Tesla Cybertruck bends upper control arm in testing, raising concerns about suspension durability

[Redaktion]

The TFLnow YouTube channel shared images of the control arms of a Tesla Cybertruck release candidate spotted in the wild after an off-road test. The control arm appears to be deformed, leading to speculation online and in the video about whether the Cybertruck's suspension hardware is up to the task.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Tesla-Cybertruck-bends-upper-control-arm-in-testing-raising-concerns-about-suspension-durability.761845.0.html

[Ryan C]

Looks to me that it's just the angle the photos were taken and that it's not bent at all.  It looks fine to me, but it seems sketchy.  I think it's better than cast aluminum though.

[julian.vdm]

Looks to me that it's just the angle the photos were taken and that it's not bent at all.  It looks fine to me, but it seems sketchy.  I think it's better than cast aluminum though.

I thought so at first, as well, but the flat bit where the ball join is mounted definitely looks twisted, at the very least. And yeah, you want the control arm to bend rather than snapping, and cast aluminium would probably snap before bending — especially if it were made to the same size as this Tesla one. A beefy cast aluminium A arm, like Ford used to use would likely be better than this.

[Racinjason88]

Looks to me that it's just the angle the photos were taken and that it's not bent at all.  It looks fine to me, but it seems sketchy.  I think it's better than cast aluminum though.

If you study the two images close enough you can see it's clearly bent enough to notice. Even at a different camera angle compared to a new upper control arm. With the expected weight of this machine, it's going to need some beefy suspension exceeding other off road vehicles. Especially with the lavish offroad claims Elon has been making.

[Dustin]

As a mechanic, that upper control is definitely bent. It's not only bent out in the ball joint area but the rear segment of the arm going back to the mounting point is also bent. It was a poor choice to use a stamped steel control arm on a vehicle weighing that much. If you look at heavy duty pickups, that thing weighs as much or more, they use much heavier control arms.

[Ha]

Trucks that do off roading and you use the tundra as an example. No trucks are made to off road anymore. They are hardly even made for actual work.

[Fred]

A "Tommy" gun, eh? Great - the occupants will be protected against the 20 or so still extant in the wild. Now bring that thing over here and let me try my .30-06 on it. There are tens of thousands of those in private ownership, if not more. If Musk wants to demonstrate his faith in the toughness of that "truck," he's welcome to sit in it during the demonstration, or even stand directly on the other side of the thing. He'll have to sign a waiver, first, of course.

And, lest the readers get the idea that I only want to punch a hole completely through that thing because I'm an EV hater: I'd happily consider purchasing one, just as soon as they produce an actual truck - two doors, no back seats, an 8' bed,  able to accept a 5th wheel mount, and either the range to haul my 40' camper 335 miles on a charge or the ability to haul it a minimum of 175 miles per ten-minute recharge stop (I'm not picky; either one would be reasonable for traveling through mountainous regions, I should think). Oh, wait - and it needs to have an easily replaceable bed and a body that's made out of something (preferably painted (FFS!)) that I can get the dents dealt with at any body shop. I suspect I'll have to wait on Ford to offer an electric F-250 SuperDuty. They actually build trucks. . . .

[Chit]

Um, that's why they do testing? You might want to see what components they have on the production truck before you jump on the click-bait bandwagon.

Dog on Tesla get more clicks . . .

[julian.vdm]

Um, that's why they do testing? You might want to see what components they have on the production truck before you jump on the click-bait bandwagon.

Dog on Tesla get more clicks . . .

These are release candidates a little more than a month away from the start of the supposed production ramp. Suspension should already be sorted at this point. Aside from that, Tesla shouldn't be trying to cut corners to save a buck on something as important as suspension hardware. I agree that it's not production yet, but it's something Tesla will need to fix if it plans on selling the CT as an off-road-capable truck.

[Keef Wivaneff]

Oh no..... not freakin UPPER CONTROL ARM again!
Just Google Tesla Upper Control Arm
It's a HORROR SHOW