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Tesla M3P 2020 - Spacers = Vibrations
- Thread starter Scosta17
- Start date
the saga continues! so i had a wheel warranty. bought my tesla at a porsche dealership so they did the repair on the wheels and put the two used to be bent rims in the rear. guy said he test drove it and seemed good to him. i pick up the car and it feels better but still something there. so without any other options i drop it at Tesla and tell them to drive it up to 80mph to feel what i feel. get it back the SAME day - they tell me alignment is good, internals look good and that the tech couldnt replicate the vibration? baffles me. so now i think im crazy - had a buddy drive it and he agrees. last thing i can think of is the spacers so removing them tomorrow but honestly that makes no sense. if somehow the spacers come off and it was the spacers yet i also had bent rims etc i will lose my mind.
really shocked by tesla saying they didnt notice anything and honestly shocked alignment was ok. taking spacers off tomorrow so that if that doesnt fix it i can call them back on Monday. what a nightmare.
Lindenwood
Active Member
I am approaching 200k miles on wheels centered on the lugs, about 50k of which have been on various spacers. For me, spacers have never been an issue. In fact, every time I have experienced spontaneous vibrations it has simply been from loosing a wheel weight.
Unfortunately, you probably just need your wheels/tires balanced again
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Also… pretty provocative thread title to blame the spacers when in the actual content you admit that you aren’t sure what the culprit is
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Unfortunately, you probably just need your wheels/tires balanced again
.Also… pretty provocative thread title to blame the spacers when in the actual content you admit that you aren’t sure what the culprit is
.can adjust the title. was trying to see if anyone had that issue with spacers leading to vibration issues.I am approaching 200k miles on wheels centered on the lugs, about 50k of which have been on various spacers. For me, spacers have never been an issue. In fact, every time I have experienced spontaneous vibrations it has simply been from loosing a wheel weight.
Unfortunately, you probably just need your wheels/tires balanced again
Also… pretty provocative thread title to blame the spacers when in the actual content you admit that you aren’t sure what the culprit is
ive had my wheels balanced 3 times at this point. 1st time at a Mavis when i first noticed the shaking, 2nd time at another mavis when the first visit didnt fix it so i went for an alignment they also did a balance and they noticed the bends, and then 3rd time by Porsche dealership when they did the rim repair and remount.
Also today at Tesla service they were supposed to check the balance and everything so that would be 4 balances that have all not fixed the issue. Tesla also said Alignment was OK. All of which took place within 2 weeks. Based on that i have ruled out the balancing and alignment. Taking the front spacers off tomorrow and will see if that does the trick. i did get some messages from people who said they got a bad batch of spacers that resulted in the vibrations.
nmyers
Member
Can you check if the stud does not quite clear the cavity on the front wheels. I just went through on purchasing some 15mm front and 20mm rear spacers for my m3p and here is the response I got from bloxsport. I ended up going with 18mm spacers for the front. Hope this helps, see message below for reference. Thank you & Best Regards |
Lindenwood
Active Member
Sorry, it was very unnecessary to be that sassy. I appreciate you taking the high road
. Have you confirmed stud clearance against the back of the wheel pockets? @nmyers suggestion is a good one.
Mine is.a 2020 seems like they think the issue is on the new wheels.Sorry, it was very unnecessary to be that sassy. I appreciate you taking the high road
Have you confirmed stud clearance against the back of the wheel pockets? @nmyers suggestion is a good one.
I’ll check the clearance today when I take the spacers off.
Took the spacers off. Slightly better but still feel something can’t put my finger on it. I still have my rear spacers in but I shouldn’t feel that in my steering wheel/pedal. I did notice some odd marks on the spacers I’d like some feedback on. One spacer had blue discoloring on the back while the other didn’t. The other spacer had a scratched up front but the other didn’t. Photos for reference.
Gauss Guzzler
Safety Score = 42
Seemed like they fit to me. Snug fit around the center. Didn’t notice anything loose. Also I did confirm these were exactly for my car. Weird that one side would have scratches and the other didn’t.
Also the vibration was still there after removing them so didn’t even solve it.
@Scosta17 Wheels can be a luxury item. You can spend as much as you want to.
Also size matters...for how much the wheels cost.The very cheapest way to get fully forged wheels is through certain Chinese ODM wheel manufacturers that will sell direct. You send them money (e.g. wire transfer), then they make your wheels and boat ship them to you. (Or pay up for air shipping but then you've lost out on the cost savings.) They're not doing test fitments or anything, it's up to you to make sure everything is spec'd correctly - spoke clearance, barrel clearance, lug nut seats, center bore, etc. Not difficult per se but I've seen a few reports where some stuff went wrong. Some people on these forums are running such wheels. I was not comfortable with this though. I think price (with boat shipping) for 18x8.5" might come out to around $1200-$1500. (I never got a quote for such wheels, and you won't find a preset price list on a website as you're making a custom order.)
Next cheapest fully forged wheels for a Model 3, from companies that actually design + operate + sell here in the US (but not manufacture here!) are around $2k USD for 18x8.5" . There's only two brands I know of selling proper Model 3 including M3P fitments at that price range (no centering rings or spacers needed) - Titan7 and Martian. This is what I went with, I'm running 18x8.5" Titan7 wheels on my 2021 M3P. Both Titan7 and Martian have larger width and diameter available too, for more money.
If you want made-in-a-democracy fully forged wheels, that will be another jump in price. This was my preference initially but ultimately the cost just wasn't worth it for me and my budget.
If you want fully forged wheels from a top tier brand, that will be yet another jump in price, and can easily get you into the $8k+ bracket you mentioned. I'd love me some BBS FI-R but can't remotely justify spending that much on a set of wheels, there's so much more I'd rather do with that money (including simply saving it).
The best, cheapest forged wheel deals are usually when a car comes with forged wheels from the factory, and you can find used sets practically oozing out of Craigslist for cheap. For my last ICE car I picked up a set of forged BBS wheels for $500 to use as winter wheels.
Sadly there's no such thing in the Tesla world, as Tesla seems to think "performance" wheels should be giant heavy fragile cast junk.
We offer built to spec fully-forged wheels by BC Forged. 3-4 weeks delivery!
More info here - Vendor - BC Forged - Fully Forged Lightweight Wheels / Custom Spec / Quick Lead Times / MANY Designs
Currently, running two sets on our shop car.
Feel free to message us for any further questions.
Thanks,
Danny
