How is tire alignment from the factory?

[aadams1278]

I’ve owned two teslas, a model 3 and y, both came out of the factory with less than ideal wheel alignment. I have heard this is somewhat of a common thing with any manufacturer. The alignment from the factory is a general alignment rather than a precision one so they can push them out the door faster.

Tires for Teslas aren’t cheap (IMO) and the truck tires are more costly than the smaller cars. My objective is to reduce tire wear as much as possible. Both my cars have experienced increased tire wear due to this rough alignment, until I had them realigned after purchase.

The question I have is what has been the experience of owners here with the truck? Is there perhaps something about the steer by wire and rear wheel steering that necessitates Tesla doing a better job in the factory? Or does this advice I heard that “all” alignments from a factory are not to be trusted still apply?

(I don’t currently own a Cybertruck but plan to take delivery in the spring)

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[That Beast Mode]

I’ve owned two teslas, a model 3 and y, both came out of the factory with less than ideal wheel alignment. I have heard this is somewhat of a common thing with any manufacturer. The alignment from the factory is a general alignment rather than a precision one so they can push them out the door faster.

Tires for Teslas aren’t cheap (IMO) and the truck tires are more costly than the smaller cars. My objective is to reduce tire wear as much as possible. Both my cars have experienced increased tire wear due to this rough alignment, until I had them realigned after purchase.

The question I have is what has been the experience of owners here with the truck? Is there perhaps something about the steer by wire and rear wheel steering that necessitates Tesla doing a better job in the factory? Or does this advice I heard that “all” alignments from a factory are not to be trusted still apply?

(I don’t currently own a Cybertruck but plan to take delivery in the spring)

I haven't had any alignment issues, truck drives straight, wear seems even. Honestly with the steer by wire system, I don't know if I'd want any outside source doing an alignment on my CT, I don't know how complicated or not it is compared to a traditional car, but I don't want to find out the hard way, so I'd let Tesla do it anyway.

 

[HaulingAss]

I’ve owned two teslas, a model 3 and y, both came out of the factory with less than ideal wheel alignment. I have heard this is somewhat of a common thing with any manufacturer. The alignment from the factory is a general alignment rather than a precision one so they can push them out the door faster.

Tires for Teslas aren’t cheap (IMO) and the truck tires are more costly than the smaller cars. My objective is to reduce tire wear as much as possible. Both my cars have experienced increased tire wear due to this rough alignment, until I had them realigned after purchase.

The question I have is what has been the experience of owners here with the truck? Is there perhaps something about the steer by wire and rear wheel steering that necessitates Tesla doing a better job in the factory? Or does this advice I heard that “all” alignments from a factory are not to be trusted still apply?

(I don’t currently own a Cybertruck but plan to take delivery in the spring)

We've had 5 Tesla over the last 8 years and still have four of them. The only one that needed an alignment in 300,000 miles is the one we bought from a local person. I knew it needed an alignment before I test drove it because the tire wear was terribly uneven and the Wh/mile over the previous 10K miles was very inefficient. I assumed it had hit a curb or some other immoveable object hard and I got it aligned at Tesla Service as soon as I bought the car and put new tires on it (they said it was way out of alignment) and it's been driving perfectly and is just as efficient as our other Model 3 LR.

My experience is that Tesla come out of the factory aligned very precisely, and tend to hold that alignment longer than other new cars I've owned (assuming they don't crash into an immovable object). I think the reason for this is that poor alignment causes poor efficiency so Tesla has procedures in place to ensure good alignment out of the factory gates. I'm sure a few slip by out of spec, but this is true of all manufacturers.

 

[aadams1278]

My experience is that Tesla come out of the factory aligned very precisely, and tend to hold that alignment longer than other new cars I've owned (assuming they don't crash into an immovable object). I think the reason for this is that poor alignment causes poor efficiency so Tesla has procedures in place to ensure good alignment out of the factory gates.

That’s a good theory I hadn’t considered before.

My model 3 is an early one and I know it was manufactured THE first week Tesla hit 5,000 per week so I’m confident it was “rushed”. I couldn’t say what happened with the 2022 model y. We did have to wait over a year due to parts shortage in that post covid landscape, perhaps that contributed in some way.

 

[Mini2nut]

We put 53k miles on our LR Model Y and our second Y, a MYP, has 31k.

Both arrived with perfectly alignment and dead straight steering wheels. No abnormal tire wear, pulling to the L/R, etc. Both came from the Fremont assembly plant.

 

[CTCotopaxi]

My issue is how do I know if my Cybertruck wheels are out of balance, since there’s no physical connection to the rack ??? I know there are motors on the column to emulate feel but can’t trust that
I’m OCD when it comes to tire balance and alignment, comes from my racing days I guess

 

[GardensCT]

I had to replace my fronts because factory alignment was off. I would def get one done.

 

[aadams1278]

I had to replace my fronts because factory alignment was off. I would def get one done.

Did you have Tesla do it or a third party?

Honestly with the steer by wire system, I don't know if I'd want any outside source doing an alignment on my CT, I don't know how complicated or not it is compared to a traditional car, but I don't want to find out the hard way, so I'd let Tesla do it anyway.

I don’t know how it works exactly, but I had a bit of trouble finding a third party shop that was *capable* of doing a Tesla alignment. I don’t know if they were just blowing smoke to avoid working on a Tesla or not but they said something about not having a subscription for access to some computer system that has the Tesla details in it. But the shop that did agree to do it told me certain steps “Tesla wants us to do” as if there’s some computer system or step by step guide in service mode they’re required to follow. One item he mentioned was it wants like 160lbs weight in the seat and if it doesn’t detect it, the system will stop them from progressing and they don’t have weights laying around to do that. He said sometimes they are able to get by without the weights but sometimes it doesn’t work.

So perhaps that guy was blowing smoke too, but it sounded like maybe it’s not possible to do a Tesla alignment without following the Tesla guidelines?

If that is true, and they do have to access service mode to perform an alignment, I would think all the steering in the truck being electronic makes it less likely for a third party to be able to do an alignment wrong. I’ve had steering wheel not centered before but this couldn’t happen with steer by wire. I also suspect this service mode setting would probably automatically center the steering components and set suspension to the proper height.

Then again, Tesla has done stuff that doesn’t make complete sense before…

 

[GardensCT]

I had Tesla do it in out of caution but really wanted to let Firestone have a crack at it. Firestone told me it was in their system and the printout looks the same as well so likely the same machine.

 

[TorqMonstr]

Competent shops geared up to service Tesla vehicles exist. I own and operate one. The shop needs Toolbox in order to properly perform all the steps outlined in the procedure.

 

[aadams1278]

Competent shops geared up to service Tesla vehicles exist. I own and operate one. The shop needs Toolbox in order to properly perform all the steps outlined in the procedure.

Was my earlier assumption correct? Does this *prevent* someone from aligning a Tesla incorrectly? Obviously they could misalign it, but does it force the proper steering wheel angle and suspension height, etc? Or could they avoid using the system and eyeball it? Quite interested to know how fool-proof this is.

 

[HaulingAss]

One item he mentioned was it wants like 160lbs weight in the seat and if it doesn’t detect it, the system will stop them from progressing and they don’t have weights laying around to do that. He said sometimes they are able to get by without the weights but sometimes it doesn’t work.

So perhaps that guy was blowing smoke too, but it sounded like maybe it’s not possible to do a Tesla alignment without following the Tesla guidelines?

I wouldn't hesitate to let a competent non-Tesla shop do a tire alignment, but if they are skipping steps (like bypassing the adding of driver weights), they are obviously not competent. Would you really want them doing an alignment on your vehicle?

 

[2025CTAWD]

My alignment has been fine since day one. Steering wheel straight and truck tracks straight. Also, this car is impossible to curb cause FSD! It literally does a three point to get out of my driveway if I don’t back in cause it thinks it’ll hit the curb; even though I can see on the cameras that it won’t.

 

[TorqMonstr]

Was my earlier assumption correct? Does this *prevent* someone from aligning a Tesla incorrectly? Obviously they could misalign it, but does it force the proper steering wheel angle and suspension height, etc? Or could they avoid using the system and eyeball it? Quite interested to know how fool-proof this is.

Nothing is foolproof, folks always find a way to circumvent. From what I have found in my 43 years of professional service is that procedures carry less weight if one doesn’t understand the “WHY” behind them...

 

[CT_AZ_4x4]

I’ve owned two teslas, a model 3 and y, both came out of the factory with less than ideal wheel alignment…

(I don’t currently own a Cybertruck but plan to take delivery in the spring)

I have owned 2 Cybertrucks and both had horrible tire alignment issues out of the factory. For that matter I have owed a total 6 Teslas and all of them had tire alignment issues out of the factory/upon delivery from Tesla.

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