Highland suspension on 2019 Model 3

[sneadle]

This is exactly right! If you torque rubber suspension bushings at full droop it will affect ride height, comfort and bushing life.

Thank you for explaining!

If my front ride height doesn't sort itself out I now know why

 

[MountainPass]

Thank you for explaining!

If my front ride height doesn't sort itself out I now know why

Twisted bushings can absolutely hold the car up higher than it should be!

 

[Owner81]

Help! I do the occasional tree shade mechanical work but this will be my first suspension job. I've gotten the Highland front struts and rear damper, the requisite bolts, ordered the various sockets including a thin wall 13mm socket. I have my digital torque wrench, breaker bars, torzlx bits and even brought an electric ratchet wrench and proper cordless torque wrench. So I am Ready. Until I see this in the Tesla manual.

I see no one has mentioned the use of a hub jack adapter nor the significance of 423mm ride height. (See below pic) None of the multiple YT says anything about it but then again they're after market product installs. Is it merely just to get the lower strut bolt aligned?? Is it important for my task to retrofit Highland dampers onto my 18LRAWD? If really needed for ride height setting, could I not just jack up via the LUCA to get to the 423mm and then torque everything up? Thanks in advance.

Can can always screw the bolt but do not fully tighten rubber bushing until wheels are back on and car is on the ground. This is the option for when you dont have 2 trolley jacks or that lift tool to bring the suspension to a ride hight before torqued .

 

[borland]

Can anyone that has done this upgrade, post photos of their Model 3, showing ride height after the install?

 

[Owner81]

Here’s my (late) update:

Installed highland dampers (front and rear) in my 22 model 3 LR and it’s a big improvement. Like the other poster said, has to be 85-90% as good as highland, and I bet the other small amount can be made up by getting some good comfy tires. Everything bolts up the same way, 5-6/10 difficulty for a DIY install for me, took about 2 hours per axle.

I did buy the rear springs and will do that too later, but am not expecting much more improvement from those.

Biggest improvement IMO is harsh city bumps that feel much better dampened.

Good upgrade overall.

Have you replaced rear springs yet? How much more of improvement?

 

[makaveli++]

anyone tried to install Highland LR on a 2018->2021 Model 3 Performance ?

 

[Firehuntah]

anyone tried to install Highland LR on a 2018->2021 Model 3 Performance ?

Why would you even want that? The Highland SR/LR suspension is pretty soft. While great for comfort it in my opinion has no place on a performance car. The Model 3 Performance is also sitting lower than the SR/LR. So if you were to install Highland LR suspension on it, the car would be sitting quite a bit higher. It for sure can be done, but I feel it's not a good idea as it will hurt the handling of the car and the rideheight will be higher. This is also exactly the reason the new Performance Highland does not use the same suspension as SR/LR Highland. If you want comfort, it's generally not a good idea to buy a performance car.

 

[makaveli++]

Why would you even want that?

For the same reason that Tesla brought (retrofit) 2021 dampers to <2021 LR and Performance.

The Highland SR/LR suspension is pretty soft. While great for comfort it in my opinion has no place on a performance car. The Model 3 Performance is also sitting lower than the SR/LR. So if you were to install Highland LR suspension on it, the car would be sitting quite a bit higher. It for sure can be done, but I feel it's not a good idea as it will hurt the handling of the car and the rideheight will be higher. This is also exactly the reason the new Performance Highland does not use the same suspension as SR/LR Highland. If you want comfort, it's generally not a good idea to buy a performance car.

Model 3 LR and Model 3 performance > 2021 (non highland) have same suspensions (same height). But it's true that my 2019 height is lower than >2021.

 

[GregD60]

For the same reason that Tesla brought (retrofit) 2021 dampers to <2021 LR and Performance.


Model 3 LR and Model 3 performance > 2021 (non highland) have same suspensions (same height). But it's true that my 2019 height is lower than >2021.

The height may be the same on later M3Ps, but either the springs or shocks or both are different.

 

[terranx]

For the same reason that Tesla brought (retrofit) 2021 dampers to <2021 LR and Performance.


Model 3 LR and Model 3 performance > 2021 (non highland) have same suspensions (same height). But it's true that my 2019 height is lower than >2021.

Common misconception. The height didn’t change. Tesla just corrected its misleading statements that the M3p was 10mm lower. If you measure M3Ps from 2018 and 2023, you’ll measure the same height.