MPP Lift Kit Install Instructions, Range Discussion & Driving Impressions

[Nakk]

First off, let me start out with a disclaimer. I am not a professional mechanic or an engineer. I do not recommend that you follow these instructions. This is merely an account of how I installed this lift kit in my car and it is only for entertainment purposes. If you install this kit, you should hire a professional licensed mechanic. This procedure is dangerous and you could be severely injured or killed. I wrote this in the manner of instructions ONLY to entertain and give you the feel of installing a lift kit in your own head, a fantasy if you will. Nothing in this story should be construed as actual instructions on performing this task. It is merely a story and I recommend that you only rely on the advice of professional mechanics if you decide to perform mechanical work of any kind.

There was no way I could post this as a thread due to the restrictions on attachments here. So I created a PDF and attached it to this post. If I had known everything in this file I could have cut my install time in half.

 

[Nakk]

Driving Impressions and Range Discussion.


Impressions:

Walking up to the car you notice the difference right off the bat. I like it. It looks meaner and more muscular. It looks like a bad ass crossover as opposed to trying to look like a track car. In my opinion, the Y looks better lifted than lowered. I think it’s too tall to look great lowered, I’d get a 3 for that. That’s just my opinion and others will obviously feel differently.


I was expecting a far bigger difference in handling after installing this kit. In normal driving the difference is not noticeable. If I drive it very, very hard I think I can discern a little bit more body roll. My guess is that 90% of drivers won’t notice any difference at all. Without doubt your lap times will go up at the track, but I’m pretty sure nobody who installs this kit plans on tracking it.


It is noticeably taller getting in to the car. If you find it at all too low stock, you are going to like this lift. My Wife is 5’7” and did not find it annoying at all, but someone shorter might. Driving around you can easily tell it’s a bit higher. Scrubbing curbs with the nose cease to be an issue while parking. Road construction no longer terrifies me. It still handles like a go cart. In short, I can think of no cons to lifting the Y. I really, really like driving the Y lifted.


Make no mistake, this lift does not make the Y a serious off-roader. But it does open up a lot of terrain and possibilities that are unthinkable at stock height. I plan on starting off with some sand driving soon.


Range:

This surprised me. Let me start off with just my impressions first. Driving around I’m not noticing a range penalty. I drove 21.2 miles to the Portland tesla Service Center to get it aligned. Mostly freeway miles, light traffic. I averaged 55 or 60 on the freeway portion of the drive. I averaged 221 Wh/mi. I didn’t hyper mile, but I did drive easy. The tech drove it about 7 ½ miles, I’m sure not easy. I drove home with a lead foot. Final roundtrip burn was 271 Wh/mi over 49.9 miles.


Prior to the lift I picked out a loop of about 11 miles. Almost all freeway. I accelerate to 65 mph, engage autopilot and reset the trip odometer at a specific spot. I stay in the same lane and avoid traffic as best I can. If there’s too much traffic I start over. I drive a bit over 5 miles, take the exit and re-enter the freeway in the opposite direction. It’s a quiet exit with almost no traffic and only one stop before re-entering. (There is a second light, but it’s always green and if it weren’t I’d re-do that lap.) I come back in the right lane and check Wh/mi at the same spot I started. Since I drive the same distance in opposite directions, the effect of wind should cancel out.


Pre-lift. 65 degrees. Light to no wind. Light traffic. Tire pressure 45 psi cold. 80% SOC. HVAC: Off. Headlights: Off. Windows closed. Three runs. 271 Wh/mi. 278 Wh/mi. 265 Wh/mi.


Post-lift. 65 degrees. Light to no wind. Light traffic. Tire pressure 45 psi cold. 80% SOC. HVAC: Off. Headlights: Off. Windows closed. Three runs. 280 Wh/mi. 272 Wh/mi. 261 Wh/mi.

 

[Nakk]

Before:

After

 

[Austrjweb]

Thanks for the write up! The install doesn't look too bad and your instructions were pretty clear; convinced me to buy a set when I get my MY in a few months. What direction are you in with respect to Portland so I know when to keep an eye out for your red, beastly beauty? I haven't seen any Model Ys in the wild in Portland, let alone where I'm at in Camas/ Vancouver... barely any Model 3s up here, even.

 

[Nakk]

Thanks! I'm pretty far from you. I'm way over in Camas... Those pictures are at the Camas/Washougal waterfront.

 

[Nakk]

We spent some time on the beach the last couple of days. Fun! First thing, we never would have made it without the lift kit. We scraped getting out even with the lift kit. Second, Off Road mode works great. Without it, the car just gives up when you get in a bit of a rut. Add power, nothing happens. No spin, no power, nothing. With Off Road selected on, it very nicely and smoothly pulls right on through the sand. Lastly, something is wrong with the software on the Y.

We hit a bump and bottomed out the suspension and lost all of the magic until we plugged in to a supercharger. Stability control, Cruise control, Regen Braking, Autopilot, Automatic emergency Braking, Brake hold and Off Road mode all failed. We called our Tesla Service Center and they studied the logs. Looks like when you bottom the suspension you get an unexpected steering angle and everything goes wonky. Hopefully this is straightened out soon, now that they know about it.

 

[DanDi58]

Doesn't seem like much downside, and it does look great! Does it void the warranty?

 

[Atraf]

Doesn't seem like much downside, and it does look great! Does it void the warranty?

It does not void the warranty however if repairs will be needed and Tesla would conclude that the reason for the problem is the new parts or their installation, in such scenario they could decline to honor the warranty.
That said, we are literally talking about a few small chunks of flat metal that goes between the suspension and the car, which doesn't even alter the wheel position geometry (ex: the front upper knuckle stays the same distance from the tire before/after installation).

 

[MountainPass]

This writeup is so detailed, and the pictures are amazing. Thank you for doing the range test in such a scientific manner. It is very interesting to see that the lift doesn't affect the range the same way it does on a Model 3.

 

[Nakk]

One more range comparison. The pic with 37.9 miles was taken a month or so ago. The two are after the same route under similar conditions. The one with 37.5 miles on the trip was taken today. It's just a bit shorter because I got stuck at a railroad crossing short of my destination. I knew it would be a long sit with the AC blasting, so I just ended the comparison there. The remaining .4 miles would have been a mix of downhill and flat at a speed of 25mph. The only real difference in conditions between the two trips is that it was definitely hotter today, about 80 - 85 degrees. I'm just not seeing a range impact with the lift kit. I expected one, but I'm not seeing it. Probably more rigid testing would show up some difference, but it's sure not enough to care about. That's my opinion anyways.

 

[Tipk99]

Nakk, thanks for posting all of this... Super helpful! I've got my MY and MPP lift kit on order and am very excited. I don't trust myself to wrench, so will be having a shop install and align for me.

I'm curious what you said about the suspension knuckle... Does this mean putting on a larger diameter tire is out of the question? I know it will affect the speedometer, but I was hoping to get a little more sidewall (I live in a rural area with crap roads) out of some new tires...

Thanks!

 

[Atraf]

Nakk, thanks for posting all of this... Super helpful! I've got my MY and MPP lift kit on order and am very excited. I don't trust myself to wrench, so will be having a shop install and align for me.

I'm curious what you said about the suspension knuckle... Does this mean putting on a larger diameter tire is out of the question? I know it will affect the speedometer, but I was hoping to get a little more sidewall (I live in a rural area with crap roads) out of some new tires...

Thanks!

In general wider tires also have slightly bigger sidewall, you can check for yourself via Tire Size Calculator

Not sure about the Model Y but for the Model 3, if most sidewall is the goal:
stock wheels (8.5" width, offset of +40mm ET) can accept 245/45R18 tires without rubbing or hitting the front upper knuckle
If you get 9" width aftermarket wheels with offset of +30mm ET, you can then use 255/45R18 tires without rubbing (the tires don't stick out of the car either)

I think I saw a video somewhere of the Model Y with the Model 3's Aero 18" wheels, not sure if they did anything to allow that (ex aftermarket brakes with more clearance or something), but if the Y accepts 18" wheels .. considering that the stock aero is 255/45R19 with diameter of 28" ... you could then go 255/50R18 which also have diameter of 28" but have 5" sidewall instead of stock 4.5"

Measure the distance between your car's front tire to the front upper knukle (bent metal thing right above tire), if there's at least 0.4" then you could go with 265/45R19 which will take you from 4.5" to 4.7" side wall, or if there's 0.6" clearance .. 245/50R19 which has sidewall of 4.8)

Perhaps someone with more tire fitment experience on the Model Y could chime in.

 

[Nakk]

I'm curious what you said about the suspension knuckle... Does this mean putting on a larger diameter tire is out of the question? I know it will affect the speedometer, but I was hoping to get a little more sidewall (I live in a rural area with crap roads) out of some new tires...!

No, it's not out of the question. The i1 Tesla guy has done it with his Y. I'm not sure what rims and tires he used, but I think they were 30" tall? There's a video on his channel, but I didn't see anything about how he fit them. My guess is a lower offset on his rims, possibly narrower tires as well. I don't know for sure though... He also had to modify his fender well in the front too I believe.

 

[Atraf]

No, it's not out of the question. The i1 Tesla guy has done it with his Y. I'm not sure what rims and tires he used, but I think they were 30" tall? There's a video on his channel, but I didn't see anything about how he fit them. My guess is a lower offset on his rims, possibly narrower tires as well. I don't know for sure though... He also had to modify his fender well in the front too I believe.

That guy is amazing /s, over 140 minutes of content about lifted Model Y, and at no point does he actually say how he did it
He also said 4" lift for about 130 min only to eventully say "no, sorry, its actually 1.75" MPP lift kit + 0.something" from getting bigger tires" and then follow up by "oh and its not 31" its 30" AND I have to go smaller as this one rubs"

I can't find the frame where he said the tire measurements (of the tire that was rubbing and wasn't working for him) but I'll save you two hours .. he never mentions the final tire sizes.

If you have a Model Y, the limiting factor, as far as I'm aware, are the front upper knuckle (assuming squared setup), thus, take some measurements and see what the gap is between the rubber and front upper knuckle, then plug it to a tire size calculator to figure out how much bigger you can go.
This an area with Model 3 and Y aren't the same, but in theory if they follow same general design...then if you go from stock +45mm offset to +35mm offset, and from width of 9.5" to 10" ... you could go from 255/45R19 to 265/45R19 (+0.2" sidewall, +0.4" diameter) and if you downsize to 18" wheels, you could go with 265/50R18 which has sidewall of 5.2" (+0.7" from stock)

But one of y'all will need to get down on a knee and measure and until someone tires it, we won't know for sure.

 

[Nakk]

That guy is amazing /s, over 140 minutes of content about lifted Model Y, and at no point does he actually say how he did it
He also said 4" lift for about 130 min only to eventully say "no, sorry, its actually 1.75" MPP lift kit + 0.something" from getting bigger tires" and then follow up by "oh and its not 31" its 30" AND I have to go smaller as this one rubs"

I can't find the frame where he said the tire measurements (of the tire that was rubbing and wasn't working for him) but I'll save you two hours .. he never mentions the final tire sizes.

Thanks for wading through all of that! What I did watch did seem pretty useless. Clearly the "4 inch lift" was just click bait.

But one of y'all will need to get down on a knee and measure and until someone tires it, we won't know for sure.

Exactly. Someone is going to have to test fit different tires on different offset rims to find out what actually works. I'm thinking 29" tall, 235 tires on a 35mm offset wheel. That might rub anyway, but I'm thinking it should clear the knuckle.

 

[Atraf]

Thanks for wading through all of that! What I did watch did seem pretty useless. Clearly the "4 inch lift" was just click bait.

I was so excited when I first saw his videos but ...I'm definitely not coming back for more.

Exactly. Someone is going to have to test fit different tires on different offset rims to find out what actually works. I'm thinking 29" tall, 235 tires on a 35mm offset wheel. That might rub anyway, but I'm thinking it should clear the knuckle.

There are two strategies with the upper knuckle, either you dodge it with narrow tires, narrow wheel, and big offset, or you get close to it from under as much as possible.

There's also the question of if you are looking for all terrain tires or not, as those don't come in too many sizes and both 3 and Y are only "almost" compatible.

Not too many people will be willing to try, most shops have a policy of only mounting tires you pay for and no refunds for tires mounted, with each tire being in the $220-$330 price range ... even if you just buy the one to check .. gamble wrong and you are down some nice money.

We can try guessing based on what we know from the Model 3 (see my above post) but until someone tires we wont know.

Maybe if we compare stock gap between tire and knuckle on the Y and compare it to the 3 we could draw some conclusion and what in theory should have very high probability of fitting.

Lastly, not sure how much should you go down in width to dodge the knuckle, while it will provide you with better traction in mud and snow... I am personally not a huge fan as dry traction will be worse and in my opinion this cars have borderline poor traction as is.
It really depends on what you are seeking to improve and what is your situation, if you have to drive on dirt road for 5 miles a day on all seasons ... then yeah that might make sense.

 

[Atraf]

Found something helpful

Screen Shot 2020-09-01 At 7.04.46 PM

• Atraf
• Sep 1, 2020

instagram[]com/p/CEhH4PaHAie/

outdoortech1
I have the stock 19inch wheels and choose to go with Falken WildPeak A/T 245/55/19 which is 29' Diameter with no rubbing at all, I think any bigger size would probably require some tweaking but this is probably the biggest you can go without touching anything else.

https://www.falkentire.com/tires/light-truck-suv-cuv-tires/wildpeak/t-trail-tire

Screen Shot 2020-09-01 At 7.04.37 PM

• Atraf
• Sep 1, 2020

instagram[]com/p/CEHxmRwlbC7/

Tires are loud but not as loud as studded winter tires:
technobingo
mindre en piggdekk, men på denne bilen er det ærlig talt mye som lager støy

 

[Atraf]

Ture to his brand another video about the setup without actually giving the require information in order to be able to replicate it, and a video montage of wrecking his own car like its a company car.

Unknown offset that makes the wheels protrude, (ET+20mm ? 10mm?)
18" wheels,
No idea about wheel width/J (probably 8.5"?)
Tires are toyo Open Country AT3 (https://www.toyotires.com/product/open-country-at3) - but we don't know the size (probably 29" overall diameter, last video he mentioned it was 30" and rubbing and he was going to down size)

 

[Nakk]

Unknown offset that makes the wheels protrude, (ET+20mm ? 10mm?)
18" wheels,
No idea about wheel width/J (probably 8.5"?)
Tires are toyo Open Country AT3 (https://www.toyotires.com/product/open-country-at3) - but we don't know the size (probably 29" overall diameter, last video he mentioned it was 30" and rubbing and he was going to down size)

They're Martian wheels, so probably 18/8.5" 35 mm offset. I'm guessing wheel spacers too. It looks like it, plus I think you'd need them to clear the upper knuckle in front. In the comments he says 245/60-18 tires so 29.6" diameter. That means he's rubbing the fronts during turns, although from this video I'm guessing he's not concerned about the minor damage the rubbing tires will cause! LOL

I aired down my 21s to 25 psi yesterday to drive on the sand. It worked, but I wouldn't want to be on anything harder than sand, LOL! It sure improved the Y's sand capability though. My Martian 19" wheels are supposed to be here next week. I'm crossing my fingers. That will make 22.5 psi work just fine in the sand I think.

 

[Atraf]

They're Martian wheels, so probably 18/8.5" 35 mm offset. I'm guessing wheel spacers too. It looks like it, plus I think you'd need them to clear the upper knuckle in front. In the comments he says 245/60-18 tires so 29.6" diameter. That means he's rubbing the fronts during turns, although from this video I'm guessing he's not concerned about the minor damage the rubbing tires will cause! LOL

I aired down my 21s to 25 psi yesterday to drive on the sand. It worked, but I wouldn't want to be on anything harder than sand, LOL! It sure improved the Y's sand capability though. My Martian 19" wheels are supposed to be here next week. I'm crossing my fingers. That will make 22.5 psi work just fine in the sand I think.

Drew from Martian wheels can allows order whichever offset you want, it just takes awhile to deliver and costs a tiny bit extra (forgot how much, about $100 or was it $100/wheel? legit forgot), so offset can be anything, I don't think 35mm offset is going to make it stick out at all, the stock 19" wheels come with 255/45-19 tires, the tire size you mention is way narrower, and I have seen users post with offset +30mm thats still not sticking out so thats why I guessed +10 or +20.

Thanks for catching the tire size comment, that tire supports 7-8.5J I'm ... pretty confident that he is running 8.5", so only the offset is unconfirmed, I suppose any of us can reach out to Drew from Martian and ask him to say which offset he knows to work with this tires.. and that will be the end of the mistry.