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I was driving around 50 in rain on highway after dark. A loud slam was followed by noise of tire against wheel well. Thought it was a pot hole but really don’t know. Loud slam could have been the suspension failure and/or an impact.
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Today, 130.9K miles. 2012 Model S...
Feedback welcome!
Reversing out of a parking space we heard a very loud sound followed by a grinding/scraping noise from the front right. At first we thought we'd run over something, but there was nothing under or anywhere near the car. Moving the car forwards, the car felt like it first jacked up a bit on the front right, then moved smoothly, but still with the scraping noise. Since we were very close to home we drove home at very low speed with varying degrees of scraping and other noises whenever we went over bumps.
Tesla towed the car to Watertown and are replacing a control arm as I write this the next day.
There have been several reports of this kind of failure happening, so I wonder if they've got a systematic problem.
This is not the only design flaw. Some of the ball joints made in Canada fail and sheer off causing the wheel to go back into the wheel well. I have seen this on two cars and IMO it needs a recall. Tesla won't admit the failure as it is a liability but the steel appears to have defective casting and is too brittle causing it to shatter after a pothole or low impact. The set up a TSB only on one year car and only if it is in for alignment.
Just another reason to have service coverage out of warranty. X-Care covers suspension issues state in this thread.
www.xcelerateauto.com/x-care/
Extended Warranty News Flash !!
Originally, they just replaced the part that failed, but in my comments, I said we weren't happy that they just replaced one side. Months later when I had the car in for another(!) problem, they replaced the other side gratis without my asking. I was, and am, very thankful they did.Hi there,
I just had the same control arm break free issue and here is my link:
Model X arm control disconnects from wheel at low speed
So what did the dealer do with your car in the end? Are you happy with their arrangement?
Thank you
Eric
I didn't lose steering, in fact I drove about 4 miles or so to get home although it was pretty noisy with the tire rubbing on the fender liner. Tesla flatbedded it from there.Not needed if this happens at speed. My friend was doing 30 and hit the curb as you loose all steering. His wife's failed 6 months later, luckily no one was hurt.
I didn't lose steering, in fact I drove about 4 miles or so to get home although it was pretty noisy with the tire rubbing on the fender liner. Tesla flatbedded it from there.
Here is a photo of the damage from the outside. Just about to turn a left, steering wheel is straight at the time.
Interesting. For me it was both *rear* suspension control arms failing without any road impact (one at a time). Yeah, I do think they have a systemic problem. In areas with consistently bad roads, maybe the original version of these parts just aren't strong enough.Reversing out of a parking space we heard a very loud sound followed by a grinding/scraping noise from the front right. At first we thought we'd run over something, but there was nothing under or anywhere near the car. Moving the car forwards, the car felt like it first jacked up a bit on the front right, then moved smoothly, but still with the scraping noise. Since we were very close to home we drove home at very low speed with varying degrees of scraping and other noises whenever we went over bumps.
Tesla towed the car to Watertown and are replacing a control arm as I write this the next day.
There have been several reports of this kind of failure happening, so I wonder if they've got a systematic problem.
Ah, good to know. A systemic problem which is already addressed is the best sort.Tesla has repaired the car and said that while not common, they do see broken control arms occasionally on older cars. There has been a part revision to fix this, so clearly there was a problem with the original design.
Even better. That's what I suspected with my failiures: a bad batch of parts.If you pay attention to the failures they occur exactly the same way, very low speed while making a tight turn. There doesn't appear to be much concern with the part braking while traveling down the road.
Most evidence seems to point that Tesla got some control arms that were manufactured without meeting specs, not that the part design was at issue. If it was a design issue, we'd see a lot more than a handful of these failures.
That's what happened to me. Lost both of the rears in about three months. Tesla replaced under extended warranty.View attachment 326925
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Today, 130.9K miles. 2012 Model S...
Feedback welcome!
My right side failed. There was a low speed rattle on that side only that Tesla checked and said was normal. It’s all being reconstructed now but should I worry about the other side? 2.5 months without a car sucks royally.
I was moving at highway speed. The front bumper, headlight, quarter panel and a long list of expensive stuff was damaged by the failure. It’s very difficult to know what (if anything) I could have hit. It was dark and raining but lots of other Cars were transmitting the same area without incident. Total repair greater than 20k.What do you mean reconstructed? How much damage was there and what speed were you going?
Also the strut mount on the frame. I wondered if they would total it.I was moving at highway speed. The front bumper, headlight, quarter panel and a long list of expensive stuff was damaged by the failure. It’s very difficult to know what (if anything) I could have hit. It was dark and raining but lots of other Cars were transmitting the same area without incident. Total repair greater than 20k.
Also the strut mount on the frame. I wondered if they would total it.
My right side failed. There was a low speed rattle on that side only that Tesla checked and said was normal. It’s all being reconstructed now but should I worry about the other side? 2.5 months without a car sucks royally.
Nine months ago, my 2015 P90D's right Forelink cracked and Tesla replaced it.
After reading of other Forelink failures, I suspected a bad batch, so I asked them to replace my other one. They said there was no need to replace it and there was no recall, so I shouldn't worry.
Seven months later that other Forelink cracked exactly the same way. When they replaced it, they also replaced the steering knuckle, which they said was damaged. See the TMC thread entitled "Cracked Forelink?" for my photos and more info.
The second time, the service writer said they see many cracked Forelinks but they all seem to crack backing out of driveways and not on the highway. My thought was that he doesn't see the ones that fail on the highway because those cars are towed to the salvage yard instead of the service center