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OK, not as tech as many on here, but I've spent the last 25 years as an amateur mechanic, and spent 10 preparing and driving my own rally car, right up to World

OK, not as tech as many on here, but I've spent the last 25 years as an amateur mechanic, and spent 10 preparing and driving my own rally car, right up to World Rally Championship level, as well as having owned more cars than most people have had hot dinners, and fixed even more than that (sadly!) The balljoint in question has failed because the rubber boot on it has failed, allowing water/dirt in, and it's rusted out from there. This is nothing specific to Tesla, it can happen on any car - I've seen it on quite a few FWD cars, but never to this degree (total failure) - they will go on for a LONG time with play in them, and take a LOT of abuse before failing. To have failed in this manner, it would have needed to go un-noticed for some considerable time - I've had ones which have had a year of abuse in extreme circumstances and still been nowhere near as bad as this, so I think you have to ask about the servicing that had been done on this car - whether or not it had been inspected. In addition, this would have had significant play in it for some time, leading to noise which would be noticeable to most drivers when on the road, and easily noticed during any kind of worthwhile inspection (such as the MOT in the UK) - not sure if the state in question has a mandatory inspection? Yes, being on a dirt road could have exacerbated the problem, but it's not something that a "normal" car can't take - you'd be amazed the amount of physical abuse a mechanically-standard car can take on rough gravel roads at speed. Components such as this are usually sourced from sub-contractors, who produce them by the thousands/millions without issue, does anyone know if Tesla makes these themselves? Seems unlikely to me. As has been said elsewhere here, if this had happened on a Ford Focus, no-one would give a monkey's, it's only because it's a Tesla and this guy has an axe to grind.

Unklejoe 10y ago
[In addition, this would have had significant play in it for some time, leading to noise which would be noticeable to most drivers when on the road, and easily noticed during any kind of worthwhile inspection (such as the MOT in the UK) - not sure if the state in question has a mandatory inspection?] True. I've had to replace a few lower control arms on various cars due to loose ball joints. In all of the cases, the car made terrible sounds during normal driving long before the ball joint was actually loose enough to pop out. It was always very evident that something in the wheel was loose. Of course, anything can happen... [Components such as this are usually sourced from sub-contractors, who produce them by the thousands/millions without issue, does anyone know if Tesla makes these themselves? Seems unlikely to me.] I agree. I doubt that Tesla is making their own ball joints. It seems like to much NRE considering there are tons of off-the-shelf options available.
6stringmerc 10y ago
Nice write up! Makes a lot of sense, your perspective. While I don't have nearly the same credentials with car racing and breaking, I did drive a heavily modified Volvo 850 T-5R back in the day, chipped from 240hp (peak) to 285hp (excluding 1st gear). The car was designed just fine from the factory, but the limited change I made would cause nightmares with the CV boots/joints. The forces would lead to leakage which meant failure not far behind, and, if I remember correctly, it was pretty easy to tell when things were going south. Ragging on Tesla is not new to me, but I do think it's important to at least try to be fair about it. I mean, this case? Not quite a good example to me. Like you said, not a specific thing to a manufacturer. Now, seeing about 3 Model Xs in the wild so far, two of which had obviously troublesome door alignment (un-matched latch) fit & finish, that's fair game.
wldcordeiro 10y ago
As someone who has done mechanical work though you're well aware that average car owners can and will ignore all the warning signs of problems.
asimuvPR 10y ago
Note that Chrysler sold the first generation Jeep Liberty with mediocre ball joints. They had a big recall and never did fix the flaw. I know because my dad owns such ca. Ive replaced them more than 5 times
MrFoof 10y ago
>To have failed in this manner, it would have needed to go un-noticed for some considerable time - I've had ones which have had a year of abuse in extreme circumstances and still been nowhere near as bad as this, so I think you have to ask about the servicing that had been done on this car - whether or not it had been inspected. In addition, this would have had significant play in it for some time, leading to noise which would be noticeable to most drivers when on the road... Take a gander at the carnage over at reddit's /r/justrolledintotheshop . You'll see a complete ball joint failure about every other day, and that's faaaar from the most egregious offenses. There is a segment of the population that is some combination of amazingly ignorant, lazy, and/or cheap. Don't underestimate people. ;)

Unklejoe 10y ago

[In addition, this would have had significant play in it for some time, leading to noise which would be noticeable to most drivers when on the road, and easily noticed during any kind of worthwhile inspection (such as the MOT in the UK) - not sure if the state in question has a mandatory inspection?] True. I've had to replace a few lower control arms on various cars due to loose ball joints. In all of the cases, the car made terrible sounds during normal driving long before the ball joint was actually loose enough to pop out. It was always very evident that something in the wheel was loose. Of course, anything can happen... [Components such as this are usually sourced from sub-contractors, who produce them by the thousands/millions without issue, does anyone know if Tesla makes these themselves? Seems unlikely to me.] I agree. I doubt that Tesla is making their own ball joints. It seems like to much NRE considering there are tons of off-the-shelf options available.

6stringmerc 10y ago

Nice write up! Makes a lot of sense, your perspective. While I don't have nearly the same credentials with car racing and breaking, I did drive a heavily modified Volvo 850 T-5R back in the day, chipped from 240hp (peak) to 285hp (excluding 1st gear). The car was designed just fine from the factory, but the limited change I made would cause nightmares with the CV boots/joints. The forces would lead to leakage which meant failure not far behind, and, if I remember correctly, it was pretty easy to tell when things were going south. Ragging on Tesla is not new to me, but I do think it's important to at least try to be fair about it. I mean, this case? Not quite a good example to me. Like you said, not a specific thing to a manufacturer. Now, seeing about 3 Model Xs in the wild so far, two of which had obviously troublesome door alignment (un-matched latch) fit & finish, that's fair game.

wldcordeiro 10y ago

As someone who has done mechanical work though you're well aware that average car owners can and will ignore all the warning signs of problems.

asimuvPR 10y ago

Note that Chrysler sold the first generation Jeep Liberty with mediocre ball joints. They had a big recall and never did fix the flaw. I know because my dad owns such ca. Ive replaced them more than 5 times

MrFoof 10y ago

>To have failed in this manner, it would have needed to go un-noticed for some considerable time - I've had ones which have had a year of abuse in extreme circumstances and still been nowhere near as bad as this, so I think you have to ask about the servicing that had been done on this car - whether or not it had been inspected. In addition, this would have had significant play in it for some time, leading to noise which would be noticeable to most drivers when on the road... Take a gander at the carnage over at reddit's /r/justrolledintotheshop . You'll see a complete ball joint failure about every other day, and that's faaaar from the most egregious offenses. There is a segment of the population that is some combination of amazingly ignorant, lazy, and/or cheap. Don't underestimate people. ;)