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Wheel rubbing on turns?

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Hello,

I was hoping that someone might be able to help me figure out what is going on.

I purchased a used 2015 from someone last December. Sometimes, generally at freeway speeds usually when I am turning slightly to the right, it sounds like the front passenger wheel is rubbing on the wheel well. I finally pulled the wheel off last weekend to take a look and saw what look likes to be rub marks on the inside of the wheel well liner.
IMG_0454.jpg
I also noticed that the wheel well liner had been damaged and the bottom right corner was missing and it had been repaired with some stiff felt that was screwed on (also this left very little clearance for the tire)
IMG_0451.jpg

It doesn't always happen, and it doesn't seem to happen when I am making a hard turn, just slight turns. Usually it does seem to be if I go over the lane line, again it isn't always only sometimes.

My theories are, one the wheels/tires are too big? They are 21" after market, but that didn't seem like it would be the cause is if it doesn't always happen. The tire is rubbing when it expands due to the heat of high speeds? Is there some self leveling that could be causing it due to the air suspension that it tries to make an adjustment when it senses that I drive over the lane line?

I will try to get a good audio recording of the sound later today and can try to include better pictures later as well.

Any thoughts? Thanks in advance
 
My liner was damaged and scrubbing also.

They were not expensive - around $100 from Tesla. Once you have it out, check carefully that none of the mounting points are damaged. Those big screws make me think the mounting points got broken off and a cheap rig was done instead of a proper repair.

the front mounts attach to the plastic “ radiator support” that gets wrecked if you drive too close to a parking stop block. Definitely check it. You Might to have replace/fix that to really solve your problem.
 
Don’t think it’s the wheels. Your well looks jacked up! I had a similar issue and my felt well liners had come loose. There shouldn’t be actual screws but little plastic clips. Oy!

Yeah, the well liner ("assembly louvre" according to the parts catalog) is damaged. The lower right corner is completely missing! The felt was an addition to try to fix it I believe.

I pulled it off and it seems to still be in the correct position though, so I'm not sure.
 
My liner was damaged and scrubbing also.

They were not expensive - around $100 from Tesla. Once you have it out, check carefully that none of the mounting points are damaged. Those big screws make me think the mounting points got broken off and a cheap rig was done instead of a proper repair.

the front mounts attach to the plastic “ radiator support” that gets wrecked if you drive too close to a parking stop block. Definitely check it. You Might to have replace/fix that to really solve your problem.

The liner is damaged, but it seems to be in position still. I found a couple salvaged ones online and they seemed to run about $250.

One of the supports you mentioned I believe got completely turned in, but visually it doesn't seem to make much of a difference.

I have a service appointment scheduled, but their estimate is $270ish. Wondering if I should order the part and try that first.
 
I would replace your fender liner and have the caster adjusted. Caster being out of whack is very common with the Model S and is the culprit of this type of rubbing (particularly if you are running stock wheels/tires).

If you bought it from Tesla pre-owned I would hit them up for the alignment, otherwise any good shop can adjust the caster.
 
The liner is damaged, but it seems to be in position still. I found a couple salvaged ones online and they seemed to run about $250.

One of the supports you mentioned I believe got completely turned in, but visually it doesn't seem to make much of a difference.

I have a service appointment scheduled, but their estimate is $270ish. Wondering if I should order the part and try that first.

unfortunately, the people selling salvage parts often seem to want 2x or 3x what Tesla sells the part for. This is the side effect of Tesla’s crazy part policies.

Luckily, the wheel liners aren’t restricted. Cheapest is to buy it from Tesla...

There was very little clearance to start. If the support is off by 1/2 inch you are out of luck... if you want it fixed, you or a shop, has to figure out how to fix/push the support back to where it should be.
 
I paid $114 for from well liners back in February. I put it on myself so saved the hour labor. Also make sure you ask for the plastic clips. There is close to 40 of them between the two front wells.

I took my plastic part off as well to inspect everything after I tore my liner off and they use all plastic clip ins. The only place I found metal screws was on the bottom of the car in the front. Yours looks a little rusty where mine were plastic.
 
I had the same rubbing issue. Tesla changed the liner and it was still rubbing. Then some magic with a heat gun seemed to shape the liner just right. No more rubbing. Clearances seem very tight on my Model S 100D 2018,

Yep, when it came to install my third party summer rims (20") + Michelin Pilot Sport 4 tires, there was some rub at extreme turning angles. My installer used a heat gun with some pieces of work to help press the wheel well plastics to give a bit more clearance. Worked a charm. Not sure if that's entirely your issue here but the technique may help.
 
I had the same rubbing issue. Tesla changed the liner and it was still rubbing. Then some magic with a heat gun seemed to shape the liner just right. No more rubbing. Clearances seem very tight on my Model S 100D 2018,
It's very easy to put the liner on incorrectly (Tesla did mine incorrectly.) There is a clip that has to line up properly (basically in the center of the liner if I remember correctly) when pressing the liner into place. If it doesn't line up, everything else will clip in but it warps the shape just enough to cause rubbing. A big giveaway is that the ultrasonic sensor rubber boot protrudes like it does in your picture. It should be flush (no visible gap). If you pull the liner off just enough to line up that clip and press everything back in place, it should stop the rubbing.
 
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Reactions: drklain
Hello,

I was hoping that someone might be able to help me figure out what is going on.

I purchased a used 2015 from someone last December. Sometimes, generally at freeway speeds usually when I am turning slightly to the right, it sounds like the front passenger wheel is rubbing on the wheel well. I finally pulled the wheel off last weekend to take a look and saw what look likes to be rub marks on the inside of the wheel well liner.
View attachment 578967
I also noticed that the wheel well liner had been damaged and the bottom right corner was missing and it had been repaired with some stiff felt that was screwed on (also this left very little clearance for the tire)
View attachment 578966

It doesn't always happen, and it doesn't seem to happen when I am making a hard turn, just slight turns. Usually it does seem to be if I go over the lane line, again it isn't always only sometimes.

My theories are, one the wheels/tires are too big? They are 21" after market, but that didn't seem like it would be the cause is if it doesn't always happen. The tire is rubbing when it expands due to the heat of high speeds? Is there some self leveling that could be causing it due to the air suspension that it tries to make an adjustment when it senses that I drive over the lane line?

I will try to get a good audio recording of the sound later today and can try to include better pictures later as well.

Any thoughts? Thanks in advance

I had this exact same problem and it is your alignment. You need to have the castor angle adjusted. Note, it may be in your best interest to take it to a third party company as I took my MS to the tesla SC and at my specific SC, they dont know what theyre doing there so i ended up paying out of pocket to a third party company that resolved the issue.

Always ask for a print out report of what has been changed/aligned.

Good luck
 
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Reactions: pabla
I preface and say I fully understand the conclusion to what I'm about to say is silly.

I had just purchased and installed new tires on my car on Thursday and sent it off to get an alignment on Friday. On Saturday I started hearing a faint rubbing sound, and as I drove it progressively got worse. Tonight I was actually going to drive my daughter to a friends house and made it 2 blocks down the road before thinking this was dumb to take the Tesla and I should take the Minivan instead.

Upon my return home I thought I'd investigate by taking the wheel off. Part of me thought the new tread on the tires was partly to blame for all these new progressively loud noises I was hearing. I didn't make it far into the removal of the wheel to realize that 4 of the 5 nuts were just finger tight. The 5th was not torqued to spec, but was lightly holding one. I did remove the wheel to do an inspection of anything obviously out of place but nothing else seemed worn or loose. Put the wheel back on and torqued all 20 nuts down (just to make sure). The issue was resolved.

TL/DR - I had a loud noise that I thought was the tire rubbing on the fender well, but it was just the wheel nuts not torqued all the way down.
 
Hope you at least called the service manager to complain. Cars shouldn’t be leaving the shop with loose lug nuts...
I actually need to go back to them soon, I kept the best of the old tires and bought/ordered a wheel so I can make a spare out of it. I do plan to tell them in person when the wheel comes in.

@drklain - I'll be double checking the work each time a wheel is removed from here on out. Seems like an easy enough solution to ensure that the lug nuts are tightened to spec. When I went around the car I did get a quarter of a turn on several other lug nuts, so I do think they tightened them a lower torque setting.
 
@Huachipato Sounds good. I'm not able to pull it now but check the manual. I think the lugnut spec is something like 90 lbs (but don't hold me to that). I do recall that it's much higher than most cars and supposedly is due to the massive torque a Tesla can put out when you floor it from a stop.

model S is 129 Ft-lbs. it’s the highest of all the cars I’ve owned.

and proper procedure is to retorque after 50 miles of driving. I have yet to have a tire shop tell me to come back for a torque check... easy to do at home...