Clunking wheel

[MrT.]

First post, so firstly thank you to all the contributors whom I have learnt from over the last 3 months, following a somewhat impulsive decision to purchase a M3 SR+.

Parked at a hotel over the late May bank holiday weekend. Leaving on the Monday morning, we pulled out of the car park only to experience a periodic clunking from what felt like the rear passenger wheel. My initial thought was that the tyre was completely flat and I was cursing myself for not noticing when I unplugged the destination charger cable. We gingerly drove 100m until we could pull off the road. I got out, steeling myself to see the damage, but nothing visible. Reversed the car - no clunking. Drove forward, still no clunking, so off we went.
My guess is that some big lump of gravel from the hotel car park got stuck in the tread and was loosened when we pulled off the road, but I thought I would raise this here in case it is a model 3 "thing". I come from a BMW i3 and a "thing" with that car is that gravel gets stuck in the brake causing a horrible grinding noise that is simply fixed by reversing for a few metres to eject the gravel.
Has anyone experienced what I described or was it just a fluke?

 

[GRiLLA]

First post, so firstly thank you to all the contributors whom I have learnt from over the last 3 months, following a somewhat impulsive decision to purchase a M3 SR+.

Parked at a hotel over the late May bank holiday weekend. Leaving on the Monday morning, we pulled out of the car park only to experience a periodic clunking from what felt like the rear passenger wheel. My initial thought was that the tyre was completely flat and I was cursing myself for not noticing when I unplugged the destination charger cable. We gingerly drove 100m until we could pull off the road. I got out, steeling myself to see the damage, but nothing visible. Reversed the car - no clunking. Drove forward, still no clunking, so off we went.
My guess is that some big lump of gravel from the hotel car park got stuck in the tread and was loosened when we pulled off the road, but I thought I would raise this here in case it is a model 3 "thing". I come from a BMW i3 and a "thing" with that car is that gravel gets stuck in the brake causing a horrible grinding noise that is simply fixed by reversing for a few metres to eject the gravel.
Has anyone experienced what I described or was it just a fluke?

Gravel can get stuck behind the disk and makes a terrible noise, more of a scream than a clunk. There's a Tesla guide to removing it, mainly wiggling the bit behind the disk. Do It Yourself - Model 3

 

[Adopado]

I tend to find that gravel in tyre treads makes a clicking rather than a clunking type of sound. Very curious. I haven’t heard of this issue but let’s see….

 

[Adopado]

Second thoughts… I have heard a single clang when gravel was ejected from a brake ( in a previous car)… not a clunk and not continuous though.

 

[davidmc]

First post, so firstly thank you to all the contributors whom I have learnt from over the last 3 months, following a somewhat impulsive decision to purchase a M3 SR+.

Parked at a hotel over the late May bank holiday weekend. Leaving on the Monday morning, we pulled out of the car park only to experience a periodic clunking from what felt like the rear passenger wheel. My initial thought was that the tyre was completely flat and I was cursing myself for not noticing when I unplugged the destination charger cable. We gingerly drove 100m until we could pull off the road. I got out, steeling myself to see the damage, but nothing visible. Reversed the car - no clunking. Drove forward, still no clunking, so off we went.
My guess is that some big lump of gravel from the hotel car park got stuck in the tread and was loosened when we pulled off the road, but I thought I would raise this here in case it is a model 3 "thing". I come from a BMW i3 and a "thing" with that car is that gravel gets stuck in the brake causing a horrible grinding noise that is simply fixed by reversing for a few metres to eject the gravel.
Has anyone experienced what I described or was it just a fluke?

If your car is parked for a long period or its been raining and you have parked, the rear break pads stick to the disks. I get this some times when i pull away and you get a clunk. When you hear this wind down your window and drive slowly you may hear the disks and pads slightly rubbing which will disappear after a small drive.

Not sure why this happens, but could be the disks and pads that Tesla uses on the car (the non performance ones).

 

[MrT.]

I tend to find that gravel in tyre treads makes a clicking rather than a clunking type of sound. Very curious. I haven’t heard of this issue but let’s see….

I can see that "clunking" was probably misleading, as it perhaps has metallic overtones. It was more of a feeling than a sound and I was reminded very much of the feeling you get if you try cycling with a completely flat tyre, which is why I thought I had a flat. What I may have experienced was the sensation of repeatably driving over a big lump of gravel stuck to the tyre.
Thanks too to the other posters for useful things watch out for.

 

[Alistairuk]

If you were parked on gravel or stones it could be something stuck to the tyres and fell off as you drove (I park on gravel at home) and if it’s been wet usually happens every time - either that or brakes sticking.