2014 Model S lurches left when accelerating, right when regen braking. Steering wheel 10-15 degrees off center to the right.

[JustinB]

I recently had my car aligned at Tesla after new front control arms. The car drove perfectly for about 2 weeks then suddenly the steering wheel was about 15 degrees off to the right and the car lurched left/right when accelerating or letting off the pedal. Tesla wanted to charge me another $275 to realign... so I scheduled that about 2 weeks out and drove the car as minimal as possible.

I had read a few posts on here about bad rear-toe links. I lifted the car up and checked everything, all looked good and felt very solid. Also, I needed a 5 ft breaker bar to remove the lug nuts after Tesla tightened... Have a feeling that not within spec?

Fast forward to the day before my appointment, the steering wheel is suddenly back to center and the car drives as it should. Then last night while driving on the highway the steering wheel suddenly had to be turned 15 degrees or so to the right to drive straight and the lurching was back. This morning I rotated the tires and checked all the suspension components for any play or lose bolts but all looks good.

Was curious if anyone might know what could be going on? I read another thread about subframe bushings being bad and Tesla having to replace the whole subframe. The drive unit was replaced under warranty about 2 years ago. I'm thinking of replacing the rear toe links my self and seeing if that helps.

 

[GHammer]

The lurching is almost certainly coming from a rear toe arm. Either a bad bushing or an undertorqued bolt. I've had it happen twice on my '14 and both times it was an undertorqued inner toe arm bolt. This is the bolt used to adjust the toe and I have a feeling they dont always get it tight enough after an alignment. I've never been able to feel any looseness by hand.

 

[JustinB]

The lurching is almost certainly coming from a rear toe arm. Either a bad bushing or an undertorqued bolt. I've had it happen twice on my '14 and both times it was an undertorqued inner toe arm bolt. This is the bolt used to adjust the toe and I have a feeling they dont always get it tight enough after an alignment. I've never been able to feel any looseness by hand.

Thanks, I'll torque it down tomorrow morning and see if that doesn't help. Next step I'll just replace the toe arms. I'm just confused since the problem has shown up, went away, and came back.

 

[JustinB]

Had just enough daylight to check the bolts. The problem was a loose toe-arm bolt. The nut was half a turn past finger tight... Thanks for saving me a ton of time and money messing around at sc.

All the bushings were very stiff using a pry bar, so I didn't even think to check the bolts.

 

[Doanster1]

Nice. Easy self fixes always a bonus despite lack of attention to detail from service.
What about the steering wheel being off-center, then back to good, then off again?

 

[JustinB]

Yup back to center and riv

Nice. Easy self fixes always a bonus despite lack of attention to detail from service.
What about the steering wheel being off-center, then back to good, then off again?

Back to center and drives straight! I probably wouldn't have guessed the toe-arm would throw the steering wheel off that much, especially at low speeds. I will report back here if any of the symptoms return. After checking everything of course. Was debating calling the sc and letting them know but feel like it might be a waste of time, and they have a fair amount of iffy reviews on google as is.

 

[Doanster1]

Yup back to center and riv

Back to center and drives straight! I probably wouldn't have guessed the toe-arm would throw the steering wheel off that much, especially at low speeds. I will report back here if any of the symptoms return. After checking everything of course. Was debating calling the sc and letting them know but feel like it might be a waste of time, and they have a fair amount of iffy reviews on google as is.

Front toe arm? Which side?

 

[JustinB]

Front toe arm? Which side?

Sorry, it was the rear driver upper toe link.

 

[Doanster1]

Sorry, it was the rear driver upper toe link.

And that fixed your steering wheel being off-center?!?! That’s why I asked because I thought it’d be the front link.

 

[JustinB]

And that fixed your steering wheel being off-center?!?! That’s why I asked because I thought it’d be the front link.

Yes, it fixed it. I guess it was allowing the rear driver wheel to toe out making me have to turn right to compensate. Doesn't seem like it would have caused as big of a problem as it did.