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NHTSA Tire issue reported on Tesla 21 Inch tires

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I've owned cars that ate tires. I remember a 70-something Pontiac Catalina Station Wagon that devoured front tires like a hungry lion, so much so that we carried several spares in the back. (Ah, those were the days....)

Anyway, I'm not in support of escalating issues to Government or Government type bodies, if and until all other means have been exhausted. To me it's akin to crying to Mommy for every little knee scrape, but then I've always preferred to solve my problems on my own.

I haven't seen the evidence yet of this 'Tesla stonewall' requiring NHSTA intervention. I've seen some people be unable to get the issue resolved, while others have. I'm not in agreement that this is a safety issue worth reporting to Mommy (I'd simply be keeping my eye on my tires as I do every day anyway - yes, I check all my tires each time before I get in my vehicle (Daddy was a mechanic and emphasized the importance of a quick check for high/low pressures or flats)) until the issue was resolved to my satisfaction.

How about listing the Service Center locations that have good results resolving the issue and listing the Service Centers that have not? Perhaps we're dealing with a difference in personnel capabilities. Identifying strong bases of mechanical support vs weak bases of mechanical support would be beneficial to Tesla. I also believe that a few people have had independents do the alignment. Listing those might be helpful to others from that area.
 
I've owned cars that ate tires. I remember a 70-something Pontiac Catalina Station Wagon that devoured front tires like a hungry lion, so much so that we carried several spares in the back. (Ah, those were the days....)

Anyway, I'm not in support of escalating issues to Government or Government type bodies, if and until all other means have been exhausted. To me it's akin to crying to Mommy for every little knee scrape, but then I've always preferred to solve my problems on my own.

I haven't seen the evidence yet of this 'Tesla stonewall' requiring NHSTA intervention. I've seen some people be unable to get the issue resolved, while others have. I'm not in agreement that this is a safety issue worth reporting to Mommy (I'd simply be keeping my eye on my tires as I do every day anyway - yes, I check all my tires each time before I get in my vehicle (Daddy was a mechanic and emphasized the importance of a quick check for high/low pressures or flats)) until the issue was resolved to my satisfaction.

How about listing the Service Center locations that have good results resolving the issue and listing the Service Centers that have not? Perhaps we're dealing with a difference in personnel capabilities. Identifying strong bases of mechanical support vs weak bases of mechanical support would be beneficial to Tesla. I also believe that a few people have had independents do the alignment. Listing those might be helpful to others from that area.

I like your approach
 
A lot of these tire wear issues may be due to poor alignment. Every service center should have an alignment bench and every delivery that is prepped at the service center should go through some basic alignment checks to make sure everything is within spec and properly torqued. I thought I read somewhere that there may be a service bulletin about checking the torque on the toe link bolts.

Nevertheless, when premature tire wear is noted then the first course of action should be to check the alignment. Preferably this alignment should be done in-house by Tesla where they can control the parameters and are not reliant upon a 3rd party. I am so, so thankful that our local service center in Scottsdale has an alignment bench.
 
I have just under 15,000 miles on my Sig S (non-Perf), vin 118, with 19" wheels and the original factory Goodyears. I've had the tires rotated twice, most recently at my annual service (at 14,600 miles). The pair of tires that came off the rear have 2mm of tread remaining and the other pair have 4mm; most wear is on the inside shoulder. During the service the SC performed an alignment but didn't record the before and after parameters. My lifetime Wh/mi number is 311, so you can see I'm not driving hard or running at high speeds. I guess the difference between me and the poster whose tires have 50% tread life remaining at 25K miles is probably due to alignment issues, but who can say for sure?
 
I have just under 15,000 miles on my Sig S (non-Perf), vin 118, with 19" wheels and the original factory Goodyears. I've had the tires rotated twice, most recently at my annual service (at 14,600 miles). The pair of tires that came off the rear have 2mm of tread remaining and the other pair have 4mm; most wear is on the inside shoulder. During the service the SC performed an alignment but didn't record the before and after parameters. My lifetime Wh/mi number is 311, so you can see I'm not driving hard or running at high speeds. I guess the difference between me and the poster whose tires have 50% tread life remaining at 25K miles is probably due to alignment issues, but who can say for sure?

I just don't understand the "who can say for sure". Automobiles have been riding on pneumatic tires for over 100 years, and there's a pretty long trail of evidence that uneven inside/outside tire wear is directly correlated to alignment problems. So that doesn't seem mysterious. Now, the CAUSE of the alignment problem, that could be mysterious. And, if it is chronic despite many attempts to align, that would be mysterious. So, what I would hope to see at some point in these threads is tire wear experience after successful alignment, and incidence of cars needing re-alignment. That would help shed some light on the mystery. If that's already explored in a thread, someone please point us there.

As I mentioned before, I'm at 10,300 with my 21s and, with a rotation, they look as if they've got another 5 to 10 left which is about what I would expect from them: 15 to 20. And, I've got consistent inside/outside wear. I do not for a minute doubt my forum mates here who are reporting excessive wear at 5k miles... just would like to hear more about post-alignment results.
 
Where? Point it out precisely where Tesla spells this out.

When I configured (it was before it was online), the agent on the other end of the phone made sure I knew about the shorter life of the 21s eventhough I already knew about it. It sounded like a script he was reading. When I signed my delivery paperwork, there was a paper that I had to initial that included a disclaimer about the life of the 21s.
 
A lot of these tire wear issues may be due to poor alignment. Every service center should have an alignment bench and every delivery that is prepped at the service center should go through some basic alignment checks to make sure everything is within spec and properly torqued. I thought I read somewhere that there may be a service bulletin about checking the torque on the toe link bolts.

Agreed, although I'd say that they should be spot-on, not just within-specs.
 
I think this is primarily a p85+ issue as we can't rotate our tires, and the suspension enhancement seems to come from factory out of alignment. That being said, I think a few others have had issues with p85s.... I'd just be rotating my tires extremely frequently if I were them. Regardless 5000 miles is way less than the "less distance than normal" we were told to expect. In my case it's the pilot sports.

my wife and I disagree on whether it looks like they replaced both tires or just the one that blew out when she hit the pothole... We only paid for one, but the new one looks the same as the other one. That being said the service center said the car had serious alignment issues (after taking it on a test drive) and they did extra, uncharged, service. They also did perform a bulletin for re-torquing as was suggested above, so that bulletin does exist and this is a known issue.

i don't see a serious difference in wear on the inside of the rear tires (like in the pictures) from the supposedly old tire to the new one, but my wife says she can tell there is more wear on the inside of the old one. What I've seen and crudely measured is what makes me believe they must have replaced both rears. If they didn't, I'm no longer as concerned because it doesn't look that bad right now. I wish I would have known to look before the car got towed.
 
A lot of these tire wear issues may be due to poor alignment. Every service center should have an alignment bench and every delivery that is prepped at the service center should go through some basic alignment checks to make sure everything is within spec and properly torqued. I thought I read somewhere that there may be a service bulletin about checking the torque on the toe link bolts.

Nevertheless, when premature tire wear is noted then the first course of action should be to check the alignment. Preferably this alignment should be done in-house by Tesla where they can control the parameters and are not reliant upon a 3rd party. I am so, so thankful that our local service center in Scottsdale has an alignment bench.

Given all the discussion about misalignment and premature/uneven tire wear, I will insist that alignment is checked before I take delivery. My closest SC is the factory.
 
When I configured (it was before it was online), the agent on the other end of the phone made sure I knew about the shorter life of the 21s eventhough I already knew about it. It sounded like a script he was reading. When I signed my delivery paperwork, there was a paper that I had to initial that included a disclaimer about the life of the 21s.

True, however, if they only lasted you 400 miles, you could make your same argument. They said less than normal. Most people don't take that to mean 80% less.

I'm not sure if I heard this somewhere, but I expected 15k or so. Much less than a typical 25k, but not 5k.
 
When I configured (it was before it was online), the agent on the other end of the phone made sure I knew about the shorter life of the 21s eventhough I already knew about it. It sounded like a script he was reading. When I signed my delivery paperwork, there was a paper that I had to initial that included a disclaimer about the life of the 21s.
No such disclaimer was made for me. I can't find it on the website anywhere or manual or owner's warranties. And without Tesla giving a specific indication of wear life, I can't imagine the disclaimer has much legal value. I don't think Tesla can arbitrarily trump the manufacturer's stated warranty.
 
Read the Edmunds report on this very issue. They got their tires replaced for free by Tesla. The inside rear wear is an alignment issue (toe).

Ditto. I have around 32k miles on the car of which 20k were on the original 21" tires - I just swapped them for my winter 19" and the right rear was just showing wear on the inside edge.

It was only slightly out of alignment from a toe perspective and I drive the car pretty hard.

I would get the alignment checked somewhere else...
 
Mine are 21 inch michelin ps2 on a P85+. These michelins are warranted to drive 20K miles, but if I got 10-15K miles on them, I would be thrilled. I drive it very kindly and averaging 334KW for 5 K miles.
The reason it is important for another authority to know is that Tesla has done nothing for any owner that has this early tire wear issue thus far. Are owners satisfied replacing tires every 5K miles?? For I am not. I was never told or read anywhere to expect tire wear so severely. My M6 has the same tires, and driven hard it lasted me 16K miles.
 
I had to get my wheels realigned right after I got my car and I recall they adjusted the toe. I'm at 9000 miles and so far my 21" tires are still OK despite a lot of quick acceleration. I've had them rotated twice, the second time a few hundred miles back. I noticed a lot more wheel slippage after the last rotation however and am getting some vibration (though Tesla claims my wheels were balanced). I'm wondering if it could be the Alloy Gators.