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News for Model X owners with the dreaded shudder

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Agree: the only question is When does the warranty actually expire?
If it's still in force definitely get it done soon. If you're going out of pocket, go whenever you feel like it.

Forgive the double negative, but for 2017's there a pretty good fix available: no one is saying *not* to do it.

Do it.

And 3500? Low miles! Enjoy.
 
it's already expired :/ so nothing more I can do at this time
Thanks for your feedback folks
I wouldn't give up that easily and would still make a service appointment to have that fix requesting it done at no charge. I cant remember where, but I'm sure I read somewhere that shudder issue is fixed at no charge even out of the original warranty.
 
I cant remember where, but I'm sure I read somewhere that shudder issue is fixed at no charge even out of the original warranty.
If you can find the source for that I'd love to see it. I keep hoping this is a a possibility but I really can't imagine Tesla would do that, especially these days. (In 2012 they needed every friend they could get and they rewarded early adopters with pretty generous treatment. They'd send a ranger to your house with a cup of flour if you were baking cookies and ran out. A million cars later, you get about as many freebies as you'd get from any car manufacturer. Or less. )
 
I posted this in another forum but it also applies here and gives folks out of warranty another option to consider. The only modification that I have done to my car was during last July, I had the N2itive’s Alignment Kit 1 installed which got rid of the shudder, and also lowers the car about 1” in standard without wearing the inside of the tires. The shudder issue is caused by the drive shafts being at too large of an angle from the wheel to the gear box, which destroys the CV joints. No different than when as a kid I put a lift kit in my pickup, but ended up destroying the universal joints in a short time. So to avoid this happening, you can lower the car to reduce this angle, but then the car will wear out the inside of the tires very quickly but the outside tread looks like no wear. So this kit replaces the linkage in both rear wheels so the camber can be adjusted and the lowering links are installed at all 4 wheels. I had to drive 400 miles to the coast to a shop to do this install and align the car and the first thing I noticed after installing the kit and aligning the car is my WH-Mile improved quite a bit, any where from 280 - 325 WH-Mile . I attached the alignment sheet showing the alignment before the kit was installed and not able to adjust the camber. (A side note, I had the Tesla shop align the car right before I drove to the coast in the hopes this would reduce the wear on my tires) and the bottom of the page shows after the kit was installed and the final alignment. Hope the link works. Please let me know if it doesn't.
 

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I posted this in another forum but it also applies here and gives folks out of warranty another option to consider. The only modification that I have done to my car was during last July, I had the N2itive’s Alignment Kit 1 installed which got rid of the shudder, and also lowers the car about 1” in standard without wearing the inside of the tires. The shudder issue is caused by the drive shafts being at too large of an angle from the wheel to the gear box, which destroys the CV joints. No different than when as a kid I put a lift kit in my pickup, but ended up destroying the universal joints in a short time. So to avoid this happening, you can lower the car to reduce this angle, but then the car will wear out the inside of the tires very quickly but the outside tread looks like no wear. So this kit replaces the linkage in both rear wheels so the camber can be adjusted and the lowering links are installed at all 4 wheels. I had to drive 400 miles to the coast to a shop to do this install and align the car and the first thing I noticed after installing the kit and aligning the car is my WH-Mile improved quite a bit, any where from 280 - 325 WH-Mile . I attached the alignment sheet showing the alignment before the kit was installed and not able to adjust the camber. (A side note, I had the Tesla shop align the car right before I drove to the coast in the hopes this would reduce the wear on my tires) and the bottom of the page shows after the kit was installed and the final alignment. Hope the link works. Please let me know if it doesn't.
I've seen this kit discussed several times, including some of your other posts, but I've never seen a comment on efficiency. What was your WH-Mile range before it was reduced by this kit? Also, do you just keep the car in standard all the time now, or do you still lower?
 
I've seen this kit discussed several times, including some of your other posts, but I've never seen a comment on efficiency. What was your WH-Mile range before it was reduced by this kit? Also, do you just keep the car in standard all the time now, or do you still lower?

in theory, a lower car will have better efficiency. same with toe closer to 0. curious how the car rides, low is acceptable for me, but very low feels like my kidneys are going to fall out
 
in theory, a lower car will have better efficiency. same with toe closer to 0. curious how the car rides, low is acceptable for me, but very low feels like my kidneys are going to fall out
I understand the theory, I'm curious as to how much re: CBA. I didn't think the mod was worth doing for tire life because it would take 200,000 miles for the tire savings to pay for it if my math was right, but factor in the shudder fix out of pocket and some electricity savings, and it might be worth looking into next time I do have the fix performed.
 
I've seen this kit discussed several times, including some of your other posts, but I've never seen a comment on efficiency. What was your WH-Mile range before it was reduced by this kit? Also, do you just keep the car in standard all the time now, or do you still lower?
Because they didn't align it in low I drive it in standard. I has asked for it to be aligned in low but they misunderstood me and because it was getting late in the day and I had a 400 mile drive ahead of me, I let it go. My WH-Mile before the work was always in the upper 300's, but right away on the 400 mile trip @ 70 MPH it stayed below 340 or so. I called the shop and they said that the reason was because it was basically kind of dragging or the 4 tires were fighting each other it the best way I can describe it. Now with the 4 tires tracking straight with each other, it also drives much smoother and even in standard there is no shudder. I did feel a slight vibration at one time so put it in low but it did not change, but eventually it went away so I think it was the road. I now have 10,000 miles sense the work and have been keeping track of the tire tread wear and it is measuring perfectly the same even across the width of the tread. Now that it is 50 - 60F during the day and we are not using the heat or air conditioning, my WH-M is crazy low, as low as 260 but staying around 280 tot 325. Even though it is freezing most nights now, the garage stays fairly warm so we'll see when it get very cold this winter. Also have a second set of tires with snows and looking forward to see how it does in the snow and ice. I do run 20" wheels too which helps. So even though the kit was not cheap, in the long run if I don't go through tires early or have to replace shafts due to the shutter, it will pay for it's self.
 
Because they didn't align it in low I drive it in standard. I has asked for it to be aligned in low but they misunderstood me and because it was getting late in the day and I had a 400 mile drive ahead of me, I let it go. My WH-Mile before the work was always in the upper 300's, but right away on the 400 mile trip @ 70 MPH it stayed below 340 or so. I called the shop and they said that the reason was because it was basically kind of dragging or the 4 tires were fighting each other it the best way I can describe it. Now with the 4 tires tracking straight with each other, it also drives much smoother and even in standard there is no shudder. I did feel a slight vibration at one time so put it in low but it did not change, but eventually it went away so I think it was the road. I now have 10,000 miles sense the work and have been keeping track of the tire tread wear and it is measuring perfectly the same even across the width of the tread. Now that it is 50 - 60F during the day and we are not using the heat or air conditioning, my WH-M is crazy low, as low as 260 but staying around 280 tot 325. Even though it is freezing most nights now, the garage stays fairly warm so we'll see when it get very cold this winter. Also have a second set of tires with snows and looking forward to see how it does in the snow and ice. I do run 20" wheels too which helps. So even though the kit was not cheap, in the long run if I don't go through tires early or have to replace shafts due to the shutter, it will pay for it's self.
in theory, a lower car will have better efficiency. same with toe closer to 0. curious how the car rides, low is acceptable for me, but very low feels like my kidneys are going to fall out
Because I also installed the lowering links all the way around which lowers the car 1", I will never drive in very low. Honestly after doing this why couldn't a person just drive lower rather than installing the lowering links which would achieve the same thing.
 
Because I also installed the lowering links all the way around which lowers the car 1", I will never drive in very low. Honestly after doing this why couldn't a person just drive lower rather than installing the lowering links which would achieve the same thing.

It's two part:
1. driving lower positions the drive units to be more parallel with the half shafts, this in turn results in #2
2. lowering the car will result in an uncorrectable alignment (beyond max adjustments)

the kit from that company includes new hardware which allows you to align and lower the car together. so, yes, you could drive in very low which would "solve" the shudder, but would not address tire wear
 
It's two part:
1. driving lower positions the drive units to be more parallel with the half shafts, this in turn results in #2
2. lowering the car will result in an uncorrectable alignment (beyond max adjustments)

the kit from that company includes new hardware which allows you to align and lower the car together. so, yes, you could drive in very low which would "solve" the shudder, but would not address tire wear
Yes you would still have to address the inside tire wear which the kit without the lowering links does and after the install they are able to align it in low and solve the tire wear issue.
 
Took at look at my car and it looks like the ride heights are:
  1. Very high: 8.9in
  2. High: 8.3in
  3. Standard: 7.5in
  4. Low: 6.7in
  5. Very low: 6.1in
@Mark J so, if the car was lowered 1" lower when it is in Standard...really, the car is essentially in "Low". I'd be curious to see if you still develop a shudder. At least you've got the alignment corrected, so you won't have tire wear issues!
 
So far shudder is gone for the last 10,000 miles sense installing the N2itive’s Alignment Kit #1. I am 67 and we do drive in chill mode which might make a difference, but not sure. We don't do the launch mode besides once when I first bought the car to see what it is like. When I was in collage we raced a 69 Camaro that was built for the drags and things still broke at times. The Tesla is not a dragster and I feel that sooner or later something will break if a person is doing the hard fast launch mode type starts all the time and they are expensive enough to repair. But if I were younger I would probably do the launch often because it is fun and impressive. But now that I am older, even in chill mode it gets up and goes faster than a gasser when passing and is still very impressive. Just my feelings.
 
So far shudder is gone for the last 10,000 miles sense installing the N2itive’s Alignment Kit #1. I am 67 and we do drive in chill mode which might make a difference, but not sure. We don't do the launch mode besides once when I first bought the car to see what it is like. When I was in collage we raced a 69 Camaro that was built for the drags and things still broke at times. The Tesla is not a dragster and I feel that sooner or later something will break if a person is doing the hard fast launch mode type starts all the time and they are expensive enough to repair. But if I were younger I would probably do the launch often because it is fun and impressive. But now that I am older, even in chill mode it gets up and goes faster than a gasser when passing and is still very impressive. Just my feelings.
See, my problem is I never had a 69 Camaro to get my shenanigans out of my system ;) so, I bought an extended warranty. Hope your car continues to be problem free!