Tesla Model S Suspension Noise
The vehicle came in for a noise concern. The vehicle makes a rattling type noise from the front end when going over uneven roads at all speeds. Noise is a rattle and sounds like a loose bolt.
Inspection revealed a very common problem. It can happen to all lower links where they mount to the front subframe. In this case, the mounting hole on the subframe for the right front aft link had been elongated due to a possible loose bolt contacting the aluminum subframe.
The fix is to replace the entire subframe which may require removal of the entire HV battery, front-drive unit and would need to conclude with an alignment. Attached are pics of a good arm and the damaged arm
Darin, Is this a issue that you can deal with in house or are you sending it to Tesla?
The things you would need to accomplish this would be: Battery table Drive unit support The ability to perform an alignment on a Tesla
I have not heard of any recall for this. If you have more info on it, I would love to take a look
I have one that they did when it was about a year old. 2013 model year
Recall. They came to the shop and verified torque and replaced the bolts.
… I see oblong hole up and down in pix #1 and oblong hole left to right in Pix#2…should that hole be a ROUND STRAIGHT hole??…or is in slotted ? … Dan H.
I'm with Dan on this one. The two pictures are dissimilar, with the hole elongation being different (neither one is round) and the subframes looking different (the flanged areas don't match). I'm curious why they are different….unless something is missing from the pictures. – Dave
Dan, put your glasses on ;-) There is no slot in the first picture, just an optical illusion. There is only an elongated round hole with supports cast on either side of it with a little shadow thrown in. A larger picture would be helpful but we have to work with what Darin gave us. Here is a slightly blurry zoomed in area of his picture. diag.net/file/f9ize1dq1… Eric
…OK Eric …I can now see the egged out (used to be) round hole in Pix#1…but … Pix #2 sure looks like a clean SLOTTED (L to R) hole ( for adjustment, I reckon)…I still don't see what would be wrong with welding and die grinding it back to what it needs to be…even taking a little off the steel sleeve IN that bushing's END and a fender washer on both sides and tightening the crap out of a new bolt…
It should be a slotted hole from left to right, just like the reference pic. The pic of the damaged side shows the oblong hole rounding out
… Any reason to NOT have it welded by a talented welder and redrilled straight (if it WAS supposed to be a round unslotted hole)…just curious …as always. … Dan H.
Or even using alignment washers and using longer bolts. use nylon spacer under the washer
Welding was my first thought as well. Weld the slot solid then hand file the straight surfaces. Maybe use a little Dykem on the remaining machined surfaces to avoid filing crooked. I'd probably mill a jig for cutting the slot accurately. I'd worry a little about damage to electronics. I haven't done any TIG on a vehicle while still whole, but I know that the high frequency start can damage…
Not that every shop is equipped, but I would build a jig to run an annular cutter or end mill through to the nearest oversize on center and machine steel inserts to press fit in place before I would consider replacing the subframe. I suspect Tesla may even release a repair kit to address these if it becomes that common.