Steering wheel vibration (high speed only)

[Wrkent100]

I have a 1 month old model x (100d) and have the often lamented and well documented steering vibration that occurs between 75-90 mph. To their credit, the local service center is really digging into it and they switched out the front tires and are now looking at air flow damning and ripping apart the suspension. No solid theory yet so if you have any new ideas... please let me know.

BK

 

[verygreen]

I have a 1 month old model x (100d) and have the often lamented and well documented steering vibration that occurs between 75-90 mph. To their credit, the local service center is really digging into it and they switched out the front tires and are now looking at air flow damning and ripping apart the suspension. No solid theory yet so if you have any new ideas... please let me know.

I have the same problem and I asked wk057 to check mine out. He is sure this is half-shafts that are slowly dying (problem present in all model Xes with no solution yet).
He told me the problem would become worse and worse until I have a very bad shudder during hard acceleration, when that point hits Tesla would replace the half-shafts under warranty, but not earlier.
(additional things to test - is the vibration less noticeable at "very low" suspension setting and worse on "Normal" - if yes consider the problem confirmed)

So if yours is not too bad, just give it some time in the hopes a fixed solution is developed.

 

[Wrkent100]

I have the same problem and I asked wk057 to check mine out. He is sure this is half-shafts that are slowly dying (problem present in all model Xes with no solution yet).
He told me the problem would become worse and worse until I have a very bad shudder during hard acceleration, when that point hits Tesla would replace the half-shafts under warranty, but not earlier.
(additional things to test - is the vibration less noticeable at "very low" suspension setting and worse on "Normal" - if yes consider the problem confirmed)

So if yours is not too bad, just give it some time in the hopes a fixed solution is developed.

Wow, very discouraging news for a car capable of such speed and acceleration, not to mention the price point.

 

[Skateboardgolf]

I had this exact problem after I purchased 2 rear tires.
Took it back to the Firestone tire center, and they found the wheels were out of alignment.
Problem solved - now it drives ridiculously smooth, at any speed.
Hope that helps.

 

[Wrkent100]

They switched out front tires, helped but didn’t completely resolve.

 

[DrivingRockies]

They switched out front tires, helped but didn’t completely resolve.

What about the rear as he switched out.

 

[Wrkent100]

What about the rear as he switched out.

Can rear cause a problem felt in steering column?

 

[DrivingRockies]

I had this exact problem after I purchased 2 rear tires.
Took it back to the Firestone tire center, and they found the wheels were out of alignment.
Problem solved - now it drives ridiculously smooth, at any speed.
Hope that helps.

Can rear cause a problem felt in steering column?

I wouldn't guess usually. Just going off of what he claims as the "exact problem".

 

[Wrkent100]

Is this a problem on all model x’s or just intermittent?

 

[verygreen]

Is this a problem on all model x’s or just intermittent?

wk057 thinks all model X (and all air suspension S?) cars are affected and your usage pattern determines how soon yours will deteriorate (i.e. more launches = sooner).
I do not have big enough sample size to form my own opinion on this.

 

[Wrkent100]

wk057 thinks all model X (and all air suspension S?) cars are affected and your usage pattern determines how soon yours will deteriorate (i.e. more launches = sooner).
I do not have big enough sample size to form my own opinion on this.

Very interesting theory, I must concede that I launch frequently. That said, I think there must be another factor as mine seems a bit worse or bit better at certain times.

 

[verygreen]

Very interesting theory, I must concede that I launch frequently. That said, I think there must be another factor as mine seems a bit worse or bit better at certain times.

coincidental with suspension height?

 

[Wrkent100]

coincidental with suspension height?

Mine slightly improves on very low setting, otherwise fairly consistent.

 

[verygreen]

Mine slightly improves on very low setting, otherwise fairly consistent.

Well, that's what he told me as the litmus test for this problem. The lower the suspension the less of a vibration you'd get.
This is because the shafts are at a bigger angle the higher the car is (sorry I am not a car guy so I barely know what I am talking about here).

 

[Wrkent100]

Problem fixed, two new front tires, road force balanced and entire car alignment!

 

[goneskiian]

Glad you got it sorted!

I was going to say thst just because the tires were replaced doesn't mean they balanced them correctly.

Large wheels and low profile tires are notoriously difficult to balance properly.

If the tire balance is off in the front, you'll feel it in the steering wheel. If it's off on the back tires you'll feel a shimmy in your butt through the seat.

 

[wallstguy]

Problem fixed, two new front tires, road force balanced and entire car alignment!

They did the exact same fix on mine. About a month/2 months later I'm back to the same issue.

 

[Wrkent100]

They did the exact same fix on mine. About a month/2 months later I'm back to the same issue.

I hope that is not the case but time will tell!

 

[ccutrer]

Yikes. I've always had a judder during hard acceleration, but this last road trip (after a hard accel on an on ramp) I've had some pretty bad vibrations at 80+mph. I didn't mess with suspension height, nor pay attention to it. I think I'm set to lower at 55+. I did a hard accel today, and the judder seems worse than before. I figured I'd just have Tesla check it out at my next regular service, which will probably be in a month or two. Should I be having them take a look sooner?

 

[ccutrer]

Yikes. I've always had a judder during hard acceleration, but this last road trip (after a hard accel on an on ramp) I've had some pretty bad vibrations at 80+mph. I didn't mess with suspension height, nor pay attention to it. I think I'm set to lower at 55+. I did a hard accel today, and the judder seems worse than before. I figured I'd just have Tesla check it out at my next regular service, which will probably be in a month or two. Should I be having them take a look sooner?

Hmm now that I check through my service invoices, on 9/2/16 I was in service for other reasons, and they proactively inspected the half-shafts, and found no problems.