quickstrike12
Member
$90 bucks? Really? Seems like a no brainer to just replace them. Not even sure it would need an alignment afterwards. That price is through Tesla parts?
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Creaking/Squeaking control arm ball joint fix
- Thread starter Jillmark99
- Start date
Upper control arm squeaking? $8 fix and 15 minutes of your time.
Watch this video, get $8 RedNTacky Grease from HomeDepot (or similar grease, read somewhere marine grease good too).
I modified the approach using an 18Gauge needle and a 10 mL syringe.
I was able to put air suspension in high and there was wide open easy access.
Injected 8 mL (seemed like the max) and it instantly fixed the problem. See the picture. I have a 2018 Model X.
Good luck!
(I donated to his PayPal, cuz this fix is just awesome!)
Watch this video, get $8 RedNTacky Grease from HomeDepot (or similar grease, read somewhere marine grease good too).
I modified the approach using an 18Gauge needle and a 10 mL syringe.
I was able to put air suspension in high and there was wide open easy access.
Injected 8 mL (seemed like the max) and it instantly fixed the problem. See the picture. I have a 2018 Model X.
Good luck!
Lucas Oil 14 oz. Red 'N' Tacky Grease 10005 - The Home Depot
The water-resistant Lucas Oil 14 oz. Red 'N' Tacky Grease, fortified with rust and oxidation inhibitors. It makes a great choice for use in many agricultural, automotive, industrial and marine applications.
www.homedepot.com
Attachments
henderrj
Active Member
Upper control arm squeaking? $8 fix and 15 minutes of your time.
Watch this video, get $8 RedNTacky Grease from HomeDepot (or similar grease, read somewhere marine grease good too).
I modified the approach using an 18Gauge needle and a 10 mL syringe.
I was able to put air suspension in high and there was wide open easy access.
Injected 8 mL (seemed like the max) and it instantly fixed the problem. See the picture. I have a 2018 Model X.
Good luck!
(I donated to his PayPal, cuz this fix is just awesome!)
Lucas Oil 14 oz. Red 'N' Tacky Grease 10005 - The Home Depot
The water-resistant Lucas Oil 14 oz. Red 'N' Tacky Grease, fortified with rust and oxidation inhibitors. It makes a great choice for use in many agricultural, automotive, industrial and marine applications.www.homedepot.com
I love it, but have one concern. How many miles have you gone since doing this? I'm just wondering if one has to do it every couple thousand miles, or if it'll last 20,000. Thanks for letting us know!
hybridbear
Active Member
And, how do you do it without an air suspension?Upper control arm squeaking? $8 fix and 15 minutes of your time.
Watch this video, get $8 RedNTacky Grease from HomeDepot (or similar grease, read somewhere marine grease good too).
I modified the approach using an 18Gauge needle and a 10 mL syringe.
I was able to put air suspension in high and there was wide open easy access.
Injected 8 mL (seemed like the max) and it instantly fixed the problem. See the picture. I have a 2018 Model X.
Good luck!
(I donated to his PayPal, cuz this fix is just awesome!)
Lucas Oil 14 oz. Red 'N' Tacky Grease 10005 - The Home Depot
The water-resistant Lucas Oil 14 oz. Red 'N' Tacky Grease, fortified with rust and oxidation inhibitors. It makes a great choice for use in many agricultural, automotive, industrial and marine applications.www.homedepot.com
A valid concern to be sure.
In the description on YouTube his ( @islandbayy ) remarks (edited) state that he has logged 20,00 miles since his fix and still "ZERO NOISE!"
islandbayy
Active Member
Over 25,000 Miles Now
And one, Nasty, Salty, Slushy Winter Had a little injected great leakage right after first doing it, mostly due to pressure of having over-injected. I have noticed no leakage since. Silent. My MX is squeaking a tiny bit as the weather warms, I' going to raise the air suspension this week when the 70*F weather hits, and inject a bit in each side and should be good to go there. I can't remember if I injected previously in the MX, but I don't think I did.
islandbayy
Active Member
I was originally expecting it to last maybe, 5-10k, but currently at about 25k since doing it, and still silent.
islandbayy
Active Member
Don't need to remove tires or have air suspension. I had to remove tires to be able to show for the video. I can do my Coil Suspension car if I wanted without removing the wheel. Removing the wheel is easier though. Can just pair it with a tire rotation and kill 6 birds with 2 stones.
scottf200
Well-Known Member
Thank you for that nice follow up. Here is the estimate that I got today from them. Labor for installing the categorize as a 'diagnosis' fee.Upper control arm squeaking? $8 fix and 15 minutes of your time.
Watch this video, get $8 RedNTacky Grease from HomeDepot (or similar grease, read somewhere marine grease good too).
I modified the approach using an 18Gauge needle and a 10 mL syringe.
I was able to put air suspension in high and there was wide open easy access.
Injected 8 mL (seemed like the max) and it instantly fixed the problem. See the picture. I have a 2018 Model X.
Good luck!
(I donated to his PayPal, cuz this fix is just awesome!)
Lucas Oil 14 oz. Red 'N' Tacky Grease 10005 - The Home Depot
The water-resistant Lucas Oil 14 oz. Red 'N' Tacky Grease, fortified with rust and oxidation inhibitors. It makes a great choice for use in many agricultural, automotive, industrial and marine applications.www.homedepot.com
[UPDATE: I'm actually trying to get clarification on the labor ... or if the estimate they want accepted is just the diagnosis and if that is the problem then they charge extra to install them.]
[UPDATE 2: They said that is all the "labor".
]
Last edited:
islandbayy
Active Member
Thats not bad, it's come down in price. Unfortunately, it's still not a permanent fix. The replacements are going to have the exact same problem. Again, and again, and again. Inject grease as shown in my video, and it will be permanent for the most part. At least, considerably longer life. I'd wait though, since you had it replaced, until the 1 year/10,000 mile service warranty on the control arms is up, then immediately grease. That way, if they start squeaking again before the 10,000mile/1 year point, you'll get another set for free.Thank you for that nice follow up. Here is the estimate that I got today from them. Labor for installing the categorize as a 'diagnosis' fee.
[UPDATE: I'm actually trying to get clarification on the labor ... or if the estimate they want accepted is just the diagnosis and if that is the problem then they charge extra to install them.]
[UPDATE 2: They said that is all the "labor".
]
Thanks again to @islandbayy for the awesome video (KmanAuto)! I've only driven a hundred miles or so, but the change is so dramatic, it's amazing. My whole street could hear the squeaking before. Hoping to get >25k miles like him.
I used about 2% of the grease tube and I still have the needle and syringe, so happy to inject again if really need to. Can do it in 3 minutes now.
I used about 2% of the grease tube and I still have the needle and syringe, so happy to inject again if really need to. Can do it in 3 minutes now.
islandbayy
Active Member
My Pleasure
Always happy to help. If anyone needs links to what to buy to grease, amazon links are in the video description. CHEERS!
scottf200
Well-Known Member
Thank you for that nice follow up. Here is the estimate that I got today from them. Labor for installing the categorize as a 'diagnosis' fee.
[UPDATE: I'm actually trying to get clarification on the labor ... or if the estimate they want accepted is just the diagnosis and if that is the problem then they charge extra to install them.]
[UPDATE 2: They said that is all the "labor".
]
I took my car in this morning and after the tech checked out the noise that even sounds just by getting in and turning the steering wheel a tiny bit
... they dropped the $188 diagnosis fee after not even needing a test drive. I was happy about that.
I'll inject grease if the sound shows up again after the 1 yr/10K miles. The first set lasted 87K miles and 5 yrs.
Hi! We used your method - used at 18 gauge needle and a 10mL syringe with the RedNTacky Grease. Hubby was only able to get 7mL in. It was very difficult to even get that much in. He was using lot of force to push the grease out of the syringe and after the 7ml, the handle of the syringe ended up breaking (probably was expecting it to flow out like childrens medicine) We drove it for about 30 miles after to see if that fixed it. It was still squeaking. I tried it again and got 2mL more in. I was more patient about it than him. This solved the problem and squeaking is now gone! Thank you for this solution! About a $20 fix for us ($8 grease from Lowes + $10 pack of syringes with needles on Amazon).Upper control arm squeaking? $8 fix and 15 minutes of your time.
Watch this video, get $8 RedNTacky Grease from HomeDepot (or similar grease, read somewhere marine grease good too).
I modified the approach using an 18Gauge needle and a 10 mL syringe.
I was able to put air suspension in high and there was wide open easy access.
Injected 8 mL (seemed like the max) and it instantly fixed the problem. See the picture. I have a 2018 Model X.
Good luck!
(I donated to his PayPal, cuz this fix is just awesome!)
Lucas Oil 14 oz. Red 'N' Tacky Grease 10005 - The Home Depot
The water-resistant Lucas Oil 14 oz. Red 'N' Tacky Grease, fortified with rust and oxidation inhibitors. It makes a great choice for use in many agricultural, automotive, industrial and marine applications.www.homedepot.com
Dec 2017 Model X
quickstrike12
Member
islandbayy
Active Member
Wanted to thank you all for this thread.
Took my car to SC with a front passenger side loud squeak. Felt it was likely the control arms. Notably, I had previously had the ball joints "resealed" about 18 months ago for the same issue.
Took the tech on a test drive which took about 2 minutes - didn't even make it out of the parking lot, lol. He immediately agreed with the diagnosis of the control arms.
Thanks to you all and your helpful posts here. This is a known issue on these cars (there's active class action litigation, actually) and Tesla is obviously aware of the issue, but refuses to cover repairs. I found the "grease injection" solution a little too late, but for $90/side replacement seemed also to be very reasonable. They did try to charge me diagnosis on this known issue (with a 2 minute test drive with the tech) that I asked them to remove based on what others have suggested here.
So thank you all for the help. In the last week you all saved me about $500 between this and self-replacing my steering wheel scroll wheel!
Took my car to SC with a front passenger side loud squeak. Felt it was likely the control arms. Notably, I had previously had the ball joints "resealed" about 18 months ago for the same issue.
Took the tech on a test drive which took about 2 minutes - didn't even make it out of the parking lot, lol. He immediately agreed with the diagnosis of the control arms.
Thanks to you all and your helpful posts here. This is a known issue on these cars (there's active class action litigation, actually) and Tesla is obviously aware of the issue, but refuses to cover repairs. I found the "grease injection" solution a little too late, but for $90/side replacement seemed also to be very reasonable. They did try to charge me diagnosis on this known issue (with a 2 minute test drive with the tech) that I asked them to remove based on what others have suggested here.
So thank you all for the help. In the last week you all saved me about $500 between this and self-replacing my steering wheel scroll wheel!
scottf200
Well-Known Member
Glad they dropped your diagnosis fee as well!
Can you point to the above litigation as I'd like to follow it?
I'll do the grease injection if this noise happens again to me.
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