My 2022 Model S Long Range with the standard wheels has a slight pull to left when I floor it. It's pretty slight, nothing a would call a "hard" pull, but there is enough pull to have noticed it on my first drive coming out of a Model Y Performance. The Y was straight as an arrow on fast acceleration. I assumed it was the difference in tires, but maybe not.
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Model S long range refresh pulls hard left on hard acceleration. Need help!
- Thread starter flyr4u
- Start date
Same exact problem, same exact service center! 2019 rear wheel drive Model 3…and I have been to Scottsdale service center twice. They keep telling me it’s a tire issue, tire must have “radial pull or radial push”…this is not the case as that would only happen with the front tires and I had Tesla rotate all the tires and it’s still doing it.
Have now rebooked another service appointment but at the Tempe service center.
Also looking at some other posts, people are saying this issue has been solved with replacing the “Rear Toe Arm”…and I’m going to bring that up to tempe service tech when I bring it in.
But yeah…not happy with Scottsdale service center, won’t be going back there again.
rpo
Member
I have been in a never ending queue to get the front axles replaced on my 2019 Performance due to the loud popping/thudding from the front left wheel when under any acceleration while turning going back 3 months. Appointments are a month out and 100 miles away, and at the diagnostic appointment I was told it could be a month plus for parts (which was accurate), and that I should refrain from flooring it because they had concerns about something breaking. I asked for a loaner and was told they don't have any, but just take it easy and it should be fine.
My appointment for that issue is in a few days, but my car has added more "features" in the past couple of weeks. First is that the popping/thudding is now occurring when using regen to slow if I am turning either direction. And the second is why I am commenting on this thread. The car is now pulling hard left under acceleration. If I don't touch the wheel when a traffic light turns green, I would turn 45 degrees before crossing the intersection. It's such a strong pull under acceleration that autopilot won't stay enabled. Once I stop accelerating, there is no pull at all. I cannot help but think the bad axle(s) are somehow related. I have NOT tried flooring it (since Tesla does not want me to until the axles are replaced). The pull I am describing is occurring with only 40kW of power.
Anyone have an answer from Tesla about what caused their car to pull? Maybe I can give them a pointer when I go to my appointment.
My appointment for that issue is in a few days, but my car has added more "features" in the past couple of weeks. First is that the popping/thudding is now occurring when using regen to slow if I am turning either direction. And the second is why I am commenting on this thread. The car is now pulling hard left under acceleration. If I don't touch the wheel when a traffic light turns green, I would turn 45 degrees before crossing the intersection. It's such a strong pull under acceleration that autopilot won't stay enabled. Once I stop accelerating, there is no pull at all. I cannot help but think the bad axle(s) are somehow related. I have NOT tried flooring it (since Tesla does not want me to until the axles are replaced). The pull I am describing is occurring with only 40kW of power.
Anyone have an answer from Tesla about what caused their car to pull? Maybe I can give them a pointer when I go to my appointment.
mtbwalt
Member
rpo
Member
I got an explanation while my car is in service....the last Tesla tech put both staggered rear wheels on the right side of the car during the last service visit.
Aggmeister2010
Active Member
My P90D does this. A very, very lengthy and precise alignment minimized it, but it still happens. I don't have any indication of suspension component/bushing failure, everything is installed properly, and the alignment specs are perfect. Not sure why it's happening.
This kind of thing can totally be the tire. My Plaid X pulls left when accelerating hard. I have no idea yet what the issue is. Back in the mid 90s, I had just had new tires installed on my 300ZXTT and it also pulled to the left on hard acceleration. Swapping rear wheels resulted in pulling to the right. Took that back to the tire shop and they said one of the Dunlops was defective. Replaced and the issue was fixed.
I plan to swap my tires left<->right one axel at a time just to see if it's that. If it doesn't switch sides, it's not tires.
I have the added complication of having two rear drives with torque vectoring so this could very well be a defective drive unit or a torque balance calibration issue.
Did you figure it out?
I've been struggling with the pull left thing for the past 5k miles. I finally had an alignment done (twice, Tesla didn't do it the first time or something), and the steering is mostly straight now but any acceleration over half a pedal press and you can feel it pull left.
It started occurring to me recently that I've had different tires on for the past 6k miles, so maybe those new tires are somehow causing it? I bought them from a plaid owner that was getting rid of them and had a tire shop do another balance on them, so they should be fine... I think. I'll spend the time sticking my old tires back on and seeing what's happening.
If I now it's tire related then I guess that's fine, I just don't want to have some obscure sensor or motor issue that's going to be a pain in the ass to fix later. I'm also willing to go get an alignment from a shop recommend by Tesla owners if that'll solve it, but not looking to pay for that again unless I think it's likely to fix it fully.
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Not yet. Alignment was checked and castor was way off on the right which could have explained it but they adjusted it and it's now nice and symmetrical but still pulls to the left.
Additionally, it's not 100%. It only pulls to the left 70 to 80% of the time so I'm much more inclined to believe the left rear drive unit is having issues that it will eventually fail leaving me stranded but at least then it'll probably get fixed.
Bobasaurus
Member
Since the motors drive an open differential I would suspect the tires out of alignment. There is no capability in the current tesla powertrain that allows for torque vectoring. (At least none I have read about) The torque of the plaid through a slightly damaged tire could make it move to one side. There is enormous power being delivered through that rubber.
This is a Plaid. There is no rear diff. Plus the torque vectoring is advertised as a current feature so if the software was not already active, they'd be massively misadvertising it.
In my case, the alignment has been checked and I've swapped tires on both axles left<->right and it made no difference.
There is one other possibility other than a drive unit issue (excluding worn bushings or one or more bushing being torqued at the wrong height), and that is a cross diagonal ride height calibration issue where the front left and rear right have an equal amount of sensor underheight which would cause the front left and rear right to be pressurized at a higher pressure than the front right and rear left. Because of the frame stiffness of the body, this could mask cross diagonal calibration differences.
I'm suspicious that mine doesn't happen all the time, although I need to do more specific tests. I tried it earlier and it didn't go left at all, but I also only accelerated to 60ish. On the highway is when I can notice it the easiest, just accelerate heavily from 30-70+ and you'll end up in the left lane.
When they 'fixed' the alignment with only 13K miles on the car, it suddenly went perfectly straight (from ~4-5 degrees off center to 1 degree), but the pull left issue is almost identical before and after. I'll still end up in the left lane, but maybe it'll be 6 car lengths instead of 2-3.
My next step is to switch back to my old tires and use those for a few thousand miles to see if it's still going on. After that I might take it to a local enthusiast shop and explain the issue, see if they have any interest in really trying to perfect the alignment and rule it out. Don't really have any game plan beyond that, Tesla service told me they weren't interested in helping with it
Since you have an S Plaid, you have another diagnostic tool that I don't and that is track mode where you can change the power bias between the front and the back.
I haven't tried actual hard braking to see. Maybe I'll do that left. Any moderate amount of acceleration doesn't have an obvious pull left. I have to accelerate pretty hard. The harder, the more to the left it pulls...when it actually does it because sometimes it doesn't.
Sorry I didn't specify--I only have an LR. I wish..
Similar story here--I have to accelerate hard to see it. I'm guessing <80% acceleration shows minimal issues, it's only when I go above that does it start to pull. I'll try braking like they suggested to see what happens...those things never get used anyways.
I just got my tires swapped today so I'll see what's up. Part of me is hoping there was just a slight issue with my other tires that is only noticeable under extreme conditions. They were from a plaid owner who put 2k miles on them, so maybe launches and his alignment being off could do something? They were balanced 3 months ago and the tire shop said the rims looked fine, so I'm ruling that out. In hindsight I've definitely had this problem at least since I put those tires on, so that could be it...hopefully.
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