Traction Control activating due to staggered wheels?

[Eltroneus]

Hello! My car is a 2018 Performance Model 3. Software version 2022.12.3.16. I have staggered wheels and tires installed.

My car is frequently activating traction control on normal driving now. I went to the Tesla service center in Carlsbad, CA for a radar replacement because another driver backed into my front bumper and broke it.

However, I asked them why my traction control is activating constantly and they seemed to think it was because of my staggered wheels.

The thing is, I've had these wheels for 3 years and never had this problem.

Is anyone else having a similar issue? My guess is it's something to do with a recent software update.

 

[thesmokingman]

I don't think its the staggered wheels. Check the Model Y Performance for instance, its got staggered and different sized circumference tires. Also the 3 years on the same staggered wheelset kind of defeats the idea of it being the wheels.

Do you get any other errors?

 

[Eltroneus]

I don't think its the staggered wheels. Check the Model Y Performance for instance, its got staggered and different sized circumference tires. Also the 3 years on the same staggered wheelset kind of defeats the idea of it being the wheels.

Do you get any other errors?

That's a good point about the Y.

No other errors, just the traction system going nuts when driving over 30 mph.

Looks like I need to set another service appointment. I asked the Carlsbad, CA location about it and the smug service rep (not the tech) said it was probably staggered wheels.

 

[GtiMart]

Can you verify the precise diameter and see if there's a big difference? If it was working before, it's possible that the diameter difference was low initially but grew if for example your rear tires used up more than the fronts. Since you cannot do a tire rotation front/back, this might happen... Having too big of a difference between front and back would most probably trigger traction control.

 

[MountainPass]

What are your tire sizes?

Edit: Found it in OP's post history.

255/30R20 and 275/30R20 with a 1/2" difference in overall diameter.

 

[GtiMart]

Hum... 1.9% diameter difference isn't that much, and when the rear use up more than fronts it should even reduce the difference. I don't know...

 

[ATPMSD]

I could foresee a problem if the 275s were on the front of the car. Otherwise, here is an article on potential issues:

9 Causes of a Traction Control Light Coming On When Accelerating

The traction control system helps you keep accelerating when the tires lose grip. When the TCS light is on, your car's handling may be limited.

oards.com

 

[Eltroneus]

So a quick update, I updated to software version 2022.16.2 AND reset my pressure sensor setting to factory tmps vs 'learn' and that resolved the issue. My tire pressures are 40-41 all around.

PS Thank you for everyone's input btw!

 

[Eltroneus]

Alright, another update:

The traction control came back on again. I'm assuming it's because my front tire pressures were lower than my rears now, 37 front vs 40 in the rear. With that decrease in the front it most likely is making my front diameter a lot shorter than the rear. I will have to get out some measuring tape to measure the height and find the ideal pressures with this custom setup.

Edit: I went out and increased my front tire pressure to 45 and left the rear at 40. Measured (roughly) the heights. The fronts are about 25.5 inches at the tallest part of the tire, the rears are 26. That shouldnt be enough difference in height to trigger TCS right?

 

[cybrtrkguy]

Alright, another update:

The traction control came back on again. I'm assuming it's because my front tire pressures were lower than my rears now, 37 front vs 40 in the rear. With that decrease in the front it most likely is making my front diameter a lot shorter than the rear. I will have to get out some measuring tape to measure the height and find the ideal pressures with this custom setup.

Edit: I went out and increased my front tire pressure to 45 and left the rear at 40. Measured (roughly) the heights. The fronts are about 25.5 inches at the tallest part of the tire, the rears are 26. That shouldnt be enough difference in height to trigger TCS right?

My RWD Model Y just started doing this. In June, I replaced only the rear tires after a blowout on a road trip. This month (August) I started getting infrequent TCS misfires, paired with irregular regen braking (it does the same thing when slowing, by limiting the motor's "input" on the axle).

I first noticed the issue when my rear tires were at a lower PSI than the front, but the issue continues after I've leveled the pressure. No success in fixing it so far, but it seems like my two old / two new tires are to blame.

 

[Eltroneus]

Thanks for letting for sharing that. As of recently (knock on wood) I haven't had any TCS triggers so maybe having a lower rear pressure vs front has lowered the delta in tire height perceived by the wheel speed sensors.