Put some air in those tires!

[Christopher]

Interestingly, I've read a number of reports of the LEAF OEM tires, at Nissan-recommended pressures, which experienced excessive shoulder wear.

I can back this up. My LEAF's tires barely lasted me 17K miles before I had to replace them due to excessive shoulder wear. I don't drive my LEAF aggressively at all. Had them rotated at 7.5K and 15K per mfg recommendation.

I hear what you're saying, but shoulder wear can result from a number of possible factors, underinflation/overloading being one of them. Other factors include improper alignment (toe in or out, camber positive or negative) or tires being out of balance. So, without an inspection of the tires it would be impossible to determine which was the primary factor, or if it was a combination of two or three of these things.

I also experienced excessive shoulder wear on my OEM tires over similar miles at Nissan's recommended pressures and the recent alignment check at the time of replacement found only the right front slightly off. (I don't remember what it was at last rotation.) Upon asking, the installer suggested the shoulder wear might be due to the main highway around here being fast and windy (highway 17 between Santa Cruz and Silicon Valley) but I don't see that kind of wear with my RAV4 (also at vehicle's recommended PSI).

I think I may try adding just a couple pounds of pressure. I wonder if Nissan screwed up their calculations on the recommended PSI for the LEAF.

[EVDRIVER]

The factory Ecopia tires are junk.

[TomT]

I think you are giving them too much credit!!!

The factory Ecopia tires are junk.

[ILETRIC]

The Michelins I bought to replace the junk tires are Energy Saver(s). Good solid tires, a lot of surface rubber. Not much (or at all) noisier than the Ecopias. They are low resistance tires and they were not cheap. They are 51 psi type and have 50,000 tread warranty at Costco. It was a special order. Not all Costcos stock them.

I run them at about 47, I believe. Great cornering tire. Grips well (more rubber). They look illegal (they're not, of course).

[Techie0212]

Michelins also for 17"?

[jjdoe]

The first thing I did was toss the tire sealant. It ruins the sensor, and probably the tire. I bought some rubber plugs and installer. I can't think of the last time we had a flat - even tho I was a mechanic, and the amount of metal stuck in tires is scary!
Besides - it's my wife's car. If she gets a flat, guess who she will call?

[sandeen]

The first thing I did was toss the tire sealant. It ruins the sensor, and probably the tire.

My used leaf came w/o the repair kit, so I bought a Slime kit from Amazon; the instructions /claim/ that the goo can be removed and that it won't ruin the sensor ...

[GerryAZ]

The first thing I did was toss the tire sealant. It ruins the sensor, and probably the tire.

My used leaf came w/o the repair kit, so I bought a Slime kit from Amazon; the instructions /claim/ that the goo can be removed and that it won't ruin the sensor ...

Good luck using the Slime to seal and inflate a tire without damaging the sensor. If it is sticky enough to seal a leak in the tire, it will "seal" the small hole in the sensor. The compressor that comes with the car works great without using the sealer--I used the 2011 and 2015 compressors several times, but will never use the sealer. I carry two tubeless tire repair kits--one with mushroom-shaped rubber plugs and installation tool; the other is a cheap kit with long strings of rubber for plugs.

[sandeen]

Good luck using the Slime to seal and inflate a tire without damaging the sensor.

I know, I'm very skeptical, but Slime says:

TPMS COMPATIBILITY
In order for a tire sealant to be accepted by leading sensor manufacturers, it must pass three product tests.
After each test, the sensor is reinstalled on the vehicle and checked for proper functionality.
A sensor must be functional after all three tests in order for the sealant to be endorsed by TPMS (Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems) manufacturers.

shrug - who knows, better than being stuck on the road, I guess. Two of my sensors fail temporarily after highway speeds anyway, so I'm not terribly concerned...