News for Model X owners with the dreaded shudder

[Richbot]

For what it's worth, mine got the Palladium/Plaid/whatever front axle "fix" in July of 2021 after about 8500 miles. At almost 31,000 miles, I have what sounds like an axle going again.

 

[Fairchild]

I understand why you didn't see it.
17,000 miles on Model X Continental
One hour after I left TESLA where they inspected it.
The shudder might actually come from rubbing on the tires.

 

[ckwong]

Sorry for the terrible quality. Didn't catch where the tire meets the rim. Can get better pictures later. It's only been about 10k, so relatively fresh tires, but doesn't seem bad. Definitely not my area of expertise, so appreciate any enlightenment.

Wow, no kidding. That wear is pretty serious. How many miles?

I don't know the exact miles but it's less then 15K. You should check the inside side of the tires and not the area where the rubber touches the ground. You might need to raise it up to the highest and then take a look on the inside side of the tire.

 

[EbS-P]

Long time lurker, but first post. Quick question. With all the posts talking about the shudder, is it inevitable? I have two legacy model xs (2016) in the family with 40-60k miles each without shudder. Granted, they are not pushed hard (probably half throttle most of the time) and always on low height suspension.

The warranty is expiring in the next ~2 years (bought extended on both), so wanted to get a sense of whether I need to push it in standard height to test it, or would that do more harm than good.

Appreciate the collective wisdom!

Looks like it’s an 1100-1500$ repair. If it’s every 30k thats expensive every 60k just the cost of driving an X. He is my hack. Cheap shudder hack (not a fix)

 

[Gwgan]

The premature asymmetric tire wear is real. It is not the cause of the shudder.

 

[DarkMatter]

The uneven tire wear is also not universal. When my tires were done at just under 40k, there was only 1/32 difference from the outside to the inside. Most of those miles were on Low. I suggest everyone (not just Tesla owners) own a tire depth gauge and know how to use it, because this sort of problem is difficult to spot visually before the tires are toast. If you have a gauge and check the depths every few months, you can catch misalignment before it totally eats a set of tires. And if someone says the car can't be aligned to have decent tire wear, my experience is that they are wrong.

 

[Richbot]

Mine came with a factory-installed crappy frontend alignment that ate the factory front tires pretty quickly (18,000 miles). After an alignment the new fronts are wearing pretty evenly after 14,000 miles, with just a bit of inside wear. I'd expect to get more like 25k out of them now. The rears still have pretty horrific inner tread wear, but there's not much to be done there without aftermarket adjustable links. Driving style - coked-out teenager

And it's pretty easy to check the inner tread blocks on these every few thousand miles with your factory-installed mk1 eyeball. No need to ask an expert, though you might get your pants a little dirty

 

[DarkMatter]

And it's pretty easy to check the inner tread blocks on these every few thousand miles with your factory-installed mk1 eyeball. No need to ask an expert, though you might get your pants a little dirty

A depth gauge tool is a few dollars, and will let you spot the difference even earlier. I can't tell the difference between 8/32 and 7/32 at sight, but the cheap tool can.

 

[Fairchild]

Don't get the tire gauge TESLA uses.

This was my Model Y at acceptance.

Introductory tires. Don't get me started.

 

[DarkMatter]

Interesting. I'm used to 10/32" as the default. Mine were 9/32" when new, which is the manufacturer spec. It looks like Continental goes that depth on a number of their tire models nowadays.

 

[Fairchild]

Yes, Continental, anything to shave off a buck. "Continental is the most expensive poor-quality tire I know." My Tire Dealer

 

[mo7ammed.al3be]

This thread is very timely, I just posed a question about something related to this yesterday (though more specifically on the warranty side). My drive shafts have been replaced twice now in the past 10 months or so, and I always have my suspension in low.

Does anyone know what happens in the long run if the shafts are not replaced? Is it wear that causes it? Does the shudder get to the point of happening even when not accelerating?

I have the same issue, whatever the level is, its start at 80 mph and above, killling

 

[Drlippercon]

I still have the constant, new vibration especially around 40 mph. I have a 2020 Raven and in the last repair attempt they replaced the front left halfshaft, both front hubs, right rear toe link and right rear integral link. They also replaced 1 front wheel (they said it was taking 80 grams to balance so wanted to replace it), 2 front tires and did an alignment. Unfortunately that made no difference at all. I never had this constant vibration issue until they tried to fix the 'acceleration vibration issue'. The 'acceleration vibration issue' remains fixed but the new constant vibration is very annoying. It sort of feels like a drive shaft vibration on a traditional vehicle or an out of balance tire. But it doesn't seem to change much with speed...it's there going 30 mph and basically the same when going 90 mph.

I have the same issue. Have you resolved it yet? The guy from SC told me the vibration was normal. Can’t be. It wasn’t there when it was brand new.

 

[Drlippercon]

This is pretty much my experience too, what I wrote in post #842.

I ended up getting new tires, taking it back to Tesla for assessment, taking it back to Discount Tire for rebalancing…. Nothing is really different. The Tesla tech did admit he felt the vibration, but said it wasn’t associated with the half shaft issue. He recommended checking the balance on the tires. I had that redone (although it had only been 150 miles)….. So through old tires, new tires, rebalanced again new tires, I have this new vibration that appeared when they did “the fix.” I have tried to convince myself that it’s not that bad, but some days it bothers me a lot. It now becomes a mind game, as I’m sure I’ve lost true memory of exactly what it was like before. It’s been about 2000 miles since the half-shaft repair was done.

 

[Drlippercon]

Same experience with my MX 2020 . Sometimes I think I'm imagining the vibrations have you resolved the issue? I love the car. Would do anything to fix it.

 

[DarkMatter]

I'm 20k miles post TSB repair and it's gone from glassy smooth to ever so slightly shuddery. I'll be keeping an eye on it since I have two years of the ESP left, and probably try to advocate for a repeat run at a fix right before the service plan is up. This is a silly design fault but it is what it is.

 

[EbS-P]

I'm 20k miles post TSB repair and it's gone from glassy smooth to ever so slightly shuddery. I'll be keeping an eye on it since I have two years of the ESP left, and probably try to advocate for a repeat run at a fix right before the service plan is up. This is a silly design fault but it is what it is.

Those last six months I’d be treating every stoplight like drag strip Tree in normal height Then I’d go get a lowering kit and rear camber arms.

 

[DarkMatter]

My tires have been wearing evenly so I don't have any camber concerns. And I don't want the vehicle to be lower, I bought an X partly because of the ride height. So I'll get another couple of years of smooth riding, then ask myself if I care enough about it staying smooth to spend the money doing the fix on my nickel.

 

[Fairchild]

I had two Model Xs 2016 and 2019. Never really found a fix.
One of them chewed up an OEM tire.
Not sure there will ever be a fix to the design flaw.

Suck it up and vibrate on or.....

I finally got a Model Y performance and I am happy
at least until CYBTRK arrives.

 

[DarkMatter]

How the heck did that happen? Mine has been great on tires, currently 7/32 left on the second set and they are wearing great. I've never had it aligned apart from Tesla doing the one year check.