Front Strut Rattle - SOLVED

[PAUL POWELL]

I have been dealing with a rattle coming from the left front of my Model X P100D. It was very plasticy sounding that sounded like it was coming from just under the windshield. It was driving me nuts for a few weeks and after replacing all of the trim under the frunk and tearing the dash apart looking for the rattle, I had Tesla mobile service come out to replace my windshield wipers (Yes, just to get the mobile tech out) and I asked him to listen to the rattle and he told me it was the left front strut, which is common on the Tesla Model X.

I replaced the front struts with the Arnott struts and they fixed the problem and the ride is very similar to the factory ride. The factory struts are $990 each, you can find these for probably 1400 for the pair.

After replacing the struts, I took the broken strut apart to figure out the rattling and I found that the top part of the strut was moving side to side very slightly where the good strut wasn’t moving in the same way. You could clearly hear the rattle on the bad strut. I removed the C-Clip from the top of the strut, holding in the cover for the air valve and then pulled the black cover to the air valve off and found a 17MM nut attaching the bump stop to the top of the shock. This 17mm nut was lose just slightly. I tightened it about 1/2 a turn and it stopped the rattling, solving the problem. Unfortunately I destroyed the strut trying to find the solution to this problem so it’s not reusable.

Hopefully, if you have the strut rattle problem, you can just remove the strut, pop this C-clip and tighten that 17mm nut and put it all back together. The key would be removing the black cover without damaging it. It’s almost pressed into the shock, it took some effort for us to remove it. We were not worried about damaging the shock so we used a hammer, but I think a good pair of rubber lined vice grips should do the trick.

Check out the pictures below for more details and reach out with any questions you might have. I have pictures but the forum will not let me upload the pictures "files are too big" yet they are only 600kb.

 

[PAUL POWELL]

Here’s the pictures

 

[Retkimora]

Thank you for sharing. I lost some hair with this as well as the rattle appeared on both front struts. Tesla would only replace the whole strut with hefty pricetag. The plastic top cap lifted off easily, no tools were needed. It is sealing and nice fit so maybe yours was just dirty? Be prepared to do this tightening again at some point. Nut gets loose as there is no locking mechanism preventing it happening. I added threadlock to mine. First "repair" lasted one year and after that I just added more threadlock. Now it seems to hold fine.

 

[bumpersignal]

Sort of off topic but do you buy the struts from Tesla SC or from ebay? I wonder how warranty on parts work when you DIY from parts purchased direct from SC. I can't even get them to cover work that they do themselves, so I imagine warranty would be hard to prove on parts that I bring back if they ever are defective after a few months.

 

[PAUL POWELL]

Sort of off topic but do you buy the struts from Tesla SC or from ebay? I wonder how warranty on parts work when you DIY from parts purchased direct from SC. I can't even get them to cover work that they do themselves, so I imagine warranty would be hard to prove on parts that I bring back if they ever are defective after a few months.

I bought the replacement struts from T-Sportline. They are Arnott replacements. They hey had the best price. In reviewing the Arnott’s to the OE Tesla struts. I couldn’t see a difference. Both have Bilstein dampers and Firestone airbags. The ride is very similar to the OE struts I had with 85,000 miles on them.

 

[Slavas]

Thanks for your experience! I probably have another problem that appeared after winter. In the video you can hear clicks when you slowly turn the steering wheel in position N. There are also clicks while driving, but less. The clicks are localized on the metal ring at the very bottom of the rubber boot of the front air strut. The ring rotates slightly relative to other parts of the air strut when the steering wheel is turned. Wet weather or adding a little spray lubricant vertically underneath the ring reduces the clicking for a short time.
I will be glad to receive any of your recommendations

 

[chintanchotli]

Thanks for your experience! I probably have another problem that appeared after winter. In the video you can hear clicks when you slowly turn the steering wheel in position N. There are also clicks while driving, but less. The clicks are localized on the metal ring at the very bottom of the rubber boot of the front air strut. The ring rotates slightly relative to other parts of the air strut when the steering wheel is turned. Wet weather or adding a little spray lubricant vertically underneath the ring reduces the clicking for a short time.
I will be glad to receive any of your recommendations

Which video?

 

[Slavas]

Which video?

Sorry

IMG_1827.MOV

Shared with Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

 

[chintanchotli]

Sorry

IMG_1827.MOV

Shared with Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

Oh yo that is a horrible sound tbh. Slightly creepy too

 

[PAUL POWELL]

Thanks for your experience! I probably have another problem that appeared after winter. In the video you can hear clicks when you slowly turn the steering wheel in position N. There are also clicks while driving, but less. The clicks are localized on the metal ring at the very bottom of the rubber boot of the front air strut. The ring rotates slightly relative to other parts of the air strut when the steering wheel is turned. Wet weather or adding a little spray lubricant vertically underneath the ring reduces the clicking for a short time.
I will be glad to receive any of your recommendations

That sounds horrible, I don’t think it’s the same lose nut that I experienced. I wonder if you try to tighten the hex bolt at the bottom of the strut that’s connecting the strut to the bottom bracket? (Picture attached) Although I suspect the shock is moving within the housing and I don’t know how to fix that without a full replacement.

The Arnott struts I put on mine are very good and I can’t tell the difference from the OEM strut.

 

[Slavas]

That sounds horrible, I don’t think it’s the same lose nut that I experienced. I wonder if you try to tighten the hex bolt at the bottom of the strut that’s connecting the strut to the bottom bracket? (Picture attached) Although I suspect the shock is moving within the housing and I don’t know how to fix that without a full replacement.

The Arnott struts I put on mine are very good and I can’t tell the difference from the OEM strut.

The sound appeared when the aluminum ring rotated. A couple of weeks before this sound appeared, I changed the lower control arms to Danish Triscan ones. Yesterday, as an experiment, a mechanic replaced the lever with an old one and the clicks went away completely, and the ring stopped rotating!!! It’s not yet completely clear whether these are levers or not, but I’ll keep an eye on it.
By the way, I compared Triscan with the original and at least I noticed that the center distance between the silent blocks differs by 1 - 1.5 mm. Also, the internal hole of the large silent block is slightly smaller and a bolt mark remains on it.

 

[minispeed]

Hello, this sounds like it could match a problem I am having. 2018 model x with suspension noise that sounds like it comes from the passenger side. I have replaced all the 4 lower links, upper control arms were replaced under warranty and ball joint noise was present even after that (lube once a year with marine grade grease) so it's not that. I took out all the funk and checked every area I could see/touch for anything loose.

I find it does it a lot more in very low/low/standard height, a lot less in high and almost not at all in very high. Here are 2 clips of the noise in very low and in high suspension settings. Does this match what your loose nut fixed?

Low suspension loud noise

High suspension less noise

 

[Retkimora]

My bet is that top nut of the strut is loose. I had similar rattle and it was worst at lowest suspension setting. Later I had similar rattle sounds but it did not change with different ride height settings; that time it was the strut itself being worn and did not dampen hits anymore (it had let some oil out).

 

[minispeed]

Thanks for thebinfo

My bet is that top nut of the strut is loose. I had similar rattle and it was worst at lowest suspension setting. Later I had similar rattle sounds but it did not change with different ride height settings; that time it was the strut itself being worn and did not dampen hits anymore (it had let some oil out).

You were right. Glad I found this post! Had read a lot and finally had gave in the towel and booked at Tesla (apt is tomorrow and found this post last night)... Got it off, super easy and could hear a noise just shaking it that sounded very similar.

Got it off and saw the play immediately

So I went to home Depot to get a lock ring, sized the nut there and got lock rings that fit the stud that went onto the nut, get back and the lock ring is too small, they must have a much tighter fit between nut/stud as a way to keep it tight instead of a unlock. Home Depot only had much bigger lock rings so I sanded it down a bit, a neighbor stopped to talk cars which was perfect to pass the time. Then loaded up the red loctite and that should keep it. With 169k km if it goes loose again I'll probably be due for new struts....

Anyone use RMT rebuilds before?

Tesla Model X 2015-2021 OEM Rebuilt Front Left and Right Air Suspension Air Spring Struts (102736125E)

Find amazing deals on Tesla Model X 2015-2021 OEM REBUILT Front Air Suspension Air Spring Struts (102736125E). Order today and receive Fast Delivery and Discounted Prices!

rebuildmastertech.com

Anyone use

 

[bumpersignal]

I’m going to give this a shot. Do I have to remove air from the system or anything like that in order to remove the strut ?

 

[minispeed]

I’m going to give this a shot. Do I have to remove air from the system or anything like that in order to remove the strut ?

I was hesitant at first about this but it is super easy. I've done several replacement of spring shocks/struts this is just as easy

Removing air is a simple as taking one bolt out with the line on it, make sure the car is in jack mode so the compressor won't run, then reconnect that line/bolt and be careful as it's a 2nm torque spec and metal bolt going into plastic so don't over tighten it. You are supposed to put a new ring on whenever you take that line off, you can get them for under $15. You should also make sure the area that line rests is clean and if not wrap it in a shop towel. I reused mine, some others have added Teflon tape but I didn't. I couldn't hear anything leaking and left it in high all night, measured the ride height before/after (not sure if the compressor would run if the car was off and air leaked?).... I'll probably go back and spray the area down with soapy water and see/listen closely just to make sure.

This one is model s but since it's more open what you can see in the video is really good, x is basically the exact same thing in a different package.

Walk through with info from service manual

Install air suspension Tesla model X

Blog post shows you through text and pictures how to change air suspension front left hand on Tesla X 2015-21 standard models.

www.teslasuspension.com

 

[dougols]

I have been dealing with a rattle coming from the left front of my Model X P100D. It was very plasticy sounding that sounded like it was coming from just under the windshield. It was driving me nuts for a few weeks and after replacing all of the trim under the frunk and tearing the dash apart looking for the rattle, I had Tesla mobile service come out to replace my windshield wipers (Yes, just to get the mobile tech out) and I asked him to listen to the rattle and he told me it was the left front strut, which is common on the Tesla Model X.

I replaced the front struts with the Arnott struts and they fixed the problem and the ride is very similar to the factory ride. The factory struts are $990 each, you can find these for probably 1400 for the pair.

After replacing the struts, I took the broken strut apart to figure out the rattling and I found that the top part of the strut was moving side to side very slightly where the good strut wasn’t moving in the same way. You could clearly hear the rattle on the bad strut. I removed the C-Clip from the top of the strut, holding in the cover for the air valve and then pulled the black cover to the air valve off and found a 17MM nut attaching the bump stop to the top of the shock. This 17mm nut was lose just slightly. I tightened it about 1/2 a turn and it stopped the rattling, solving the problem. Unfortunately I destroyed the strut trying to find the solution to this problem so it’s not reusable.

Hopefully, if you have the strut rattle problem, you can just remove the strut, pop this C-clip and tighten that 17mm nut and put it all back together. The key would be removing the black cover without damaging it. It’s almost pressed into the shock, it took some effort for us to remove it. We were not worried about damaging the shock so we used a hammer, but I think a good pair of rubber lined vice grips should do the trick.

Check out the pictures below for more details and reach out with any questions you might have. I have pictures but the forum will not let me upload the pictures "files are too big" yet they are only 600kb.

I have been dealing with the same issue for years. Finally replaced the struts with Arnott struts. STILL have the rattle! There is a Tesla Service Bulletin stating that if you have this noise undo the two 13mm bolts that hold the diagonal cross bar to the shock tower and place a fold shop rage between the two. Drive the same area where you normally hear the rattle. It stopped my rattle bu 90%. Question is....can I just leave this diagonal brace disconnected? Could my Arnott struts ALSO have a loose nut and that noise is being transmitted through those two 13mm bolts? I hate to ask the shop to pull the struts and check the strut nut.

 

[Retkimora]

If you still have the old struts you can check if those had loose top nuts. Easier than pulling new ones out. Does noise go away or reduce if you drive on higher suspension setting?

 

[minispeed]

I have been dealing with the same issue for years. Finally replaced the struts with Arnott struts. STILL have the rattle! There is a Tesla Service Bulletin stating that if you have this noise undo the two 13mm bolts that hold the diagonal cross bar to the shock tower and place a fold shop rage between the two. Drive the same area where you normally hear the rattle. It stopped my rattle bu 90%. Question is....can I just leave this diagonal brace disconnected? Could my Arnott struts ALSO have a loose nut and that noise is being transmitted through those two 13mm bolts? I hate to ask the shop to pull the struts and check the strut nut.

I think that bulletin is for the model s only. I looked though it and the x doesn't have a brace on those nuts, they are also further back than on the model s. So if doing that solved the rattle mostly on your car I'd look at seeing if you can put some rubber washers between the brace and the body. You almost certainly can drive without that brace if you aren't an aggressive driver as most cars don't have it. It adds rigidity that benefits high performance cars and I think it reduces the chance of rattles developing with high mileage cars. If you drive the car like it's a race car on every corner there may be a small chance of developing issues like a different type of squeak or feeling the car have a lower limit on corners.

Based on the fact a few others have had the same issue I wouldn't be surprised if the aftermarket strut has the potential to have the same issue, especially if they tried to copy it with the same style nut. I would be surprised if you could hear the noise right away after installing it as it took a few years and many miles for mine to make noise. The thing I found odd before I found this thread was the difference in noise and high vs low ride height. I think that's the way to pinpoint this as your issues. High ride height has more air in the suspension compared to steep doing cars the car will ride like a sport suspension that is stiffer. At low ride height with less air in it the spring is softer. Usually for rattles that are inside the car you expect it to be worse when the spring is stiff and less when it's soft. This loose nut issue was the reverse. My assumption is at low ride height the loose nut had more space to move and would then move a bit further, a bit faster and make a louder noise. At high ride height the spring would push up a bit and take some of that slack away and the nut wouldn't really move up and down as much as it became more of a left-right vibration noise. If you can't tell a difference in noise from high to low, or it's worse in high I would bet the nut is not loose.