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Tesla Upper Control Arm CRACKED
- Thread starter alexml500
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- Driving Dynamics Model S
Please make sure to report the incident:
File a Vehicle Safety Complaint | Safercar.gov | NHTSA
If enough of these happen, they will investigate and if there's an actual defect it will be recalled.
Note, I love my Tesla and if there is an actual problem, it will be better for everyone INCLUDING Tesla in teh long run to get this resolved sooner rather than later.
Nah, don't do that. This thread TL;DR: If you hit potholes or curbs, get your suspension inspected before things fall off the car.
Look at the sizes of the gashes on that wheel! One of them even took a chunk out of the sidewall... Are we going to blame Tesla for the now unsafe tire as well?
I had 2 Audi and one VW car in the last 20 years. It never happened to have any problem with the suspension in over half million kilometers! The design of this suspension is incredibly bad. The question is not if they all will fail, but when. Was this design changed in later versions? The car was inspected less than a year ago for safety, and it passed all the tests. The suspension must be designed to handle normal road driving conditions. This car has only 30000 km! This is by any standard unacceptable. They must recall all of them and fix them. They are ticking bombs on the roads, potentially affecting not only their passengers, but other people nearby.
Google for "broken control arm". Note how many results, nearly all of which aren't for Tesla.
When you crash into stuff.
When is that relative to you or other drivers crashing that car into things? Anyone that inspected that car with a chunk of rubber taken out of the sidewall should have insisted you get a new tire, at least.
How many miles per curb is that? One curb is a curb too many.
Aluminum suspension components are also more prone to brittle failure, versus just driving around when a terrible alignment. This is the nature of the thing. This was the case when I was driving a BMW, and this is still the case with Tesla. Check my post history, I have not gone easy on Tesla on stuff they've f***** up. But this is not one of them. Just because you rolled away from a collision doesn't mean the car is OK.
I have never hit any sidewall, or any curb. I have never smashed into anything. Small potholes are on the street, how should I know when one of them broke the fragile tesla suspension arm before my wheel runs away ? I had regular inspection in time. I have other things to do in my life other than inspecting the car every day. Man, believe me, I am engineer, I know what I am talking about, someone will die because of that bloody suspension.
I have a part's car with all aluminum suspension with composite springs and steel frame that slid sideways into a curb (or similar) at very high speeds. It broke both forged aluminum high strength wheels. Very high quality wheels and one of the most copied designs ever, the 10 spoke, 5 lugs, triangulated and radiused design. You even see this design on the Mercedes and Model 3 Tesla as well as race cars.
The lateral impact cracked the roof, it bent the steel frame, bent the aluminum rollbar, it broke the hood and left fr 1/4 panel, driver's door, driver's seat, folded the titanium exhaust from distortion alone. The driver probably lived, there was no blood or cockpit intrusion. I doubt the impact was at any kind of legal speed in the US. The car did not flip, or if it did, it landed back on it's tires.
The lightweight and spindly looking aluminum double wishbones were slightly distorted, and the rear composite spring cracked a bit. I drove it up into the trailer without a winch. The suspension did not break, it was bent with some minor cracking on a 'fiberglass' spring that did not collapse. The car was way past 'totalled'. I'd guess the repair costs would be 2-3 times the MSRP of the car. But really, only the engine and transaxle were salvageable which what I bought it for.
You'd have thought from the damage it would have tore off the two left wheel assys. But to do that, it would have had to break the aluminum wishbones. If they weren't so damn strong, the car would have been repairable. Damn you Aluminum! Damn you to Hell!
They make aircraft frames and landing gear out of aluminum forgings. The best ones are stronger than normal steel by volume, not weight.
IIRC, the link in question is a lateral extrusion. One of the weakest ways to fab aluminum if you go cross-grain. Lengthwise, they can be strong.
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Did you forget you posted pictures of the damage? Here let me highlight them for you. This wheel has seen battle. Many times. I don't even know how you pulled off the damage on the spokes...
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Most of the things you highlighted were there before the technical inspection. None of them should cause suspension failure. They are just surface scratches, Left side rim looks much better, but the tire is even worse worn out. I will take that wheel off and inspect the arm, I bet it is cracked too but it didn't fail yet.
Zoom in a bit...
this is not a scratch
this rubber on this rim suffered at least one severe blow that connected / compressed rubber sidewall to metal, probably bad enough to wreck the cords in the tire as well
how is this not responsible for a cracked suspension arm? even a new arm no prior damage is not going to like that hit...
this is not a scratch
this rubber on this rim suffered at least one severe blow that connected / compressed rubber sidewall to metal, probably bad enough to wreck the cords in the tire as well
how is this not responsible for a cracked suspension arm? even a new arm no prior damage is not going to like that hit...
I've taken chunks out of rims that big before. The impact that caused them was quite stunning, and resulted in damaged suspension parts, and in the least necessitate an alignment. No way they were missed by the driver, and no way a professional should dismiss them on "inspection"
Yeah, that will buff right out!!!
You should fear death because of tires blowing out then, forget the suspension. This tire is no bueno. Can't imagine driving around with yet another tire that's even worse.
You fight is with reality, not me or Tesla..
And finally:
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If I'm not mistaken, that pinch weld behind the tire is mangled and (sort of) straightened back out. Looks like this car may have had a serious accident history.
Ya I agree... this is more than a pothole hit. Take a step back... look at the misalignment of panels in the rear quarter..
Has this car has been dropped from a crane or rolled off a loading dock !??
I think the photos speak volumes. Now, I'm actually amazed that's the ONLY LINK to have broken after this accident.
Driver and occupants should probably also visit dentist looking for chipped teeth.
Has this car has been dropped from a crane or rolled off a loading dock !??
I think the photos speak volumes. Now, I'm actually amazed that's the ONLY LINK to have broken after this accident.
Driver and occupants should probably also visit dentist looking for chipped teeth.
Actually, you don't need much force to get these on the tires. They are caused by slowly moving the car while parking close enough to the pedestrian sidewalks. Some of these sidewalks have sharp edges that happen to cut these tires. This has no connections with the broken suspension arm. There is nothing wrong with the tire structure, it is still in the safety standards. The suspension is not, though. Don't worry, that tire will not cause any accident. The bloody suspensions will ! These things remain written here, as many other complaints about this suspension were already written in other places. I will also fill a complain to NHTSA. Maybe they will conduct a professional investigation and force Tesla to recall. I am not fighting with anyone, I don't claim warranty or repair from Tesla. I will soon sell this Tesla as it keeps breaking again and again, and buy a car instead! It is powerful, but also the most unreliable thing I ever had. I think I had enough. I am tired of it.
Wait a minute, is this a salvage car? Your previous posts indicate that you've been working on a salvage car. If this car was previously in a major accident, a later suspension failure has absolutely no bearing on the design of the suspension. Those parts could have been severely overloaded during the accident even if they 'looked fine'.
The suspension was not affected by any accident or was previously repaired without my knowledge. When it arrived in Europe after small body work, It passed the technical inspection and was found compliant with the EU safety standards. The left side suspension seams to experience the same problem, the tire is severely worn on the inner side. I'll check that upper arm, I bet it is cracked. Don't try to hide the garbage behind the carpet just because your suspension didn't brake yet. It's time to brake will come!
No doubt this car came from a u.s. salvage auction like Copart. We see the majority of high end cars bought from places like Russia, where wrecked salvage titles turn into clean titles and high miles turned into low miles with a little cash to the right official. Whoever lined up those body panels must have had a vodka lunch and if they were so careless there, I doubt they'd have inspected anything hidden under the car.
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