HaulingAss
Well-known member
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- Cybertruck DM, 2010 F-150, 2018 Performance Model 3, 2024 Performance Model 3
I don't know why Tesla includes Slime in their tire kit, they should forgo the can of Slime for a gummy worm puncture repair kit, because it can fix more kinds of tire damage and doesn't leave a horrendous sticky mess inside your tire. Unless you don't respect the people who work at tire shops, never use Slime in a flat tire, always plug it with a gummy worm until you can get a permanent repair or replace the tire. Slime only works on very small punctures, anyway.
If you don't air down the all-terrain tires below the minimum off-road recommended pressure of 36 psi, and you don't do stupid driving mistakes, you are unlikely to get a sidewall tear. All-terrain tires are reinfoced against this kind of damage but too many off-road pretenders compromise this protection by airing down to pressures far below what is necessary for the trails they are on and below what the tires they are running are designed to handle. I see them out there on easy trails aired down to 15 psi (with tires rated for over 100 mph), tires not suitable for airing down that low. This GREATLY increases the chances of tire sidewall damage too severe to repair with a common tire plug kit. It's not just that low pressures on the trail make the tire more susceptable to sidewall damage, it's driving on the highway, or on off-road trails at speeds above slow, with lower pressures than the tire is designed to handle weakens the tires. This makes tires susceptible to failure, as does driving the tires on the highway with pressure below the recommended pressure of 50 psi. This invisible tire weakening/damage happens like this:
1) Low pressures cause the tire to run too hot as speeds increase.
2) Low pressures cause the sidewall to bulge out hundreds of times per minute as the tire rotates. This causes fatigue failure of the fibers in the sidewall belts from repeated over-flexing. These reinforcements are what protect against sidewall cuts and punctures, but the fibers become weakened due to excessive flexing and heat. They no longer provide good protection against cuts.
So don't ruin the sidewall protection your tires have by running pressures below the 36 psi Tesla recommends as the lower limit for the Goodyear All-Terrains or by running them at those lower pressures at highway speeds or with heavy cargo loads or trailers. Tesla recommends airing up to 65 psi when towing a heavy trailer. Towing a trailer can impart side loads to the tires which causes more heat to build up.
If the OEM tires at 36 psi are not suitable for the kind of extreme off-roading (or deep mud/sand you plan on) then fer cryin' out load, buy some suitable off-road tires designed to be aired down like a tractor tire. It will no longer be rated to 115 mph, you will need two sets of tires to perform extreme off-roading and be suitable for higher speed use on the highway. Tires are amazing things, tasked with the most important job, don't use them in ways they were not designed to be used! No one tire can do it all (if you expect extreme off-road performance).
Tires suitable for ultra-low pressures, like 6 psi to 20 psi, are specialty tires and they will be naturally more susceptible to serious sidewall damage. I would suggest carrying a spare and a jack with this class of off-road tire.
If you are going to air down, even if only to 36-40 psi, you absolutely need to carry an inflator suitable for large tires. If you only need to re-inflate a punctured tire that has been plugged, and you don't plan to air down all four tires, you could probably get away with a standard, cheap tire inflator for emergency use only, but you want one that runs on either 48 volts (which aren't available yet), an inflator that can run off the AC outlets, or an inflator that is self-powered with a large enough battery that is maintained for emergencies. Maybe you could also use a small 12V inflator wired to plug into the trailer harness outlet, I don't know.
If you want an inflator capable of bringing all four tires from 36 psi back up to 50 psi, or one capable of field inflating all tires from 50 psi up to the trailer towing pressure of 65 psi, then you will want a more substantial inflator. Cheaper ones will take too long and be susceptible to over-heating and burning out when doing all four tires in a row. I would suggest a good compromise (in terms of performance/weight) would be the 18V Milwaukee Inflator. It can't run directly off the 120V AC outlets in the bed of the truck, but one decent sized battery that is fully charged should be able to handle at least a few air downs (and you could always bring the battery charger with you for more extensive use).
We don't have data on Tesla's inflator yet. There is a chance it will be suitable to air all four tires back up after airing down, not just an emergency inflator. We don't know yet. For the high price I would hope it's suitable for filling all four tires, but it looks like it might be more of an emergency inflator for use after plugging a puncture.
If you do buy a heavier-duty inflator, perhaps a 120V compressor, remember that you don't want an air tank on it. The tires themselves function as the air tank, a tank on the compressor just adds bulk, cost and ruins the efficiency, since you have to bring the tank up to pressure before you can start filling the tires.
I know this was a long answer, but the best strategy for most people will be to run quality tires, don't use them in ways they were not designed to be used, and you will have a very low chance of having a puncture that can't be repaired by a gummy worm plugging kit and an inflator. And always have a back-up plan, like being able to camp or walk out or going in a group, with multiple vehicles. Treat tires with the respect they deserve, and they will give you long, reliable service. You probably won't even need to use your emergency tire kit but, if you do, you will have it. I wouldn't carry a heavy spare and a jack if someone gifted them to me. It simply doesn't make sense, even for most off-road use cases.
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