I just had an issue with my 2021 model 3 LR my car only has 3600 miles on it. I pulled into QT gas station to make a call and when I put my car in reverse to park it I heard a loud crank noise coming from underneath. I put the car into park and noticed a huge bolt on the ground. I looked under the car and it looked like a suspension part was almost on the floor. Very frustrating considering this is a brand new $52k car.
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Suspension fell apart
- Thread starter Kayris21
- Start date
Fantastic Tesla quality control on display here. Sure hope I avoid these kind of issues when I pick mine up next month.
I did some research and it looks like they just had a recall for this exact issue. I’m actually still waiting on a tow at the gas station I’ve been here for about 3 hours the first tow truck couldn’t do it they need a wheel lift. Hopefully Tesla fixes this free of charge
SocalM3P
Member
UncertainTimes
Active Member
Mine bolts were nice and tight, even after 2 years. I wrenched on them pretty good to make sure. My caliper bolts were also nice and tight. That was another recall because Tesla forgot to torque those bolts as well and brake calipers were coming off while driving. And good news, each of my calipers had their full set of brake pads installed.
Now my brake fluid is fresh, the tires rotated, fixed some rattles, and the car is good to go.
Hopefully you made it out the gas station by now. At least it's an easy fix if you still have both of the bolts.
stopcrazypp
Well-Known Member
Ouch. I guess you were one of the "lucky" ones that are part of the suspension bolt recall:
https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2021/RCLRPT-21V835-2749.PDF
Someone posted a link up thread where you can enter you VIN to be sure (you can also see other recall campaigns your car may be a part of). If your VIN was not part of it, you may want to submit your issue to NHTSA so that your case may be included (it's possible their original recall missed some cars).
Note Tesla Roadside covers towing for warranty issues:
Roadside Assistance
It should be fixed free of charge under warranty. And assuming you are part of the recall, even if your warranty has expired it should also be fixed free of charge.
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That's a Control Arm and it's no joke. Pretty wild that its not quadruple checked for utmost security
kessel_run
<12 PARSECS
My guess is there was probably a specific line that had its torque wrench out of specs and none of them got properly torqued down. They dont use traditional hand torque wrenches like you might have at your house, so they can't physically feel that the right amount wasn't being applied.
We had those bolts back out while doing a time attack event at Laguna Seca. The undertray kept them from fully coming out. They need to be retorqued for each track day to avoid a potential disaster!
oreobbq
Member
We go higher than Tesla spec for our front lower control arm bearing installation: 95-100 lb-ft!
roblab
Active Member
I've had friends with gas cars who had their suspension drop to the ground while up in the mountains. It's just a bolt, and these things happen. If it were me, and it isn't, I'd go to the parts counter and pick up the bolt, and install it myself. I mean, how hard can it be?? Well, it might be hard to jack the car up to do it, but it can be done at home, or the local car garage could do it easily.
When I first started driving I decided that for any repair job I'd try to learn a few things and do the job myself. Sometimes this entailed buying a tool, but I now have a nice collection of tools.
When I first started driving I decided that for any repair job I'd try to learn a few things and do the job myself. Sometimes this entailed buying a tool, but I now have a nice collection of tools.
at 100mph+ these things will kill you and no - they shouldn't happen. the bolt shouldn't back out and should be properly tightened to spec and added loctite if they have a tendency to back out.
Would your aftermarket control arms solve this problem? BTW I spoke to one of your techs on the phone (I think it was Jessie?) and he was awesome. I had a number of questions and he was very open and honest. Needless to say I am ordering your Comfort coilovers. Can't wait, just need my car now
Disclaimer - I am definitely not trying to turn this into a sales thread.Would your aftermarket control arms solve this problem? BTW I spoke to one of your techs on the phone (I think it was Jessie?) and he was awesome. I had a number of questions and he was very open and honest. Needless to say I am ordering your Comfort coilovers. Can't wait, just need my car now
Yes, they help though! Those bolts back out for two reasons. The first is the subframe squishing each time the bolts are torqued. The second is the lateral movement of the bushing pin on the FLCA because the holes in the pin are quite a bit larger than the bolt shoulders. The dowels in our kit locate the pin and don't allow for any lateral movement, and they also serve as a solid base for torquing the bolts down since they don't compress.
Also, that's me, thanks so much for the nice words
Disclaimer - I am definitely not trying to turn this into a sales thread.
Yes, they help though! Those bolts back out for two reasons. The first is the subframe squishing each time the bolts are torqued. The second is the lateral movement of the bushing pin on the FLCA because the holes in the pin are quite a bit larger than the bolt shoulders. The dowels in our kit locate the pin and don't allow for any lateral movement, and they also serve as a solid base for torquing the bolts down since they don't compress.
Also, that's me, thanks so much for the nice words
Ha! Well thanks again. I think for peace of mind, for me at least, since I do some track days + we will easily put 12-14K miles on the car each year the aftermarket control arms make sense.
Tesla really needs to address this, we are talking about some serious issues here if these fail at higher speed.
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