Front Suspension Control Arm Problems of Tesla Model S - part 1

Rear passanger control arm cracked and broke as I was driving on the freeway. Tire began to wobble and make driving unsafe.

See all problems of the 2013 Tesla Model S 🔎.

Front driver side control arm/fore link assembly snapped and broke while pulling out of a parking spot. Low speed, standard pavement. Felt like I had run over a nail where the front of the car lifted up slightly, popped, sounded like a tire pop, but then would continue to drive. I drove it home, but could feel the car wasn't right. Steering wasn't very responsive.

See all problems of the 2017 Tesla Model S 🔎.

My vehicle started making some loud creaking/squeaky noises when turning and going over bumps at any speed or parked. I had it inspected by a Tesla service center and they said the left control arm is starting to fail and should be replaced. They also recommended replacing the fore link assembly to address some rattling noise that was going on also. I recently read that Tesla had issued a recall in china for this problem for the Model S and is currently investigating the issue in the us. I would like to add my vehicle to this investigation as it seems that I'm being affected by this problem.

Changed the suspension components before full failure occurred. Car was brought in due to safety concerns, technicians noted the entire suspension system was on verge of collapse and not safe to drive. Under their service bulletin they replaced the rear control arms as a good will gesture and charged for the front upper and lower control arms. There is a design flaw for this suspension system and the manufacturer is refusing to acknowledge their flaw, leaving users unaware and with the potential for severe loss of life.

The wheel control arm broke for no reason. It seems to be defective from the time it was made, it happened with a popping sound when parking.

Here is a 2020 terdsla in the junkyard. . Read more...

See all problems of the 2020 Tesla Model S 🔎.

While driving with my son on local roads, with no unusual bumps or potholes, I experienced an alarming loss of stability. I slowed my speed down and made it home. Once the car was in the driveway, I saw that the rear wheel was cantilevered about 15 degrees from vertical. Once I was able to hoist the car and look underneath, it became clear that the cause of the problem was a broken lower control arm (see photo). To be clear, there was no accident or incident which caused this and it could have resulted in a dangerous/fatal accident if I'd been driving on a highway or busy road. This appears to be a known issue covered by the service bulletin sb-19-31-001. I had the rear control arms replaced by a local Tesla service center at my expense. This issue is a real safety risk though and affected cars should be recalled to prevent accidents and fatalities.

See all problems of the 2014 Tesla Model S 🔎.

I noted a clunking noise on the driver side wheel area while driving. I ask for help from service, but everything is automated and they made an appointment for a month later. A few weeks after reporting the noise, I was breaking when my driver side front wheel seem to give way and the car started to skid. The affected wheels seem to be scraping the wheel well. Not much help from the service app and suggested I get it towed 200 miles away at $1100 so they could evaluate. My local tire guy saw the broken left lower control arm and said this was all over the internet and class action suit had just been filed. Telsa has been unresponsive and inaccessible due to their automated system. So far bill to fix is over $4,000.

See all problems of the 2015 Tesla Model S 🔎.

Leaving a parking area by backing up and then turning to the left to start to drive, the front passenger side wheel started a loud grinding noise, went up and down, and stopped. I went to take a look and found that the wheel was touching the front wheel well. Had to call towing service that took the vehicle to a nearby service center. Tesla service confirmed the front lower control arm/link was broken. I replaced both sides just to be safe. Wheel alignment was performed per service requirement. $1003 total cost, not including the towing service cost.

See all problems of the 2016 Tesla Model S 🔎.

I was backing out of a parking space and the control arm completely sheered off of my front, driver side suspension. My wheel went into the wheel well. I was so worried that it could have happened while I was on the highway.

Lower right control arm failed. Fully cracked and piece broken off. Vehicle was stationary got two weeks and had zero suspension issues until being moved out of parking space. Upon movement 1-2mph wheel started to rub wheel liner upon investigation found broke control arm.

Front passenger control arm is broken, pushing the tire into the wheel well. I was reversing in my driveway when I felt the drag on the passenger side of the car. I got out and looked around the vehicle and saw a metal piece snapped. I could not move the car, as the tire was pushed into the wheel well. Called for a tow truck. This vehicle was manufactured in fremont, CA in 08/2015, with the other vehicles sold to china, which are now being recalled for the same reason.

My front suspension failed, causing a wheel misalignment and uneven tire wear. The control arms and the suspension ball joints failed, causing the driver's side wheel to be loose. I have kept the parts and the expensive repair bill. It appears that the rubber gaskets failed and water entered the joints causing premature wear. With the lane keep (autopilot function) on highway 40 between lawrence and topeka, the car steers itself either toward the ditch or toward oncoming traffic when approaching the top of a hill. It is very dangerous. 10.

Driving home from service on the highway, while on a straight section, I was forced to use my brakes to slow down for another car and bam! catastrophic failure of the drivers side front control arm. Interesting thing though. . . I'd addressed a concern about a grinding noise from up front, at a prior service, and they informed me that the sound was normal based on the high performance brakes. Which I knew sounded wrong. Now this? seems a bit shady to me.

Vehicle was in motion at about 30-35 mph in a highway construction zone, and I heard a bang, vehicle lost control and was sent off the road. When I inspected the vehicle after the vehicle came to a stop, I noticed the fore link/forward control arm was loose. The stud that held the ball joint to the steering knuckle had been sheered off.

Here is a Tesla Model S in the junkyard. . Read more...

While slowly backing car up in driveway, the left rear lower control arm unexpectedly failed and the suspension collapsed with the wheel cambered outward at 30 degrees or so. The wheel was trapped in the wheel well and unable to rotate, and related suspension parts including a brake line and the air spring module were damaged. If this had happened at speed the locked-up rear wheel would have caused loss of control with serious consequences. There is an existing Tesla service bulletin, sb 19-31-001, which states: "on certain Model S vehicles, either lower rear control arm might crack, causing excessive negative camber of the rear suspension. " it states that the correction replace both lh and rh lower rear control arm assemblies with updated parts. " this describes exactly what happened with my vehicle. The circular, cast aluminum part of the arm which contains a large bushing at the outboard end of the control arm cracked and failed so that the bushing was no longer held by the arm. Under the vehicle two pieces of the cast aluminum part were found. These broken parts were the result of two cracks in the assembly. One crack has evidence of corrosion, suggesting that it occurred months before the unit failed; the other crack shows bare metal indicating that it just occurred. The Tesla sb states that this defect is a "known non-safety-related condition. " I cannot possibly see how this is a "non-safety-related" issue -- if this failure had occurred at speed it could have been catastrophic. Tesla service has quoted almost $4000 for repair, but this does not include replacement of the control arm on the other side of the vehicle per the service bulletin -- in other words, they are ignoring the bulletin. Others on the Tesla forums are having exactly the same control arm failures. The situation is unnerving and discouraging.

Please note that I have used the VIN of a different car to submit this complaint since the VIN of the car in question is unavailable. Here is page 15 of a thread in which many owners report broken suspensions. Https://teslamotorsclub. Com/tmc/threads/another-front-suspension-control-arm-failure. 114967/page-15 the latest complainant provides photographs of the broken parts and says that he will be filing an NHTSA complaint. If he has done so then you may disregard my complaint. However, his final post suggests that he has accepted an offer from Tesla to cover the cost and it is highly likely that he will be persuaded to not file a report. Snip **https://teslamotorsclub. Com/tmc/threads/another-front-suspension-control-arm-failure. 114967/page-* additionally my own posts on this forum that encouraged the owner to file a complaint have been deleted. Snip**your post in the thread another front suspension control arm failure was deleted. Reason: conspiracy theorist nonsense** these forums are complicit in the cover up of these lethal defects and in my opinion should be prosecuted. Please investigate. Regards keef.

I was backing up slowly, 1-3 mph, and the front driver tire got buried in the back of the wheel well. I was only turning slightly, and the ground was relatively flat. There was no sound or anything, the car just stopped because the wheel was jammed in the wheel well. I came to find out the lower control arm/forelink had failed. It cracked and separated at the steering knuckle. Tesla was ok about fixing it, thank goodness the car is under warranty or it would have cost thousands to replace both sides for something that should never fail. I couldn’t leave the other side in place knowing this is common defect and that my family’s safety was in jeopardy. Thankfully this didn't happen while doing 65 mph on the freeway. Tesla begrudgingly replaced both sides under the warranty. But, they didn’t repair it correctly. I’ve repeatedly told them the tire rubs against the front wheel well, and it didn’t before, but they said it doesn’t rub. Even though, I have pictures showing the tire against the wheel well, with no space in between. I also had to ask them to put all the retaining clips in place repeatedly, but they still left at least 4 out. All this happened at the service center in buena park, CA. Their customer service is terrible and there is no way to escalate problems beyond the service advisor you deal with. So, basically I’m stuck not really knowing if it continues to be a safety hazard because Tesla refuses to cooperate and there is no one else to complain to. I have another service appointment soon, I’m hoping it will finally get resolved. I used to be a huge fan, but this company is a black box when it comes to customer service. They need to be held accountable for dealing with customer complaints regarding very legitimate system failures.

This is another complaint about the deadly weakness of Tesla suspensions. Please note that I have used a substitute VIN since the VIN of the affected car is unavailable. This should not matter as this is a systemic failure affecting every Tesla on the roads. Here is a thread on the official Tesla motors forum which only allows posts by verified owners. Https://forums. Tesla. Com/forum/forums/rear-lower-control-arm-failed the latest in a long string of failures is reported here : natecval | July 14, 2020 I had an nearly identical issue! rear passenger suspension failure. After normal drive home from work with nothing out of the ordinary happening. I put the car in reverse and began to back up towards my driveway and the wheel tire nearly fell off. Very unnerving since I was on the freeway over the weekend traveling 85 mph, thank god this didn't happen then. I was able to pull up my dash cam footage and see the exact moment the part cam flying out from under my car. Then drove back and found it on the road. With our other vehicle. Https://youtu. Be/ag022fhsz7m pictures- 2013 Tesla s85 rear lower control arm catastrophic failure. Https://imgur. Com/a/0h47aym this is incontrovertible proof that Tesla suspensions are breaking and putting lives at risk. I have copied the pictures referred to and they are attached to this complaint. Contrary to the claims made by some commentators on that thread this is not the result of abuse or neglect. It is a crack that is the predictable result of poor quality casting, bad design and utter lack of quality control. I strongly urge you to investigate this issue immediately. I thank you keef.

The contact owns a 2014 Tesla Model S. The contact stated that while driving over a dip in his driveway at 5 mph, the driver's side rear wheel started to shake without warning. The vehicle was towed to Tesla (881 boston post rd, milford, CT 06460) where the vehicle was diagnosed with an upper control arm failure. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 78,127.

This is a complaint about the ongoing problem of Tesla suspension breakages. I do not have the VIN of the car so I have used the VIN of a junkyard Tesla so as to be able to complete this complaint form. Here is a discussion forum thread complete with photograph of the rear wheel canted over at 30 degrees aka "gone whompy" https://teslamotorsclub. Com/tmc/threads/rear-lower-control-arm-failed. 195049/#post-4731008 snip *** I finally got my car back after my 85d suspension had a catastrophic failure last Thursday afternoon. I was driving in congested traffic on a city street when I heard a loud thud, similar to hitting a pothole, yet there was no pothole. My first suspicion was that I either had a flat or a problem with my air suspension. I quickly pulled over, checked tire pressure and raised my suspension to high and slowly continued on. It was pouring rain at the time so I remained in the car. The car had a strange wobble to it so I slowly pulled into the nearest parking lot to examine the situation. I was freaked out when I saw my right rear wheel with it's huge negative camber. Called Tesla roadside and spoke to someone who told me they couldn't tow me since they couldn't see anything wrong with the car! on my invoice, I see they mistakenly gave both right and left control arms the part number 1027459-99-a, which from what I see is a 2014 part. The front upper control arms are listed as "2nd generation" and show part numbers 1043965-00-b and 1043966-00-b for the left and right arms respectively. Has this ever happened to anyone before? would anyone know if my rear control arms are improved from my original ones? I'm very lucky that this didn't happen to me at highway speeds. *** Tesla is covering up this problem andputting lives at risk. I petition you to investigate. Thank you. [xxx] these breakages information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

In a parking lot traveling 5mph ran over an elevated speed bump on left side of car when heard a snap in driver rear wheel area. Pulled over into parking spot and tire was cantered. Control arm had snapped. Had 65k miles and Tesla told me it was not under warranty yet the new control arm looks much sturdier and different then the old one. I have pictures of both but this is a real problem for these 2015 and before models. Please help.

We own a 2013 Tesla Model S 85, rear wheel drive, no autopilot. As vehicle aged, the steering was noticeably vague and the vehicle became "darty" on the highway, seemingly wanting to drive out of the current lane on its own. This dartiness became worse and worse over time, and also was worse when accelerating or decelerating. We first alerted the dealer of the problem in Aug 2019, and they replaced few components in the front suspension (both upper control arms and the right forelink) and charged us $1571+tax for parts and labor. The steering seemed a little better for a while, but in Jan 2020 we brought the car back in with concerns about vague steering and the dealer recommended a wheel alignment, which we paid for. The alignment yielded no improvement and the car became increasingly difficult to drive on the highway, requiring constant steering adjustments to keep in its lane. We brought the car back to the dealer in may 2020, and by this time the dealer verbally agreed that the car was not safe to drive in its current state. They replaced both rear lower control arm assemblies and charged us $1382+tax, but this still did not resolve the dartiness. We returned to the dealer later in may 2020, and they recommended replacing nearly every other suspension part, including both rear toe links, both rear upper links, both front aft links, the front fore link that wasn't previously replaced. The cost for this was a $1870+tax. Fortunately, the steering issues did not result in any accidents. Since this last repair, the car now drives relatively normally for a 7 1/2 year old car. We are reporting our experience after we learned that the NHTSA is investigating a series of other suspension-related concerns with Tesla Model S cars. We believe it is unreasonable for a car to become unsafe to drive in 7 years subjected only to normal personal use.

My car is only 2 yrs old and while backing out of a parking space in a parking structure, I felt a lift then lowering of front driver's side wheel (like going over speed bump, but there was none) then would barely drive. Told that the driver's front lower control arm is broken.

Front right, upper control arm failed on right turn on a flat road. Traveling in neighbor streets at <30 mph. No previous accident occurred.

I was turning into a parking lot on Friday, oct. 2, 2020, when suddenly I heard a grinding noise from the front right wheel. After parking, I couldn't see anything wrong. When I left, the noise continued, and although the car was driveable (less than 25 mph), the grinding noise continued whenever I turned the wheels at all. Fortunately, I was only about a mile from the local Tesla service center so I drove the car directly there. Although the car did turn, it was not turning as sharply as it should. But it was enough to get me there and into the parking lot safely. At that point, the right front tire looked like it was pushed back against the rear of the tirewell. We looked under the car and saw a detached control arm on the right side. They fixed the part and returned the car to me the following week.

When backing out of a parking spot and turning the wheel to the left (at a very low rate of speed). I heard a loud pop. The left front wheel felt like it was in a bind as well as making a loud grinding sound. The car had to be towed to the Tesla service center. The technician diagnosed the problem as a broken control arm. He could not tell me what caused the arm to break. This could have been disastrous if driving on the road at normal speed.

Please note. . . I have used the VIN of another random junkyard Tesla since I do not know the VIN of the car which is the subject of this complaint. Posted today on the tmc. An owner's wheel has gone whompy and is scraping on the inside of the wheel arch and making alarming noises. Tesla service tell him to go fly a kite. Https://teslamotorsclub. Com/tmc/threads/left-front-chamber-link. 172715/ zafra88, 34 minutes ago long story short my front driver tire is rubbing on the inner fender wall when turning right and makes a loud noise. Brought to the SC and they said alignment needs to be done to fix the issue. Was told alignment can't be done because the "chamber link" was damaged to outside impact. First what is the chamber link, possibly a typo and meant camber link? that is not a control arm is it? they told me this is not covered by warranty because of this outside impact but how can they prove there was outside influence and not a defective part? attached is the write up . . . . . Concern - client states squeaky metal noise from right front wheel. . . . . . . . . Please investigate. Enraged citizen etc.

See all problems of the 2018 Tesla Model S 🔎.

This is another complaint about the fragile suspension components on Teslas. Here is a Tesla in the junkyard. . Read more...

Front suspension control arm disconnected, dropping body onto tire. This happened at low speed in a parking lot. Tesla replaced the control arm.

I was driving on a city street when a car cut into my lane, so I slammed on the brakes real hard, and I heard a loud snapping sound and grinding noise afterwards. The lower control arm on the front passenger side is now popped out of place. I have searched online and found that this issue is not unique to me, many other people have the same issue. I was lucky that this happened when I was not driving on the freeway, there are cases of accidents because of this issue. Tesla says it is not under warranty and there is no recall for this issue.

Left front control arm broke at 70mph on highway. Was luckily able to get to the side of the road. It caused damage to inside wheel well and wore through causing battery to lose all coolant. Car is 3 1/2 years old with 113,000 miles.

As I was backing out of my driveway at low speed in my 2017 Tesla Model S 90d (16,500 miles) with the wheels turned to the left, I heard a loud bang. I thought I ran over something so got out to look and saw nothing. As I proceeded to drive the car, it drove smoothly at first but I could hear a scraping or rubbing sound as I put on the brakes or hit the accelerator after braking. After parking at my destination, when I was backing out to leave I heard and felt rumbling and scrapping on the left front drivers wheel. I looked and saw that the left front wheel liner was broken and collapsed and the tire was rubbing on the wheel well. I pushed the liner into place and drove directly to Tesla service (3 miles away) noticing my brakes where slipping when applied. On arrival the technician informed me my left front control arm was broken and asked me if I had been in an accident. I told him no, and he said they would need to elevate the car to look at exactly what happened. The left control arm fore link had spontaneously failed. Tesla fixed both the failed left and the intact right under warranty along with the wheel liner, aligned the car and it is now running normal. I have seen many complaints of the premature failure of the fore link assembly in the Model S and believe this is a systemic problem.

I was driving my Tesla Model S slowly on a busy downtown street lined with parking spaces. Speed was less than 25 miles per hour. I braked to allow a car to pull out of a parking spot and my car made a loud noise. I tried to continue driving but the noise continued so I pulled into the parking spot that had been vacated by the other driver to see what happened. There was windshield wiper fluid leaking from the front wheel well and a visibly broken control arm at the front left wheel. I think that is what the part is called but I am not certain. There is a picture of the broken part attached. The wheel well was damaged and the trim at the bottom of the door was loose. There appears to be no cause for this failure as there was nothing in the road, no pot holes, no objects, no bumps. The car was driving fine before this occurred. The failure occurred about 3 minutes after I started the trip. Speed was low the entire trip as I was leaving a restaurant in a downtown area full of pedestrians, stop signs and parking spaces. The car was not drive-able following this failure since the front wheel was no longer supported. Tesla sent a tow truck to take the car to their nearest service center.