OMG! What BS! I just had Brakes Plus do my alignment after new tires from Discount. $59 with the $10 coupon the guy at Discount gave me.I called my local Firestone who I used to use for years for lifetime alignment and other services. Here is what they told me:
Any truth to this? Tesla quoted me $302 for an alignment
- Alignment system is not updated for 2021 models yet.
- Even if the alignment system were updated, they can't align Tesla's due to all the sensors for lane keep assist and others that have to be reset after the alignment.
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Technically, Tesla does support front caster and front and rear camber. It's in the service manual, and it's done by using the slop in the bolted connections. In the front you loosen the 4 bolts for the top hats and slide them around. It's not a lot, but it is about 0.2 degrees camber that you can mess with.
Given it's in the Tesla service manual, I can see why they would quote "Adjusting" it. In the front, you have to take the Frunk out, so you're paying the labor for that.
The real problem is the argument that 0.2 degrees camber change if you can get that is meaningful in relationship to alignment. It isn't. And that much caster change is even less meaningful. So this is really just dressing up the fleecing of the customer. Not sure you want to do that
I agree it's minimal, just pointing out that the adjustment procedure in the official Tesla service manuals does include a camber/caster adjustment, and it can be used to fix things that are just barely out of spec.
Thanks,
Is there a place/link where to see these stock figures?
Basically both front & rear needs to be near 0.00°.
Front 0.05° OUT if in tolerance (+/- 0.15°) can be up to Toe IN 0.10°
Rear is basically a Toe IN .
Fixyourtesla.com is awesome for this. They have all the service manuals.
PianoAl
Active Member
The Tesla service center suggested I get the wheels aligned when I bought new wheels. I paid for that, but everything was in spec. Waste of money.
Further evidence that in the rushed expansion Tesla has not trained their service technicians very well. Unless you have evidence of abnormal tire wear and you're actually replacing wheels and tires there's no reason to get the car aligned just because you're putting on new Wheels.
Drove to Vegas last week and my December 15 2022 delivery dual motor long range Model 3 was really hard to keep in the lane of the 15 without using autopliot. Squirley steering on a grooved section of the road would be an understatement. My 2006 Saturn Vue 4wd was perfect on the same section of the road some years back. Just had my tire guy check and correct the alignment. The car alignment was off such that the wheels were tracking OK front to back (no excessive tire wear luckily) but the car was crabbing, as in going down the road a bit sideways. The tech stated that the factory alignment is basically a quick drive-through process during the assembly and some part of the initial setup must have been done incorrectly. So the rear alignment was adjusted to compensate for the front alignment being off. So the tech had to change BOTH the front and rear alignment (all 4 wheels). The steering wheel was centered Before and after the alignment.
So i would STRONGLY recommend having the 4 WHEEL alignment checked on your new/old Tesla. My shop recommends checking it every 4k miles or 6 months. Same for tire rebalancing. I bought a 3 year alignment package. BTW, the rear plastic undercar coverplate HAS to be removed to do the rear alignment. That plate takes some doing to get off. Appeared to be the hardest part of the job. I have had other new-car alignment issues in years past from poorly designed OEM radial tires. I believe that the Michelin tires on my 3 are fine. BTW, had 9% battery 20+ miles from Baker, but that downhill run from LV keep my battery at 9% when i pulled into the super chargers in Baker. Wow.
So i would STRONGLY recommend having the 4 WHEEL alignment checked on your new/old Tesla. My shop recommends checking it every 4k miles or 6 months. Same for tire rebalancing. I bought a 3 year alignment package. BTW, the rear plastic undercar coverplate HAS to be removed to do the rear alignment. That plate takes some doing to get off. Appeared to be the hardest part of the job. I have had other new-car alignment issues in years past from poorly designed OEM radial tires. I believe that the Michelin tires on my 3 are fine. BTW, had 9% battery 20+ miles from Baker, but that downhill run from LV keep my battery at 9% when i pulled into the super chargers in Baker. Wow.
What? Every 6 months even if you drive 1K miles? Alignment doesn't drift because of time. Even 4K is crazy.
The undertray is about 8 10mm bolts. It's under a minute with a driver bit. It takes no doing to get it off.
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