MPP compression rod and control arm bearings.

[gearchruncher]

MPP sports can be adjusted on the ground. Turned wheel to get to compression and the rears just need creative parking on a wood block to get enough rear fender gap on a lowered car to get to rebound.

Front rebound is easy with the frunk in… a drill, 3D printer and a long reach 2mm hex key to sacrifice

I think driving around with wood blocks and turning your wheels all over the place while also drilling holes in your car counts as "a pain.". This is not something you change depending on if you wife is in the car or not like was hinted at.

If it works for you, great, just don't want someone buying adjustable shocks thinking changing them is a sub 1 minute adjustment.

 

[Lindenwood]

Whew…….

I am 80/20 in the “this is going to be awesome” and “what the hell was I thinking” ratio .

#Yolo

(To be fair, I was already figuring I’d get the adjustable Comforts within the next 6-9 months anyways).

 

[SK360]

I think driving around with wood blocks and turning your wheels all over the place while also drilling holes in your car counts as "a pain.". This is not something you change depending on if you wife is in the car or not like was hinted at.

If it works for you, great, just don't want someone buying adjustable shocks thinking changing them is a sub 1 minute adjustment.

I always have a wood block in my sub trunk, otherwise you’re never getting a jack under it in an emergency. I also run 12/10 on the street and 5/5&4/4 for AutoX, I think some of the single adjustables may just be a knob under the Frunk but not sure.

 

[tm1v2]

For all this talk about adjusting your shocks, etc, there is an opposite view on this. Dennis Grant runs Autocross to Win, and his view on this is that there is one correct damping setting for a given car and it's springs, and more than that, the adjustments on a shock hardly ever do what you think or want, and lead to imbalanced shocks.

Just something to consider and read up about: Autocross to Win (DGs Autocross Secrets) - ATW Home Page

Plus, adjusting shocks on the Model 3 is a massive pain in the butt (are you really gonna take the frunk liner out and jack up the car constantly?).

I say all of this as an owner of adjustable shocks on a Model 3. Ones that I never touch anymore, and I am seriously considering having Dyno'd to match them up.

The reason adjustables on a Model 3 are the right shocks is because the best kits sold right now all use adjustable dampers. But that's very different from the idea that you will adjust them constantly, should adjust them, or that stiffer is better for performance.

No jacking or tools needed to adjust on my car. The rears I just reach in and adjust. For the fronts I got extensions so I don't need to remove the main frunk panel. I do pull off the upper frunk panel but no tools needed for that.

Basically the time to adjust is just however long it takes to count the clicks. A few minutes tops.

If you are focused only on lap times, sure, maybe no need to adjust unless you're running on wildly varying surface conditions. I can't speak for lap times in this car. However for street driving I assert that what's best for carefully driving my grandmother around is different than what my wife prefers, which is different than what's most fun and responsive for shredding up 40 miles of twisties, let alone what's best for driver control on track or autox.

Yes ideally one might change spring rates too to match, but that's obviously way way way more involved for coil springs than turning damper knobs. No need to let perfection be the enemy of the good. It's okay to adjust damping only for differing use cases and preferences in a street car / daily driver.

 

[tm1v2]

I think driving around with wood blocks and turning your wheels all over the place while also drilling holes in your car counts as "a pain.". This is not something you change depending on if you wife is in the car or not like was hinted at.

If it works for you, great, just don't want someone buying adjustable shocks thinking changing them is a sub 1 minute adjustment.

@gearchruncher Drilling two holes in the frunk panel for the adjuster extensions was a one-time thing, just part of the install. (If I ever put this car back to stock I'll get a replacement panel. It's a piece of plastic, no big deal.)

No blocks or turning wheels or anything like that needed with my car. I have Redwood Öhlins though and I think most of you have MPP KW's, it sounds like the KW might be a little more awkward but not too bad from @SK360's post. I'm also close to my M3P's stock height, about 2-3mm lower after fully settling. I could see the rears (knob at the bottom) being more difficult if I was really low.

Just to be clear, majority of the time I leave the dampers in a setting my wife likes. I don't adjust my dampers every day, I don't even drive every day. I'll probably end up adjusting the dampers at least twice most weeks though (e.g. firmer and back), once our driving habits settle into a new normal. (We have a lingering pandemic commitment that limits the driving and activities we can do.)

 

[gearchruncher]

it sounds like the KW might be a little more awkward but not too bad from @SK360's post.

KW's are dual adjustable. You have to adjust the top and bottom.

It's a piece of plastic, no big deal.

Tesla doesn't publish parts prices, but the frunk tub is $400-$500 on ebay.

Again, whatever works for people, but I AutoX 2X a month and I find it a pain, and just want to offer my experience if people are buying adjustable shocks on the hope they will be adjusting them daily.

 

[Motion122]

I’m still on completely stock rear arms. Sitting at -1.7 rear camber and 0 toe.

I am at -2 rear camber but with a slight toe-in. Really no need for rear adjustable camber arms.

 

[MasterC17]

I am at -2 rear camber but with a slight toe-in. Really no need for rear adjustable camber arms.

305's say otherwise

I really think it depends on your use case/goals with the car. For me, having easily and quickly adjustable rear camber is of great benefit. I can add or subtract .3 degrees of camber easily, and I know what adjustments I need to make to the toe arms to compensate.

Additionally, I was getting better tire wear at -3 than I was at -2.5. So, again, I think it depends ultimately on what you're end goals are.

 

[jackmott]

Given that an autocrosser might change spring rates, pull weight out of the car, change tire models and sizes, wheel sizes and mass, and mess with alignment all the time, then having adjustable shocks seems like it could be useful. On the other hand the # of people who do the kind of hard science you need to to figure out what the ideal shock setting is, is about zero. So does it matter?

There is an ancient legend of, I think Mark Daddio? Setting up a stock class neon with shocks that had such extremely stiff rebound damping that after a couple of turns the car would be squished down to the bumpstops, and then just stay there. Then he would finish a run, and you could watch the car slowly rise back up over a few seconds.

 

[dsgerbc]

305's say otherwise

You have a pm about that

 

[Motion122]

305's say otherwise

I really think it depends on your use case/goals with the car. For me, having easily and quickly adjustable rear camber is of great benefit. I can add or subtract .3 degrees of camber easily, and I know what adjustments I need to make to the toe arms to compensate.

Additionally, I was getting better tire wear at -3 than I was at -2.5. So, again, I think it depends ultimately on what you're end goals are.

I agree. If you are running 305's, you will need more negative to clear the fenders. Spring rates, anti roll bar, tires and many other contributing factors to the amount of camber needed.

 

[jtmoto]

At a minimum, you'll need to remove the bolt that holds the compression rod to the subframe. This way you can slide the bushing out and put the inserts in. I don't think you could do it with the compression rod fully installed!

We haven't noticed (or had anyone report) additional NVH from the inserts, probably because they are just hanging out during normal driving and only getting involved when you are either accelerating or decelerating hard enough to compress the bushing.

I don't know if they will reduce understeer, but the main improvement is stability under braking. There will be less squirming!

Do you need to re-align the car after changing out compression rod bushings and FLCA bushings?

 

[MasterC17]

Do you need to re-align the car after changing out compression rod bushings and FLCA bushings?

Yes, you should. The FLCA bushings themselves do not change the alignment, but where the bolts are relative to the subframe will change.

The compression rod bushings will increase caster, which will cause the other alignment values to change.

 

[jtmoto]

Yes, you should. The FLCA bushings themselves do not change the alignment, but where the bolts are relative to the subframe will change.

The compression rod bushings will increase caster, which will cause the other alignment values to change.

I see. Thanks for the explanation M

 

[Bennny]

Weighing up whether to go inserts or bearings for compression rod.

Given it’s a daily driver, what sort of NVMH actually gets introduced?

 

[MasterC17]

Weighing up whether to go inserts or bearings for compression rod.

Given it’s a daily driver, what sort of NVMH actually gets introduced?

It's certainly not bad, but it really depends on the person. I don't typically notice or get bothered by NVH stuff, but some people are extremely sensitive to it. And of course, not all NVH is the same.

I think it's one of those things, if you're asking, probably err on the side of caution.

 

[SFLM3P19]

its not bad, no more bother then any other "sports car"

What I do find more audible is braking noises, which I thoroughly enjoy.

but under hard and heavy braking(like autocross braking) you will get mechanical whirring sounds....the harder I brake, and the more lateral the g forces, the more I can hear the front end working against those forces. Just a more engaging experience at the limit, and with how little faith I have in any OEM joints for performance drivers, I dont see why you shouldnt want to experience full-bore handling potential.

 

[SFLM3P19]

what im saying is everyone here is looking for pretty much the best handling possible...with most considering a track day or two.
im not even tracking mine lol

MPP can send me their graph showing the substantial improvement with the inserts, but still having near 1mm of deflection, per side, I still call it a waste of time now that they came out with the bearings, which was stated to have near zero deflection.
(Inserts at a minimum for every tesla, when people stupidly swerve to avoid the pedestrian or deer, you need every inch of precise handling)


the deflection in our stock components is the main reason these cars handle like trash at the limits of braking, Gs and speeds.

 

[gearchruncher]

and with how little faith I have in any OEM joints for performance drivers, I dont see why you shouldnt want to experience full-bore handling potential.

You're replacing every single joint in the suspension because you have no faith in them? How do you evaluate an aftermarket part to be better for sure?

the deflection in our stock components is the main reason these cars handle like trash at the limits of braking, Gs and speeds.

While it's no 911, I don't think I've heard anyone call the Model 3 handling "trash." In fact, the car is so fast it's in SCCA's top stock class (with GT3s and GT4s). I'm interested, what alignment parameter do you think is varying over loads that causes this poor handling?

but under hard and heavy braking(like autocross braking) you will get mechanical whirring sounds....the harder I brake, and the more lateral the g forces, the more I can hear the front end working against those forces.

I have 500+ AutoX runs, many on very sticky tires, and I have never once heard this.

 

[Motion122]

You're replacing every single joint in the suspension because you have no faith in them? How do you evaluate an aftermarket part to be better for sure?

I totally agree. Too many people just slapping on all adjustable control arms they can find in a parts catalog! lol