First, please refer to the thread below for detail information about this affliction, as that will not be discussed in this thread.
teslamotorsclub.com
Second, I’m not recommending any action on your part or any products, nor am I making any pronouncements, representations or providing a definitive conclusion – Just sharing my experience; yours may be different (or it may not)…
tl;dr - As you may recall, I recently installed new 19” Signature SV104’s wheels (all stock sizes and offsets), new “road force balanced” Pirelli PZero To Elect tires (stock), Titanium lugs, and N2itive RXS-2 Plaid adjustable lowering links and my vibrating Plaid is nearly vibration free, after three days of testing!!!
Note: My Plaid is/was the poster child for vibration in the yoke, pedal, floor and console.
The Details
Prior to the first drive, using the adjustable lowering links (purchased for this experiment as a Tesla provided solution doesn’t appear on the horizon any time soon), I dropped the car a tad more than ½” all around and detailed it for good luck and karma….
After a day of driving, I noticed no vibration and decided to really look to replicate it, post mod. Ambient outdoor testing temperatures over the past three days of testing as ranged from 38 – 43 degrees, so my new summer tires were fairly “hard”.
Yesterday (Day 2), I drove it several times trying to get it to vibrate on the low setting (1/2” drop from stock low setting) and on a few occasions (only in the mid 40’s MPH range) I thought I heard/felt the slightest vibration – so I raised the suspension to medium (which results in a height slightly lower than stock low) and was able to feel it slightly more on occasions – but still way way less than prior to all of these changes.
I used to get the vibration at various speeds, including highway speeds. So far, not even a slight vibration at highway speeds. Note: Most of my testing was not on the highway, so more testing needed.
My current thinking (subject to change with more testing):
1. Some claim not to have the vibration and others do. I’m thinking those who may launched their cars numerous times on settings other than low, might have done more damage to the half shafts/CV joints than those that always launched on low and/or with Cheetah stance enabled. In Cheetah mode, the front really drops down, reducing half shaft-CV joint angles…
2. Something is not right/damaged on my car, so it might not be possible at this point to eliminate the slightest vibration 100%, 100% of the time.
A Mechanical Engineering Perspective (See my attached diagram/aid):
I think the following are facts:
1. Basic front DU placement/design is vintage ~2013 – a front DU was added to the Model S later, whereas in the subsequent models (3/Y) a front DU was “designed in” from the start…
2. Model S front half shafts are different lengths (Asymmetric design), due to DU not being “centered” and high
3. The shorter shaft (Left/Driver’s side, I think) angles are sharper than the right, resulting in more stress and binding at the CV joints and the other front shaft.
4. Lowering the car reduces these angles, and results in reduced CV joint and shaft stress.
What we don’t know is if lowing the car “X” amount will prevent or permanently eliminate this issue. Ideally, Tesla would redesign the front DU mount to it is lower, more like the rear DU placement, resulting in less binding and damage from hard acceleration.
So, what might Tesla do if this is real, save for not redesign the front chassis and DU placement?
1. Via firmware update, change the air suspension heights so the car is lower
2. Limit power, if suspension setting is anything other than Low
3. Limit dead stop launch power if not in Cheetah mode
This story is not finished, more to come!!!
Next Steps: I plan to drop the front of the car to .7” (Setting 5 on the links) and retest in the coming days. Will then return it to stock height upon conclusion of the experiement.
Your thoughts?
@WilliamG @EndlessPlaid @lbowroom @N2itive @SignatureSales @GroovaEV @uthatcher
"Refreshed" Model S model VIBRATION tracking and information thread!!!
This thread aims to capture sub model (dual and trim motor) vibration occurrences for "refreshed" Model S cars. Please comment with as much information you can, should your car have this affliction (including VIN range). Issue Description: Vibration felt in accelerator pedal and sometime in...
teslamotorsclub.com
Second, I’m not recommending any action on your part or any products, nor am I making any pronouncements, representations or providing a definitive conclusion – Just sharing my experience; yours may be different (or it may not)…
tl;dr - As you may recall, I recently installed new 19” Signature SV104’s wheels (all stock sizes and offsets), new “road force balanced” Pirelli PZero To Elect tires (stock), Titanium lugs, and N2itive RXS-2 Plaid adjustable lowering links and my vibrating Plaid is nearly vibration free, after three days of testing!!!
Note: My Plaid is/was the poster child for vibration in the yoke, pedal, floor and console.
The Details
Prior to the first drive, using the adjustable lowering links (purchased for this experiment as a Tesla provided solution doesn’t appear on the horizon any time soon), I dropped the car a tad more than ½” all around and detailed it for good luck and karma….
After a day of driving, I noticed no vibration and decided to really look to replicate it, post mod. Ambient outdoor testing temperatures over the past three days of testing as ranged from 38 – 43 degrees, so my new summer tires were fairly “hard”.
Yesterday (Day 2), I drove it several times trying to get it to vibrate on the low setting (1/2” drop from stock low setting) and on a few occasions (only in the mid 40’s MPH range) I thought I heard/felt the slightest vibration – so I raised the suspension to medium (which results in a height slightly lower than stock low) and was able to feel it slightly more on occasions – but still way way less than prior to all of these changes.
I used to get the vibration at various speeds, including highway speeds. So far, not even a slight vibration at highway speeds. Note: Most of my testing was not on the highway, so more testing needed.
My current thinking (subject to change with more testing):
1. Some claim not to have the vibration and others do. I’m thinking those who may launched their cars numerous times on settings other than low, might have done more damage to the half shafts/CV joints than those that always launched on low and/or with Cheetah stance enabled. In Cheetah mode, the front really drops down, reducing half shaft-CV joint angles…
2. Something is not right/damaged on my car, so it might not be possible at this point to eliminate the slightest vibration 100%, 100% of the time.
A Mechanical Engineering Perspective (See my attached diagram/aid):
I think the following are facts:
1. Basic front DU placement/design is vintage ~2013 – a front DU was added to the Model S later, whereas in the subsequent models (3/Y) a front DU was “designed in” from the start…
2. Model S front half shafts are different lengths (Asymmetric design), due to DU not being “centered” and high
3. The shorter shaft (Left/Driver’s side, I think) angles are sharper than the right, resulting in more stress and binding at the CV joints and the other front shaft.
4. Lowering the car reduces these angles, and results in reduced CV joint and shaft stress.
What we don’t know is if lowing the car “X” amount will prevent or permanently eliminate this issue. Ideally, Tesla would redesign the front DU mount to it is lower, more like the rear DU placement, resulting in less binding and damage from hard acceleration.
So, what might Tesla do if this is real, save for not redesign the front chassis and DU placement?
1. Via firmware update, change the air suspension heights so the car is lower
2. Limit power, if suspension setting is anything other than Low
3. Limit dead stop launch power if not in Cheetah mode
This story is not finished, more to come!!!
Next Steps: I plan to drop the front of the car to .7” (Setting 5 on the links) and retest in the coming days. Will then return it to stock height upon conclusion of the experiement.
Your thoughts?
@WilliamG @EndlessPlaid @lbowroom @N2itive @SignatureSales @GroovaEV @uthatcher
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What’s weird is the rear was a little higher today (1/4"), even though I didn’t change the rear link settings at all. This leads me to think there is height variability inherent in the air suspension design. This might also explain why some feel a vibration some of the time and not at other times (ride height changes on it's own by a 1/4" +/-) from drive to drive. 
