Do you have shudder on hard acceleration? AKA death rattle?

[dk10438]

Hi just recently took delivery on a P100D and on hard acceleration I have a rattle with vibration, also known as the half shaft shudder which affects cars with the air suspension and more typically performance versions since it develops more torque. It's most pronounced if the car is in the standard or high setting. Apparently the fix is replacing the half shafts and jack shaft but in most cases this is a temporary fix since it often returns. Owners are reporting that if they drop the car then the aforementioned repair results in a more durable fix. Just wondering what percentage of cars are

 

[ucmndd]

I bought the slowest Tesla made so I wouldn’t have to deal with this.

 

[Chaserr]

Yes for years. tesla told me it's normal on "standard" but shouldn't be felt on "lowest" - I told them I have mine set to "ALWAYS" lowest and they said "well then it's normal in every setting"

I think they just want to wait it out and hope it fails after the 8 year marker. They've done that for pretty much everything in the last ~2 years.

 

[Brettski]

I can’t say whether it’s a half shaft issue but I do have a reproducible vibration at ~40MPH on hard acceleration. (5/18 100D). I wrote in a different thread, this was looked at in March and they found a loose axle nut and damaged bearing (replaced); the sound went away but now is back. I have a service appt for this on Monday - will report the outcome back to this thread!

 

[HX_Guy]

None at all on my S75D with non air suspension.
I did recently have a X90D loaner and it had the shudder issue, was terrible.

 

[TaoJones]

Ensure that your half-shafts are not prematurely worn, Tesla changed suppliers for these in mid-2017.

Next likely suspect is either the jack shaft (less likely) or tired worn prematurely due to the non-adjustable rear camber design flaw. I don’t recall when that started but here’s the difference:

Got 53K miles from a set of Michelins in an AP1 S85, vintage late-2014.

With a Spring 2017 S90D, I’ll be lucky to average 27K per set due to premature inner tire wear.

That said, replacing the half shafts and optimizing rotations, tire pressure, and alignments *not* quite to factory spec does keep the vibration upon acceleration to a minimum.

I won’t buy another car with non-adjustable rear camber links. Tried adjustable links which was an $1800 round trip exercise in frustration due to a defective design for said links - which came apart at less than 5K miles - so cuidado if you go that route.

 

[dk10438]

Yes for years. tesla told me it's normal on "standard" but shouldn't be felt on "lowest" - I told them I have mine set to "ALWAYS" lowest and they said "well then it's normal in every setting"

I think they just want to wait it out and hope it fails after the 8 year marker. They've done that for pretty much everything in the last ~2 years.

funny.... I went to the SA and she said "it's a normal sound for an abnormal situation",

 

[Snowstorm]

I don’t exactly know what you are taking about, but have seen such a vibration during hard acceleration. I even brought it in but it was obvious that day when the tech was driving it. They said something about suspension vibration and it shouldn’t occur on low. I don’t know if it is normal but it doesn’t seem to impact things. Regular S100D

 

[dk10438]

here's my thread but many more

Strange noise on full throttle acceleration. Any ideas??

skip to 1:40 in this youtube

 

[EV-lutioin]

I bought the slowest Tesla made so I wouldn’t have to deal with this.

It happens to the "slow" ones too.

 

[sorka]

My front cv half shafts were replaced 4 times. They NEVER tried to tell me it was normal. The 3rd replacement at 50K miles and it only took 3K miles for the vibration to come back. They asked me to hang tight until they found a permanent solution. By 70K miles it was worse than it had ever been mainly becuase I had the 3rd set for 17K miles of vibration.

I asked them to put it in writing that the violent shaking would result in any metal fatigue of suspension components and that there was no danger. Once I asked for that in writing, they asked me to come in again and have them replace. That was at 70K miles...20K miles ago and the problem hasn't returned since. I'm fairly certain it's because I lowered the car 1" with lowering links so it is now at the height it was when the drivetrain was qualified. Tesla raised the car 1" in 2014 for fear of battery strikes. I believe this exceeded the angular design limits for the cv shafts while under heavy torque.

 

[OPRCE]

Had it in my June 2018 S100D until 2 days ago when SeC replaced half-shafts (and rattling front air suspension struts) under warranty @25k miles after one year of driving quite gently, mostly in Chilled mode on motorways (suspension set to lower >=90kmh).

Am expecting the problem to return and need regular replacement, is that correct?

My front cv half shafts were replaced 4 times. They NEVER tried to tell me it was normal. The 3rd replacement at 50K miles and it only took 3K miles for the vibration to come back. They asked me to hang tight until they found a permanent solution. By 70K miles it was worse than it had ever been mainly becuase I had the 3rd set for 17K miles of vibration.

I asked them to put it in writing that the violent shaking would result in any metal fatigue of suspension components and that there was no danger. Once I asked for that in writing, they asked me to come in again and have them replace. That was at 70K miles...20K miles ago and the problem hasn't returned since. I'm fairly certain it's because I lowered the car 1" with lowering links so it is now at the height it was when the drivetrain was qualified. Tesla raised the car 1" in 2014 for fear of battery strikes. I believe this exceeded the angular design limits for the cv shafts while under heavy torque.

Wow, as I was typing that answered my question with great information, thanks!
Could you please link to the materials required / a guide on how to do the same operation?

Or if I just set my suspension permanently to Lower, should that avoid a recurrence of the wear problem?

PS: Still on original tyres, seem about half worn, but evenly (just rotated front to back for first time).

That said, replacing the half shafts and optimizing rotations, tire pressure, and alignments *not* quite to factory spec does keep the vibration upon acceleration to a minimum.

Please give the details of these changes you'd recommend?

 

[AtlUtdFan]

My 2018 Model S 75D, does this when I floor the accelerator but only when the weather is cold or the first few miles of a trip during warmer weather so far.

 

[mrElbe]

The question is, are the half shafts under 8 year motor warranty or under 4 year 50k miles / 80k km warranty?

 

[Xenoilphobe]

4 year /50K unless you have the extended warranty.

 

[Snowstorm]

here's my thread but many more

Strange noise on full throttle acceleration. Any ideas??

skip to 1:40 in this youtube

Yes, that is exactly what happens to mine. I cannot get it to repro the other day when I took it in, but exactly like that when it does happen!

 

[dk10438]

if you have an air suspension and want to summon the death rattle, place car in high or extra high setting and then floor it

 

[Dan Baldwin]

I definitely have this on my '18 SP100D and can reproduce it 100% of the time while suspension is on normal. I'm going to make a SC appt soon. Will the SC recognize this as an issue and fix it or is this something that varies between different SCs?
I will try that "get it in writing" idea if they balk at fixing it.

 

[Xenoilphobe]

Ensure that your half-shafts are not prematurely worn, Tesla changed suppliers for these in mid-2017.

Next likely suspect is either the jack shaft (less likely) or tired worn prematurely due to the non-adjustable rear camber design flaw. I don’t recall when that started but here’s the difference:

Got 53K miles from a set of Michelins in an AP1 S85, vintage late-2014.

With a Spring 2017 S90D, I’ll be lucky to average 27K per set due to premature inner tire wear.

That said, replacing the half shafts and optimizing rotations, tire pressure, and alignments *not* quite to factory spec does keep the vibration upon acceleration to a minimum.

I won’t buy another car with non-adjustable rear camber links. Tried adjustable links which was an $1800 round trip exercise in frustration due to a defective design for said links - which came apart at less than 5K miles - so cuidado if you go that route.

Lots of the early adopters have gone to the aftermarket adjustable rear camber links - no issues with rear camber or tire wear on my 2014 P85+. get close to 40K out of my 19" MXV4's and close to 20K on my 21" PSS's, and I drive it pretty hard, I'm at over 80K with my adjustable rear camber links... not a single issue.
Proof of tire wear benefits of accurate alignment and rear camber

 

[Snowstorm]

My question is that if this is just a noise and annoyance thing, or is it a sign that something is damaged / being damaged. I can sort of tolerate it if it is just a noise and is not going to cause problem. However, if the noise is due to something broken or damage being done, then I will need Tesla to fix this

It sounds like clunk - du lu du lu du lu....