Acceleration Shudder

[Vakil92]

We have no idea what percentage of X’s are experiencing this issue.

Probably all the ones that go in for wheel alignment... or 1 year service for starters ... based on my experience turning my car in , it was perfect going in and after service developed the dreaded shaking

.. it’s a totally different ball game when aligning big wheels to the suspension .. the tolerances and machines are totally different than for regular 19 inch wheels etc . had a mercedes gl 550 with big tires ... went in for alignment and had the same problem ... vibrating with hard accel and at high speeds ..they had to send the car to a place specializing in big rims and tires .. and after that it was fine ...

 

[sorka]

We have no idea what percentage of X’s are experiencing this issue.

I drove a co-worker's x p100d and it had a violent shake. He thought it was normal because it was doing it since day 1....although it was an inventory car so it wasn't actually new.

 

[Vakil92]

The foam in one of wheels had separated ... causing the imbalance in alignment leading to the vibration.... they put on a new tire, aligned the car and it’s good as new... no vibration.. will see if it comes back

 

[sorka]

The foam in one of wheels had separated ... causing the imbalance in alignment leading to the vibration.... they put on a new tire, aligned the car and it’s good as new... no vibration.. will see if it comes back

Glad you got your issue sorted out but that's not the issue folks in this thread have been experiencing.

 

[sorka]

Mine is in for the 4th time for this issue. Even though it's got nearly 70K miles, it's still under warranty since the problem returned within a few K miles of it being fixed at 49K and they basically asked me to hold on until they got a real fix.

After asking them multiple times for a status on the fix, I was asked to bring it back in even though they don't yet have a fix.

 

[alloverx]

Are they going to wave a magic wand or get "he who must not be named" to do something special?

 

[sorka]

I lowered my car 1" in the hopes that the decreased angle on the CV joints will prevent it from happening again.

My car is now at the same height on standard setting as others that I've measured at my work also on the standard setting.

 

[Fairchild]

For the last thousand miles or so I've noticed a significant shudder as I accelerate hard from 20-30 mph, as in freeway onramp.

Has anyone else noticed this? The car is slated for a Service Center visit in a few weeks.

Had same issue. Front half shafts replaced. Didn't help much. Friend who is a mechanic there said it is a problem the haven't found a solution to yet. You can avoid it by setting height to VERY LOW when doing a sprited take off.

I actually set mine to LOW or VERY LOW permantly for months to avoid the shudder. BUT DON'T! It wore one of the Continental Tires down to the wire at 17,000 miles.

So here's the only current solution I know. Leave height in STANDARD for routine driving. When you arrive at an intersection and want to show that Camaro who is boss, set to LOW and take the FLAG, but return to Standard height at the ealiest convenience. To my knowlege reducing to LOW automatically on the highway, as the X does over 60, has NO negative impact on the tires.

My TESLA mechanic friend says they are working on it.

 

[sorka]

On my S, I lowered it with lowering links by 1" and installed aftermarket rear upper arms to adjust the negative camber a bit less negative so I don't eat through tires. At the lowest setting, I'm at -1.1 degrees on the rears and -0.8 on the fronts. At the lowest setting, I'm NOW at the height the S USED to be before Tesla rolled out software back in 2013 to raise the car due to concerns over battery impacts i.e. the wheels are now perfectly centered in the wheel wells.

This after destroying my front right CV joint 4 times at the standard height. So far so good on the replacement. I'm way more miles on it now since the previous replacement and no hint of return of the shudder.

 

[ecarfan]

Mine is in for the 4th time for this issue. Even though it's got nearly 70K miles, it's still under warranty since the problem returned within a few K miles of it being fixed at 49K and they basically asked me to hold on until they got a real fix.

I think that is the right approach for now. Yesterday at my local service center I demonstrated the mild shudder in my X that occurs right at 34-36mph under brisk acceleration with suspension at Standard. Does not occur with suspension at Low. The service tech explained the cause, that half shaft replacement is only a temp fix and there is no permanent fix available yet but it is being worked on. I’m going to wait. Just wanted to have the issue documented in the service record of my car so that if the fix isn’t available until after I hit the 50K mile/4 year mark it will still be covered under warranty. I was assured that it would be.

You can avoid it by setting height to VERY LOW when doing a sprited take off.

In my case I only need to set suspension to Low to avoid the shudder. But of course it could get worse in the future. I know that many people are experiencing a stronger shudder than I am.

Interestingly, the worst shudder I have experienced in my car was when I was towing (which sets the suspension to Standard) my 17 ft 2,300 lb (fully loaded) camper trailer; on an uphill freeway on ramp, as an experiment, I pressed the accelerator over halfway to the floor and the shudder was quite severe. The extra load on the car seems to exacerbate it. Fortunately the X has so much torque that I can easily accelerate to a safe merging speed without pressing the accelerator that far.

 

[ohmman]

Interestingly, the worst shudder I have experienced in my car was when I was towing (which sets the suspension to Standard) my 17 ft 2,300 lb (fully loaded) camper trailer; on an uphill freeway on ramp, as an experiment, I pressed the accelerator over halfway to the floor and the shudder was quite severe. The extra load on the car seems to exacerbate it. Fortunately the X has so much torque that I can easily accelerate to a safe merging speed without pressing the accelerator that far.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure the rear weight changes the geometry of the suspension enough to exacerbate the problem. I've noticed similar issues with my trailer.

Slow and steady...

 

[sorka]

Interestingly, the worst shudder I have experienced in my car was when I was towing (which sets the suspension to Standard) my 17 ft 2,300 lb (fully loaded) camper trailer; on an uphill freeway on ramp, as an experiment, I pressed the accelerator over halfway to the floor and the shudder was quite severe. The extra load on the car seems to exacerbate it. Fortunately the X has so much torque that I can easily accelerate to a safe merging speed without pressing the accelerator that far.

The shaft vibration only occurs in a narrow RPM frequency range. The longer you stay within this range, the worse it gets because it's a a positive feedback vibration where each rotation within that RPM range adds energy to the existing oscillation. Now it won't happen if you accelerate slowly through that range with low power/torque because it requires a lot of force to to trigger it but if you're being slowed down from getting through the RPM range by a load it's way worse.

When I had the issue, it was always worse if I had 5 people in the car and try to demonstrate Ludicrous. I eventually just gave up and didn't do it any more.

 

[Sparrow]

I just got my new Model X 100D and noted that the car came with the suspension set to always LOW. I thought that was strange until I started reading threads like this. Am I right in assuming Tesla is setting there on purpose? I wonder if they adjusted the camber to account for driving it that way all the time.

 

[Silicon Desert]

"Working on it" seems to be the standard line. They have been "working on it" for years. Just how long can it take?

 

[valentin_s90d]

invited to Berlin SC on 21/01...they will try to fix it
but I am not assured in positive result

 

[jboy210]

I just got my new Model X 100D and noted that the car came with the suspension set to always LOW. I thought that was strange until I started reading threads like this. Am I right in assuming Tesla is setting there on purpose? I wonder if they adjusted the camber to account for driving it that way all the time.

I just had my car in for service and the tech told me to drive with it in low or very low unless I needed the extra height. As part of the work I was having done, he verified that in low the car was aligned correctly. I never set the car with low as the default and believe the change was part of a software update.

 

[Macgaver]

I have my X since june 2016 and the halfshaft changed at my annual maintenance twice already.

It's on always-low, but I used my michelin interior also twice since (they changed it for free last year). So now I am not sure what to do. I keep standard and have my tires survive a year, or put it on low and get new tires every year.

Right now it's winter and I decided to keep it on "standard" and avoid punchy acceleration with these 19" wheels

 

[Fairchild]

I had the half shafts replaced and it solved the issue for about three weeks. Then returned.
You can avoid it by accelerating in low suspension setting, but I believe you put extra strain on the tires that way. Had a Continenal blow out and I think it was due to rub.
They also told me that it is an unresolved issue and they are still working on it. It sure doesn't feel or sound good.

 

[robski]

I've gone pessimistic on the issue and settled with they're not working on it. It's just been way too long.

 

[alloverx]

Perhaps its not solvable with the current vehicle architecture, so they will replace the struts whilst under warranty as customers complain.