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2021 Model S Plaid Steering Yoke shaking at highway speeds
- Thread starter CWJameson
- Start date
[Solution Found] I have the exactly the same issue after change to a new set of good year eagle sports all season 21 inch. The smoother the road the more you can feel the shake above 80mph. I went though countless times of rebalance in 5 different tire shops (and did many times road force too).
Initially I though it was the tire out round, used the satisfactory warranty to change to a new set. Same problem. Then I though it might be the foam came lose inside so reinstalled the tires after ripped off the foam (noticeable road noise increase btw not worth it) . Problem still persist. Then complained again and exchanged to a 3rd set. the problem still didn't go away. Went to service center, test drove with a technician, verified the problem. After a day, they told they checked the suspension and brake (I told them some people say it might be the brake issue, brake drag or something, so I asked them to check the brakes) and nothing breaks. And then the SC said the shake is normal and within spec (LOL). Despite the fact that they verified the problem and didn't fix anything, they still wanted to charge me over $300 just to look at things. I refused to pay and told them, either you said this is normal and refuse to take it in, or admitting there's problem but didn't fix it. Either way I shouldn't pay. Then they called the service center manager to wave the charge. The manager then went on a test drive with me said he think it's still the balance problem despite I told him I did balance countless times already. He said he will personally do it for me right after the test drive. And... he fix it.
So the nuance here is that there are 2 types of balance: static and dynamic. Static assumes the wheel is a ring and the counter weight is put in the middle of the width of the wheel. Dynamic assumes the wheel is a roller so it needs to balance the inner rim and outer rim separately. Static is cheap, easy and fast, so most tire shops use it. You can probably get away with most of the thin wheels and tires on the market. But the new model s tire goes as wide as 295 in the back, it's definitely too wide to assume it's a ring. The mass is spread so far apart that the static balance can't balance both sides at once. The inner and outer rim needs to balanced separately.
Apparently most of the balancing machine is capable doing dynamic balancing with a mode change. The tire shops are just too lazy or untrained to realize for this wide tires they need to do dynamic balancing.
Initially I though it was the tire out round, used the satisfactory warranty to change to a new set. Same problem. Then I though it might be the foam came lose inside so reinstalled the tires after ripped off the foam (noticeable road noise increase btw not worth it) . Problem still persist. Then complained again and exchanged to a 3rd set. the problem still didn't go away. Went to service center, test drove with a technician, verified the problem. After a day, they told they checked the suspension and brake (I told them some people say it might be the brake issue, brake drag or something, so I asked them to check the brakes) and nothing breaks. And then the SC said the shake is normal and within spec (LOL). Despite the fact that they verified the problem and didn't fix anything, they still wanted to charge me over $300 just to look at things. I refused to pay and told them, either you said this is normal and refuse to take it in, or admitting there's problem but didn't fix it. Either way I shouldn't pay. Then they called the service center manager to wave the charge. The manager then went on a test drive with me said he think it's still the balance problem despite I told him I did balance countless times already. He said he will personally do it for me right after the test drive. And... he fix it.
So the nuance here is that there are 2 types of balance: static and dynamic. Static assumes the wheel is a ring and the counter weight is put in the middle of the width of the wheel. Dynamic assumes the wheel is a roller so it needs to balance the inner rim and outer rim separately. Static is cheap, easy and fast, so most tire shops use it. You can probably get away with most of the thin wheels and tires on the market. But the new model s tire goes as wide as 295 in the back, it's definitely too wide to assume it's a ring. The mass is spread so far apart that the static balance can't balance both sides at once. The inner and outer rim needs to balanced separately.
Apparently most of the balancing machine is capable doing dynamic balancing with a mode change. The tire shops are just too lazy or untrained to realize for this wide tires they need to do dynamic balancing.
Propofoln
Member
Good info. Would have been interesting to see if this fixed my vibrating Plaid that got bought back. Too late now
WilliamG
Hinge Fanatic
I’ve tested both my stock 21” Arachnids with PS4S and my stock 19” with winter tires (Tesla package) and get the yoke vibration at 80mph. I’m about to swap out the wheels and tires for some SV-104s so we’ll see if that’s any better.
n2mb_racing
Active Member
I think the key is swapping wheels and tires with someone that doesn't have the vibration. I definitely did not have it on my '21 Plaid... We'll see about the new one.
WilliamG
Hinge Fanatic
n2mb_racing
Active Member
WilliamG
Hinge Fanatic
Yeah but really... I'm not going to put anyone through that. lol.
Some shops will do it if you ask. Just make sure if you have 19" and larger rotors they don't mount it in the path of the calipers
... already went through this.Why does dynamic balancing take more effort? The machine that does it still does it in about the same time but is more sophisticated because it uses 3-axis to measure the balance front to back as well as around the circumference. The machine still does this measurement for the tech and tells them where to distribute the weights.
Dynamic balancing also doesn't include putting some sort of load on the tire. Are you sure you're not referring to an altogether difference balancing technique.
It almost sounds like you're talking about road force balancing.
n2mb_racing
Active Member
Balancing tires | Continental Tires
Proper tire balance will distribute weight equally around the entire circumference of the tire. Unbalanced wheels cause vibrations and premature wear.
www.continental-tires.com
Balancing tires | Continental Tires
Proper tire balance will distribute weight equally around the entire circumference of the tire. Unbalanced wheels cause vibrations and premature wear.
Yup. That's what dynamic balancing is. It's been around for many decades. I'm in my mid fifities and and have never had tires balanced on anything other than a 3-axis machine. Do they even make tire balancing machines that do static any more?
Road force balancing is not universal and uses a roller to apply force to the tire while spinning which more accurately reflects tire balance with an actual load on the tire.
Road force balancing is a superset of dynamic. i.e. it already includes dynamic balancing but also takes into account the balance of the tire with the sidewall compressed on the bottom as the tire rotates. My suspicion is that whomever did your road force balancing before stopped before they got an acceptable balance. The MS Palladium is probably more sensitive than typical requiring few lbs of diff.
n2mb_racing
Active Member
Edit: I see 2021 is in the title. Well, I didn't have this problem on my 2021. Hopefully won't have it on the 2024!
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I own a 2022 Model S LR with this issue, here are my notes
I will try and swap his wheels onto my car (and maybe vice versa) to have a definitive answer to the issue with my car sometime within the next month or so.
- Occurs between 80-93mph
- Intermittent. It comes and goes in waves, I have done multiple road trips, and there is no rhyme or reason, no pattern. My only anecdotal observation is that it seems to like to start after going over highway expansion joints and then settle out 1-2 min after. I haven't heard anyone discuss this yet so looking to hear if anyone has experienced this.
- I've had wheels balanced a couple of times, sometimes it is better than others but overall the issue persists.
- One balancer said one of my wheels could not get below double digit roadforce figure. Not sure the exact terminology.
I will try and swap his wheels onto my car (and maybe vice versa) to have a definitive answer to the issue with my car sometime within the next month or so.
Have a Model X Long Range built in Oct 2022 with Yoke Steering Wheel.
I have 22" After Market Wheels I had put on the car when it was brand new. So it was a brand new car with brand new wheels and Pirelli tires. The steering wheel vibration was there from the start. From 63 MPH and up. I did not get around to taking it to Tesla for this issue until almost a year had gone by. Tesla said they would not touch it because it had after market wheels.
Took it into wheel shop and they said a wheel was bent. Took it to another wheel shop that repairs bent wheels and they fixed the bent wheel, but said I needed new tires. I bought new replacement front Pirelli tires and they balanced both wheels on their machines. Drove away and vibration continues, just like in the early YouTube video.
It is disheartening to see so many others have this same issue and have tried so many things, including multiple balancing attempts and swapping out of wheels and tires to no avail. Some people seem to have gotten lucky with getting the perfect balancing job while most have not had that luck.
Seems to really be an issue with the car when some report having test driven several different cars and they all do the same thing. Unless the vast majority of cars have unbalanced wheels that most tire shops cannot resolve.
This just sucks as it is exahusting holding that vibrating steering wheel on long drives and the annnoying autopilot won't let you even rest your hands for long before it starts beeping at you to put your hands back on the steering wheel.
I have 22" After Market Wheels I had put on the car when it was brand new. So it was a brand new car with brand new wheels and Pirelli tires. The steering wheel vibration was there from the start. From 63 MPH and up. I did not get around to taking it to Tesla for this issue until almost a year had gone by. Tesla said they would not touch it because it had after market wheels.
Took it into wheel shop and they said a wheel was bent. Took it to another wheel shop that repairs bent wheels and they fixed the bent wheel, but said I needed new tires. I bought new replacement front Pirelli tires and they balanced both wheels on their machines. Drove away and vibration continues, just like in the early YouTube video.
It is disheartening to see so many others have this same issue and have tried so many things, including multiple balancing attempts and swapping out of wheels and tires to no avail. Some people seem to have gotten lucky with getting the perfect balancing job while most have not had that luck.
Seems to really be an issue with the car when some report having test driven several different cars and they all do the same thing. Unless the vast majority of cars have unbalanced wheels that most tire shops cannot resolve.
This just sucks as it is exahusting holding that vibrating steering wheel on long drives and the annnoying autopilot won't let you even rest your hands for long before it starts beeping at you to put your hands back on the steering wheel.
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