WHAT’S CAUSING RAPID REAR TYRE WEAR ON YOUR TESLA?
It’s all about Toe and Camber Angles.
Discussions about rear tyre wear on Tesla vehicles often ignite debates about whether it’s negative toe or negative camber that’s the primary culprit. When it comes to the Tesla Model S and X, the situation is more nuanced, and here’s why.
SO What’s going on here?
The very fact that you’re reading this suggest that you are already aware that both Tesla Model S and Model X are notorious for experiencing excessive inner rear tyre wear.
The Tesla suspension design philosophy, in common with most production cars, uses a multilink system, with an assortment of arms on each side locating the hub and wheel in position. Now, where this becomes relevant to this discussion is that each of these arms move up and down in an arc-motion, pivoting around their joints.
Each of these arms therefore gently arc the geometry of the wheel in and out, up and down throughout their suspension travel. Lower the car, either via the air suspension settings, through loading up with passengers and luggage, or with lowering links, and the camber and toe angles of the rear wheels settle in a very different position to that at which the car was aligned to.
An additionally factor to consider, as a Tesla reaches higher mileages, rubber bushings in these arms lose elasticity and sag, further increasing negative camber. This can often be visible to the naked eye on an older higher mileage model.
So whatever the cause, with the rear wheels now out of alignment, the tyres can be exposed to the sort of wear that they were never designed to cope with, exacerbated by the sheer power and weight of these Teslas. This is what causes the asymmetric wear problems that have become so notorious amongst owners of these vehicles. Yet, with almost no adjustability in the factory components, this is where so many owners choose to turn to aftermarket parts as the only way to find a resolution.
And, with the cost of Model S and Model X tyres being what they are, this is one of those rare cases where fitting upgraded parts will very likely save you a decent amount of money in the longer run!
What’s the problem?
It’s not uncommon for the rear tyres to wear out prematurely, in the worst cases in just 10,000 miles, with the steel belts becoming visible on the inner shoulder. This is not only a safety concern but also a frustrating expense for owners who frequently need to replace costly tyres.
As this affects the inner edges, the issue often goes unnoticed until it’s too late. As the visible outer edge of the tyre can look pristine, owners may only realise something is wrong when they find slow leaks or, much worse, experience blowouts.
You can gain some insight into alignment issues by inspecting your tyres closely, and we’d really recommend doing this quite frequently. You’ll need to get down on the ground behind the car to take a closer look at those inner edges.
Take a look at your Inner Tyre Wear: Excess Negative Camber
Example 1: the tyre shows pretty normal even wear across the main tread section. Everything looks good. However, look more carefully as it approaches the very inner edge: wear becomes significantly more pronounced. The inner shoulder, usually hidden from view when the tyre is mounted, is where the severe damage can so often occur.
Frequently the inner steel belt becomes visible – putting the tyre at risk of failing at high speeds and losing air before you have chance to get it to a garage. The primary alignment problem here is excessive negative camber, not toe. The tyre appears mostly good except for the inner edge, with the negative camber typically sitting at around -2.5 degrees. At this angle, the weight and power of these vehicles – being one of the heaviest car types on the road – exerts substantial pressure on the inside edge, leading to this increased wear.
You might wonder why you can’t simply increase positive camber to mitigate this edge wear. Sounds reasonable, but here’s the problem: the rear camber on Tesla vehicles cannot be adjusted with the factory control arms, which are fixed.
It’s this limitation that prompted the creation of our adjustable camber arms for the Tesla Model S and X. Our adjustable camber arms enable you to re-set the right amount of negative camber to correct inner tyre wear while maintaining traction and cornering grip.
Example 2: Take a look at your Inner Tyre Wear: Excess Toe Angle
Example 2: This time, with incorrect toe angle, the wear is more feathered right across the tyre’s full width. On Teslas, this unfortunately tends to go hand-in-hand with excessive negative camber as well, with both playing roles in the wear pattern. Notably, too much negative toe can degrade tyres more quickly than negative camber. If the toe angle is far out of specification, you could chew through a set of tyres in under 1,000 miles, a scenario less common with excessive negative camber.
So, careful, accurate alignment is essential for tyre life. On a Tesla, toe is adjusted via an eccentric bolt connecting the toe arm to the subframe, allowing only 3.5mm of adjustment. While this basic adjustment gets the car within factory specifications on a standard car in good condition, it certainly isn’t always enough to ensure optimum tyre wear in future, particularly on lowered cars. This is why we created our Adjustable Rear Toe Arms, to allow a full breadth of alignment options.
Lowered your Tesla?
This is when the requirements to fit adjustable arms gets serious. If equipped with air suspension, and you drive your car in a lowered position, that too will contribute to more negative camber. After all, your rear geometry can only be correct at one ride height – which tends to be at the standard ride height.
Anyone who’s gone further and is using lowering links really needs to commit to a set of Camber Arms, and ideally Toe Arms too while you’re doing the work. After fitting, align the car at that specific height setting to ensure effective alignment at your ride height. Trust us, doing this now will save you more than the cost of parts and fitting versus the money spend on future tyre replacements. 
How to resolve Inner Tyre Wear
The most effective solution to combat inner tyre wear is to install both the Billet Adjustable Camber Arms and the Billet Adjustable Toe Arms. This combination offers the greatest flexibility in alignment – regardless of conditions or height.
However, if you typically drive at a standard height and have budget constraints, just installing the Billet Adjustable Camber Arms will greatly enhance your alignment and significantly reduce inner tyre wear. However, if your Tesla is lowered, it is now pretty crucial to install both sets of arms for proper alignment, as the suspension geometry will have changed too drastically to rely solely on one adjustment.
By addressing both camber and toe, you can optimise your Tesla’s alignment, ensuring longer-lasting tyres and a safer and more enjoyable driving experience!