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Tesla Upper Control Arm CRACKED
- Thread starter alexml500
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- Driving Dynamics Model S
You say that this car passed an inspection. As a director of an airline I see many parts from airplanes that could not have been diagnosed as having a potential to fail unless they are subjected to eddy current, or dye penetration under a microscope. It appears that the part you have shown us was cracked for some time, likely before you owned it due to the corrosion on the surface of the fracture. Auto safety inspections are not this thorough.
You could prove all of us wrong, but I don't think so.
JRP3
Hyperactive Member
Actually there is no stress trail from the potential "void" to where the break started.
Perhaps not.
Looks like a straightforward brittle fracture.
That is not good. This is how an Aluminum sample should perform.
Looks like a straightforward brittle fracture.
That is not good. This is how an Aluminum sample should perform.
Aluminum - cast, forged or extruded.
Pros and cons.
Casting vs. Extrusion vs. Forging | Deeco Metals
Pros and cons.
Casting vs. Extrusion vs. Forging | Deeco Metals
You do realize that vehicle and wheel were moved before the picture was taken, right? And that providing zero context to the failure mode provides zero useful data?
Goodbye Felicia.
The context is that suspension links made from sliced extruded Aluminum have the grain structure running crosswise and break very easily.
Just look back through this thread to see plenty of examples.
JRP3
Hyperactive Member
Posting pics of cars which show more damage likely from hitting something , beyond just having a broken control arm is exactly what that wacko Keef does, "Frank"...
Take a closer look to this failed arm. It look to me extremely porous, the center material is like sand, I can scratch it with my finger. It looks that the only structure that counts in that part is the thin metal shell, however porous, full of gas bubbles from casting.
I will order a third party inspection of that part from an independent structures testing laboratory, then I will post the report here and fill in reports to safety authorities.
I don't give a s*it about your Tesla shares, I don't care who has long or short positions. I had long positions and sold them last year once I took contact with this company and after 6 month of repairing different annoying things at this car. Tesla does good things, but fails miserably in others, most of them simple to do. I have called the nearest service center to get a hopefully updated version of that part, they told me to order by e-mail. I have sent an e-mail a couple of days ago, and got autoreply that they are not working for one week, and nothing else. I have 3 electric cars, the first one is an old vw beetle that I have converted myself 7 years ago before most of Musk's b*tt kissers were even hearing about electric cars. Stop talking about things you don't understand. That suspension has a problem unrelated with the rear trunk lid and bumper which were affected by the previous accident.
I will order a third party inspection of that part from an independent structures testing laboratory, then I will post the report here and fill in reports to safety authorities.
I don't give a s*it about your Tesla shares, I don't care who has long or short positions. I had long positions and sold them last year once I took contact with this company and after 6 month of repairing different annoying things at this car. Tesla does good things, but fails miserably in others, most of them simple to do. I have called the nearest service center to get a hopefully updated version of that part, they told me to order by e-mail. I have sent an e-mail a couple of days ago, and got autoreply that they are not working for one week, and nothing else. I have 3 electric cars, the first one is an old vw beetle that I have converted myself 7 years ago before most of Musk's b*tt kissers were even hearing about electric cars. Stop talking about things you don't understand. That suspension has a problem unrelated with the rear trunk lid and bumper which were affected by the previous accident.
JRP3
Hyperactive Member
I agree, that piece looks like junk. Definitely a bad casting.
As an engineer in the aircraft industry, that looks like a disturbing amount of porosity in that casting.
I know you said you were going to submit to NHTSA, but is there an equivalent body you can report this to in Europe (your stated location?).
JRP3
Hyperactive Member
Indeed, like linking to troll sites which use unrelated photographs of collision damage to promote a false narrative. It hurts your credibility. Clearly your control arm had a flawed casting, the pictures prove it. It doesn't prove that this is a fleet wide issue. You could have saved a lot of time and aggravation by posting them from the start.
Not in aero, so forgive my ignorance.
Isn't this part a sliced extrusion, and not a casting? If so, wouldn't the original slug need to be severely flawed to produce this flaw? Seems nigh impossible to produce a void internal to the extruded piece.
Given the coloration, could it be caused by prolonged internal corrosion?
You may be right about it being an extrusion vs a casting. I am not an expert in corrosion effects, so I don't know if it could cause defects that look like that.
The upper and lower links and the torque link are all made from slices of extruded Aluminum.
This material has the grain structure running CROSSWISE in the links.
Even worse than that the extrusion process is liable to have inclusions, voids and gas bubbles if there is any problem with the production process.
Also the start and end of the extrusion is meant to be rejected because it will certainly have defects.
That might be what went wrong.
This material has the grain structure running CROSSWISE in the links.
Even worse than that the extrusion process is liable to have inclusions, voids and gas bubbles if there is any problem with the production process.
Also the start and end of the extrusion is meant to be rejected because it will certainly have defects.
That might be what went wrong.
JRP3
Hyperactive Member
Do you have a credible source stating they are extruded? Their shape does not look like something which would be created by an extrusion process, which is basically stretching and forming.
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