I have a 2022 Model X and both falcon wing doors make a rubbing sound (plastic on plastic sounds) when driving on uneven or rough roads. I stopped by the service center and the tech thought it was just the door panel rubbing against the trim that surrounds the doors and that there was no real adjustment that could be made. He used some leather conditioner at the ends of the door panel and it did indeed silence the sound for about 24-48 hours. But after that, the sound just comes back. Anyone else experience this issue? Any suggestions on what I could try to reduce the friction between the door panel and the trim of the frame (short of using grease)? Its an annoying issue in a car that's so quiet overall!
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Rubbing noise from falcon wing doors when driving
- Thread starter aus1ander
- Start date
In case anyone has this same issue with their new X, I was able to figure out where it was rubbing by inspecting the FWD from the inside with the door closed and the middle seats pushed all the way forward. My X door panel was rubbing on the outer most black trim piece around where the trim curves around the rear wheel well. I put some leather conditioner on that area of the door panel, drove it around, and inspected the trim to figure out where exactly the door panel was rubbing on the trim (the conditioner left a small area of residue where it was in contact with the trim). I then lubricated the small area (it was the size of a quarter) with some WD40 (its right where the trim met up with the rubber seals the surround the door frame). That has solved my issue for now without having to have the service center take things apart.
you can put some felt tape on there which will last longer than wd40
Yeah I have some, but want to see how long it will last without it. I think these parts will flex and "weather" in with time. I suspect the rubbing sound will go away with time even without using a lubricant.
Key is figuring out where it is rubbing. I examined my doors from the inside with them closed, captains chairs moved all the way forward. I used an index card and pushed it into the space between the door and door frame and was able to figure out where it was touching. I was also able to find traces of the leather conditioner on the door frame trim where it was touching. I applied a small amount of WD40 to that area several weeks ago and I have not heard anything since.
On my car its the outermost black trim along the rear wheel well and it was only a coin size area that was touching. Good luck!
Is this the sound people are hearing? (Day 3 with my MX)
To me, it sounds like someone making a balloon animal, or maybe cooking Jiffy Pop
To me, it sounds like someone making a balloon animal, or maybe cooking Jiffy Pop
Yes that’s the sound. I’m away from my X for a week but I can post a picture next week.
The red lines are where there are potential contact points between the door panel and the trim of the door frame. I first focused on lubrication of the door frame trim (just a 1/2 inch line of WD40 along the red line of the edge of the frame trim) but I found that it’s really hard to pin down all the contact points as it’s the door panel that’s rubbing. So my final approach was a thin line of WD40 on the edge of the door panel fake leather along the red line. I literally only covered 1/8 of an inch as I didn’t want it noticeable with the door open and that’s all it too. The FWD sound went completely away.
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I did something similar with my X. I pretty much lubed all of the seal, top, bottom, and sides. I use Gummi Pflege which is what I used with BMWs and Lexuses previously. It is not as oily as WD-40 and has little smell.
The result is pretty good. Almost all squeaking noise disappeared. I still sometime have a bit in front and rear so need do the front doors and rear hatch.
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This might be a dumb question. how do you apply the WD-40? Did you spray it directly to the leather?
it's the door seals. WD-40 really shouldn't be used in this case when gummi pfledge exists.
cookiefactory
Member
Immensely helpful thread. I too was afflicted by this noise but thanks to the info here it’s now blessedly gone. Cheers!
I spent a month tracking down similar falcon wing door rattles and managed to properly fix them by putting sound deadening materials under the side trims of each door frame. I found that one of the main noise drivers was contacting points of metallic clips underneath these side trims flexing and cracking when the top of the trim received pressure from the door itself.
Not easy to do, you will need experience and knowledge on using prying tool eith trims.
Not easy to do, you will need experience and knowledge on using prying tool eith trims.
May want to consider some of these grease. It's a big bottle and lasts forever. It's something i've been using since I've had my S2000 and many other cars on all the seals.
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