Can the wheels fall off of Tesla’s budget Cybertruck?

While it doesn’t appear to have actually happened to anyone, there is a significant concern that the wheels on some Tesla Cybertrucks are at risk of falling off. According to a report filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the problem lies in the brake rotors of certain 2024-2026 vehicles with 18-inch steel wheels. Rough road conditions and cornering can result in cracks around the stud holes in the wheel rotor, putting the stud at risk of separating from the wheel hub. The solution is to replace all the brake rotors, hubs and lug nuts on the recalled vehicles.

The company has issued a recall for all 173 potentially affected vehicles. The announcement also sheds some light on why this particular, less expensive model of Cybertruck may have been discontinued. It launched in April 2025 but then Tesla pulled the plug on it in November, and it seems the reason was “limited demand of Cybertrucks equipped with 18-inch steel wheels,” per the NHTSA filing.