Cybertruck Stainless Panels are falling off ...Is this a new phenomena?

[mongo]

@mongo Thank you for posting the images and sharing your thoughts.

In the bottom half of the image below it appears the adhesive is coming off the carrier side too. I'm guessing that's what the white discoloration is? Appears to be air space because it's not attached to the black plastic?

Hopefully this is a batch issue related to defective adhesive.

Yeah, cloudy could be detachment from the carrier or fracture.
In areas with better stainless attachment it may pull from the carrier side but most of that looks like a clean separation from the stainless.

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[CyberLucky]

Here in Edmonton we are a pretty good natural test bed for thermal expansion, given how cold it gets - the past few weeks have gotten below -30 C (about -22 F). My Cybertruck lives in a heated garage, but I routinely take it out for hours at a stretch and it's spent several nights outside at -20 C, then home and right back into the garage at +16 C. So far, so good - I don't see any evidence of panel or trim separation (my VIN is 47***). Should that change, I'll report back here.

 

[CyberGus]

Maybe they should glue the stainless with road salt? I hear that stuff never comes off

 

[JackCypher]

There are definitely plenty of adhesives for bonding different metals in extreme (more than cars see) in the aviation industry.

They are just more expensive to process.

Loctite 4014 Adhesive is good for Stainless steel to even glass - we use this for medical probes. And it has been tested for vibration & Shock, Ethelene Oxide gas exposure susceptibility and accelerated age/shelf life testing.

It is frighteningly strong...like if the assembler messes up - you cannot rework the parts - if mis-bonded...they are scrap.

 

[Guylouis]

As a potential CT buyer, this is alarming:

This forum is for owners…

 

[SONNYDUT]

My CT is one of the early release and nothing is falling off unless I did myself going off-road. It just one in many this guy gotten. Looks like mobile service will take care of it.

 

[liancheng]

Tesla's service manual and parts catalog are both publicly accessible. The Cybertruck parts catalog shows that this small panel's official name is ROOF RAIL TRIM—LEFT/RIGHT HAND (#9 and #10).

Now, note parts #19 and #20: PANEL SCREW and PANEL NUT.

Given this information, you can find the removal and installation instructions for the ROOF RAIL TRIM in the Cybertruck service manual:

Here comes an interesting note: Some vehicles may not have this nut installed.

So my hunch is that some early-stage vehicles may have the ROOF TRAIL PANEL glued, but later vehicles had this issue fixed. If you are an early bird, maybe check with your service center and see whether they can replace these parts.

DISCLAIMER: I've never fixed/disassembled any Cybertruck or any cars. I accidentally found the online service manual in the past while searching for the user manual.

 

[BannedByTMC]

So my hunch is that some early-stage vehicles may have the ROOF TRAIL PANEL glued, but later vehicles had this issue fixed.

That appears to be the procedure for a complete trim piece which includes the surface SS piece which is glued to the steel substrate. That entire unit is held with clips and studs. What this thread is discussing entails only the surface SS trim peeling off of the clipped and bolted substrate.

 

[PLC]

That appears to be the procedure for a complete trim piece which includes the surface SS piece which is glued to the steel substrate. That entire unit is held with clips and studs. What this thread is discussing entails only the surface SS trim peeling off of the clipped and bolted substrate.

Do you know the material, the "steel substrate" is made of? If it has a significant different expansion coefficient than the SS trim, the glue will have to endure quite a bit of stress under extremely low temperatures. The glue will also get stiff at those temperatures. Of course such bondings can endure that, if they are properly designed and executed. In addition to the surface treatment, the thickness of the adhesive layer is decisive. If it is too thin, the adhesive layer cannot compensate for the different linear expansions and the joint fails.

 

[BannedByTMC]

Do you know the material, the "steel substrate" is made of?

I don't.

 

[mongo]

Do you know the material, the "steel substrate" is made of? If it has a significant different expansion coefficient than the SS trim, the glue will have to endure quite a bit of stress under extremely low temperatures. The glue will also get stiff at those temperatures. Of course such bondings can endure that, if they are properly designed and executed. In addition to the surface treatment, the thickness of the adhesive layer is decisive. If it is too thin, the adhesive layer cannot compensate for the different linear expansions and the joint fails.

The adhesive contains 10 mil glass beads to set a minimum thickness. The shear strength is over 2000psi.

 

[PLC]

The adhesive contains 10 mil glass beads to set a minimum thickness. The shear strength is over 2000psi.

10 mil = 0,254mm, isnt it? In my experience that is far too thin, when trying to bond full surface large, stiff panels to an also stiff substrate with a quite different expansion coefficient.

 

[Crissa]

Well said, I’m a lover not a hater. I’m just waiting for the air to clear on this one. As far as I can tell this is worse than the accelerator pedal.

The hazards of someone losing control over few pounds of flashing vs the hazards of an out of control truck, I'm going to say this is not as hazardous as the pedal issue. Even considering I don't think the pedal could get stuck down and block the brake.

Annoying and potentially dangerous, yes, but a piece of the body isn't going to crush my car or bike like a whole truck could.

-Crissa

 

[mongo]

10 mil = 0,254mm, isnt it? In my experience that is far too thin, when trying to bond full surface large, stiff panels to an also stiff substrate with a quite different expansion coefficient.

I don't think we've established that the carrier has a highly different coefficient of expansion. Steel vs stainless maxes out at around 6 ppm per degree C. If the piece is 2 m long and was assembled at 25C, then assuming uniform shrink at -40C we get 65*6*1*10e-6=390x10e-6m = 0.39 mm differential or 1.5x the minimum bond thickness. Note the shear strength increases at colder temps.

Differential could be worse if they heat cure at 200F (93C).

 

[CyberGus]

OMG, it's a pandemic! Somebody call NHTSA

or Fauci

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