Undercarriage hit roadside

[Piwacet]

I spent a few days in a motel where the angle between the driveway and the road was fairly extreme. The motel's driveway was a steep downhill, and the road was curved and banked away from the motel (with the upwards aspect of the road in the motel's direction), such that as cars turned from the road onto the driveway the side of the road/top of the driveway would project upwards under the car between the front and rear wheels.

I tried to enter/exit the driveway at an angle so as to minimize risk of scraping the undercarriage on the roadside. However, when I first arrived I did not know this would be an issue and felt/heard the bottom of the car scrape against the roadside, and actually it seemed I could feel the floor under my feet pressed upwards a bit. After this I was more careful and took this at an angle, but a few times still heard the scraping sound (but no floor movement.)

I've looked at the undercarriage and as best as I can see there's no damage and I can't even clearly see a scraped area with the limited view I can get looking from the sides of the car. The area of concern would be between the front and rear wheels which seems to be the battery pack.

Anyone have any experience with this or thoughts about this? I would assume the cars are built to handle something like this. But it was weird to feel the floor rise the first time it happened, as if the battery pack was being pushed upwards in the chassis. Since then I've been driving the car and there's no problems at all.

Thanks in advance.

 

[KenC]

I would have it inspected carefully. Any potential damage to the battery pack is a safety issue. Good sign is it's not throwing any codes.

 

[Piwacet]

Thanks. I scheduled an appointment at the service center for this Thursday.

 

[ngogas]

Stick you phone under and record. I think you are fine though if you don’t see any liquid spilling out.

 

[moonfresh]

Make sure your aero covers, front and back, are not damaged. The material is very cheap. Any damage where the wind can tear it up even more will result in a loud, scraping noise. I am waiting to get mine replaced this week. These aero covers are also prone to water damage.

 

[C141medic]

These aero covers are also prone to water damage.

Can you please elaborate?

 

[EVDRVN]

I have done this dozens of times in my S. If the floor went up you would be stuck, that's you feeling unsprung weight. You likely just scuffed things up. A quick look under should give you the answers.

 

[moonfresh]

Can you please elaborate?

The aero covers are made of some sort of fabric (really) and composite. There's a thread somewhere...type up: aero covers/undercarriage. Basically, these aero covers are susceptible to water, even a little puddle, from what I read. The covers will start to drag and eventually get wind damaged.

 

[C141medic]

The aero covers are made of some sort of fabric (really) and composite. There's a thread somewhere...type up: aero covers/undercarriage. Basically, these aero covers are susceptible to water, even a little puddle, from what I read. The covers will start to drag and eventually get wind damaged.

Interesting. I honestly thought you were referring to the aero wheel covers. But this is informative nevertheless. Wonder if they’ll take care of that under warranty?

 

[gaswalla]

aero covers typically refers to the wheel covers on the 18 inch wheels. Sounds like the post above is in reference to the fenderwell and underbody lining

 

[ChrisH]

I scraped the right jack point rail of my 3 after running over a curb slightly. It sounded like death and did some minor damage to the rail. Tesla inspected it and said just superficial scratches on the battery pack cover. Different situation obviously but yeah good to have it checked out.

 

[Piwacet]

Thanks all. My assumption/hope, as people have said, is that these cars are made to withstand something like this, as this is probably not an uncommon thing to have happen and would otherwise result in the need for expensive repairs. I don't see any clear damage on my limited inspection. But I'll have it inspected at the service center, I don't want to keep worrying that I did some damage to my 3 week old car.

I think those covers at the front and back underside are in OK condition but obviously these will be inspected too.

Thanks!

 

[ChrisH]

Thanks all. My assumption/hope, as people have said, is that these cars are made to withstand something like this, as this is probably not an uncommon thing to have happen and would otherwise result in the need for expensive repairs. I don't see any clear damage on my limited inspection. But I'll have it inspected at the service center, I don't want to keep worrying that I did some damage to my 3 week old car.

I think those covers at the front and back underside are in OK condition but obviously these will be inspected too.

Thanks!

Your car is newer so they probably made some improvements since many of us got our cars but I would ask them to make sure the aero shields are on securely and have all of the bolts installed while they have it up on the lift.

 

[moonfresh]

I got a new undercarriage, aero cover yesterday by the mobile technician. It took less than 30minutes. I was happy because it was no charge. There is a service bulletin for this (that's why I called them vs. looking to replace it myself--used covers on Ebay are like $300-$500). However, I was disappointed that it was the same kind and not the newer type that I read about. So...I sprayed flexseal on it to make it more sturdy and waterproof. There's a huge difference after spraying it.

 

[CAAD]

If you are ever headed to Las Vegas and want to SC in downtown on Bridger, make sure you go up the ramp and not down the ramp.
Ask me how I know and what happened..
Tesla Supercharger sign is between the driveways..

 

[Piwacet]

Just a follow up. I had my service center appointment today. They said they took off the 3 "aero covers" (maybe one was the metal under-body of the battery?) and nothing was damaged. They said just some mild scratch marks on the external surface, cosmetic only. Edit: just watched a video on the underside of the model 3 and I guess there are 3 aero covers.

Thanks all for your help! I'm feeling better.