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Failed Rear Lower Control Arm / Service Bulletin SB-19-31-001

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What's the chance that someone would come along and fabricate some control links made from stronger material...let's say steel or some inexpensive alloy. I'm not entirely sold on the idea of lightweight aircraft aluminum...just look at the rear sway bar link for my MK4 VW Golf TDI. The bracket couldn't handle the twist at the bushing and caused one of the "U" mounts to sheer off.

I'd hate to see a failure like this on our Tesla...pray that it's not at high speed too.
 

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There are newer heavier versions of these front/rear suspension links from Tesla. They have made them stronger. They just have resisted eating the cost to retrofit all the cars out there. A big enough lawsuit will bring whatever internal deliberations there were to light. Wish it could be resolved before that, but money usually wins.
 
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Hey guys. I’m the latest poster with a busted rear control arm. I am a welder fabricator and could easily make a chromoly version. The problem is the liability, I just don’t know how to manage that for a “boutique” type setup.

Technically though…it would not be hard to make a fixture that would allow for easy production…..you would need an intact control arm to be the template, finding one of those might be the challenge.
 
I'm very happy with my N2itive adjustable control arms, much stronger than stock, a generous 6 year warranty, and allows me to zero out the rear toe and camber. I have no affiliation with the company, I'm simply an extremely satisfied customer. I bought the black arms for the extra corrosion protection from hard salty NY winters, all though the red arms look much more appealing!
 
I am the latest victim of this dreaded lower control arm problem. It happened like many others, I had been driving on the highway for a couple of hours, coming back from vacation with my wife and kids in the car. No indications that this was going to happen, the car handled as usual. I exited the highway and reached a supercharger stall, backed the car into the parking spot. We all got out of the car and while my older kid was closing the door, we heard a loud metal banging sound. The arm just broke live under our eyes. We immediately noticed the heavily cambered rear driver side wheel.

My car is a 2015 S85D with 155,000 kms, so this problem is clearly affecting many years of manufacturing. I managed to get the car towed to the Montreal SC and then I had to find accommodations for my family since we were 350 km away from home. I'm grateful that it did not fail 2 min earlier while driving on the highway. As one suggested earlier, seems like the part has been engineered to fail only when backing up the car, funny enough.

I'm still waiting for the first assessment from Tesla, but I doubt it will go well. What kills me is that I had something similar happened to the front suspension when what I recall (can't see the repair history of my car while it's in service, the Tesla app is blocking access) was the casting of the lower arm failed in half while I was steering the car in a parking lot, standing still. The mechanic at the time who looked at my car said that he had never seen something like this, so I assumed that it was a bad roll of the dices and I looked forward. Now a year later, here I am with a confidence level of 0% in the car safety , waiting to see how Tesla will resolve my problem...
 

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I am the latest victim of this dreaded lower control arm problem. It happened like many others, I had been driving on the highway for a couple of hours, coming back from vacation with my wife and kids in the car. No indications that this was going to happen, the car handled as usual. I exited the highway and reached a supercharger stall, backed the car into the parking spot. We all got out of the car and while my older kid was closing the door, we heard a loud metal banging sound. The arm just broke live under our eyes. We immediately noticed the heavily cambered rear driver side wheel.

My car is a 2015 S85D with 155,000 kms, so this problem is clearly affecting many years of manufacturing. I managed to get the car towed to the Montreal SC and then I had to find accommodations for my family since we were 350 km away from home. I'm grateful that it did not fail 2 min earlier while driving on the highway. As one suggested earlier, seems like the part has been engineered to fail only when backing up the car, funny enough.

I'm still waiting for the first assessment from Tesla, but I doubt it will go well. What kills me is that I had something similar happened to the front suspension when what I recall (can't see the repair history of my car while it's in service, the Tesla app is blocking access) was the casting of the lower arm failed in half while I was steering the car in a parking lot, standing still. The mechanic at the time who looked at my car said that he had never seen something like this, so I assumed that it was a bad roll of the dices and I looked forward. Now a year later, here I am with a confidence level of 0% in the car safety , waiting to see how Tesla will resolve my problem...
Please send this event (and the previous one too!), and all photographs, to the Canadian equivalent of the NTSB as soon as possible.

Given the number of failures noted on TMC forums, and the many dozens/hundreds that we will never hear about, I fear it is only a matter of time before these failures result in a major accident . . . .

Tesla needs to step up and proactively replace these failures-in-waiting before someone gets hurt.

Elon: get on it!
 
I am the latest victim of this dreaded lower control arm problem. It happened like many others, I had been driving on the highway for a couple of hours, coming back from vacation with my wife and kids in the car. No indications that this was going to happen, the car handled as usual. I exited the highway and reached a supercharger stall, backed the car into the parking spot. We all got out of the car and while my older kid was closing the door, we heard a loud metal banging sound. The arm just broke live under our eyes. We immediately noticed the heavily cambered rear driver side wheel.

My car is a 2015 S85D with 155,000 kms, so this problem is clearly affecting many years of manufacturing. I managed to get the car towed to the Montreal SC and then I had to find accommodations for my family since we were 350 km away from home. I'm grateful that it did not fail 2 min earlier while driving on the highway. As one suggested earlier, seems like the part has been engineered to fail only when backing up the car, funny enough.

I'm still waiting for the first assessment from Tesla, but I doubt it will go well. What kills me is that I had something similar happened to the front suspension when what I recall (can't see the repair history of my car while it's in service, the Tesla app is blocking access) was the casting of the lower arm failed in half while I was steering the car in a parking lot, standing still. The mechanic at the time who looked at my car said that he had never seen something like this, so I assumed that it was a bad roll of the dices and I looked forward. Now a year later, here I am with a confidence level of 0% in the car safety , waiting to see how Tesla will resolve my problem...
After talking with the SC supervisor, it comes down to 7000$ to fix everything (it apparently includes a few other worn out suspension related parts that they noticed while looking at the car). They also agreed that this is not normal and dangerous, but it hasn't reached the state of being a recall, so they will not fix this on goodwill. They confirmed that they have seen others like me, but there isn't enough cases or it's not common enough to make this a mandatory recall. The SC supervisor was friendly and sympathetic and offered a 10% discount on the work. I asked to escalate my case to the district manager, but apparently there isn't a reason for it. I mentioned that I disagree and I will reach out to the regional manager since I already have his email and name. He said he would not be surprised if this ever becomes a recall, but we are not there yet.

I love my S, but the fragile suspension makes it a love/hate relationship and I'm afraid I'll have to let it go sooner than later. I can't see myself buying another Tesla since I honestly think the mechanical engineering is not ready yet, at least not for the roads and the weather we have here in Quebec/Ontario. And I can't stop thinking about what would have happened if it broke a few minutes earlier on the highway...
 
And I can't stop thinking about what would have happened if it broke a few minutes earlier on the highway...

Apparently Transport Canada says that it wouldn't be an issue:
As you may know from my earlier posts on this thread, I did file a formal complaint regarding this same event, which you have described as a "clear manufacturing defect", with Transport Canada. TC, I understand, is similar to NHTSA in regard to automobile safety. Transport Canada (2020 - 0975) recently notified me that they concluded their investigation as follows:

"We have determined that a failure of the rear lower control arm on the Model S is not detrimental to the safe operation of the vehicle and will be deactivating our file" and added "No reports of loss of control. And testing verified this."

They said something similar about the 2013-2014 Nissan Altima: (File number: 3280-10-65)

Failure of the left or right rear lower suspension link:

Transport Canada opened this defect investigation in 2019 after documenting six reports of rear lower control arm failures that happened while driving. During the investigation, the department received an additional 34 similar reports. The investigation found that corrosion caused the control arms to fail. Most drivers reported drivability concerns, but also reported being able to control the vehicle. A joint testing program conducted by Transport Canada, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and Nissan confirmed that a vehicle could be safely controlled when a control arm fails. The department is not aware of any collisions, injuries and/or fatalities related to this issue.
 
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Thanks for pointing this out @MP3Mike . I'm surprised, but I'll trust their investigation. I still believe this part should not break that often, and the SC told me that the new parts I will get are at revision #4, which clearly indicates that there is a problem with the original parts (don't know which version I have currently). Even if it's not a safety hazard, I think Tesla should recall those or at least tell us that it might be a good idea to replace them preemptively to save on potential repairs. If they would have told me at 120,000 km, I would have spent the 5-600$ then for peace of mind. Now the 1,000,000$ question for me is "is there another suspension problem just around the corner?"...

I always thought Tesla service is not supposed to be profitable, and that it should help sales by providing a stellar service (which was the case originally when I bought the car in 2015). IMHO, Tesla should at least acknowledge the flaw and help cover the costs of repairs for the few "odd cases". I'll still report my case to TC, but I'm afraid my only resort will be to buy a new car from another manufacturer and stop promoting Tesla.
 
the SC told me that the new parts I will get are at revision #4, which clearly indicates that there is a problem with the original parts
A revision doesn't necessarily mean that there was a problem with the part. It could be as simple as a supplier change, or change in design to make them cheaper. But I'm pretty sure that Tesla did say that they made them stronger in their response to the China safety organization.

Recalled vehicles in the China market have or will receive newer versions of the subject components, which have improved performance in abuse scenarios.

Tesla has not determined that a defect exists in either the Front Suspension Aft Link or the Rear Suspension Upper Link and believes the root cause of the issue is driver abuse, including that driver usage and expectation for damageability is uniquely severe in the China market. If the customer inputs an abuse load (e.g., curb impact, severe pothole strike, etc.), then the parts may be damaged, leading either to immediate failure or delayed failure from the compounding effects of the initial abuse and subsequent load input.

Tesla has also not determined the existence of an unreasonable risk to motor vehicle safety. The occurrence of such failures in China (approx. 0.1%) and elsewhere (less than 0.05%) remains exceedingly rare and if a failure does occur, it is immediately apparent to the driver. For the Front Suspension Aft Link, a full separation typically occurs at low speeds and high steer angles, most often when the vehicle is in reverse. For the Rear Suspension Upper Link, the vehicle remains controllable after the part has completely separated. Finally, Tesla is not aware of any crashes, injuries or deaths, or fires related to this issue.

But I'm not 100% sure the rear lower control arm is covered by that, since they say rear upper link...
 
Apparently Transport Canada says that it wouldn't be an issue:


They said something similar about the 2013-2014 Nissan Altima: (File number: 3280-10-65)
I am gobsmacked that Transport Canada doesn't believe there are any major safety implications!?!

Are they on drugs?

Regardless, I'm glad the latest case will be submitted--perhaps the shear number of failures will get their attention?
 
Thanks for pointing this out @MP3Mike . I'm surprised, but I'll trust their investigation. I still believe this part should not break that often, and the SC told me that the new parts I will get are at revision #4, which clearly indicates that there is a problem with the original parts (don't know which version I have currently). Even if it's not a safety hazard, I think Tesla should recall those or at least tell us that it might be a good idea to replace them preemptively to save on potential repairs. If they would have told me at 120,000 km, I would have spent the 5-600$ then for peace of mind. Now the 1,000,000$ question for me is "is there another suspension problem just around the corner?"...

I always thought Tesla service is not supposed to be profitable, and that it should help sales by providing a stellar service (which was the case originally when I bought the car in 2015). IMHO, Tesla should at least acknowledge the flaw and help cover the costs of repairs for the few "odd cases". I'll still report my case to TC, but I'm afraid my only resort will be to buy a new car from another manufacturer and stop promoting Tesla.
Exactly my thinking too. By filing your complaint with Transport Canada, there will be an accessible record of it for later use in the event of a class action or other lawsuit in Canada and or the USA.
Given my Model S rear suspension lower control arm failure and very disappointing experience with Tesla service and Transport Canada, I didn't buy a Model Y. I reserved a 2023 Genesis GV60 Performance in February, 2022. My VIN was issued late July and I'll have it by the end of August or soon after. Together with my purchase of a Genesis Premium Plus extended warranty plan, I'll have an exceptional ownership experience from Genesis that is also stress free for 8 years or 160k whichever comes first.
I also have the satisfaction of knowing that Tesla's loss of profit by not selling me a Model Y is much more than what they charged me to replace the lower control arm.
 
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Here is the latest update on my situation. After having repaired what was broken (so they replaced the broken left lower control arm, replaced preemptively the right side, replaced a bunch of suspension related things that were also broken, not sure if those broke because the control arm failed), I decided to write an email to a Tesla manager/director. I got that email back in 2016 and I've kept it ever since. I've used it twice and each time, the person always got back to me. So I thought I could write again and see what happens.

In my email, I described what happened in details and I voiced my concerns about security as well as what I thought was a poor engineering of that component. I made sure to stay polite and constructive and in the end, I asked why this could not be part of a recall for the early Model S generations.

It only took a day before I got a call from the Montreal service center. We talked for a good half hour and the manager said that he would try to do something for me. A couple of days later, he called me back with a 100$ credit to my account to thank me for taking the time I took to write that email and described what happened. He then reimbursed a little more than 1500$ (25% of the bill). That 1500$ plus 100$ plus 800$ that I got off when I did the repairs almost cover the cost of replacing the lower control arms.

All in all, I wished this would be part of a recall, but at least I managed to bring the costs down a little. I'm glad I reached out to that director. Funny enough, a friend of mine sent me a picture of a Model S at a service in Ottawa where that S seemed to also be suffering from a broken control arm.

So if it happens to you, don't be scared to escalate this. Originally the guy at the service center said he could not escalate my case and going to court would be my only option, even though I told him I would reach out to this director. I'll see if I send a similar email to Transport Canada...
 
Add to the broken list. I'll do the NHTSA report once I get a good look at the old one.
So it's very doable DIY... But I think I'm gonna have to get new tools (not necessarily a bad thing?)
It looks like to access the front, inboard nut I need a flex head ratchet wrench? There's very very little access. Anyone figure out what to wiggle up into that area to do the nut?
 
And now it's my turn to be added to a/the list :) Backing out of my driveway last Friday, the rear driver's side control arm failed with me completely blocking the side street. Fortunately, the two drivers showed up relatively quickly and people were understanding (and we have multiple exits from our neighborhood). The tow drivers were kind enough to help keep the rear lifted while unloading so I could leave the car on jack stands and have a prayer of repairing it myself. My car is a 2015 85D with just ~ 69,400 miles.

Tesla quoted the following parts just based on the photos I sent through the app:

BOLT HF M12X1.75X70 [10.9]-U-G720(2007078), 1x @ $17
NUT,HF,M12X1.75, [10],ZNNI,PTM. (1111545-00-A), 1x @ $0.32
BOLT HF M12X75 PC109(1043053-00-A, 1x @ $2.38
REAR UPPER LINK SUSPENSION ASSEMBLY - DUAL MOTOR(1027426-00-C), 1x @ $230.00
RR SUSP LCA ASSY(1021416-00-D), 1x @ $350.00

Original quote included labor, but I don't feel like paying for the hour long tow, plus coordinating transport to/from to pick the car up once it was done. Can't order the parts for shipping either, at least not through the service center*. I found it surprisingly difficult to find the lower control arm assembly aftermarket, but can find nearly every other component. Did locate one at EVAnnex for $250, and I have that on order. I'll be doing my best to repair solo - of course it's getting into the cold, wet, winter season! Yippee! Fingers crossed that the lower control arm assembly is the only busted part. Everything else looks surprisingly good.

Side note: First AAA tow driver showed up in < 5 minutes, but hadn't looked at the ticket, only that there was an emergency request in his area. As soon as he pulled up and saw it was a Tesla, he noped right out and called in backup.

* Tesla did tell me I could register to order the parts myself, but registration requires submitting photos of my "facility" and choosing what type of retail establishment I am. Didn't seem worth it, especially with a 5-7 day process for a maybe approval just to pay more for the part.
 

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