Slate Maker fender flares shift tires outboard? Possible wheel spacers?

[kvermeer]

Just noticed that the fender flares option moves the tires outboard by an inch or so. It increases the width, but means the fender flares don't keep any more dirt off the truck, and doesn't allow you to run wider tires.

Note the alignment of the bumper and tire tread without flares:

Now with flares:

It's not much, but it's extremely obvious in the maker when you toggle it on and off (and look how the gif maker massacred my Atomic Teal!):

The Slate is already super narrow, so adding a couple inches with wheel spacers wouldn't be a problem, but I doubt those are included with the fender flare kit!

It would be really nice to be able to put some wheel spacers in the back and/or get rims with an adjusted backspacing, cut the fender liners out and weld them back in a little wider, and get some more width between the wheel arches. It's currently 42.9", so you'd need just over 2.5" per side to hit the magic 4 foot width. Yes, I know, it's got pockets for 2x6s. How wide a flare do you think you could run before it ruined the look?

 

[Shrink36s]

I noticed that too. I just figured they were adjusting the model for the larger tires.

 

[AKrietzer]

Would that just be their images they created? Not sure what that is called, I was called out when I dared to mentioned AI when I posted their wheel images. 😆

These aren't actual pictures of the finished product.

 

[bloo]

Just AI, AI-ing. I seriously doubt theyll put in spacers just for flare.

 

[fuzzyweis]

Why doesn't it allow wider tires? Especially with the lift option. Do you mean we just can't select rims with wider tires in the maker right now? Even if not we could still get our own aftermarket rims that would allow wider tires, probably like bloo says just their AI showing what it 'should' look like, not accounting for the actual spec tire selected.

 

[2thlesswithta2s]

...cut the fender liners out and weld them back in a little wider...

The fenders & body panels are polypropylene composite - can't be welded.

 

[pdxmotorhead]

I predict the aftermarket suspension companies will be the winner on the lift and OHV style mods. Slate provides the platform and aftermarket fills in the niche stuff thats not practical for a manufacturer to make in volume. Other than for style,, with the first gen wide tires will just kill your mileage. You want narrower tires inside the wheel well to keep the wind resitance under control.

Also , the point its' a affordable car, and the lego style upgrades let folks add on after purchase so it stays in the affordability class first. Best example is standard pickups, all the factory extra stuff has driven them to stupid prices and much higher maintenance. Leaving folks that need true utility vehicles to have to pay way more than practical for a vehicle that will take farm/construction/work truck levels of abuse.

Perfect class of rig for new drivers, college students and fixed income, does the job, not fast enough to be too dangerous. Virtually zero maintenance. I do wish they had done front wheel drive and added AWD by adding the rear motor, both my prior front wheel drive EV's were WAY better in the wet and winter weather. My RWD Model 3 was the equivalent of a early mustang with a 426 vw in the snow.

My first car was a 1965 Nissan L320, 60HP 0-60 in about 15 seconds. I attribute my still being on this planet to having had a vehicle that could not get over 65 without a tail wind to me surviving my teenage years.. It got replaced with a big block 67 Impala as my ability to earn money got better, and that tuned in to a VW baja bug when gas prices jumped all the way to a 1.25 a gallon. (those were the days...)

 

[cadblu]

I think the fender flares work best with the larger 20” wheels and off-road tires, and keeps everything in proportion.

In my opinion, running the standard size wheels with the optional flares only draws attention to the open gap between the fenders and the tires.

 

[pdxmotorhead]

I think the fender flares work best with the larger 20” wheels and off-road tires, and keeps everything in proportion.

In my opinion, running the standard size wheels with the optional flares only draws attention to the open gap between the fenders and the tires.

Esthetically yes..

But this is a low output vehicle, 200HP aint much and at least on my Tesla, 18 vs 20 inch wheels the 18's win substantially... Having more sidewall for whatever reason lets the car roll forward easier. And its not like I'm lacking HP on the thing.. Don't need to go narrow as the old i3 but if you paired the 20's with taller and wider tires, I suspect you'd find a 5 to 10 percent reduction in range.

Side note: So far I have gone from the ev to standard tires on two EV's and on both the standard tires gave better range and were quieter, I had issues on both ev sets when they aged, the foam glued on the inside came loose and caused vibration. ON both I switch from a continental tire to another continental (I'm a huge fan of the DWSII.) (ON a Model Y) I used the more economical Continental all seasons on a Bolt. same results..

 

[kvermeer]

Would that just be their images they created? Not sure what that is called, I was called out when I dared to mentioned AI when I posted their wheel images. 😆

These aren't actual pictures of the finished product.

Pretty sure it's a CAD rendering, not something generated by prompting AI. Not actual images of the product, but images of the design, which is close enough.

It's just weird that instead of putting the wheels in a fixed distance from the center, they seem to have inadvertently set their position to an offset from the fenders...

 

[Tom Sawyer]

Side note: So far I have gone from the ev to standard tires on two EV's and on both the standard tires gave better range and were quieter, I had issues on both ev sets when they aged, the foam glued on the inside came loose and caused vibration. ON both I switch from a continental tire to another continental (I'm a huge fan of the DWSII.) (ON a Model Y) I used the more economical Continental all seasons on a Bolt. same results..

I replaced the stock Michelins on my Model 3 with Continental DWS06 Plus from Discount Tire. They are quieter and ride smoother. Even though they are wider than the stock tires, I've not noticed a decrease in range.

 

[pdxmotorhead]

I replaced the stock Michelins on my Model 3 with Continental DWS06 Plus from Discount Tire. They are quieter and ride smoother. Even though they are wider than the stock tires, I've not noticed a decrease in range.

Yep. Thats where its weird, it seems like most original tires are actually not as efficient as tires you can buy after market. The DWS has given me better performance on not just EV's but other ICE cars. I had a 330XI BWM and the DWS made it like a snowmobile in winter weather. Just amazing traction.

 

[1yeliab_sufur1]

i figured it was a error but who knows