Suspension Problem on Model S

[Skotty]

Why would it matter if someone lives on an unpaved road? Maybe some of you concrete jungle bunnies don't realize this, but it's completely normal to live down an unpaved rock/dirt road in the midwest. Cars handle it just fine and a Tesla should be able to also. You can talk about that as an honesty check or just in trying to identify conditions that can lead to issues, but if your angle is to look for improper use of the vehicle, that question really shouldn't matter nor apply.

 

[JohnSnowNW]

Why would it matter if someone lives on an unpaved road? Maybe some of you concrete jungle bunnies don't realize this, but it's completely normal to live down an unpaved rock/dirt road in the midwest. Cars handle it just fine and a Tesla should be able to also. You can talk about that as an honesty check or just in trying to identify conditions that can lead to issues, but if your angle is to look for improper use of the vehicle, that question really shouldn't matter nor apply.

It's an indication of abnormal use that could have resulted in abnormal wear, though OP was initially claiming this to be impossible, as he'd never taken it off-road.

driving on a back road at a very low rate of speed, about 5 MPH. The road was rough so my air ride was at it max lift. As I was proceeding down a steep hill"

I wouldn't say what he's describing, above, is normal driving, especially for a premium sedan. Whether this is driving that "cars can handle just fine" is sort of up in the air.

 

[lklundin]

OP is a big liar

He actually lived in unpaved road

Check his name and town, you can easily find his address

I did and found an address, in a perfectly typical residential neighborhood, with paved roads.

What are you up to?

PS. The owner does run a "passenger car leasing company", so maybe the car has been driven in places and in ways that would not be typical for an owner.

 

[DillyBop]

Why would it matter if someone lives on an unpaved road? Maybe some of you concrete jungle bunnies don't realize this, but it's completely normal to live down an unpaved rock/dirt road in the midwest. Cars handle it just fine and a Tesla should be able to also. You can talk about that as an honesty check or just in trying to identify conditions that can lead to issues, but if your angle is to look for improper use of the vehicle, that question really shouldn't matter nor apply.

this.

dirt is not corrosive.

i live on a dirt road.

 

[Seesaw]

Wonder if warranty would cover this!

 

[Skotty]

It's an indication of abnormal use that could have resulted in abnormal wear, though OP was initially claiming this to be impossible:



I wouldn't say what he's describing is normal driving, especially for a premium sedan. Whether this is driving that "cars can handle just fine" is sort of up in the air.

I wouldn't use the term abnormal. Perhaps atypical. Seriously folks, people drive cars on rock and dirt roads all the time here, and never have trouble with their suspension. It may lead to abnormal or premature wear on a Tesla, but it doesn't on other cars. So if so, I would consider it a flaw in the Tesla suspension design.

The question is whether there was something odd about this particular car, or if it can and will happen to all cars. What I'm saying is that driving down rock or dirt roads regularly should not be considered odd. There must have been something else, otherwise I would agree that there is a problem with the Tesla suspension.

Now I'm not talking about offroading over boulders. I'm talking more like this:

http://www.tsswcb.texas.gov/files/contentimages/Stabilized_Road_with_Rock.jpg

That would be a completely normal residential road around here (don't see it much in town, but right outside of town it's common).

 

[JohnSnowNW]

I wouldn't use the term abnormal. Perhaps atypical. Seriously folks, people drive cars on rock and dirt roads all the time here, and never have trouble with their suspension. It may lead to abnormal or premature wear on a Tesla, but it doesn't on other cars. So if so, I would consider it a flaw in the Tesla suspension design.

The question is whether there was something odd about this particular car, or if it can and will happen to all cars. What I'm saying is that driving down rock or dirt roads regularly should not be considered odd. There must have been something else, otherwise I would agree that there is a problem with the Tesla suspension.

We're both making assumptions as to the condition of the road. Whether folks anecdotally have issues driving where they have driven doesn't really strengthen the argument.

Again, it depends on the condition of the roads. If he's often traveling in such a way that he has to max out his suspension, and proceed at 5 mph...that doesn't sound like your average regularly traveled dirt or gravel road. Speculation, of course.

 

[BriansTesla]

Has anyone else with a Model S tried putting the air suspension at maximum lift and driving down a steep rough road at 5mph? You won't do it more than once. This is not an off road vehicle and the suspension is not happy there. I will continue to use my Vanagon Syncro for mushroom hunting.
This is another example of someone not taking responsibility for their own actions and trying to blame someone else.

 

[Stoneymonster]

I wouldn't use the term abnormal. Perhaps atypical. Seriously folks, people drive cars on rock and dirt roads all the time here, and never have trouble with their suspension. It may lead to abnormal or premature wear on a Tesla, but it doesn't on other cars. So if so, I would consider it a flaw in the Tesla suspension design.

The question is whether there was something odd about this particular car, or if it can and will happen to all cars. What I'm saying is that driving down rock or dirt roads regularly should not be considered odd. There must have been something else, otherwise I would agree that there is a problem with the Tesla suspension.

Now I'm not talking about offroading over boulders. I'm talking more like this:

http://www.tsswcb.texas.gov/files/contentimages/Stabilized_Road_with_Rock.jpg

That would be a completely normal residential road around here (don't see it much in town, but right outside of town it's common).

Or, perhaps, this is a one off incident where someone who regularly rides on unpaved roads happened to get random damage to the boot which led to abnormal corrosion over a few 10s of thousands of miles. That seems extremely plausible. Weird stuff happens and sometimes it's no one's fault, then things get blown up by irate owners, bloggers with agendas, and defensive companies. I would say if I were driving on anything likely to damage suspension boots, I'd have them inspected more regularly than the average urban/suburban driver.

 

[sorka]

Doesn't look like a dirt road to me:

Google Maps

 

[Curt Renz]

Just something I came across:

http://listings.findthecompany.com/l/15314477/Guy-Peter-Cordaro-in-Connellsville-PA

1. The OP's username is "gpcordaro"
2. A search of Peter Cordaro, Connellsville, PA turned up a "Guy Peter Cordaro"
3. This Guy Peter Cordaro owns a vehicle leasing company
4. Could this be OP, and could he have been leasing his car out?

Just wondering, as I found it interesting. Note, this could be a different person entirely...*shrugs*

Indeed interesting. The indication is that since 1980 Guy Peter Cordaro has run a passenger car leasing company with one full time employee from the same address as his home in Connellsville, Pennsylvania.

@gpcordaro Please provide more information about your car leasing company. Have you been leasing out your Model S?

 

[trils0n]

Has anyone else with a Model S tried putting the air suspension at maximum lift and driving down a steep rough road at 5mph? You won't do it more than once. This is not an off road vehicle and the suspension is not happy there.

Max lift makes the suspension very stiff (the air bags are inflated more). Makes rough roads even rougher. Max lift is for clearance (snow/steep driveways etc), not rough roads, IMO.

 

[Skotty]

Or, perhaps, this is a one off incident where someone who regularly rides on unpaved roads happened to get random damage to the boot which led to abnormal corrosion over a few 10s of thousands of miles. That seems extremely plausible. Weird stuff happens and sometimes it's no one's fault, then things get blown up by irate owners, bloggers with agendas, and defensive companies. I would say if I were driving on anything likely to damage suspension boots, I'd have them inspected more regularly than the average urban/suburban driver.

Bingo. I would say that's probably the most plausible. In which case there is nothing wrong with the Tesla suspension design, and this person just had the unlucky fortune to have improperly fitted boots or maybe an unusual incident that damaged the boots that eventually lead to the failure. This is okay. Just bad luck for the owner. Maybe could have been caught with occasional inspection. Don't know if that's really what happened, but I do think it's the most plausible explanation.

Might also be worth investigating if driving at max lift affects the suspension in a way that could have made the issue more likely. Probably should only use max lift very briefly for going over big bumps, sharp driveway entrances, entry/exit, etc. I really have no idea, but would kind of be my expectation.

 

[MassModel3]

Why would it matter if someone lives on an unpaved road? Maybe some of you concrete jungle bunnies don't realize this, but it's completely normal to live down an unpaved rock/dirt road in the midwest. Cars handle it just fine and a Tesla should be able to also. You can talk about that as an honesty check or just in trying to identify conditions that can lead to issues, but if your angle is to look for improper use of the vehicle, that question really shouldn't matter nor apply.

I don't think living on an unpaved road is at question so much as the extent of the off-roading being done. The OP has been asked repeatedly in this post how frequently he mushroom hunts, yet no response on that. And we certainly don't know how bumpy the road was, though OP implies it's pretty rough. You don't buy a $100K luxury car for off-roading -- that just goes against sound logic.

Your argument is tantamount to saying the Model S should be able to handle anything users might experience on their way to or from their house, whether they live in the jungle or up a rocky mountain path, as well as any side excursion they might have planned. No, you buy the vehicle appropriate for the driving conditions you anticipate doing.

In this case, OP denies living on a dirt road but admits to basically taking his car off-roading to pick mushrooms. Do you really think Tesla should be designing the Model S to handle that? Check the warranty -- off-roading voids it. Perhaps OP should have bought a Jeep.

 

[AWDtsla]

29 pages in, but my 2 cents:

There's no way that joint wasn't making a ton of noise for a *long* time before ultimate failure...

 

[RK9090]

Let's put aside the credibility of the OP, the condition of the road, the frequency of mushroom hunting and the service history of the vehicle for a moment.

If this problem was widespread and common we'd have any number of posts here detailing it. Given the history of arguably trivial complaints that you'll find all over these forums I'd be willing to bet that a pattern of suspension issues would dominate the boards. I'm satisfied that this is an isolated, albeit unfortunate, incident.

 

[NoMoGasNeMo]

Indeed interesting. The indication is that since 1980 Guy Peter Cordaro has run a passenger car leasing company with one full time employee from the same address as his home in Connellsville, Pennsylvania.

@gpcordaro Please provide more information about your car leasing company. Have you been leasing out your Model S?

The OP has already indicated that he owns a fleet of 140 vehicles. So he wasn't trying to hide that fact. See post #119.

 

[JohnSnowNW]

The OP has already indicated that he owns a fleet of 140 vehicles. So he wasn't trying to hide that fact. See post #119.

Thanks for that. Now it would be great to know what type of vehicle (as they're just listed as truck and passenger online) and whether he has ever leased out his vehicle.

 

[BriansTesla]

Max lift makes the suspension very stiff (the air bags are inflated more). Makes rough roads even rougher. Max lift is for clearance (snow/steep driveways etc), not rough roads, IMO.

Exactly! Anyone up for a trip down Baja peninsula in their Model S? We'll just run up the suspension and bop down to Ensenada.

 

[techmaven]

So a little more information.

Tesla does not have a Service Center in Pittsburgh, PA, although one is coming soon. Since one is coming soon, ranger service is available. Ranger service is then free within 50 miles of the expected location. Therefore, Mr. Cordano would not have brought his Model S to a Service Center. Instead, Tesla farms out the alignment to Sears in that case (could be different elsewhere).

Further, if Mr. Cordano went in for an alignment, then the car never went onto a lift. Sears would have put it on an alignment rack. The wheel would never have been dangled free. No one would have checked the play in the wheel, as in:

The joint would have been held under compression the entire time on the rack, and as long as it didn't shift and the Sears mechanic didn't particularly check, then they would not have discovered the issue.

Also, since there is not Service Center, I ask again of Mr. Cordaro... who last did the actual annual inspection? That's when the boot and the ball joint should have been checked.

I think the road surface is only a part of discussing the expected lifespan of the parts - not that you can't drive it off road. You just can't expect the same service life. Plus, you take the chance of damaging your suspension even if it was a brand new Land Rover. Mr. Cordaro's adventures in the woods might be perfectly fine for the vehicle if regular inspections were done. But since there is no Tesla Service Center there, where was he getting his annual inspections done?