Cracked roof glass from Tesla’s own Surfrack

[joelthesurfer]

Anyone experienced cracked roof glass months after installing Tesla’s recommended Rack?

The story is I installed the Tesla recommended rack and hauled my 9 foot surfboard without any problems for 9 months. Then one day I noticed a crack emanating from the base of the rack.

Went to Tesla service center and they wanted to charge me $1700 to replace the roof glass but I am concerned this might happen again.

I have a suspicion the rack moves with wind pressure overtime. I am pretty sure it was installed correctly as it worked fine for 9 months but over time it moved ever so slightly resulting in coming in contact with the glass resulting in a rack.

Was wondering if I should blame the rack manufacturer for the problem?

Has anyone had similar experience?

Any suggestions how I can avoid the $1700 glass replacement cost?

 

[AlexHung]

Just from looking at the photo, it looks like the right front feet has moved *a lot*. I can only assume you tighten the bolts according to the torque spec? Regardless, I don' think there's any way to avoid the roof replacement since you installed the rack yourself. (I made a service center appointment and had Tesla installed mine for this very reason. Personally I think it was $75 well spent.)

 

[exxxviii]

Wait… those little metal clips go under the glass roof panel? And pull up against the panel. At the weakest point of a tempered glass panel?

My first reaction is I am surprised that design doesn’t crack every roof. Could you have over-tightened it? 3.5 nM is very little torque.

 

[AlexHung]

I should blame the rack manufacturer for the problem?

Wait, yours isn't made by Tesla?

 

[AlexHung]

IIRC that mark on the roof is the PPF for the feet.

 

[Alan_F]

Wait… those little metal clips go under the glass roof panel? And pull up against the panel. At the weakest point of a tempered glass panel?

My first reaction is I am surprised that design doesn’t crack every roof. Could you have over-tightened it? 3.5 nM is very little torque.

There are metal brackets under the glass that the clips sit under. They are pulling in/up on metal and shouldn't be touching the glass at all when the rack is installed correctly. I don't think the rack could move forwards or backwards at all if it was installed in the right location and torqued correctly, unless some part of the mount failed.

I installed my rack just after buying my 2020 Model 3 (Dec 2019) and IIRC there was some sort of issue on older racks due to failures of the mounting clips, but I didn't have any luck finding anything about that just now searching this site.

There are some pictures in this old thread that show the mount points: Do you have possible ROOF RACK ATTACHMENTS? (Model 3)

and a better picture here: Model Y Roof Rack CRACK

 

[exxxviii]

There are metal brackets under the glass that the clips sit under. They are pulling in/up on metal and shouldn't be touching the glass at all when the rack is installed correctly.

That makes total sense and explains why the OPs roof cracked. If the rack moves, the clips will be touching glass. And Then, CRACK.

 

[joelthesurfer]

Wait, yours isn't made by Tesla?

I bought the rack from Tesla

 

[joelthesurfer]

That makes total sense and explains why the OPs roof cracked. If the rack moves, the clips will be touching glass. And Then, CRACK.

I think that is exactly what happened. The rack moved over time. I am concerned it will happen again. Was wondering if others had similar experience with recurrent issues.

 

[zoomer0056]

Good question asking if someone else had same problem. For now readjust it, torque rack down and check it after each use. Maybe you can hold of a bit if crack doesn't grow. I don't think it's warranty-able with user error like this (unless someone else reported it as a manufacturer problem).

 

[AlexHung]

I think that is exactly what happened. The rack moved over time. I am concerned it will happen again. Was wondering if others had similar experience with recurrent issues.

I have the roof rack for 2+ years, carrying mountain bikes over long-ish distance (50+ miles) at highway speed many times. The rack has not moved at all.

 

[stopcrazypp]

I remember reading another thread they were able to get service center to cover, although that does not set a precedent. As other mentioned, the safest way is to have Tesla install it, that way they can't say it was improperly installed.

It's fairly easy to install it wrong, I remember reading lining up the clip location is fairly easy to get wrong if you don't follow instructions exactly.

 

[cwerdna]

There was the guy at the top of OEM TESLA roof racks Crack Glass.

If only Tesla would sell vehicles w/a metal roof and not a glass one...

 

[AlexHung]

There was the guy at the top of OEM TESLA roof racks Crack Glass.

If only Tesla would sell vehicles w/a metal roof and not a glass one...

TBF, Tesla needs some way to differential themselves in the beginning. Glass roof was/is one of many things. Now with EV being more popular and Tesla brand being more recognized, replacing glass roof with traditional metal roof + sun roof would probably make sense.

May be the next generation chassis would have that.

 

[cwerdna]

Originally, the 3 was going to be available with a metal roof on the cheapest version (SR?) but that never happened. The glass roof was one of several factors as to why I ruled out the Model 3 twice. I do NOT want it. I've written about why numerous times including at Anyone with a Tesla roof rack...I need some help!.

Folks were suffering from stress cracks early on. There are plenty of folks here w/cracked glass roofs for various reasons (racks, road debris, etc.)

I've never owned nor leased a car with any sunroof, moonroof, glass roof, etc. On some of the vehicles I've had, it wasn't even available as an option.

 

[Gunning]

I bought the roof rack, installed to torque specs. Had it on for 3 months then it randomly cracked on the road in cold weather. This has to be a faulty rack since it’s happening to everyone. I’m pissed as I don’t want to pay 1700 plus 400 for the rack. What can we do here?

 

[exxxviii]

I bought the roof rack, installed to torque specs. Had it on for 3 months then it randomly cracked on the road in cold weather. This has to be a faulty rack since it’s happening to everyone. I’m pissed as I don’t want to pay 1700 plus 400 for the rack. What can we do here?

Can you show pictures? Specifically, the location of the crack relative to the position of the metal bracket under the glass?

 

[MP3Mike]

I think that is exactly what happened. The rack moved over time. I am concerned it will happen again. Was wondering if others had similar experience with recurrent issues.

If it is installed correctly, it can't move. (Unless the metal pocket gets broken off of the body.)

 

[Gunning]

Can you show pictures? Specifically, the location of the crack relative to the position of the metal bracket under the glass?

Hard to see the crack so I drew it in. It’s a hairline. But the rack did not move, it cant if it’s installed correctly as there is a notch it sits in.

 

[stopcrazypp]

View attachment 898164
Hard to see the crack so I drew it in. It’s a hairline. But the rack did not move, it cant if it’s installed correctly as there is a notch it sits in.

Unlike the other cases reported, there's no cracks coming from the rack, so there is possiblity of it coming from a rock chip.

When installed correctly, the rack should not touch the glass at all. Some people over tighten and have even broke the glass just during installation. There are also cases where the glass is uneven and is raised where the rack is (in which case warranty may cover). People have mentioned a piece of paper should be able to slip under the rubber part between the glass and rack.

You can always try to request warranty, but if they end up denying, note for a small crack like this a glass repair service (like that for windshields) might be able to repair (although you would need to remove rack for them to access). Some insurance policies also cover glass repair (although not always for roof).