News for Model X owners with the dreaded shudder

[ohmman]

Ahh - therein lies the irony. If one could only have $10 for every poster who complained about the various issues ..... only to be berated by fellow members that the affected victim(s) MUST be Tesla short holders. Or at best - another whiner. As for things that fail on short order, whether it's doors that come down on your head, leaks, headliner that falls down, a screen that goes black, U-joints that shudder etc ... what's the best remedy ... be noble? Tell subsequent purchasers what they're 'possibly' getting into? And take a bigger hit on the sale? Or, repeat Tesla's narrative, that the MCU isn't prone to fail - and get back some of the hard-earned cash that Tesla would have no problem depriving us of. I understand one could be branded as an ar$$-hat, by dealing shrewdly with someone unsuspecting. Yet Tesla has no issues at all, doing that very thing, only they do it by an increased factor of thousands. Not enjoying at ALL the whole trumpet sounding over issues (& it's very liberating being free of those things that would cause you to complain), so there's no better way then letting the mantle get picked up by the subsequent buyer. And when he's called a short seller, or a whiner - my sympathy will be right there for him - even as some of the members here will verbally stomp on him with golf shoes.
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I guess what I'm understanding from you, then, is this: It's OK to take pleasure knowing that someone else is experiencing problems with the car you sold them because Tesla has bad business practices and some strangers on the Internet defend them.

If so, the irony is that you think Tesla is doing something wrong, but you don't judge yourself similarly for doing the same thing.

So yeah, if a buyer asks about the doors, for instance, I'll tell them they were my least favorite part about the car. Heck, I'll direct them to my verbose profile here so they can see for themselves. I'm not here to nickel and dime someone because they know less than me. There is a fair market value for these vehicles, so the idea of taking a bigger "hit" is unlikely. I may lose a buyer here or there, but there are enough buyers that someone knowledgable about Tesla will buy it around fair value, and I can go to bed at night knowing I didn't deceive someone.

 

[Uncle Paul]

Simply incredible. People commenting, "all you have to do is not use the air suspension" . LOL. That's like saying, "all you have to do is not put your foot into it. Or ... how 'bout this zinger ..... "all you have to do is not by the car". See, if a car has air suspension, then that means it will work reliably at all positions. Jeez - even our Range Rover wouldn't destroy its own U-joints running around in high & stomping on the accelerator. And I love how the SC loves to say "that's normal". Yea .... that's what they said about the ghosting windshields as well. That's what they said about the yellow screen border, as well. That's what they said when they de-programmed chargespeed to make sure the battery would reach the end of warranty - all the while claiming that's just normal capacity loss. HA! What they mean is that it's normal for them to tell you it's normal.
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Or maybe it is just Karma giving you what you deserve...

 

[Krazaak]

I've owned plenty of cars (mostly BMWs) that had known issues that would fail shortly out of warranty (or even a few times during). Plastic water pump impellers, radiator expansion tanks, valve cover seals, PVC breather lines, door moisture seals. Most of them I knew about going into the purchase (always do research), but that's always risky with the first year of a new model.

That doesn't mean Tesla shouldn't learn from their mistakes and try to do better, but having issues doesn't make them unique in the industry. It also says a lot about what they've done right, that despite some of their known shortcomings, most people are still overwhelmingly happy with their vehicles. I did my research on the Model X and I've had my share of issues, none of them a surprise. Still a great vehicle. The axle shudder is annoying, but I've heard of no cases of catastrophic failure; compared to the BMW X5M and X6M which could break the front drive shaft, destroying the engine and transmission in the process.

Personally, I think Tesla should just limit torque based on the ride height and be done with it. You simply can't floor a Ludicrous Model X at normal ride height or higher without damaging the axles. You can argue that it shouldn't be that way until you're blue in the face or you can accept that it is and stop doing it.

I'm hoping that the clevis mount TSB that I had performed a couple weeks ago will be enough to eliminate the problem with the suspension in always low. Any situation where I need normal or higher suspension settings are not situations where I also require max ludicrous acceleration.

 

[MrShakeHands]

Personally, I think Tesla should just limit torque based on the ride height and be done with it. You simply can't floor a Ludicrous Model X at normal ride height or higher without damaging the axles.

Well, this seems like an easy fix. I wish Tesla had and up-voting system.

 

[mxnym]

Well, this seems like an easy fix. I wish Tesla had and up-voting system.

Pretty sure Tesla did this last year, pre-Raven. Pretty sure people threw a fit. Not sure if they maintained the change after fits were thrown, no idea whether or not they carried the change forward or later ported the change to Raven.

 

[VikH]

Pretty sure Tesla did this last year, pre-Raven. Pretty sure people threw a fit. Not sure if they maintained the change after fits were thrown, no idea whether or not they carried the change forward or later ported the change to Raven.

The power reduction at higher susp is present on my non-Raven. The car is the fastest when in Very Low suspension.

 

[DarkMatter]

Pretty sure Tesla did this last year, pre-Raven. Pretty sure people threw a fit. Not sure if they maintained the change after fits were thrown, no idea whether or not they carried the change forward or later ported the change to Raven.

A useful thing I've learned about Tesla forums: when Tesla makes a change that is not totally favorable to the owner, there is a vocal minority who will throw a big fit, and keep bringing it up for years. However most people will let it blow over and become a negative footnote. It's a universal trait of all fan forums, and the fact that a car is a large investment and Tesla tends to be very quiet about their changes cements it.

As I've said about other changes, I think there would be much less complaint if Tesla were forthcoming about the change, or had been more realistic about limits in the first place. Plenty of cars have drive modes that are related to performance, and you can only get the highest performance in one or a small set of specific modes. Tesla may have given too much in the first place. If Ludicrous Mode had always had a little popup that said 'This will also force the suspension to Very Low' and Sport had always had the warning 'Suspension will be limited to Low and Very Low settings', people would have most likely grumbled a little bit and then moved on. Instead we've been given free rein for years, so any limit now is seen as an imposition.

The same thing comes up with limits to Supercharging. There really should be a Supercharging troubleshooting button that is forthright about what is a limit. It could say things such as 'Supercharging speed limited by low battery temperature', 'High connector temperature limiting Supercharger speed', 'High state of charge resulting in low Supercharging speed', or 'Supercharging speed limited due to high lifetime Supercharging usage'. But Tesla would not want to put the fourth one in writing. I get it, even if I don't like it.

 

[Ron97062]

Personally, I think Tesla should just limit torque based on the ride height and be done with it. You simply can't floor a Ludicrous Model X at normal ride height or higher without damaging the axles.

I wish this was in the Model X manual, or told to me at delivery. I absolutely would have kept in on "Very Low" as I do now. But I had no idea this would happen... and after about 4000 miles on "Standard" suspension I have the Shudder that Tesla won't fix.

 

[DarkMatter]

I wish this was in the Model X manual, or told to me at delivery. I absolutely would have kept in on "Very Low" as I do now. But I had no idea this would happen... and after about 4000 miles on "Standard" suspension I have the Shudder that Tesla won't fix.

Same, I set the height to Standard at delivery, and after the first service appointment where I mentioned the shudder, it's been on Always Low. It turns out to be fine, the small difference in ride height doesn't really make a difference in daily operation and my tires are wearing fine. The heights could just as easily be named Max Height, Very High, High, Standard, and Low, and I would be fine with it. Naming it Standard and then having it cause problems is part of the issue for me.

Thankfully it looks as if Tesla is willing to apply the TSB now that I'm getting the shudder in Very Low. It's gotten pretty bad in Low. I think towing does not help, as up until some time this year the suspension height was fixed to Standard when you towed. Now you can set it to any height while towing and it will still self-level.

 

[VikH]

Same, I set the height to Standard at delivery, and after the first service appointment where I mentioned the shudder, it's been on Always Low. It turns out to be fine, the small difference in ride height doesn't really make a difference in daily operation and my tires are wearing fine. The heights could just as easily be named Max Height, Very High, High, Standard, and Low, and I would be fine with it. Naming it Standard and then having it cause problems is part of the issue for me.

Thankfully it looks as if Tesla is willing to apply the TSB now that I'm getting the shudder in Very Low. It's gotten pretty bad in Low. I think towing does not help, as up until some time this year the suspension height was fixed to Standard when you towed. Now you can set it to any height while towing and it will still self-level.

Knock on wood, mine does not have shudder after several thousand miles after the TSB.

The car looks better in Low IMO. The only downside is any excess camber wear that may occur from driving in low.

Regarding naming, I agree. They should just change Low to Standard.

 

[robski]

I wish this was in the Model X manual, or told to me at delivery. I absolutely would have kept in on "Very Low" as I do now. But I had no idea this would happen... and after about 4000 miles on "Standard" suspension I have the Shudder that Tesla won't fix.

There's actually 2 CAUTION notes on page 185 of the manual:

1. CAUTION: Avoid driving aggressively (hard accelerations, sharp turns, etc.) when the suspension is set to HIGH or VERY HIGH. Doing so can cause vibration and increase the possibility of damage
2. CAUTION: Acceleration may be reduced when the suspension is set to HIGH or VERY HIGH.

But the interesting thing to me is that these disclaimers make no mention of NORMAL mode, rather they only state cautionary notes for HIGH or VERY HIGH.

 

[Kacey Green]

Same, I set the height to Standard at delivery, and after the first service appointment where I mentioned the shudder, it's been on Always Low. It turns out to be fine, the small difference in ride height doesn't really make a difference in daily operation and my tires are wearing fine. The heights could just as easily be named Max Height, Very High, High, Standard, and Low, and I would be fine with it. Naming it Standard and then having it cause problems is part of the issue for me.

Thankfully it looks as if Tesla is willing to apply the TSB now that I'm getting the shudder in Very Low. It's gotten pretty bad in Low. I think towing does not help, as up until some time this year the suspension height was fixed to Standard when you towed. Now you can set it to any height while towing and it will still self-level.

Mine was set to always low when I got after a delivery adjustment of something, it was standard when we started the delivery. 45k miles it's just now time to get our first set of tires on the P100D, it's had 3 shudder appointments though.

 

[Soey22]

Mine was set to always low when I got after a delivery adjustment of something, it was standard when we started the delivery. 45k miles it's just now time to get our first set of tires on the P100D, it's had 3 shudder appointments though.

Which tires did you take delivery with? 45k miles on a set? That’s a dream!! Im running summer 22” Pirelli came with delivery, and winters Bridgestone Blizzak 20s. It will be a long time before I burn through the two. 12k total miles, 3k on the summers and 9k on the winters. Pandemic pretty much had the PMX parked in the garage. It’s in for the shudder right now, hoping for some good news on replacement parts.

 

[DarkMatter]

Which tires did you take delivery with? 45k miles on a set? That’s a dream!! Im running summer 22” Pirelli came with delivery, and winters Bridgestone Blizzak 20s. It will be a long time before I burn through the two. 12k total miles, 3k on the summers and 9k on the winters. Pandemic pretty much had the PMX parked in the garage. It’s in for the shudder right now, hoping for some good news on replacement parts.

The stock Continental tires are at 30k in on mine, and they're still at 4/32 in the front and 7/32 in the back. If I didn't corner as aggressively and lived somewhere with a mild climate like CA, I could totally see 45k on a set. I'd probably do the fronts around 35k and expect to do the rears at 45k, as is.

 

[Soey22]

The stock Continental tires are at 30k in on mine, and they're still at 4/32 in the front and 7/32 in the back. If I didn't corner as aggressively and lived somewhere with a mild climate like CA, I could totally see 45k on a set. I'd probably do the fronts around 35k and expect to do the rears at 45k, as is.

Wow and I’ve heard the continentals were the worst...good to know

 

[Soey22]

Shudder got fixed today no questions asked 12k miles ..less than 3hrs, loaner was ready and waiting for me on arrival (charged to 95%) touch less process. I would say best service experience I’ve ever had, haven’t had a bad one yet. Toronto Railside the Tesla dream team!

 

[Ron97062]

Has anybody had the shutter, got it fixed, and then it came back again?

 

[DarkMatter]

Has anybody had the shutter, got it fixed, and then it came back again?

Yes. There's a few reports of it in this thread. There seem to have been fewer since the TSB came out with the new mount.

 

[Krazaak]

Yes. There's a few reports of it in this thread. There seem to have been fewer since the TSB came out with the new mount.

I've had mine replaced twice. When it came back after the first replacement, I opted to wait for a more permanent fix and had the TSB performed when I went in for MCU2/HW3. I'm curious how robust the clevis mount fix is. I kept it on always low after the first replacement and it was back within 20k miles. I'll be out of warranty before I get another 20k on the new parts.

 

[Krazaak]

Mine was set to always low when I got after a delivery adjustment of something, it was standard when we started the delivery. 45k miles it's just now time to get our first set of tires on the P100D, it's had 3 shudder appointments though.

That has me questioning the common theory that this is torque related. 45k miles on the stock tires makes me think you babied the car, since I replaced stock at 12k and my 2nd set (Continental DWS06) of rears at 27k (total miles) and fronts at 35k. I'm looking due for rears again fairly soon with ~40k on the odo.

To have gone through 3 sets of axles and only 1 set of tires makes it sound like something other than high torque.