Punctured Tire

jerry33 has posted about this in the past. If I remember correctly, he said to make sure that if the tire can be patched (not a sidewall issue) then make sure they take the tire off and patch from inside and inspect the rest of the tire.

Edit: by they I mean tire shop. Tesla doesn't repair tires from what I've read on TMC.

As long as the screw in in the tread area and not the side wall, a plug is considered permanent and legal in most states. The tire is not removed from the wheel, in fact the wheel is not even removed from the car. Any tire shop can do this for you. I suggest you buy a tire plug kit and do it yourself. It is super easy to do and then you will have acquired the new skill for any future needs. Slime makes cheap plug kits available everywhere around $10 which comes with 12 plugs , ARB make s superb kit around $45. You also need a small compressor. Vi-Air makes good ones such as this: Viair Portable 12 Volt Air Compressor Kit Top Quality | eBay

The policy is not all that new - they had just instituted it around September of last year when I had a screw in one of my tires. I think their reason for not plugging is technically speaking, once repaired the speed rating on the tire is invalid and they probably just don't want the liability. If you're going to get it repaired, I'd say get it properly patched on the inside, not just a plug.

My advice: don't attempt it yourself unless you really understand what you're doing. There's a great page on puncture repair at tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/

Guidelines allow the repair of punctures in a tire's tread area of up to 1/4" in diameter. Repair of larger tread punctures and of punctures to the tire's shoulder and sidewall areas are not recommended.
There are three primary considerations when repairing a punctured tire. You need to evaluate the damage the object caused as it punctured the tire, reestablish an airtight seal of the tire's innerliner, and completely fill the path the object took through the tire. Typically a mushroom-shaped patch and plug combination repair is considered to be the best method of repairing a punctured steel belted radial.

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I recently had a punctured tire. I used one of the "string plugs" that came with my Slime tire repair kit. It wouldn't hold air long term, even though i had removed the tire from the car, thouroughly cleaned the area and puncture itself and was careful withthe plug insertion and trimming.

I called the Tesla service center asking if they could perform the repair or offer a referral. They don't do tire repair, and although they would have liked to, simply didn't have experience with any local tire places.

I took it to my mechanic, and he had some "uber plugs" that they used and it's been holding for a couple of weeks now with no pressure loss... he didn't have to remove the tire from the rim, which I had specifically asked about because I have Alloy Gators...

gene said:

As long as the screw in in the tread area and not the side wall, a plug is considered permanent and legal in most states. The tire is not removed from the wheel, in fact the wheel is not even removed from the car.

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If a tire shop suggests a repair that doesn't include an interior patch, you should visit another shop. An exterior repair done without checking for internal damage is not safe, and there can be no guarantee the innerliner won't fail (blowout) or leak slowly. A safe and proper repair must consist of both an interior patch and an exterior plug. Given the weight and load rating of the Model S, repairing the tire with anything other than a vulcanizing mushroom patch/plug is risky, IMO. The TireRack link Nigel posts above helps illustrate why that's the case.


Also note that a repair on any tire violates the manufacturer's speed rating, which is to say the manufacturer will not guarantee the tire can reach its maximum rated speed. If repaired properly, it will most certainly be safe for typical road use. Just don't take it on the track or otherwise attempt to find the Model S' top speed.

Nail in my tire! What to do.

Car only 2 weeks old and nail in center of back tire tread.
Scared to go have it repaired. Afraid to let anyone touch my new baby.

meteoritehunter said:

Car only 2 weeks old and nail in center of back tire tread.
Scared to go have it repaired. Afraid to let anyone touch my new baby.

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Get it fixed while you can. I wouldn't want to be running around with a nail and no spare.

I do hear you about letting someone touch the car. When I took mine in to a tire dealer to have winters installed, I left printed instructions on how to lift the car (raise suspension, tow mode, proper lifting points etc.), went over it with the service tech and watched like a hawk as they worked on the car!

if you have a jack, just take the wheel/tire off and take it over to Les Schwab and they will repair it for free! they don't charge for tire repairs and I've never had an issue with their work. the one here won't touch a Tesla S, but if you bring the tire to them, they'll do it no prob.

Fix to yourself, buy a tire repair kit. Take the tire off the car and pull out the nail, you have a round file that comes with the kit. You then push the file thru the hole a couple of times. Then you thread a piece of the repair material thru the special needle that also comes with the kit, push this into the puncture and pull partially out. Cut the excess off and put air in the tire, done. It is very easy and you can do it at home, if not you will have to take the tire and have them do the repair.

My car went from delivery right into the shop for 2 days (paint armor).
So find a reputable shop (preferably someone who's worked on a Model S before) and have them repair it from the inside.
I got a flat last year...

Happened to me, too, right after I got my new MS. Took it to Discount Tire, got it patched, it's been fine for the last 10,000+ miles. Really not a big deal. If the nail is in a place that can't be safely patched, they'll let you know.

No need to worry. Its just the tire. Tire repair is pretty painless and easy. Go to a shop like Les Schwab or Discount Tire.

Merrill said:

Fix to yourself, buy a tire repair kit. Take the tire off the car and pull out the nail, you have a round file that comes with the kit. You then push the file thru the hole a couple of times. Then you thread a piece of the repair material thru the special needle that also comes with the kit, push this into the puncture and pull partially out. Cut the excess off and put air in the tire, done. It is very easy and you can do it at home, if not you will have to take the tire and have them do the repair.

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You don't want to do this. You want a patch plus the plug. Just plugging a hole is asking for trouble. Simply not worth it. Take it to a tire shop and for a very small fee they'll repair properly.

You really shouldn't repair a ZR rated tire, I know from experience that tire shops by me won't repair them. Why risk damaging your $100k+ car or a $2000 rim over a $500 tire? Just buy a new one.

Htuork said:

You really shouldn't repair a ZR rated tire, I know from experience that tire shops by me won't repair them. Why risk damaging your $100k+ car or a $2000 rim over a $500 tire? Just buy a new one.

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I was also under the understanding that you couldn't repair these tires under any circumstances.

You have a p85+ so you should get ready for lots of new tires. There is another thread that says tesla expects you to need new tires every 5,000 miles

capt601 said:

You don't want to do this. You want a patch plus the plug. Just plugging a hole is asking for trouble. Simply not worth it. Take it to a tire shop and for a very small fee they'll repair properly.

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I realize that tire shops sometimes hesitate to do this, but I have done at least 10 repairs this way to my Jaguar, Mercedes and others and never had any problems. If you do it correctly it works, unless the puncture is off to the side or irregular and large.