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Did this mechanic damage my steering system?
- Thread starter Yozer34
- Start date
Good point lol. Long story but ive been experiencing a rumbling noise (still have a post about it if you wanna check it out). He was trying to show me slight inner tire wear that he exaggerated and insisted the car needed an alignment without actually checking the alignment. This was also why I got the alignment checked, but the main reason was for the tilted steering wheel.
Tires rotated at 15.5k miles and at 26.5k (recently)
I suppose one could argue that theres a relationship between the two issues. Hopefully that provides some useful information.
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A noise could be indicative of unusual tread wear. Did you take any pictures of the inner treads? Did you take measurements? Was it cupping or feathering? What did the tech think and say was the cause of this slight wear issue? Was it both fronts? One front? Rears?
If you do have a wear issue, on one axle, even slight, when you rotate tires, you can easily feel a difference.
Lastly, you've never changed these tires right?
No one is going to argue about a relationship between the two, since it's usually the most likely source. A bit weird that you didn't give the forum the basic info to begin with, not to mention there's still detail that would help. I mean, pictures, measurements, info on which tires have inner tread wear, etc.
I didn't think they were related as the noise issue has been going on for months without progressing or worsening, and the disgruntled tech's rough handling of the steering wheel that resulted in the loud thump was what was concerning me the most. This is especially since the steering wheel position and feel changed hyper-acutely afterwards.
After being reassured by several people here that it would take a superhuman force while turning the steering wheel to cause damage to normal and unworn components, I am thinking that the two problems may indeed be related.
You can have a look at the tire pictures and details here: Rumbling noise with balanced wheels and normal alignment).
And yes, I measure the tread bars frequently, here they are from inside to outside on all 4 tires, in (mm):
Left Front: 3.5-3.5-3-4
Left Rear: 4-4.5-4-4
Right Front: 3.5-3.5-3.5-4
Right Rear: 4-4-4-5
Someone on that thread did say there was feathering and highlighted what they were referring to, but after having done more research about the topic I'm still not fully convinced of it, especially since the alignment tech (who seemed knowledgeable) said otherwise when he inspected the tires in person, and others on the Tires subreddit shared the same opinion (no feathering). If it is indeed feathering, it would be great to know, but so far I've only been getting mixed opinions, and it's unfortunate that in the world we live in, there aren't many knowledgeable and honest mechanics out there.
The alignment tech did say the inner tire wear pattern on all 4 tires is normal for Teslas because of the battery weight, and Tesla themselves made the same claim when I independently contacted them.
The tire rotation made no difference in the noise or steering wheel alignment.
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