The upper control arm bushings and ball joints on 2012–2020 Model S and X wear out under the car's weight — and Tesla typically replaces them one corner at a time. We do the complete set in one visit, in your driveway.
A Model S or X carries a half-tonne battery pack low in the chassis and delivers full torque the instant you touch the pedal. Every launch, every regen event, and every GTA pothole loads the upper control arms in both directions. The rubber bushings tear and the ball joints lose their grease seal, and once water and road salt get past that seal — an Ontario winter specialty — the joint develops play. That play is the clunk you hear over bumps and the reason the car never quite tracks straight on the 401.
The frustrating part is how Tesla handles it. Service Centres typically diagnose and replace one arm at a time, because that's the corner showing the most play today. Six months later another corner starts knocking, you're back in the queue, and you pay another round of labour and another alignment. These arms all live the same life under the same loads — when one is worn, the rest are right behind it.
Left alone, worn upper arms don't just make noise. The loose joint lets the wheel's camber and caster wander, which is why your alignment keeps drifting no matter how many times it's set. That chews through the inside edge of expensive staggered tires and makes the steering feel vague at highway speed. Replacing the full set restores the geometry, kills the clunk, and makes the alignment actually hold.
If your Tesla is doing any of these, this is the likely cause:
A worn ball joint only moves in one direction: more play. As the joint loosens, the clunk gets louder, the alignment drifts further, and the tires wear faster — on a Model S or X that's a set of expensive rubber being sanded away. In the worst case a badly worn joint can separate, which is a tow and a much bigger conversation. There's no urgency panic here, just simple math: arms now, or arms plus tires later.
Yes. Control arm replacement needs the wheel off and the suspension supported — all of which happens fine on a flat driveway or parking pad. No hoist required. We bring everything, including the torque tools to set the bushings correctly at ride height.
Tesla Service Centres typically replace arms per corner, each with its own labour line and often its own alignment — so the same wear ends up billed as multiple separate visits. Doing the complete set in one visit is simply more efficient. We give you one flat quote for the entire job before any work starts, so there's no per-corner surprise.
Because they all carry the same load and they're all the same age. When one ball joint has lost its grease and developed play, the others are usually months behind it. Doing the set once means one visit, one alignment, and a suspension that's actually done — instead of chasing corners one at a time.
Almost certainly yes, and that's normal — new arms change the geometry slightly, and your old alignment was compensating for worn joints anyway. We set everything to spec during the install and tell you honestly whether the car needs a follow-up alignment to dial it in.
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