between Australia and the US!

A really beautiful picture. Love the cloudless sky and the blue Tesla along side the red of the barn. Judging by your comment that it is afternoon, and the amount of light left in the day (couldn't be too near dusk... Probably 3ish) and where the shadow of the car is... My best guess is that the car is facing NNW?

 

[Adapptor]

I scraped two rears (21 inch greys) and researched the hell out of possible solutions including guards and remodelling. Settled on a DIY light repair using wet and dry sand paper and touch up paint stick (primer and finish coat). Certainly not perfect but covers up the horrible white grazes (which really stand out on a grey wheel) and can now only be noticed at very close inspection. Also, it only costs $30 and takes less than 1 hour to do the job yourself.

 

[ZTrekus]

I scraped two rears (21 inch greys) and researched the hell out of possible solutions including guards and remodelling. Settled on a DIY light repair using wet and dry sand paper and touch up paint stick (primer and finish coat). Certainly not perfect but covers up the horrible white grazes (which really stand out on a grey wheel) and can now only be noticed at very close inspection. Also, it only costs $30 and takes less than 1 hour to do the job yourself.

That is very interesting. I didn't know that that was an option. I know professional people can fix your chrome for around $450 or so. But I would seriously think about getting some elcheapo WheelBands. Personally I like the coloured ones, they look like the car is wearing sports shoes. But as Blue Zap shows, the silver WheelBands are invisible.

when my Tesla arrives, I shall upload a photo. For that I got a black insert in a red track for a blue car. Saw a picture of that on Teslerati and expect that it will look really cool.

 

[Higgy]

I scraped two rears (21 inch greys) and researched the hell out of possible solutions including guards and remodelling. Settled on a DIY light repair using wet and dry sand paper and touch up paint stick (primer and finish coat). Certainly not perfect but covers up the horrible white grazes (which really stand out on a grey wheel) and can now only be noticed at very close inspection. Also, it only costs $30 and takes less than 1 hour to do the job yourself.

Hi Adapptor, was this a kit? and where/what touch up did you use?

 

[Adapptor]

Hi Adapptor, was this a kit? and where/what touch up did you use?

Not a kit. I went to Super Cheap Auto and bought this and this (plus some varying grade wet and dry sand paper).

I have the grey turbines and the gunmetal grey colour was the closest match. You can also buy official Tesla touch up paints (with exact wheel colours) from their website. The only reason I didn't do this was urgency of fix required (RAC photo shoot) and likely wait time for Tesla to ship.

Will consider getting the official colour if/when I graze the wheel again. Will also do better prep work on the sanding to taken more of the rough edge off the graze. Very happy with the general outcome though. Like I said the grey wheels look particularly bad when scraped due to the contrasting colour beneath the surface. I can at least now sleep at night and not get upset every time I wash the car : )

 

[Higgy]

Thanks :smile:

 

[Keiron]

I need to give this a go too.. Must drop by and have a look at your solution Higgy.- I coped a few rocks on a gravel road outside of Bendigo a week ago and its left quiet a few abrasions. Interestingly I cant find a single stone chip on the mudguards. Probably time to repolish the ''Beast".

 

[ZTrekus]

It's official - WheelBands work and saved my wheel.

Last night, had dinner at some relatives' place. Used the auto park feature on the i3. That worked find except that it parked me a few millimetres from the gutter AND the gutter happened to be extremely high... like half way to the knee kind of thing.

Anyway, when I was pulling out and carefully watching my back wheels in the computer console, I crunched my front passenger wheel. Terrible scrape. Went home and saw that the wheel band was mangled and half off. This morning, I replaced the wheel band track. I used the same orange insert but turned it around so that the mangled bit couldn't be seen. Below is a picture of the black track that was taken off and mangled (It is next to the wheel with the new track put on).

The photo below shows an ever so slight scratch on the allow - it is about the size of a cut fingernail. I only mention it to show how well the WheelBand actually protected the wheel. In fact there were comparatively much worse rashes on the wheel that I was prepared to live with thanks to BMW Sydney which I am kicking myself for not jumping up and down about at the time!