Model X front end creaking

[DeejUK]

A word of warning - it might not be anything to do with the suspension, and instead it may be grit getting into the bash plate.

I had my upper suspension arms replaced for £768, and it made no noticeable difference to the creaking/squeaking. I argued with the service centre, who insisted that the suspension arms were creaking, but it was "masking" another thing that was creaking caused by the steering column at low speeds. I couldn't really win this argument - I had no evidence that they were wrong, and at this point they had replaced parts and expended labour.

The next day I went to a different service centre, initially to get the "intermediate shaft" replaced (ironic given that I felt I'd been intermediately shafted the day before). When I got there, thankfully the technician asked why there was such a specific request. I explained my poor experience the day before, and he seemed quite keen to investigate to make sure that what was requested was needed. He instead removed the bash plate, found loads of grit, sanded down the mating surfaces, and only charged me £90.

 

[tommytuna]

Thank you - very helpful. What exactly is the "Bash plate" - i will make note of this in my service request. I had a recall service in Nov where they did work on the upper arms and greasing them so i've reopened that case in the hopes they look at this under the recall request.

 

[DeejUK]

What exactly is the "Bash plate"

I think (and I know very little about cars) that it's the protective underside of the car, that prevents the battery getting damaged if rocks and things 'bash' into it. I would hope that in Toronto the service centre folks are slightly more aware of the possibility - given all the salt/grit that you folks need to put on the roads, I suspect it might be a more common issue there.

Best of luck getting it fixed!

 

[tommytuna]

Thanks a bunch for that. They sent me a quote for only $275 dollars in parts to replace both upper arms. I complained in the request that i had the upper arm recall service done in 2021 and now the issue. In meantime, i tried to spray around and inside the rubber boot on the upper arm above the tire. THe boot doesn't look like it is in very good with pieces of the rubber missing on backside. I wonder if when the vehicle sat for 5 weeks in hot humid weather without being driven if some rust developed.

 

[Keylimesoda]

Absolutely no reason why any of those parts should be failing for everyone unless it was faulty parts/engineering. This is a very common X issue. Multiple threads on the first page on the same complaints. NHSTA do something!! Everyone experiencing these issues should report it to NHSTA so Tesla issues an actual fix/updated part and doesn't charge an arm and a leg for those of us out of warranty.

Mine is on its second such failure. Even if you fix it once it keep rehappening every 20-30k miles.

 

[chukiechz]

My 2016 with 82k miles just started to do this. I bought it used with 4 year warranty, so I’ve got an appointment next week to hopefully resolve. It sounds like a total hooptie driving slow

 

[Dispersion]

Just joined the club. Mine started two days ago front passenger side. 2020 MX Raven with 28k - just has the second half shaft replacement too :/

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

I had creaking around 20k miles in 2019 X Raven. Service did... something I don't recall 1-2 years ago and in the app, apparently you can't go back to view invoices that old? I'd like to know what they did, as now when driving slowly, coming to a stop, or lightly accelerating, there is a creaking noise from what sounds like the front suspension.

It seems like when the vehicle's weight shifts on/off front/back on the front it creaks. Maybe at the top of the coil overs?

Maybe I can zip tie an old iphone to the front, pointed at the suspension with the video rolling.

Never had any suspension noises in over 240,000 miles on my 1995 Tahoe or 2009 Tahoe.
And certainly not every 20-30k miles!

Looking at the service manual, it looks like the upper control arm is greasable. Appointment is the 20th

 

[Mike C.]

I wish I would have seen this post earlier! Dec. 2018 Model X, 36k miles. Squeaking was very loud... Really bad experience (for the first time ever) with Tesla Service. Had to wait 3 weeks for an appointment... Car sat there un-looked at for 30 hours... then they gave me an $1800+ quote to fix (w/ tax included).

Feels like I got shafted by Tesla. :-/

https://imgur.com/a/UOdtzGc

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

$hitty service and nothing covered by warranty. It's what makes a Tesla, a Tesla.

 

[dmurphy]

$hitty service and nothing covered by warranty. It's what makes a Tesla bad service center, a Tesla bad service center.

Fixed that for you. Sorry your service center sucks but that’s very far from universal.

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

Thank you for fixing my personal experience, but no, it's actually been quite universal.

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

I don't have any photos of the control arm joint, or access to one. Has anyone looked at drilling and tapping a hole for a grease nipple? To make this an actual greaseable joint?

What makes this specific part so poor/fail?

 

[dmurphy]

Thank you for fixing my personal experience, but no, it's actually been quite universal.

It sucks that you've been treated that way, no doubt. There's no excuse other than poorly run customer service. But there are definitely service centers that treat their customers appropriately. I'm fortunate to live near several. Let me know if I can help at all; can make a call or two.

 

[dmurphy]

I don't have any photos of the control arm joint, or access to one. Has anyone looked at drilling and tapping a hole for a grease nipple? To make this an actual greaseable joint?

What makes this specific part so poor/fail?

I think it’s just grossly under greased. I went the cheap/easy/cheesy route and used a small grease needle + grease gun to inject directly into the rubber boot. A little 3M weatherstrip adhesive to seal the tiny hole, and done. That seemed to have worked fine. It took about a day for the fresh grease to work its way into the joint and stop the squeak, but it didn’t come back.

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

how much are OEM ones?

More Information for DORMAN 527511

I could swap these myself if I was out of warranty and the needle grease thing didn't work.

 

[Fromlos]

My 2019 TM3 just started doing this about 10 days ago. It was sporadic but now its constantly. Driver side for me. Under 34k Miles. Scheduled service for nxt Sat.

 

[dmurphy]

how much are OEM ones?

More Information for DORMAN 527511

I could swap these myself if I was out of warranty and the needle grease thing didn't work.

I want to say they’re in the $250 range or so from Tesla.

Let me see if I can find it … had mine done under warranty but may have the estimate. Like most parts, I find Tesla to actually be reasonable price-wise.

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

That is... oddly reasonable for parts. I guess there's no point to aftermarket at that price.

 

[dmurphy]

That is... oddly reasonable for parts. I guess there's no point to aftermarket at that price.

If I remember correctly, some folks have even had the labor waived out-of-warranty on the FUCAs because it's such a known problem. So might just want to open a service case, say something like "I'm getting a loud squeaking sound from the front of the vehicle, it seems to be the control arms" and see what they come back with. Keep us posted!