Can wheel weights just fall off?

[dogememe]

My 2025 Tesla Model 3 with under 10K miles has a horrible vibration at highway speeds all of a sudden. It happened from one drive to the next. Drive to Petaluma without issues. Came back two hours later and left and anything above 65 the entire car shakes and the vibration is so bad it’s uncomfortable to hold the steering wheel. Thank god for FSD! But unless Jeff is trolling me because he didn’t want me in his town… in all seriousness… I didn’t hit anything or curb it or anything! Not even any big bumps!

At like 35 on a smooth quiet road you can feel it a little but it’s not too bad til 65 like I said.

I briefly looked at the tires and I don’t see anything obviously wrong.

I have a service appointment at Tesla but it’s not for a week and the diag fee is $220. Is there any chance it’s just something as simple as a wheel weight and I can take it to a tire shop and have them check? Or is it unlikely?

 

[hemitom]

possible !
maybe belt separation ?

 

[robbobster]

They can definitely fall off, typically when installed wrong. Discount Tire will rebalance them for $20-ish if you didn’t buy them there, I’m sure most tire shops would be similar.

 

[ClutchDisc]

I had something similar happen but it was after I rotated my tires. Took it the tire shop I bought it from and they rebalanced the tires and I was good to go. Not sure what exactly happened but they didn’t charge me. Probably because they offer free rotations if you buy tires but I always do that myself saving them money and time.

 

[rszappa1]

yes

 

[Bottom_Feeder]

Do you feel it more in steering wheel or more through the seat? You should be able to figure out of it's in the front end vs rear end that way at least.

 

[Owen Lucas]

yes

I've seen them all over the road, and missing double stick weighted ones missing on my wheels as well.

 

[Escape08]

Yes, I noticed a balance weight lying in my driveway. Checked all the wheels 3 of the weights had fallen off. Didn't noticed any vibrations. Rebalanced all 4 wheels. This is what I did after relabalanced. I may have posted this pic here or most likely in other forums

 

[JohnnyG]

My first step would be to check the tire balance BEFORE I'd shell out $220.00 for a diagnosis!
But from your description, it seems like a much more serious issue. I do realize that electric cars normally run very smooth and quiet, but steering wheel shake and feeling it all over the car sounds like a whole other can of worms.

Make sure all your wheel lug nuts are tight!

 

[Fordiesel69]

Weights can certainly fall off. No doubt. I have had it happen many times. However a bad belt in the tire is more likely. Sometimes a CV shaft will mimick a wheel imbalance.

 

[Trav]

I guess it may need more than warsher fluid.

 

[dogememe]

America's Tire did a regular balance and it was the same so they did a road force balance. They did say one of the wheels took quite a bit to balance but that nothing was really bad. So, I guess I just have to wait til next week and see what Tesla says :/