Steep driveway scraping bottom of Model S, okay?

[mitchellh3]

Just moved into a new home.

I have a relatively steep downward facing driveway. At the top, my Model S bottoms out and it scrapes a bit. Will this cause damage to my car?

The car bottoms out right in the middle/center of the car, not the front or back.

I can't use a curb ramp because that's not the problem and it doesn't fit. The curb is fine and smooth, its the hill crest on my driveway before it heads down. I already talked to and/or measured for all the major curb ramps. They don't work for my case.

I already had concrete people out to drill down the driveway and lower it a bit. It helped considerably but it still scrapes. They can't go any lower since it aesthetically would look pretty weird and they're not convinced it'd fix the problem. I'm also already way out of city code (shhhhh).

I also called Tesla phone support and they claimed that the bottom is covered in a very strong metal plate. Their words: "the metal will scrape down your driveway before the driveway scrapes down the metal." This is encouraging! I just wanted to check if anyone here knew thing.

I have an annual service in a few weeks, planning to ask them to take a look and see if its fine.

 

[Kahukura]

I bottomed out my model S a few times over a driveway like that. It sounded bad but when I checked for damage later, I couldn't see anything. There are rails of sorts that run the length of the bottom that will rub first if its a wide section that touches. I dont think any damage will occur unless it hits domething really hard or narrow and pointy.

 

[IchDochNicht]

It has these slotted metal rails on each side of the battery. I have scraped those quite a bit, but so far they have protected the lower battery cover from being affected.

I thought that if this was an issue, they'd mention it after the recent service. But they said they found absolutely nothing that was wrong on my car.

 

[f205v]

Can't you raise the suspensions?

 

[IchDochNicht]

Not everybody has air suspension...

 

[dark cloud]

How new are your tires? The more they wear the more it will scrape.
And the more it scrapes the less there will be there to scrape.

Maybe investigate a taller tire? a 55 ratio would give you almost 1 inch more of clearance: they do make several 245/55/19's worth considering but I am not sure if they would rub the fenders or not. In the old days one would have to visually adjust the speedometer but I believe the Tesla uses gps to determine speed, so shouldn't be an issue with that.

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/Tire...9&rearWidth=255/&rearRatio=40&rearDiameter=17

 

[A-Wimoweh]

Have all the passengers get out and unload all unnecessary items in the car before going over the crest. But yeah, you already know the answer. If it rubs every single time, eventually its gonna leave a mark. If the driveway is wide, try going up it at an angle.

 

[Kevin Bohacz]

I would not scrape the bottom of any of my cars. Tesla MS are not off road vehicles. You can purchase various kinds of driveway / curb ramps. You can get them on Amazon. Curb Ramp™ - The #1 Solution For Steep Driveways And Lowered Cars and Amazon.com: driveway ramps

 

[Brettski]

Just curious - would a variety of other cars scrape as well, or is it just the Tesla?

 

[TB205gti]

Not everybody has air suspension...

They should

 

[mitchellh3]

It has these slotted metal rails on each side of the battery. I have scraped those quite a bit, but so far they have protected the lower battery cover from being affected.

I thought that if this was an issue, they'd mention it after the recent service. But they said they found absolutely nothing that was wrong on my car.

Great to hear.

Yeah, I figure my concrete driveway is never (for a reasonable definition given a car) going to break down the metal rails.

I'll be asking my service center soon though.

 

[Zishan]

Try entering the driveway at an angle. And when backing out, again, at an angle (if you can). I've owned may lowered cars (extremely low, i.e. modified NSX/Vette Z06, etc.) and you'd be surprised how many steep driveways I've gotten up without a scratch.

 

[AwlBidnz]

If you have suspension, set it high enough to get over the scrape & it will remember next time.

 

[docbrown]

... In the old days one would have to visually adjust the speedometer but I believe the Tesla uses gps to determine speed, so shouldn't be an issue with that...
View attachment 384156

I find it very hard, nay impossible, to believe that gps is accurate and fast enough to measure speed in the Tesla. Not to mention that it wouldn't work in tunnels or anywhere else with no gps signal.

 

[Doanster1]

Great to hear.

Yeah, I figure my concrete driveway is never (for a reasonable definition given a car) going to break down the metal rails.

I'll be asking my service center soon though.

So you have coils vs SAS yah? Must be quite a driveway as coil cars didn’t sit extremely low IIRC. How about a pic? Entering/leaving at an angle is your best best like others have stated. Agree you won’t do real damage either way if you just creep to scrape by.

 

[mitchellh3]

So you have coils vs SAS yah? Must be quite a driveway as coil cars didn’t sit extremely low IIRC. How about a pic? Entering/leaving at an angle is your best best like others have stated. Agree you won’t do real damage either way if you just creep to scrape by.

Yeah. I dunno its not that crazy... I'll try to get a picture.

When I enter/leave at an angle its fine. It touches but barely and it doesn't worry me at all. Its just kind of a PITA to do that every time (its not natural with this driveway since its kind of thin) so I'd rather just scrape it up if it doesn't matter.

I'm having parts of the driveway actually repaved today we think we can fix it... enough

 

[dark cloud]

Yeah. I dunno its not that crazy... I'll try to get a picture.

When I enter/leave at an angle its fine. It touches but barely and it doesn't worry me at all. Its just kind of a PITA to do that every time (its not natural with this driveway since its kind of thin) so I'd rather just scrape it up if it doesn't matter.

I'm having parts of the driveway actually repaved today we think we can fix it... enough

Man, how much have you spent on that driveway? Might it have been cheaper to sell that car and get one with air springs?

 

[Kandiru]

Try entering the driveway at an angle. And when backing out, again, at an angle (if you can). I've owned may lowered cars (extremely low, i.e. modified NSX/Vette Z06, etc.) and you'd be surprised how many steep driveways I've gotten up without a scratch.

Ataboy! I always enter steep ones angled, as angled as possible actually. Every scrape is a step closer to coolant leak and fire. On top of it I have the weaker old style plate and fixed suspension.