Well, they've had my rack for the last 2 weeks, and obviously understand exactly what's wrong with it otherwise they wouldn't have started replacing everyone else's clips. I think they are rushing to replace the clips for everyone who still has the rack on the roof to avoid the chance of an accident, and worry less about folks who are already not using the rack due to the clip breaking. Somewhat of a poor customer service if you ask me, at the very least they could have updated us about the solution and expected replacement date.
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Installing the official Tesla model 3 roof rack
- Thread starter cantdecide
- Start date
Well, they've had my rack for the last 2 weeks, and obviously understand exactly what's wrong with it otherwise they wouldn't have started replacing everyone else's clips. I think they are rushing to replace the clips for everyone who still has the rack on the roof to avoid the chance of an accident, and worry less about folks who are already not using the rack due to the clip breaking. Somewhat of a poor customer service if you ask me, at the very least they could have updated us about the solution and expected replacement date.
Nicely done! I assume the same thing (improper, or lack of annealing). I would have been tempted to pop one into a vice and see what happens when pressure is applied in various directions. And then when that inevitably cracks... anneal the remaining three... Have you tested yours after annealing?I also just received a FedEx shipping notification about a package from Yakima... and I also have not contacted Tesla. This cannot be a coincidence.
In the meantime, based on my my belief that the fractured clips were the result of improper heat treating, I went ahead and annealed mine this afternoon. Once the paint was gone it was easy to see that there are marks on the sheet metal from the bending die right (see pic) where the fracture is happening... these marks are also aligned with the bottom of the screw-slot.
At this point I guess I'll wait until next week when the new clips (assuming that's what they've sent) arrive before installing my roof rack.
And if you get your replacement units, can I buy these from you for test/experiment (and potentially my own rack)? In fact, I'd love to get my hands on some un-annealed units (like to have the remaining part of the sets where one or more of the clip has broken so I can test those).
Now the question is how do I get mine by wed so i can install my rack Thursday for Friday skiing! I still don't have an email letting me know I will get these
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For those who have the original clips and have now received the updated ones... is the threaded stud in the new ones longer than the originals? Seems there was a change to longer studs somewhere in production... and these are the ones that were breaking? Tough to keep up!
Did you receive the email from Tesla as an "identified model 3 owner" with the bad bolts? I didn't receive anything but will be watching out for Fedex today if it comes. I hope it does!
Lifeinabox
Member
I received and swapped out the bolts. The threads are exact same length as the ones I replaced. I think they might have made a change at some point where they must have added a 1/4 to 1/2 inch of thread. But the ones I ordered and received in February were the same length as the silver ones they sent out.
I don't recall whether yours actually snapped or you just didn't want to risk them breaking?
If the latter, try to install but just hand tighten. It won't put much pressure on the bolt, but once you lock the rack, the bolt can't unscrew. I just replaced the defective ones with the new silver ones Yakima sent out, and the old bolts were fine.
Daniel in SD
(supervised)
Yeah they seem to be doing a good job fixing it for people who’s clips never even broke, but for those of us who actually had broken clips we are still in limbo. No email or shipping notice of the new clips. Last I was told was I had to wait until the racks are back in stock. Seems like priority should have been for those of us that are stuck with broken racks we are unable to use.
Daniel in SD
(supervised)
I think the priority is not to get sued for a rack failure! They should give you all some cash back. I do wonder how long it could take for a factory to produce those clips. It's not like they've sold that many racks.
siminoff
Member
I don't know the carbon content or austenizing temp' of this steel, so I had to do some guessing; I used a small gas forge and pre-heated to 1600ºF, then put the clips in and soaked them at 1500º for 20 minutes. After soaking I closed the forge and let it to cool to room temp with no quench...
Conveniently, the new clips from Yakima showed up today, so I don't see any reason to install the annealed ones on my car. Once I'm confident that the new clips aren't going to fail I'll do some destructive testing of the old ones to see if the annealing was successful.
Mine were installed, torqued to ~3Nm and were fine for about 4 days before one of them snapped.
Daniel in SD
(supervised)
I know almost nothing about this... How would they have screwed this up in production? Weld it and then throw it in to a cup of water? Would annealing always be necessary after welding a small piece like that?
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