Rear lower control arms being cut through due to the chains!

[Cal1]

At one point I was convinced of the grinder/sabotage theory and then started to see the tire chain thing. You should start a poll with a prize for the sleuth that figures it out!

BTW the wife is from Merced. Met in Merced JC 1973. We have a couple of very cheap rentals near Hy99. Things must really be booming cause we get letters and phone calls from realtors asking if we'd like to sell. Guess the college expansion thing is really going well for you guys.

 

[sorka]

At one point I was convinced of the grinder/sabotage theory and then started to see the tire chain thing. You should start a poll with a prize for the sleuth that figures it out!

BTW the wife is from Merced. Met in Merced JC 1973. We have a couple of very cheap rentals near Hy99. Things must really be booming cause we get letters and phone calls from realtors asking if we'd like to sell. Guess the college expansion thing is really going well for you guys.

We get mail almost every day from realtors asking if we want to sell. We're a mile from the UC.

 

[ucmndd]

We get mail almost every day from realtors asking if we want to sell. We're a mile from the UC.

It has definitely changed the area, that's for sure. I've been at UCM for 9 years (random letter-mash username might make more sense now), and the change has been dramatic, albeit at a slower pace than I think people expected in 2005.

 

[Gixx1300R]

I really don't see anyone using a grinder to damage your Tesla. They are very noisy and would attract attention.

 

[MRPLUGIN]

Did you have different wheels on it at some point? Looks to symmetrical to me to be a grinder.



Missed the chain thing, I guess I should have read the whole thread

 

[SaveOurPlanet]

OP said he will confirm whether it is tire chain when he gets home, how long does it take for him to get home? I would think it would be easy to confirm but why the suspense? Just a good story to spin?

 

[brkaus]

OP said he will confirm whether it is tire chain when he gets home, how long does it take for him to get home? I would think it would be easy to confirm but why the suspense? Just a good story to spin?

I think it’s to give folks time to speculate based on the first post without reading the entire thread.

 

[Muzzman1]

Solved. That was totally it. So this happened last year and I was JUST about to use the same tire chains again.

Post Photo's of the chain, there should be some residual Aluminum from the link on them.

 

[sorka]

So It was the cables. The parts of the cable that hold the cross chains in place, i.e the parts you don't drive on have these purple plastic sleeves over the cable. The cable on the backside of the wheel has a purple sleeves that split and the cable isn't in them. Also, the cut must have been much faster in the beginning and less so as the the miles were added on because the groove is just about as deep as it needs to be to let the cable to pass through it without cutting it any deeper.

My guess is this happened in the first mile or so and then didn't get any deeper as the miles piled on.

While driving forward, the cable was going down towards the road to cut. It also cut the other side of the control arm going back up 120 degrees later on the back but just a couple of mm.

 

[sorka]

Lower control arms should be in tomorrow. They are $318 each. The wishbone links are $72 each, so basically $850 in parts after taxes for my goof up. Should take about an hour, realistically, to swap them out.

 

[dark cloud]

Plus another alignment?

 

[sorka]

Plus another alignment?

Yes although if different it won't be by much. The bolts that go through the bushings have enough freeplay between the bolt and the bushing sleeve/wall to effect alignment. The bushing when torqued in is held steady by the clamping force of the subframe connection, not the by the bolt itself. So any time you unbolt a suspension component that is held in place by clamping for that the bolt applies means you should redo the alignment.

Good thing I have a lifetime alignment on that car.

 

[sorka]

Took a week to finally get the parts but got them this morning. Won't be able to get to it until Friday when I get home.

 

[SDRick]

I would keep the old parts for the next time you use your tire chains!

 

[sorka]

I would keep the old parts for the next time you use your tire chains!

Funny. My Tesla approved tire chains arrived this morning. $352 delivered.

 

[dark cloud]

Funny. My Tesla approved tire chains arrived this morning. $352 delivered.

You need those? with a D model and snow tires?

 

[MarcusMaximus]

Funny. My Tesla approved tire chains arrived this morning. $352 delivered.

Careful with those. I got them after the same thing happened to my S. Tried them for the first time last winter and they flung off within ~2 miles of driving on them. $400(that was the price when I got them) gone. I had double and triple checked that they were on correctly and as tight as I could get them.

 

[sorka]

You need those? with a D model and snow tires?

Still required to carry them even in R1 conditions. But I sometimes have to have them as the driveway to my lodge at Dodge Ridge is about a 15% slope which even our D cars can't do if it's icy. I can manage it with fresh power as the traction is pretty good then but if there's a layer of ice underneath that, forget it without the chains.

 

[sorka]

Took a bit longer than I expected but not due to anything unexpected. Just the typical underestimation based on being careful at a every step and triple checking everything. In all this was about a 3 hour job to do both sides. Although the first side took two hours and the second only an hour. So I guess I could do it again in about 2 hours total.

It was nice to have the service manual so I could properly torque every bolt. Also every bolt needs to be tightened at ride height.

The old parts.

The new parts.

 

[Jays200]

Nice. Gotta feel happier driving around now