Tesla S Alignment Issue

[Yauheni]

Hi to all,

I recently did alignment on my Tesla P85 at Big O Tires. They did it OK, but what is annoying is that they told me that REAR TOE is NOT adjustable. Is that true???? Here is my result sheet. Bot of my rear wheels are pointed left and I believe this make my car pull to the right a little.

 

[P85_DA]

Correct u can’t adjust rear camber

 

[bishoppeak]

Camber is not adjustable, but pretty sure toe is.

 

[P85_DA]

Correct rear toe can adjust

 

[Tennisballer]

The rear toe is adjustable. I own that alignment machine the Hunter Elite. Your car is pulling because the front Caster is incorrect. There cannot be more than a .5 degree difference in caster from left to right. Also most roads are crowned in the center to allow rain to run off. The correct thing to do for this car to drive on rails is to make the left side around .3 less than the right side. This will make it drive straight. The other problem you are going to have is that right rear tire will be chewed off of the car. Also that thrust angle is way off this will cause the car to dogleg. You really need to take it back and get it fixed correctly. The camber is a non issue and it is in spec.

 

[SpudLime]

Wow. How is a regular customer to know the person operating that alignment machine didn’t know what they were doing?

 

[NeverFollow]

I recently did alignment on my Tesla P85 at Big O Tires. They did it OK,
but what is annoying is that they told me that REAR TOE is NOT adjustable. Is that true????

Examining Tesla Model S Excessive Rear Tire Wear Via Thermal Camera

“Thought I’d try out the new Thermal Camera on the Model S. Got a Interesting idea,
the Model S has excessive tire ware in the rear, why not “SEE” it! And that I did.
You can clearly see, the inner toe much warmer (Though the reading wont show it),
and that is exactly where the tire ware is.
Notice the fronts, fairly nice and even! Too bad the rears aren’t adjustable.
That Negative camber is TIRE MURDER!”


Adjustable Rear Camber Bushings for Tesla Model S and Model X

 

[Tennisballer]

Almost all IDRS cars have negative camber. All Europeans do that’s for sure. The rear toe is what will wear that tire out. That camber is needed for proper handling also as the car is loaded and unloaded from the torque of driving the camber is changing all the time. The toe never changes unless something is worn. Toe and Caster are fixed the camber front and rear move as you go over bumps around corners etc. yes the tire will wear if the camber is excessive this is true but you do not have excessive camber. Your car is easily fixed without all that work of changing that bushing. On a coil spring car when they age the camber gets out of whack because the springs get weak and cause the car to ride lower. This makes negative camber happens all the time to cheap cars that have no adjustments such as a civic.

Just go get the alignment done again and tell them to make it like I said above it will drive better than it probably ever has.

Also as a side note my model S came with perfect alignment. My model X did not it pulled hard to the right when I got it. When they aligned it not only was the Caster out which caused the pull. The rear toe was also out I would have been buying tires like crazy. Of course I also double checked them by putting both my cars on my machine. My S is also a cool spring car it has the same rear camber as yours the tires last 40k miles and wore evenly. Don’t sweat that small amount of camber.

 

[bishoppeak]

+1 Tennisballer. Prepare to get flamed by the camber Nazis, they don't like it when knowledgeable people prove them wrong!

 

[N..8]

Also +1 Tennisballer

I've found the Camber only starts to really wear the tires on the Rear when it gets around -1.9 - -2.#. You can gauge the amount by the inside of the tires wearing more than the outer.

 

[.jg.]

I recently did alignment on my Tesla P85 at Big O Tires. They did it OK, but what is annoying is that they told me that REAR TOE is NOT adjustable. Is that true????

No, the rear toe can be adjusted. In the Tesla service manual, the wheel alignment procedure includes sections for adjusting both rear and front wheel alignment.

 

[Yauheni]

Almost all IDRS cars have negative camber. All Europeans do that’s for sure. The rear toe is what will wear that tire out. That camber is needed for proper handling also as the car is loaded and unloaded from the torque of driving the camber is changing all the time. The toe never changes unless something is worn. Toe and Caster are fixed the camber front and rear move as you go over bumps around corners etc. yes the tire will wear if the camber is excessive this is true but you do not have excessive camber. Your car is easily fixed without all that work of changing that bushing. On a coil spring car when they age the camber gets out of whack because the springs get weak and cause the car to ride lower. This makes negative camber happens all the time to cheap cars that have no adjustments such as a civic.

Just go get the alignment done again and tell them to make it like I said above it will drive better than it probably ever has.

Also as a side note my model S came with perfect alignment. My model X did not it pulled hard to the right when I got it. When they aligned it not only was the Caster out which caused the pull. The rear toe was also out I would have been buying tires like crazy. Of course I also double checked them by putting both my cars on my machine. My S is also a cool spring car it has the same rear camber as yours the tires last 40k miles and wore evenly. Don’t sweat that small amount of camber.

My model S has Air suspension, but after the first session on of my alignment, it was soo bad, that the next time I came I told them just make is like on a regular car, with coil suspension. So, now it is much better, but also not so good. This saturday I will go see them again, and I already have printed your explanation from this thread. So I hope they finally will do it the right way.

 

[artsci]

Correct u can’t adjust rear camber

Not so. You can with an adjustable rear camber link. There are perhaps serval dozen threads and posts on that topic,

I have adjustable rear camber links and have set the rear camber to about -1, which dramatically improves rear tire wear. Setting rear camber at that level does reduce the variability in the toe settings. So the toe/camber settings are a bit of a compromise.

 

[P85_DA]

Not so. You can with an adjustable rear camber link. There are perhaps serval dozen threads and posts on that topic,

I have adjustable rear camber links and have set the rear camber to about -1, which dramatically improves rear tire wear. Setting rear camber at that level does reduce the variability in the toe settings. So the toe/camber settings are a bit of a compromise.

Aftermarket or stock ?

 

[EVChris]

Wow. How is a regular customer to know the person operating that alignment machine didn’t know what they were doing?

Each measurement is labeled with a manufacturer's tolerance range. This is an explanation from Hunter.
Plus the accent is kind of fun, a British Barbara Walters.

I had an alignment done at Fremont Service shortly after I picked up my S85 (and I'd recommend that to anyone buying Used from Tesla). Next time I'll ask for this report. Their explanation at the time might have made more sense working through it on paper.

 

[SpudLime]

Sorry, i wasnt clear. I meant that when i have an alignment done, i trust the person operating the machine to know what he/she is doing. But in this example the operator was flat out wrong. *troubling.

 

[Tennisballer]

Thanks I don’t post much in here because of getting flamed trying to help someone out. Camber is dynamic as you go around a corner or even sit in the car it changes. I agree when it gets to 1.9 or more it will show as uneven wear to retry

 

[SSonnentag]

I got new tires at Big O yesterday and they told me the same thing, the rear toe is not adjustable. If it is, how is it done? Is it something I could show them? Also, where are the specs for the 2017 S alignment values found?

 

[.jg.]

I got new tires at Big O yesterday and they told me the same thing, the rear toe is not adjustable. If it is, how is it done? Is it something I could show them? Also, where are the specs for the 2017 S alignment values found?

If you find a copy of the Tesla Model S service manual, this includes a "Four Wheel Alignment - Check and Adjust" procedure, which includes adjustment of rear toe. Alignment data for various model variants is also in the same manual.

 

[dark cloud]

I got new tires at Big O yesterday and they told me the same thing, the rear toe is not adjustable. If it is, how is it done? Is it something I could show them? Also, where are the specs for the 2017 S alignment values found?

My opinion is that if you have to teach the alignment shop how to find the rear alignment you should be going to a better alignment shop.