Here’s what you’ll learn when you read this story:
- More than 6,000 Cybertrucks are affected by Tesla’s recent recall, which is about 10 percent of the Cybertrucks on the road today.
- The problem stems from the primer applied before gluing the optional light bar to the windshield (no fasteners are used to attach the light bar).
- Tesla’s improvement will include additional redundancy to keep the lightbar glued to the windshield should the glue fail.
Late last month, Tesla voluntarily recalled 6,197 Cybertrucks, claiming that they were used wrong surface primer Available off-road lightbar increases fall risk. As you can imagine, if a lightbar comes unattached, it essentially becomes a projectile headed toward people surrounding the Cybertruck.
The Cybertruck was marketed from the beginning as a quite capable off-roader. That said, even when equipped with an electronic locking differential and a suite of off-road modes, it won’t be able to outrun anything like a Ford F-150 Raptor or Ram TRX. But Tesla does offer a dealer-installed lightbar to improve your visibility when the sun goes down. We did not find the option in the configurator, but we saw it in online service manual,
Here’s the lightbar (shown in blue and red extending to the top of the windshield) in the Cybertruck’s service manual
As you can see above, the lightbar is affixed to the top portion of the windshield. Parsing the service manual, Tesla suggests preparing the bottom of the lightbar for adhesion using a primer. For most applications outside the automotive industry, primer is typically used to give you better surface-level adhesion between two objects. For example, primer is often used to bond PVC joints together. Purple primer is used to clean the beginning soft By starting a chemical reaction the material melts the outer layer. A solvent cement is then applied to melt the material and complete the bonding process. It’s somewhat like joining metals together instead of welding them.
But according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), it appears that Tesla may have used the wrong primer, which may have been the catalyst for these lightbar separation results.
Tesla’s plan to fix this will include an additional redundancy that keeps the lightbar connected to the vehicle even if the glue fails. For reference, as listed by NHTSA:
“Tesla Service will inspect the light bar and install an additional mechanical attachment or replace the light bar using tape to stick the light bar to the windshield as well as an additional mechanical attachment as needed, free of charge.”
NHTSA also says all 6,197 owner letters are expected to be mailed by December 26, 2025. However, it is unclear when owners will be able to take their vehicles to the service center for the services they need. If Cybertruck’s previous glue recalls are anything to go by, this could take several months.
Matt Crisara is a native Austinite with an unbridled passion for cars and motorsports, both foreign and domestic. He was previously a contributing writer for Motor1 after an internship at the Circuit of the Americas F1 Track and Speed City, an Austin radio broadcaster focused on the world of motor racing. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Arizona School of Journalism, where he raced mountain bikes with the varsity club team. When he’s not working, he enjoys sim-racing, FPV drones, and the great outdoors.