Proper suspension updates to accommodate LARGE wheel offsets or spacers

[Rothgarr]

Howdy. I'm in the early stages of looking at Artisan Spirit's widebody kit. On my car right now I"ve got 20/25mm spacers, but I'd likely get new wheels to fill out the wheel wells (the spacers would have to be pretty massive, and probably unsafe).

What would you recommend suspensions-wise to make up for the additional stress of the pretty extreme wheel offsets required to fill the wheels wells of the widebody kit? What about the bearings? I'm also curious if it's possible to have a bagged suspension as part of this setup.

For now, I'm just trying to figure out what the total cost would be of doing this all properly, so I'm trying to come up with a full parts list.

 

[P3D-R]

Where are you located? Do you know what tire sizing you're going for?

 

[Lindenwood]

Could you benefit? Sure. But I don’t think you would need to upgrade any components just for adding some weight and offset.

 

[Lindenwood]

Specifically, for the most likely wear items (steering rack and linkages, hub bearings, and maybe suspension bushings), there aren’t really any available options specifically built for increased longevity. (Arguably the MPP Compression Rod inserts, but again I really don’t think a few extra pounds and a little less offset is going to significantly affect wear on that part).

 

[Rothgarr]

Where are you located? Do you know what tire sizing you're going for?

I'm in Connecticut. I don't know what tire size yet. I'm just doing early research for now.

 

[Rothgarr]

Specifically, for the most likely wear items (steering rack and linkages, hub bearings, and maybe suspension bushings), there aren’t really any available options specifically built for increased longevity. (Arguably the MPP Compression Rod inserts, but again I really don’t think a few extra pounds and a little less offset is going to significantly affect wear on that part).

Interesting. Whenever spacers are mentioned there's always some people saying "good luck wheel bearings". But I have no idea how much of an actual concern that is.

 

[Rothgarr]

For reference, here's the inspiration of the project I'm researching.

 

[tm1v2]

Interesting. Whenever spacers are mentioned there's always some people saying "good luck wheel bearings". But I have no idea how much of an actual concern that is.

You will put more stress on the wheel bearings. In theory their lifetime will be shorter. They're not known as a weak point on this car though, so I think in practice you'll be fine, for street driving at least.

I once owned a car where the wheel bearings were a known weak point and common failure even stock during warranty period. Sure enough one failed on me. I'd NOT recommend a wider track on that car without upgrading the hubs. I haven't seen those common failure reports for Model 3 wheel bearings.

 

[Lindenwood]

You will put more stress on the wheel bearings. In theory their lifetime will be shorter. They're not known as a weak point on this car though, so I think in practice you'll be fine, for street driving at least.

I once owned a car where the wheel bearings were a known weak point and common failure even stock during warranty period. Sure enough one failed on me. I'd NOT recommend a wider track on that car without upgrading the hubs. I haven't seen those common failure reports for Model 3 wheel bearings.

Any data I’ve ever seen corroborates this. Yes you might take some nominal fraction off the service life. If it was 50k, you might blow them in 30k with an extra 30mm of offset. If it is 300k, most of us won’t have the vehicle long enough to ever see the consequences.