When to rotate tires? @annual inspection/12,500 or sooner? Who is doing it?

[yobigd20]

Ok, well the obvious answer is that everyone should be rotating tires according to the tire manufacturers recommendation in order to not void the tire's treadwear warranty. This is usually every 7500 miles.

Michielin - Tires should be rotated every six months or 6,000 to 8,000 miles. http://www.michelinman.com/tires-101/tire-care/tire-maintenance/tire-rotation.page
Goodyear - 3,000 mi-6,000 mi (that SUUUCKS and only another reason I hate Goodyear!) http://www.goodyear.com/en-US/services/tire-rotation
Continental - rotate your tires every 6,000 to 8,000 miles http://www.continentaltire.ca/www/t...emy/tire_service_maintenance/rotation_en.html

Obviously, (assuming you drive about 25000 miles/yr) if you wait until your 12,500 mile inspection, this is going to void the tire's manufacturer treadwear warranty. Plus, it will just wear out your tires much faster anyway. Not recommended....


So then .... what are all of you doing? Are you doing it every 6000-7500? Are you having this done by Tesla (does it cost anything?) Can you use their ranger service for this free of charge? (assuming you don't have 5th tire and they pick up and drop off), or are you bringing it to their service center? Do they charge for this?


Or are you just using a home (nearby) auto place? (they guy that you used to go to before you had the tesla?). Clearly, since you didn't buy the tires there...it's not free. (my place has always been "if you buy the tires here, rotation is always free").


Just wondering what everyone else's plan here is.

 

[FlasherZ]

I have always done my first rotation at 5k miles, then 6-8 afterwards. I do it myself.

I don't know if Tesla charges for this, but if they do I'd endorse using a local tire/wheel shop that knows what they're doing with *gulp* "high-performance" wheels. Some young teenager with an impact wrench cranked all the way up will be harmful. If you ask them how much torque they apply to the lugs when they tighten, and they say "huh?", move along.

 

[dsm363]

The service plan includes tire rotation twice a year I believe. What I was told at least.

 

[Zextraterrestrial]

I had mine rotated at around 3000 miles, they needed it
currently they are pretty even all around (after the last 3000)

 

[ModelS1079]

I have always done my first rotation at 5k miles, then 6-8 afterwards. I do it myself.

I don't know if Tesla charges for this, but if they do I'd endorse using a local tire/wheel shop that knows what they're doing with *gulp* "high-performance" wheels. Some young teenager with an impact wrench cranked all the way up will be harmful. If you ask them how much torque they apply to the lugs when they tighten, and they say "huh?", move along.

Okay Flasher Z, so how much Torque should thy apply? I gotta know the answer or I'll look really dumb asking...

 

[FlasherZ]

Okay Flasher Z, so how much Torque should thy apply? I gotta know the answer or I'll look really dumb asking...

175 N-m or 129 lbs-ft.

 

[Francis Lau]

I had mine rotated at around 3000 miles, they needed it
currently they are pretty even all around (after the last 3000)

Where did you rotate yours?

 

[stevezzzz]

I had my S at the Denver service center for a warranty repair and they rotated the tires (for free, since I told them I was planning to purchase the service plan) at 4800 miles. The tech found significant wear on the inside shoulders of the OEM rear tires on my stock 19" wheels and saw no reason to wait.

 

[Tommy]

My Tesla Service Center in Costa Mesa rotated my tires at 6,500 miles at no charge. They were very specific that the tires needed to be within 100 miles of that number. In talking with the service adviser, it was my understanding that tires would also be rotated again at the 12,500 mile service.

As a side note and more of a comment on how Tesla hasn't quite learned how to empower their employees to make independent decisions, I was told it had to be within 100 miles of 6,500 miles. I had about 6,000 miles on my car when I stopped at the service center to get them rotated and had to bring the car back the following week to get the tires rotated because I wasn't close enough to the 6,500 mile mark. Now as a customer, I don't see the difference in rotating the tires at 6,000 miles than at 12,500 miles or rotating the tires at 6,500 then at 12,500 miles; there will be either a 6k mile interval or a 6.5 interval. Either it happens first or it happens second.

 

[Zextraterrestrial]

Where did you rotate yours?

Tesla Factory :smile:

 

[wycolo]

> significant wear on the inside shoulders of the OEM rear tires on my stock 19" wheels [stevezzzz]

This wear pattern on the inside should help compensate for the normal wear on the outside edges. Nice 'feature'.

4x per year would give a mid term rotation to the summer tires as well as the winters. And by calendar not mileage.
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[stevezzzz]

> significant wear on the inside shoulders of the OEM rear tires on my stock 19" wheels [stevezzzz]

This wear pattern on the inside should help compensate for the normal wear on the outside edges. Nice 'feature'.

4x per year would give a mid term rotation to the summer tires as well as the winters. And by calendar not mileage.
--

I don't think it's a 'feature' since there was no appreciable wear on the outside shoulders of either the fronts or the rears. As has been pointed out in another thread, the rear suspension setup has a lot of negative camber. I'm just hoping to even out the inside wear across all four tires to maximize the mileage I'll have when it comes time to buy four new tires.

 

[Doug_G]

The "within 100 miles" thing is pure silliness.

I'll do it myself. With decent tools it is quick and easy to do. And you can make absolutely sure the bolt torque is correct! I don't trust tire monkeys... for good reason.

 

[gsxrex]

Does anybody know if the black lugnuts are black all the way through? Or are they painted?

If they are painted, does anybody have a recommendation on a socket with a "soft" liner on the inside? Would be pretty silly to have the gray wheels and see bits of shiny metal on the bolts if they are just painted over.

Lastly, because I'm too lazy to search or open the pdf to the owner's manual, what is the rotation pattern? Is it same side front to back, or front to back and then cross over the back to the opposite side front?

 

[gtimbers]

In view of the rear camber issue, I would recommend the first rotation at about 3000 miles. Subsequent ones probably can be at 6000. This puts the rears and fronts offset by about 1/2 rotation period. So instead of the rears just catching up with the front wear at each rotation, they overlap. This should help maximize the total life of the set of 4 tires and ensure that they all wear out together. I personally hate changing out 2 tires at a time in case I want to change to a different tire. I do it myself since it isn't too difficult. The jack points on the Tesla are well marked and easy to reach with home style hydraulic jacks. I've been dong my own tires for about 40 years and I 'm not planning on stopping now. BTW, it is about the only thing I can still do on this car. I used to do points, plugs, oil and filter, air filters radiator coolant, brake fluid, etc. Everything is gone now and/or covered by the Tesla service. Oh well, just leaves me more time to drive and get lost where the Nav doesn't work!

 

[NigelM]

I'm basically taking the Roadster approach (can't rotate those as the rims are all "directional") as I'm getting my third set of rear tires put on next week but I'm still on the first set of fronts. On my Model S we've reached 9,500 miles before even thinking about rotation but the rears will need to be replaced at the 12k anyway and the fronts look fine - I have a strong suspicion that the wear rate front vs back is going to be the same as the Roadster. In other words, the rears are wearing out so fast that rotation is something of a waste of time.

 

[wycolo]

How to even out rear tire wear:

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[dave]

I'm basically taking the Roadster approach (can't rotate those as the rims are all "directional") as I'm getting my third set of rear tires put on next week but I'm still on the first set of fronts. On my Model S we've reached 9,500 miles before even thinking about rotation but the rears will need to be replaced at the 12k anyway and the fronts look fine - I have a strong suspicion that the wear rate front vs back is going to be the same as the Roadster. In other words, the rears are wearing out so fast that rotation is something of a waste of time.

I've wondered the same thing. What is the point of rotating directional tires? Why wouldn't you just leave the rear ones on until they wear out, then replace them when necessary?

 

[mknox]

I usually rotate my own, but do it when I'm putting on or taking off the winter tires. (i.e. summer fronts go on the rear when I re-install in the spring...). I drive about 21,000 miles (33,800 km) annually, and have never had any problems with uneven tire wear. Unless there is something about the Model S that causes more uneven wear, I'll probably just let Tesla do it at the "annual" (6 months in my case) inspections since I'm paying for it anyway.

 

[strider]

I've wondered the same thing. What is the point of rotating directional tires? Why wouldn't you just leave the rear ones on until they wear out, then replace them when necessary?

Due to the nigh negative camber of the rears you can rotate front-back which will help even out the wear.

I prefer to swap 4 tires at a time because it's the time and hassle to have it done that I hate - the fewer trips to the tire the shop the better I say. I rotate my own tires. It doesn't take long and I can drink a couple beers and hang out w/ my son. He's only 2 but he can spin a spider wrench!

But for others, Tesla will rotate tires as part of your service agreement.