Was My Front Subframe Installed Wrong?

[Aggmeister2010]

Hi Folks,

Last year, Tesla replaced my steering rack under warranty. To do that, they had to drop the front subframe. I've had trouble getting the car aligned since then - it seems to have a consistent pull to the left.

My most recent alignment shows the camber is good, and the caster is MAXED out at opposite ends of the eccentric nut position on driver/passenger side to try to get it within the specified range.

Even so, if I hold the steering wheel straight, the car goes dead straight. If I let it go, it pulls hard to the left.

I'm out of ideas, I don't think this is a wheel alignment issue. Is it possible that my front subframe wasn't aligned properly when they put it back in? Any other ideas?

 

[Gtech]

Hi Folks,

Last year, Tesla replaced my steering rack under warranty. To do that, they had to drop the front subframe. I've had trouble getting the car aligned since then - it seems to have a consistent pull to the left.

My most recent alignment shows the camber is good, and the caster is MAXED out at opposite ends of the eccentric nut position on driver/passenger side to try to get it within the specified range.

View attachment 791110

Even so, if I hold the steering wheel straight, the car goes dead straight. If I let it go, it pulls hard to the left.

I'm out of ideas, I don't think this is a wheel alignment issue. Is it possible that my front subframe wasn't aligned properly when they put it back in? Any other ideas?

Did you tried a different set of wheels or swapped tires from left to right? I had exact same issue with 4 new tires on a BMW.

Don't think a little bit of misaligned caster would make your car pull to the left since more or less caster doesn't make your car pull to one side.

Are you 100% sure your rear toe link adjusters are properly tightened? Does hitting the accelerator or full regen change anything to the amount of pulling to the left?

 

[Aggmeister2010]

Did you tried a different set of wheels or swapped tires from left to right? I had exact same issue with 4 new tires on a BMW.

Don't think a little bit of misaligned caster would make your car pull to the left since more or less caster doesn't make your car pull to one side.

Are you 100% sure your rear toe link adjusters are properly tightened? Does hitting the accelerator or full regen change anything to the amount of pulling to the left?

I did swap the front tires left to right, no raidal bias that I could identify.....still pulled to the left. I didn't swap the back ones yet though. I have Michelin PS4's on it with about 5k miles on them.

Rear toe links are brand new, and super tight. I don't think accelerator or regen change the amount of pull - I just feel as though I'm switching lanes faster because I'm covering ground more quickly.

 

[Aggmeister2010]

The thing that just rattles my brain is - if anything, the car should push right!

If anything, my cross caster and slight cross camber *should* be pushing the car to the right. Toe is in spec, and the rack is new......So...what's drawing it to the left??

 

[NathanJax]

Hi Folks,

Last year, Tesla replaced my steering rack under warranty.

Did you take it back to Tesla? If so, what did they say? If not, why not?

 

[Aggmeister2010]

Taking it back to the service center requires removing my lowering links, putting in factory wheels, and having an argument over why my unplugged performance shocks and N2itive camber arms aren’t causing the problem. They’re very quick to blame anything aftermarket.

 

[Gtech]

Maybe you can do this check so you know for sure if there is any inconsistency in your toe-in:

How to measure toe yourself (with pictures)

The question of rear toe comes up on a regular basis and how one might measure it. As many of us have found out, having incorrect rear toe will quickly destroy tires. This is especially true with the 21" wheels as their shorter sidewall is less able to compensate for incorrect alignment. First...

teslamotorsclub.com

 

[Aggmeister2010]

I took it to another shop who did a detailed inspection of the suspension, subframe, unibody, etc etc........the car's in great shape, found nothing really making it pull crazy left other than a series of medocre alignments.

I am going to check the axle nuts to make sure they're tight - I replaced all four wheel hubs myself a while back and I'm pretty certain I torqued them to 130 lb*ft as instructed, but worth a test.

They spent a few hours doing a proper alignment and it's driving much better. I do wonder if I have a little bit of "bad tires," but we'll find that out when I get my next set (switching to Pirelli from Michelin).

 

[SCharged]

I took it to another shop who did a detailed inspection of the suspension, subframe, unibody, etc etc........the car's in great shape, found nothing really making it pull crazy left other than a series of medocre alignments.

I am going to check the axle nuts to make sure they're tight - I replaced all four wheel hubs myself a while back and I'm pretty certain I torqued them to 130 lb*ft as instructed, but worth a test.

They spent a few hours doing a proper alignment and it's driving much better. I do wonder if I have a little bit of "bad tires," but we'll find that out when I get my next set (switching to Pirelli from Michelin).

If you had another set of wheels to try that may rule out rims and tires. If you were close I'd let you try my stock 21s.

 

[Aggmeister2010]

Folks,

Just a wrap-up update here.

I took the car to a specialty shop here in town who has a few former Tesla Techs on staff. They did a deep dive on the car, found no failed components, no issues, all in good shape. After a rather intense alignment, the car does go straight with the steering wheel straight. It still pulls a liiiiiiiiiiiittle bit to the left under heavy load, but I wonder if that might be tire related....we'll find out when I replace them later in the year.

 

[Gtech]

Folks,

Just a wrap-up update here.

I took the car to a specialty shop here in town who has a few former Tesla Techs on staff. They did a deep dive on the car, found no failed components, no issues, all in good shape. After a rather intense alignment, the car does go straight with the steering wheel straight. It still pulls a liiiiiiiiiiiittle bit to the left under heavy load, but I wonder if that might be tire related....we'll find out when I replace them later in the year.

Great to hear that.

Can you post your new alignment report so we can see what they have adjusted exactly?

 

[SCharged]

Good news.

 

[hw13]

Hi Folks,

Last year, Tesla replaced my steering rack under warranty. To do that, they had to drop the front subframe. I've had trouble getting the car aligned since then - it seems to have a consistent pull to the left.

My most recent alignment shows the camber is good, and the caster is MAXED out at opposite ends of the eccentric nut position on driver/passenger side to try to get it within the specified range.

View attachment 791110

Even so, if I hold the steering wheel straight, the car goes dead straight. If I let it go, it pulls hard to the left.

I'm out of ideas, I don't think this is a wheel alignment issue. Is it possible that my front subframe wasn't aligned properly when they put it back in? Any other ideas?

Your caster is off. That will cause pulling.

 

[Jpandes]

I'm not surprised. It seems like my rear-end is 1/8-1/4" skewed to the left, as my rear tires stick out a tad bit more on the driver's side vs the passenger side.

 

[MountainPass]

I know this thread was revived recently, but I will chime in and mention that the front subframe on this car isn't located on dowels, One of our new Plaid customers had to loosen and rotate the subframe to get his caster numbers to even out - they were skewed in one direction just like this member's car was after the steering rack replacement. Same goes for the Model 3!