Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

Lowered my car this morning with adjustable links: Key steps that ensure precision

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
I am toying with the idea of running the left hand side of the car (front and back) 1/4" lower than the right hand side of the car... to compensate for road crowning... for the long stretched of highway I frequent.

It would give the car a more level side-to-side feeling ... but wouldn't be so dramatic as to create a "tipping" feeling when driving on zero crown roads.
 
A pair of wrenches. :D:D


I can not tell you the best way since nearly automotive repair/mod project I embark upon usually nets me several extra unused bolts at the completion. The tools that I have used for the many UL R&R on Veronica consist of a hydraulic jack, a Model S/X jack pad locator, several 2x8X10 pcs of wood stock to pre-load the suspension before final tightening so as not to induce a rotational bias thus causing accelerated wear on the UL bushings (I gotz learned up from the suspension maven/TMC titan on this thread), a box end wrench, a ratchet, blue locktite.

warning: I have no automotive certifications, no automotive training
If you modify your suspension, you are doing so at your own risk
If you modify your suspension, catastrophic results could occur
You should only allow trained Tesla employees to work on your car
 
I used a screw driver, the link connected to the hard point on the body is pretty easy you can just pry it off between the end link and the connection point on the body of the car. The connection to the sensor is a little trickier since the sensor arm is plastic and you don't want to torque it and break it. I've used a screw driver trip between the ball end and the wiper arm to gently pry, I've also held the wiper arm steady and pulled the link off brute force or by rotating it away from the wiper arm until it pops off. Just be sure to stabilize and protect the plastic sensor arm and you should be fine.

Hello Guys!
What is the best method to remove the original links?
 
  • Like
Reactions: H.Aulakoski
I use an interior trim fastener pulling tool to pull links ends off the ball.

It has a fork arrangement and is a pry bar meant for this kind of thing.

Just need to leverage it against something solid, I use blocks of wood to get different angles on the job.
tool.PNG
 
I see a few people on here with 22’s and Lowering Links, like me. Curious: what’s the measurement between the ground and the top of the wheel arch in low mode? Mine is currently 28.5” all around.

I’m planning a minor adjustment to get a little lower, and would like to drop to 27.75 (3/4” lower), but I’m worried about rear rubbing on the inner fender well, near the fender lip.

Just want to check to see if anyone has already tried this on 22”x10.5 rear wheels (et30) already.
 

Attachments

  • 4A8F68A4-913E-4DBF-B82A-4AFA6A430385.jpeg
    4A8F68A4-913E-4DBF-B82A-4AFA6A430385.jpeg
    617.7 KB · Views: 103
I have 19" stock wheels, not 22 but here's a data point that you might find helpful.

Just today, I lengthened all links around the car by +6mm precisely using fixed length links that are 3D printed

The rule of thumb I'm seeing is for every +2mm added to a link, the car is rougly 1/4" lower.

Now, in LOW setting the top of the wheel arches are (on average) 28 1/4" from the ground in the front of the car, and 28 1/2" in the rear. They can vary side / side by 1/4" easily.

I'm also seeing that the car is not highly precise in hitting and holding the exact same height for every lower / raise event. The car seems happy with a resolution that is +/- 1/4" from target. I'd say it's on the "conservative side" and that it will error on the high side and can be off by as much as 1/2" on any given lowering event.

You will go nuts trying to dial in anything better than 1/4 from what you're shooting for. Be happy when you're that close.
 
Last edited:
Is there a slop issue with your links? I ask only because I have metal ones (made from threaded ball receiver elements found in old Porsche carburetor throttle linkages and the like) on threaded rod with jam lock nuts. My car's ride height is reasonably repeatable (say +/- 1/8 ")
 
Zero slop on the link ends of these 3D printed plastic links, using PTEG plastic. These links snap fit over the balls and hold with spring force tight against the ball.

I get the same kind of lack of height precision with the stock links too.

I do notice that the brackets holding the ride height sensors are pretty flimsy aluminum bent form shapes that can easily be moved with an index finger poking them. Let me tell you a story...


After I had my rear motor changed and I was riding around with a rear corner that was almost 2" different in ride height that the rest of the corners, at all settings. And I didn't notice this for more than a year. I installed an adjustable link to dial that corner back into equivalence. Eventually I brought the car in to have the height recalibrated on stock links, thinking they missed a software calibrate step on one corner after doing the motor work. When I picked up the car, it was riding perfectly even again. I asked about the resolution and the tech said "bent the bracket back to it's proper position", he said sometimes when they're doing motor / axle work we bump the sensor mounts, usually remember to check height but this one escaped. I asked, "so no software recalibration required to level the car?" .. "Nope, just moved the bracket."
 
UPDATE 2: I spoke a bit too soon on accuracy. I think 1/4" of wiggle room is about right.

I tried setting the height at 28" on all 4 corners, and each corner seems to generally sit between 27.8" and 28.3".

The front seems to be slightly more accurate than the back.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DavidB