Fix Squeaking+ Creaking In Your TESLA Front Suspension | Upper Control Arms | Grease Injector Needle

[@DrDsIT]

I made the same repair on my MX and have a solution for the GREASE LEAKING from the rubber boot. First, clean all debris and dry the complete circumference of the rubber boot. You can buy the needle and use a grease gun if you have one but if you don't get a plastic syringe and hypodermic needle and fill it with Slick 50 lubricant or any other long lasting lubricant. Also, buy a roll of SELF-FUSING SILICONE TAPE and cut a piece long enough to stretch and wrap around the boot a couple of times and it won't leak or a tube of BLACK SILICONE ADHESIVE SEALANT to dab on the hole then wait an hour to dry before driving. If you do this before you hear squeaking you won't have excess wear on the ball joint. Tesla service departments quoted me $1,200 and I fixed it myself for $37 (grease gun, grease, and needle) and the squeaking went away immediately. I have about 70k miles on the MX since then with no noise. The reason this problem occurs is the upper control arms have a gap where the wishbone meets the ball joint that allows moisture to enter the ball joint cavity causing rust. Tesla made the upper control arms out of fiber reinforced plastic to make the lighter which is a good thing, however, the design is flawed. For owners with those flawed upper control arms Tesla began putting polyurethane on that area to prevent water and debris from entering even after customers began hearing the loud squeaking sounds. They should have redesigned them and replaced them under warranty but they wouldn't and I still don't believe they have changed the design.

[@phantomcreamer]

I've heard of using Permatex black silicone but never silicone tape. Do you know of any videos of people doing this? I'm interested but skeptical

[@BryceLovesTech]

Thanks 🙏

[@Jackofalladventures]

Good timing for this video. I am definitely having these issues with mine. You are saving me some time. I did take my tire off last weekend, but I didn't have much time and didn't see an obvious problem, so I just put the tire back on.

[@david-iam]

I did this over 50k miles ago and squeak still hasn’t come back. My X going strong at 160k miles.

[@Jackofalladventures]

@@david-iam that is awesome, I need to do it ASAP

[@david-iam]

@@Jackofalladventures Mine originally started a few days after a heavy rain storm and going through deeper standing water at the curbs. Apparently, water splashes up and runs back down on the upper control arm and get past the rubber boot seal. Tesla actually has a proactive service bulletins out where if they service your car for any reason, their tech supposed to apply a sealant to the upper area of this rubber cover to prevent water from penetrating. However, who well the technician does it varies so X owners will eventually be affected. If you take it to Tesla, they will have you replace with new upper arms. Usually new parts are revised to fix known problems but as the owner in the video attest to, he is on his 3rd replacement arm. Anyways, I come from a family who owns a auto repair shop. So mechanical things like this doesn’t phase me. Injecting grease is solution but without grease nipples, it requires a needle like demonstrated in the video. If that fails, then I would just replace the unit and hopefully the newer revision would fix the known issue. However, my grease injection solved all the squeaks I have emanating from that control arm ball joint and still going strong over 50k miles later. KZbin has other videos if you search with the reasons and fix for the same issue. And they also demonstrate the cure to be a grease injection with a needle in case you want to see more demonstration or explanation of the process.

[@Jc-si6pj]

I didn’t have a grease gun I used a syringe and motor oil fixed the problem

[@perro42069]

@@Jc-si6pj What type of motor oil did you use? How much did you have to use?

[@MrJimmyparky]

Wouldn't the grease escape out through the needle hole?

[@fenrir4099]

Maybe there’s a way to seal the hole?🫤

[@Jc-si6pj]

I put Motor oil in mine and no escapes

[@opilotmansour5209]

What about a loud noise under passenger side below on bumps and uneven roads, i have 120k on my 21 y.

[@skyace888]

Thanks for the video. I think I'm having this issue as lately I can often hear creaking when turning the steering wheel at low speeds on my 2015 Model S with ~145K miles. Is there a way to confirm? Could the noise be anything else? Around 130K miles I had the lower control arms replaced by a 3rd party shop (seems different though). I don't have air suspension on my car and I have 21" tiles but I can reach in to touch this part. Do I need to jack the car up?

[@amanjodhan]

I’ve been driving from last 32 years. Drove a few makes and models of cars and currently driving a Model Y 2021. Never had this issue with any of my other cars. But why Tesla and KZbin is screening about this same problem over and over again . Why Tesla is not doing anything to get rid of this trouble or do they simply do not care?

[@slartybartfarst9737]

Works every time

[@pp-hj2xj]

You say 100K miles? Paid over $63,000 for a Tesla Model 3 it has 23K miles, and it's already out of warranty. Tesla wants $234.58 just to diagnose a noise issue, with the final repair cost to be estimated afterward. Called Tesla for an appointment, but they insisted on using the app. I scheduled it on September 11 and was given an October 14 date. Worst car purchase ever-less than 23K miles and it's squeaking, plus a month-long wait for diagnosis of what seems to be a common problem, as many others are reporting the same noise issue.

[@rivernet62]

No need for grease gun or needle. Just remove the spring clip from around the boot, stretch the boot out a bit, fill the boot with engine oil, replace the spring clip. After a day or so the squeak is gone.

[@DerekOldfield]

Any video on this?

[@rivernet62]

@@DerekOldfield goodness no, making and posting a video on this would have geometrically increased the complexity.

[@jlm4836]

Not a great idea. If it’s creaking, the ball is dry. Dry cause wear, then play which wears the ball out faster - grease or no grease! When the play hammers the ball back and forth long enough - falls out of socket. Yup, wheel breaks loose and your wheel jams. A professional should check for side to side play. Be safe 🤕

[@CupidinColorado]

just replace the damn thing-better safe than sorry.

[@rpproductions844]

@@phx2pdx582😂

[@Jc-si6pj]

Replace for what? It just needs greasing i lubed mine with motor oil and a syringe and it is better than ever

[@benc1927]

Just replace it like he did. Our upper control arm flat out collapsed and almost caused a wreck. Lucky we were going slowly. When upper control arm fails the entire wheel folds in.

[@Youngandsuccessful33]

@@benc1927your kidding right!

[@Empylol]

@@benc1927wtf??