First Cybertruck down while offroading! Rear steering tie-rod broken @ KOH (by Unplugged Performance)

[JBee]

They took 2 of them from San Diego to the tip of Baja off road. That's just one publicly known test of probably hundreds more. Tesla knows the off-road limits.

That was a while ago, and the "test" was more of a publicity drive rather than a test until failure, to test the limits.

This is a private company doing this now though, and they did so by fitting out of specification offset wheels.

Once that steering knuckle goes, all bets are off for the rest of the suspension with so much rotating mass in the tyre.

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[GhostAndSkater]

A good reminder that only the Cybertruck breaks, no other trucks, specially EV ones ever broke, sometimes in way less punishing situations ?

 

[BannedByTMC]

Not sure I'd call rock climbing "less punishing" than driving around in the sand, but in any case I'd assume most of us were expecting the CT to be tougher than a Rivian.

 

[Cybertruck 1974]

Did they slam into a rock or something? I've put large off road tires on vehicles and beat the crap out of them off road, no stock steering components broke.

Im guessing from doing donuts and beating on it. but they won't show when yet. Not even on their Instagram post.

 

[Cybertruck 1974]

What a way of asking for trouble. Tesla should not cover for the damage you recklessly cause to your own truck. I saw the way you drive, more abusive than normal off-road.

its for fun and just to see how it will handle the abuse. I do it all the time testing my builds. They plan on building the CT out for Off road use anyways. No problem for Unplugged. It's kind of their job.

 

[Cybertruck 1974]

Not sure I'd call rock climbing "less punishing" than driving around in the sand, but in any case I'd assume most of us were expecting the CT to be tougher than a Rivian.

glad it was someone else who tested it just like I would and broke the weak link. I'll be abusing mine the same, having fun and wheeling it. I'll be installing bigger rod ends for sure now. Rivian pfft. lol.

 

[yerEVan]

A good reminder that only the Cybertruck breaks, no other trucks, specially EV ones ever broke, sometimes in way less punishing situations ?

That was an awesome video honestly.

 

[Tony Roe]

I’m a little baffled. It was said the tie rod end broke. So why is the upper ball joint hanging off ??
Is there other issues going on ?? You don’t need to pop the ball joint to replace a tie rod end ?‍

T

 

[GhostAndSkater]

That was an awesome video honestly.

Rory is awesome, check Matt's Off Road Recovery if you haven't already also, can't wait for them to recue a CT

 

[BannedByTMC]

I’m a little baffled. It was said the tie rod end broke. So why is the upper ball joint hanging off ??
Is there other issues going on ?? You don’t need to pop the ball joint to replace a tie rod end ?‍

T

Maybe axle broke as well.

 

[Tinker71]

Yep by first intentionally installing wheels with the wrong offset to snap it off first?

Even if they build some superior parts, will the next structure up the chain be able to handle it?

I seriously hope Tesla done their due diligence on off road suspension testing.

It's seriously looking like there are some issues.

I think Tesla knew the limit of this bolt. They wanted it to fail before the other more serious components. It is out of service and the truck can't be abused anymore. Replace the bolt and you are back on the road, but you stop abusing the truck.

Clever if you ask me. Designing every truck to run the Baja 500 would be crazy expensive.

I don't plan on abusing my CT so I am not worried. I will take it off road as a means of getting from A to B while trying like heck to avoid damage.

 

[Trekboy]

A good reminder that only the Cybertruck breaks, no other trucks, specially EV ones ever broke, sometimes in way less punishing situations ?

Love that recovery guy's rig...looks like something out of "Road Warrior".

 

[calitruckguy]

Fellow Tundra owner here. Love your offroad setup. Keep us updated if and when you do. You'll definitely need to change the offset to clear that nut and bolt on the front suspension, but hopefully not by much.

That's a concept I'm very familiar with. I have 40" tires and long-travel suspension on my Toyota Tundra:
https://www.instagram.com/spvrtan/p/Cm1nCK6L4wg/

Definitely planning on at least putting 37s on the Cybertruck without increasing the offset too much.

 

[Cybertruck 1974]

I think Tesla knew the limit of this bolt. They wanted it to fail before the other more serious components. It is out of service and the truck can't be abused anymore. Replace the bolt and you are back on the road, but you stop abusing the truck.

Clever if you ask me. Designing every truck to run the Baja 500 would be crazy expensive.

I don't plan on abusing my CT so I am not worried. I will take it off road as a means of getting from A to B while trying like heck to avoid damage.

actually the tie rod ends has nothing to do with strength of any of the other components. If it breaks it's because it's not engineered to withstand the stresses applied and that component and what it is connected to would need to be adjusted for such stresses. Which is why we test, test, test, build better, build better and build it so nothing breaks, nothing.

 

[BannedByTMC]

More details here, it does sound as if they were pushing it hard for quite a while.

KOH is known for being extremely brutal on cars. Naturally, with any vehicle in extreme conditions and absolutely SENDING IT, things can break. Anyone who has been to KOH knows that broken bits are commonplace. We completed two full days of hardcore driving and had a blast. At the end of day two we had a bolt give out on the Cybertruck. We were going pretty nuts on the truck both days with no concerns whatsoever. As such we’re not concerned with this bolt. Repair is in progress and it is an opportunity for us to learn.

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