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Jebinc’s Plaid Vibration Experiment Results!!!

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Did you get an alignment after installing the lowering links? I mean, it's annoying to have to pay to fix a brand new car, but I'm happy to just have a fix and move on with my life.
They did it in software. No hardware change. It’s a well known issue. Car doesn’t vibrate on low. It’s programmed to stay low. But it eats tires on the inside. You can’t adjust camber for it riding low. There is no camber adjustment. You need to go 3rd party for that. Rather than do that I decided to trade it for a Model S.

Tesla can’t seem to build an S/X that actually works. Not pre or post Refresh.

I think I’d rather go 3rd party on the X than on a Refresh S. Less issues bringing X down than S.
 
I'll try, but still not quite sure that there's no negative effects from lowering the car that much. Everything in aftermarket mods is usually a trade-off. We're sacrificing something to improve something else. I don't want to end up with car that looks stanced and can't get over a speed bump! 😅
Right, I need some clearance for snow and mud. Road debris becomes a higher risk on a lowered S.
 
They did it in software. No hardware change. It’s a well known issue. Car doesn’t vibrate on low. It’s programmed to stay low. But it eats tires on the inside. You can’t adjust camber for it riding low. There is no camber adjustment. You need to go 3rd party for that. Rather than do that I decided to trade it for a Model S.

Tesla can’t seem to build an S/X that actually works. Not pre or post Refresh.

I think I’d rather go 3rd party on the X than on a Refresh S. Less issues bringing X down than S.

Very correct. On low with a 3/4” drop my rear camber is -4.5and the front is -2.

Got a camber gauge off of Amazon to take the measurements. Basically a bubble level that magnetically attaches perpendicular to the brake disk.
 
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Can an alignment fix that?
Front yes, rear would require raising to only 1/2” drop or adding those aftermarket camber arms and an alignment. If I wanted to avoid a front alignment, I could raise that a bit as well. Here are the “in spec” alignment ranges for a Plaid.

BAB3B922-4465-4CF7-94DB-61A79C07C8A3.jpeg


D04B42D4-0977-4E7A-AE1E-206D10795854.jpeg
 
Very correct. On low with a 3/4” drop my rear camber is -4.5and the front is -2.

Got a camber gauge off of Amazon to take the measurements. Basically a bubble level that magnetically attaches perpendicular to the brake disk.

Disregard numbers above as I needed to calibrate tool before using. While I expect the results to be similar, they will be different. Updated values in the morning!
 
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I think it's important for people to understand that the previous driveline problem was addressed in the refresh. Unfortunately there seems to be a new problem. If it's simply lash in the CV joint that causes vibration when unloaded and a 1/2"-3/4" drop in the suspension mitigates it, then it's a minor problem.
As someone who owns a 2021 MS and had the half shafts replaced for shudder under hard acceleration I would argue they haven't solved the old problem.
 
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Front yes, rear would require raising to only 1/2” drop or adding those aftermarket camber arms and an alignment. If I wanted to avoid a front alignment, I could raise that a bit as well. Here are the “in spec” alignment ranges for a Plaid.

View attachment 773467

View attachment 773468
OMG I absolutely cracked up laughing with that Within Spec image.
 
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I think it's important for people to understand that the previous driveline problem was addressed in the refresh. Unfortunately there seems to be a new problem. If it's simply lash in the CV joint that causes vibration when unloaded and a 1/2"-3/4" drop in the suspension mitigates it, then it's a minor problem.
It’s just as serious in my book.
 
Some quick testing this morning. I felt no vibration in track mode with the handling balance all the way to the rear. It seemed like a dramatic change. I could hold light throttle and flip the slider from front to rear and make the vibration appear and disappear like night and day.

Anyone want to test and confirm? I only had a few minutes to try it. I found the settings below eliminated the vibration and pulling the handling balance slider all the way to the left brought it back.

1645804400358.png
 
Some quick testing this morning. I felt no vibration in track mode with the handling balance all the way to the rear. It seemed like a dramatic change. I could hold light throttle and flip the slider from front to rear and make the vibration appear and disappear like night and day.

Anyone want to test and confirm? I only had a few minutes to try it. I found the settings below eliminated the vibration and pulling the handling balance slider all the way to the left brought it back.

View attachment 773624
Will try to repeat that experiment with mine in the next day or so! Good work!
 
Some quick testing this morning. I felt no vibration in track mode with the handling balance all the way to the rear. It seemed like a dramatic change. I could hold light throttle and flip the slider from front to rear and make the vibration appear and disappear like night and day.

Anyone want to test and confirm? I only had a few minutes to try it. I found the settings below eliminated the vibration and pulling the handling balance slider all the way to the left brought it back.

View attachment 773624
Thank you for actually trying something instead of hypothesizing about it endlessly.