1.5 Roadster Tire Thread

[pgwoosley]

Also, anything I should be aware of / point out to the shop when taking it someplace that has never seen / heard of a Tesla? I see the jacking points in the manual but didn't see anything about going up on a lift, other than having to buy adapters from Tesla. Is this the only option?

You or the tire shop can change the rear tires by jacking up one side of the car at a time. (The front tires can be changed the same way, or the entire front end can be jacked up with two jacks at one time.) Just explain to the shop and point out the well-marked jacking points.

[dsm363]

Looking for a recommendation on an all-season "low maintenance" set of tires on a 1.5 non-sport.

98% of my driving is done at highway speeds. I don't want to change tires three times a year for weather (we get everything but tsunamis here... so far). I'm not interested in scratching every last tenth of second out of the 0-60 tie. It's my daily driver, weather permitting.

Also, anything I should be aware of / point out to the shop when taking it someplace that has never seen / heard of a Tesla? I see the jacking points in the manual but didn't see anything about going up on a lift, other than having to buy adapters from Tesla. Is this the only option?

The only tired officially recommended that fits front and rear sizes exactly is the AD07s. That's really just a summer tire than does ok in rain as well. For heavy snow, they do sell a winter tire set. You'd have to change your tires twice a year though.

See this for other recommendations:
2.5 Roadster / Roadster Sport Tire Thread

Be very careful about having them put your car on a lift. You're much better off using the jack points to do one tire at a time.

[Doug_G]

Be very careful about having them put your car on a lift. You're much better off using the jack points to do one tire at a time.

Tip: if you use the rear jack point, the front wheel comes off the ground first. You don't need to jack four times - only twice.

[Eric from NE]

So anyone have experience changing the tires themselves? If all we're talking about is buy a tire / swap a tire I can handle that. Is there any more fancy-schmancy calibration that needs to happen?

Sometimes I think I'm talking myself into over-thinking Tesla ownership, but it could be kind of expensive to under-think it... know what I mean?

Edit: pgwoosley: missed you post earlier. Looks like you answered this already, unless someone else has any further tidbits.

[Doug_G]

So anyone have experience changing the tires themselves? If all we're talking about is buy a tire / swap a tire I can handle that. Is there any more fancy-schmancy calibration that needs to happen?

You have to differentiate between changing the wheels and changing the tires. It's pretty easy to swap wheels (with tires attached). It will take half an hour once you're used to it. You just need a decent jack - one that goes low enough to fit under the Roadster - and a torque wrench with a 17 mm deep socket. Plus the adapters that are in the car's toolkit. I swapped winter tires on/off myself (didn't bother with the tire sensors - I just ignored the TMPS errors). I now have a set of wheels with Yokohama A048's to swap in whenever I do autocross.

Now swapping a tire on a wheel is a different matter. You require a machine to do that, and they are found at auto shops. Once the tire has been changed the wheel needs to be rebalanced. The machine also helps with that.

I've noticed that the fronts gradually go out of balance as they wear, and this eventually causes steering vibration. So I always have my fronts rebalanced whenever the rear tires are changed.

[Eric from NE]

I'm talking about jack it up, five nuts, pull one off, put one on, five nuts, jack it down. Rinse. Repeat.

Does it depend on what my definition of "is" is?

[Doug_G]

I'm talking about jack it up, five nuts, pull one off, put one on, five nuts, jack it down. Rinse. Repeat.

Yeah, it's that easy. Steps are:

1. You'll need a jack, torque wrench, and 17 mm deep socket driver. Also from the car's tookit you will need the bolt extension tool (for four bolts on each wheel) and the locking bolt adapter (for one bolt on each wheel).
2. Remove the key and apply the hand brake.
3. Pick a side of the car to start on.
4. Loosen the five bolts on both wheels on that side - one turn at most. (Be a little careful when you use the locking bolt adapter; it would be a real pain if you were to break it!)
5. Locate the rear jacking point - identified in the manual, but on my car there's a blue sticker under the car that precisely identifies the location.
6. Lift the car. You'll see the front wheel come off the ground first, even though you're jacking the back.
7. Undo the five bolts and swap the front wheel.
8. Make sure you have the directional tread in the correct direction! If not you've got the wrong wheel.
9. Put the five bolts back on, don't fully tighten yet (the wheel will spin)
10. Repeat the replacement procedure for the rear wheel.
11. Lower the car and remove the jack.
12. Set the torque wrench to 77 ft lbs and tighten all five bolts on each wheel in an alternating pattern. Go around a second time to make sure all five bolts are tight; they might not be if the wheel was a little cocked the first time.
13. Repeat for the other side of the car.

[Eric from NE]

OK, now we're on the same page.

So basically I can spend ±$1300 on a new set of tires & wheels and do it myself, or have a chain shop that's never seen a Tesla replace the tires for me... Kind of feel like either way I'm taking a big leap of faith!

[doug]

...or have a chain shop that's never seen a Tesla replace the tires for me... Kind of feel like either way I'm taking a big leap of faith!

[Eric from NE]

Same color even...

Eerie!