Tesla’s Latest Recall? Wheels May Fall Off Cybertrucks

Last year, almost All Cybertrucks had to be recalled because Tesla used the wrong glue on a steel trim panel that the automaker said could come loose while driving. Now, another embarrassing recall reveals that the electric pickup could see wheels come off on some models due to the use of the wrong grease.

In what is the 11th Cybertruck recall to date, alongside concerns about stainless steel trucks rusting, Tesla is recalling its rear-wheel drive (RWD) Cybertruck Long Range due to faulty brake rotors. In an advisory issued by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Tesla states that “the brake rotor stud holes may crack and allow the stud to separate from the wheel hub.”

Tesla’s description of the defect is as follows: “On affected vehicles, road disturbances and more severe cornering may place pressure on the stud hole in the wheel rotor, causing cracks to form. If the cracks propagate with continued use and tension, the wheel stud could eventually separate from the wheel hub.” In this case, some happily cruising RWD Cybertruck owners might find themselves disconcertingly overtaken by their own wheels.

Poor Cybertruckers have enough going on without worrying about the wheels falling off their “apocalypse-proof” pickups, so luckily, Tesla says it will completely replace wheel hubs, rotors, and lug nuts free of charge for all 173 trucks affected by the recall.

Kelley Blue Book Editor Sean Tucker explains how Tesla is once again able to repair released models of the Cybertruck before something potentially dangerous happens. “A car is such a complex machine that a small change in its design can have consequences for years,” he says. “It’s literally a little bit of fat [Tesla] discovered on the lug nuts that tighten to hold the 18-inch wheel to the brake rotor.

Tucker said the grease didn’t reduce friction enough and could loosen the nuts over time, causing vibrations that could crack the brake rotor. “So they changed the fat,” he said. “However, this message did not reach the production shop in time, and they built 173 with the wrong grease. This is a very specific materials issue.”

Some reports suggest that the recall number of 173 reveals an incredibly low number of RWD Cybertrucks being manufactured, but Tucker says that’s not the case. The recall applies to trucks built on certain dates using a specific shipment of lug nuts and grease, as well as cars with 18-inch wheels produced on certain dates. He says it’s a “subset of a subset” of the Cybertrucks.

“Certainly, the Cybertruck is not selling as much as Tesla hoped,” Tucker says. “But it’s actually just a small production change that wasn’t communicated to the factory in time.”

Cybertruck sales have indeed been disastrous. “The demand is extraordinary! » Elon Musk sang at the end of 2023, talking about more than a million reservations for Tesla’s polarizing polygonal pickup. But this bad glue problem not only affects a tiny proportion, but all Cybertrucks manufactured during this time revealed that the company moved only 46,096 trucks in the first 14 months of sales.