Caliper Cover Warning! (Please check yours if you have them)

[TeslaKen]

Recently I had been hearing a rattling sound when my Cybertruck went over bumps. It was not anything in the bed, or underbed storage or even inside the truck itself. It sounded like it was coming from the rear wheel wells. Today I pulled off the rear wheels to find that my caliper covers were loose.

Let me be very specific, the 2 bolts holding the caliper covers to the brackets were NOT loose, in fact they were very tight.

What was loose was the2 brackets themselves that simply slide over the factory caliper. These brackets had become loose enough that the caliper cover could slide a little forward and a little back, not a lot, maybe an 1/8" or so but it was enough to cause a rattle any time you hit a large enough bump in the road.

I took off both caliper covers to see what I could do to get them to fit without rattling. The two brackets were removed and I inspected how they fit. They simply slide on, and if that fit is loose, or loosens over time then they are going to rattle. The two brackets are made out of cast pot metal so I was hesitant to try bending the tabs on them for a better fit, but it was the only way I could see to get the brackets to not slide around on the factory caliper. I put them in my vice and slowly applied pressure to get a slide bend, then went back to the caliper to see how tightly they fit. I was able to achieve a tighter fit with 3 of the 4, but sadly on the 4th one the pot metal simply busted before it bent. I have temporarily rectified this with some 3M double stick tape to take up the slack on that bracket and the bracket on the other side of the caliper cover is fitting more tightly now so it is also helping to hold the caliper cover in place.

Ultimately, I'd like to see the brackets made differently so that they can be more firmly attached to the caliper and not have any chance of sliding around, perhaps some sort of set screw would do the trick, but the current brackets as designed are more than likely going to work themselves loose over time and begin to rattle.

I do not believe there is a danger of the caliper cover coming off and impacting the wheel or the caliper cover brackets falling off or anything of that nature, but I am pretty certain that everyone would want their covers to stay firmly attached and not rattle over time.

I will continue to monitor my temporary fix to see if brackets work loose again, etc. and I have asked the supplier I purchased mine from if I can get another pair of brackets only since I busted the tab on one of them trying to get it to fit as it should.

If you have any questions please let me know!
My install article is here for reference: Brake Caliper Covers

UPDATE: Article on how to fix the problem is here: Fixing Cybertruck Rear Caliper Covers

Sponsored

 

[mkstohler]

Timely post. My left rear started rattling. I was getting frustrated trying to tighten the bolts.

 

[Willinak]

I. never thought caliper covers was a good idea. They offer no functional purpose, and I thought they might increase the heat retention. Just mho.

 

[Ivessm]

What brand covers r these?

I'll check mine, thanks for the post.

 

[AO-Pete]

AFAIK, there's only one design of CT covers out there, just many resellers. We rejected the design due to weird fitment, and it's a repurposed design, the weird diamond-shaped sticky pad, which is unused, is a dead giveaway.

 

[TeslaKen]

What brand covers r these?

I'll check mine, thanks for the post.

I believe these are all from the same supplier no matter who sells them. Mine came from CyberGearCo. Either the brackets need to fit tighter in the back, or a set screw needs to be installed to keep these fitting tightly.

 

[TeslaKen]

I. never thought caliper covers was a good idea. They offer no functional purpose, and I thought they might increase the heat retention. Just mho.

I don't disagree and with wheel covers on now you cannot even see them. I accepted a set to do an install article with to share some tips and tricks for doing so, and of course now have spotted a problem that I can share with everyone, so perhaps some positives come out of it in the end. All of my prior performance vehicles (Tesla or otherwise) have always had some sort of painted calipers (usually red) to signify the performance nature of the brakes and vehicle. Color me disappointed that Tesla decided to do nothing different with regard to the brake calipers for the BEAST version of the Cybertruck. While I was waiting for my wheel covers to come in, I was staring at ugly grey calipers and thought what the heck, let's add some color, and something that will go well with the military green wrap. Therefore, I chose a set of yellow colored caliper covers and put those on to have something more attractive.

As for heat buildup, I don't think the way these are designed will create any additional heat buildup or impact cooling in any way otherwise I never would have put them on. It is funny but my significant other asked me why didn't I just remove the ones that were rattling because you cannot see them behind the wheel covers. My answer was that I wanted to test my fix for others here and anyone who might read my install article because not everyone has or wants wheel covers and those owners may face the same problem of rattling caliper covers.

I also looked into the cost of powder coating the factory calipers, but it was very pricey, and you'd still be left with a very unattractive design in the rear. At some point I may switch out calipers altogether if I go with some sort of performance rotor and caliper set but I have not seen any test results yet for stopping distance changes, heat dissipation, etc. Until I see that something is a significant improvement, I'm not going to plunk down big $ on the "hope" that braking is somehow improved. While shedding unsprung weight is always a good idea, again I'm not certain the amounts being advertised for some rotor replacements are meaningful enough given the size and weight of the Cybertruck to warrant the high costs involved in doing so.

I hope that helps shed some light on my thought process with regard to this item. I do want to be clear, if I ever run into any issue with an item that I've installed and created an article for I immediately reach out to the vendor (I've done so already in this case) and I update the article and alert the community. Ultimately, I want to see products improved. In some cases, I choose not to install products (like the C9 screen) because of obvious shortcomings in the product I don't feel like I can recommend it until updates are made. I think these caliper covers are probably "fine" they are nothing too fancy and other than needing some firmer attachment in the rear they have done their job so far. They are also relatively inexpensive given some of the alternatives. I will continue to monitor the situation and update and needed.

 

[SentinelOne]

Thx for posting, I had the same rattle from both rear covers...wiggled into place and ensured tight and its lasted for 2 months (previously held for 3 months until I went off-roading)...I'd pay for some new brackets for the rears (or graciously take for free as well) - just want it to work!

 

[CYBERUN]

Recently I had been hearing a rattling sound when my Cybertruck went over bumps. It was not anything in the bed, or underbed storage or even inside the truck itself. It sounded like it was coming from the rear wheel wells. Today I pulled off the rear wheels to find that my caliper covers were loose.

Let me be very specific, the 2 bolts holding the caliper covers to the brackets were NOT loose, in fact they were very tight.

What was loose was the2 brackets themselves that simply slide over the factory caliper. These brackets had become loose enough that the caliper cover could slide a little forward and a little back, not a lot, maybe an 1/8" or so but it was enough to cause a rattle any time you hit a large enough bump in the road.

I took off both caliper covers to see what I could do to get them to fit without rattling. The two brackets were removed and I inspected how they fit. They simply slide on, and if that fit is loose, or loosens over time then they are going to rattle. The two brackets are made out of cast pot metal so I was hesitant to try bending the tabs on them for a better fit, but it was the only way I could see to get the brackets to not slide around on the factory caliper. I put them in my vice and slowly applied pressure to get a slide bend, then went back to the caliper to see how tightly they fit. I was able to achieve a tighter fit with 3 of the 4, but sadly on the 4th one the pot metal simply busted before it bent. I have temporarily rectified this with some 3M double stick tape to take up the slack on that bracket and the bracket on the other side of the caliper cover is fitting more tightly now so it is also helping to hold the caliper cover in place.

Ultimately, I'd like to see the brackets made differently so that they can be more firmly attached to the caliper and not have any chance of sliding around, perhaps some sort of set screw would do the trick, but the current brackets as designed are more than likely going to work themselves loose over time and begin to rattle.

I do not believe there is a danger of the caliper cover coming off and impacting the wheel or the caliper cover brackets falling off or anything of that nature, but I am pretty certain that everyone would want their covers to stay firmly attached and not rattle over time.

I will continue to monitor my temporary fix to see if brackets work loose again, etc. and I have asked the supplier I purchased mine from if I can get another pair of brackets only since I busted the tab on one of them trying to get it to fit as it should.

If you have any questions please let me know!
My install article is here for reference: Brake Caliper Covers

 

[TeslaKen]

Your post is blank.

 

[Striker Fratz]

Great article, but I haven't encountered the problems you mentioned.

 

[Ivessm]

Yep, checked mine. They are all tight. I'll try to remember to periodically check them. I'll try to make it a practice when I SuperCharge.

I see my miles are @ 6,7XX so it's time to rotate tires. I'm considering doing the X rotation. I have access to a floor lift so that should make it easy.

• Has anyone tried the
  -Raise the suspension all the way UP.
• Put Jack Stands under the CT.
• Lower the suspension enough to suck the tires off the ground.
• Rotate tires.
• Lift suspension enough to pull Jack Stands out.
• Reset suspension to LOW.

I've been watching these threads to find anyone who as done it. I've found those talking about it but haven't found anyone that actually did it and commented on Pro's/Con's to doing it.

Thanks.

 

[TeslaKen]

Great article, but I haven't encountered the problems you mentioned.

I'm glad to hear that for some these aren't moving around and rattling, thanks for checking and reporting back. It may simply come down to how tightly these things fit the first time they are installed due to the angle of the bend on the bracket.

 

[SMAC1731]

Yep, checked mine. They are all tight. I'll try to remember to periodically check them. I'll try to make it a practice when I SuperCharge.

I see my miles are @ 6,7XX so it's time to rotate tires. I'm considering doing the X rotation. I have access to a floor lift so that should make it easy.

• Has anyone tried the
  -Raise the suspension all the way UP.
• Put Jack Stands under the CT.
• Lower the suspension enough to suck the tires off the ground.
• Rotate tires.
• Lift suspension enough to pull Jack Stands out.
• Reset suspension to LOW.

I've been watching these threads to find anyone who as done it. I've found those talking about it but haven't found anyone that actually did it and commented on Pro's/Con's to doing it.

Thanks.

How are you checking/adjusting these without taking the wheel off? Could you send a pic of the problem spot. I have a rattle but can’t figure it out.

 

[TeslaKen]

How are you checking/adjusting these without taking the wheel off? Could you send a pic of the problem spot. I have a rattle but can’t figure it out.

You cannot adjust these with the wheels on, you could reach through the wheel and see if you can move the cover enough to make it rattle, but to make it stop rattling you need to take the wheel off and take the caliper cover off and use some solution to make it fit tighter. If you scroll up to the first post in this thread there are links to 2 articles about the problem and those articles have videos so you can see what to do about it.

Sponsored