Recall for cars with retrofit steering wheel/yoke

[Red_DS]

Heads up to the people with retrofit steering wheel/yoke. A recall has been issues for incorrect airbag possibly installed

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2023/RCAK-23V743-9225.pdf

 

[vcor]

It only affects 159 cars, and it's not clear how many of those were affected.

I wonder if that means only 159 owners switched from the yoke to the round steering wheel. It makes me think the whole argument against the yoke was by a few very vocal owners. Nothing wrong with that, but it seems like it was blown way out of proportion to reality. Myself, I like the yoke and wouldn't switch back to round if it was free!

 

[dmurphy]

It only affects 159 cars, and it's not clear how many of those were affected.

I wonder if that means only 159 owners switched from the yoke to the round steering wheel. It makes me think the whole argument against the yoke was by a few very vocal owners. Nothing wrong with that, but it seems like it was blown way out of proportion to reality. Myself, I like the yoke and wouldn't switch back to round if it was free!

Not even close.

It means that at least 159 times, a Tesla service tech put the wrong airbag with the wrong control device.

There are ** many ** more cars whose owners did a swap incorrectly. Those, unfortunately, aren’t subject to the recall proper (simply because Tesla didn’t do it) —- but have the same risks in a collision as the recalled vehicles.

I’ve warned as many folks as I could to NOT do this (put a “round” bag on a yoke or vice versa) but it’s been wantonly ignored by many. I hope like hell those folks are never in an accident where the airbag would make a difference.

 

[E90alex]

I don’t understand why didn’t design both options to work with the same airbag

 

[DerbyDave]

Since the yoke is no longer standard, many more than 139 people didn't like it. The yoke was a failure for Tesla. It is something Musk thought we'd like. Evidently he was wrong.

 

[dmurphy]

I don’t understand why didn’t design both options to work with the same airbag

The airbag had to be shaped differently for each. There’s a piece of the bag that fires over the “top” of the yoke to provide the right firmness.

Crossing these two up could lead to injury if the airbag shape is wrong. I’m not a doctor or an automotive engineer, but do understand basic shapes, and these are both significantly different.

I wish Tesla had keyed the airbags so they couldn’t be interchanged.

 

[Ostrichsak]

I wish Tesla had keyed the airbags so they couldn’t be interchanged.

This is the part that defies logic.

 

[Carsly2]

I paid the $700 to have Tesla change the yoke to a regular wheel on my 2021 S that I picked up from Tesla Used last spring. Very glad I made the switch, if only I could add a directional stalk. 95% of the time the directional buttons are perfectly fine, but if you're in a parking lot situation or making a K turn they are unusable.