Could I have caused some damage?

[vraev]

Hi guys,

I know I may be overthinking and just becoming paranoid about this, but I felt my first bottoming out with my new MS. I was coming out of a strip mall exit (Tim hortons) down onto the street and was going at a slow speed when I heard a loud thud which I felt underneath my seat. I don’t know if I hit the bottom of the car (set at normal) or it was the suspension and the wheel just banged into the inside of the wheel well. I didn’t exactly see what it was, but might have been a pothole in the driveway.

I tried looking underneath the car after raising the suspension to very high. I did not see anything out of the ordinary. I looked into the wheel wells and did not see anything different. I did notice the following: the plastic on the underside of the front bumper was broken on both left and right wheel wells. (See pics). Is this normal? Or was this caused by some damage?

I did notice a soft scraping/rasping sound while driving and also noticed that the tire pressures which were all at 48psi before are now a bit unbalanced (left two tires are 48 psi, while right front is 47psi and right rear is 49psi).

I will be going to the SC on Tuesday for a checkup about some windnoise and rubber sealing on the driver side.

Do you guys think I should try to take it in asap tomorrow and get it checked out? Is bottoming out on a pothole (the bottom of the car or the air suspension) going to cause a lot of damage?

Thanks

V

 

[Snowstorm]

I won’t worry too much about slight PSI imbalance as driving and heating can cause that, but if it keeps getting worse then do check the tires.

I am no expert in the other aspect, though I think if it drives fine and there are no obvious damage or error message, the I won’t stress too much about it and just get it checked out next week when you are going to the SC. The underside of Model S is probably tougher than most ICE sedans, witht reinforcement tonprotect this battery.

 

[vraev]

Here is a video showing this inside both front wheel wells of the car.

 

[vraev]

I won’t worry too much about slight PSI imbalance as driving and heating can cause that, but if it keeps getting worse then do check the tires.

I am no expert in the other aspect, though I think if it drives fine and there are no obvious damage or error message, the I won’t stress too much about it and just get it checked out next week when you are going to the SC. The underside of Model S is probably tougher than most ICE sedans, witht reinforcement tonprotect this battery.

Thanks. I guess it was bound to happen at some or the other time. I guess I just have to be more careful and try to remember to always raise my suspension in some of those downtown strip mall driveways.

 

[GatorGuy]

The issue is, you have no idea when that plastic broke or from what.

I'd be more concerned about a bent rim than anything.

 

[vraev]

I looked at the rim and cannot see any damage/rash on it. I’ll try looking more carefully at it tomorrow morning after I wash the car.

 

[brkaus]

Very low speed pothole is unlikely to damage the rim/tire. Watch the pressure over a few days.

 

[vraev]

Very low speed pothole is unlikely to damage the rim/tire. Watch the pressure over a few days.

Thanks. Will keep an eye on it. Can the control arm be damaged by pothole damage?

 

[brkaus]

Thanks. Will keep an eye on it. Can the control arm be damaged by pothole damage?

Anything is possible, but I would bet it’s unlikely at slow speeds.

I think your suffering from new car panic.

Watch the tire pressure. If it handles fine you’re fine.

If your worried, you could have the alignment checked.

 

[vraev]

Anything is possible, but I would bet it’s unlikely at slow speeds.

I think your suffering from new car panic.

Watch the tire pressure. If it handles fine you’re fine.

If your worried, you could have the alignment checked.

Thanks for the reassurance everyone. I’ll see over the next couple of days if anything feels out of the ordinary