Vendor Rear Adjustable Camber Bushings for Model S/X Group Buy

[Pluturi]

Thanks for the responses. I didn't install toe arms as the EV Tuning guys said it was unnecessary, but had the EV Tuning guys adjust the toe to the "appropriate spec (+0.20) for what I was trying to do (extend tire life)".

Yes, my S has a rear motor...a rather large one actually . To be clear, I didn't drive on these during winter...Pilot Super Sports and NY winter don't agree with each other; Took them off in October and back on in April. If others are having success I guess I'll go for another alignment, but the "fallen out of spec somehow" is my concern given these are replacement arms...

 

[pabla]

Thanks for the responses. I didn't install toe arms as the EV Tuning guys said it was unnecessary, but had the EV Tuning guys adjust the toe to the "appropriate spec (+0.20) for what I was trying to do (extend tire life)".

Yes, my S has a rear motor...a rather large one actually . To be clear, I didn't drive on these during winter...Pilot Super Sports and NY winter don't agree with each other; Took them off in October and back on in April. If others are having success I guess I'll go for another alignment, but the "fallen out of spec somehow" is my concern given these are replacement arms...

Yea then something doesn't sound right, I would definitely get the alignment checked out.

 

[Aggmeister2010]

Has anybody seen in the forum any discussion of actual experience using these arms, e.g., tire mileage after installation, etc.? I'll offer mine in hopes of getting others.

I installed the EV Tuning arms and had them do the alignment to -1.0 camber in the rear back in September. 9 months and 8000 miles later I've worn through the insides...lots of tread left on the outside (see photo). It feels like this isn't a lot different than what I would have gotten with the Tesla OEM setup. Am I wrong? Were my expectations for increased tread life too high? I do like to run in Low all the time, but I don't do launches and don't have what I would call a heavy foot.

Did you have your car aligned at the same height that you drive? What were your toe values?

To me, that looks like you have too much camber AND too much toe. No other way around it, the inner edge was getting nuked. So, I might suggest having the alignment re-checked at your drive height....make sure the camber is between -1 and -1.8ish, and toe between -0.5 and -0.10 (toe in).

 

[Pluturi]

Thanks for the response. Aligned in Standard, driven in Low per the Electrified Garage procedure (they did the arm installation and alignment). Their recommended toe was +0.2, so that's what it had, at least back then.

 

[Aggmeister2010]

Thanks for the response. Aligned in Standard, driven in Low per the Electrified Garage procedure (they did the arm installation and alignment). Their recommended toe was +0.2, so that's what it had, at least back then.

Ok, I'm assuming that's 0.2 degrees *IN* for toe. that's fine. (You don't want toe out in the back or it'll wander around)

If your car was aligned in standard and then lowered, you're probably at about -1.5 deg camber, and +0.6 toe, both of which are good. Is your car lowered?

 

[N2itive]

Has anybody seen in the forum any discussion of actual experience using these arms, e.g., tire mileage after installation, etc.? I'll offer mine in hopes of getting others.

I installed the EV Tuning arms and had them do the alignment to -1.0 camber in the rear back in September. 9 months and 8000 miles later I've worn through the insides...lots of tread left on the outside (see photo). It feels like this isn't a lot different than what I would have gotten with the Tesla OEM setup. Am I wrong? Were my expectations for increased tread life too high? I do like to run in Low all the time, but I don't do launches and don't have what I would call a heavy foot.

You should check your alignment now. There is no way that your toe is set correctly by looking at this image. Also make sure your bushings aren't shot.

 

[Doanster1]

And looking at the center ribs, the tread is almost to the west bars as well after only 8k miles. Closet red-light racer???
Seriously though, def interested to see what the new alignment readings are.

 

[Pluturi]

Thanks for the responses. To answer the remaining question, the car isn't lowered.

I certainly hope the bushings aren't shot after such a short time, but I guess this is the kind of feedback I'm looking for. Is this something that can be visually determined by looking at the installed arms, or do they have to be taken out? Attached is a picture of one side of the arm installed.

I'll get an alignment and we'll go from there.

 

[pabla]

Well @Doanster1 I dropped of my car to another shop, this time a shop which has dealt with adjustable camber arms in the past (for a Model 3 though) and I gave them your spec and said I want this. Just got the phone call that the toe basically becomes 1.2” when the camber is set the same as yours. So they will likely have to set the camber back to the -2.5 to get the toe back in spec, that way I am getting the best of both worlds. Looks like I am going to need adjustable toe arms but I’d rather just go through a set of tires honestly than install those and have to realign the suspension again lol!

You don’t have adjustable toe arms right? How low is your car and what rear tires are you on? Just want to know so I can compare both of our cars. It honestly may be because I am on the Raven suspension which may have slightly different suspension components than regular air suspension models

 

[Doanster1]

Well @Doanster1 I dropped of my car to another shop, this time a shop which has dealt with adjustable camber arms in the past (for a Model 3 though) and I gave them your spec and said I want this. Just got the phone call that the toe basically becomes 1.2” when the camber is set the same as yours. So they will likely have to set the camber back to the -2.5 to get the toe back in spec, that way I am getting the best of both worlds. Looks like I am going to need adjustable toe arms but I’d rather just go through a set of tires honestly than install those and have to realign the suspension again lol!

You don’t have adjustable toe arms right? How low is your car and what rear tires are you on? Just want to know so I can compare both of our cars. It honestly may be because I am on the Raven suspension which may have slightly different suspension components than regular air suspension models

It was @aggmeister that published his final alignment specs. My EV Tuning arms are still sitting on my workbench in the garage.
I am on stock SAS and run 20” Falkens. I get about 20K miles before the inner tread is trashed.

 

[Aggmeister2010]

Well @Doanster1 I dropped of my car to another shop, this time a shop which has dealt with adjustable camber arms in the past (for a Model 3 though) and I gave them your spec and said I want this. Just got the phone call that the toe basically becomes 1.2” when the camber is set the same as yours. So they will likely have to set the camber back to the -2.5 to get the toe back in spec, that way I am getting the best of both worlds. Looks like I am going to need adjustable toe arms but I’d rather just go through a set of tires honestly than install those and have to realign the suspension again lol!

You don’t have adjustable toe arms right? How low is your car and what rear tires are you on? Just want to know so I can compare both of our cars. It honestly may be because I am on the Raven suspension which may have slightly different suspension components than regular air suspension models

My car is 27.75" from ground-to-wheel-arch in Low (which I drive in 100% of the time). It's lower than factory, but not excessively so. I have 21" Vossen HF-4T's with 285/30/21 tires in the bck.


I do have factory toe arms.....and the factory toe arms ARE adjustable. Of course, toe changes as camber changes -- so if they didn't adjust the toe, then any change in camber will cause incorrect toe values. If they didn't adjust the toe, I'd ask them to do it again for free.

The only difference is, aftermarket ones are threaded, vs factory ones use an eccentric bolt and cam. The aftermarket ones are slightly more accurate, but if you're slow and careful it's not hard to get specific values out of factory toe arms.

And if you're following my specs, you should have no issue getting the right toe values out of factory arms.

The raven struts may be different, but I don't think the suspension arms are different. The Tesla EPC shows the same part number up until the Plaid vehicles -- 1043964-00-C.

 

[pabla]

My car is 27.75" from ground-to-wheel-arch in Low (which I drive in 100% of the time). It's lower than factory, but not excessively so. I have 21" Vossen HF-4T's with 285/30/21 tires in the bck.


I do have factory toe arms.....and the factory toe arms ARE adjustable. Of course, toe changes as camber changes -- so if they didn't adjust the toe, then any change in camber will cause incorrect toe values. If they didn't adjust the toe, I'd ask them to do it again for free.

The only difference is, aftermarket ones are threaded, vs factory ones use an eccentric bolt and cam. The aftermarket ones are slightly more accurate, but if you're slow and careful it's not hard to get specific values out of factory toe arms.

And if you're following my specs, you should have no issue getting the right toe values out of factory arms.

The raven struts may be different, but I don't think the suspension arms are different. The Tesla EPC shows the same part number up until the Plaid vehicles -- 1043964-00-C.

Whoops sorry @Doanster1 accidentally tagged the wrong person LOL! I was at the shop writing my original post so I will clarify a bit.

They did try adjusting the toe but it was maxed out at the -1.2 camber. This is the second shop that's had that issue now.

I really don't know why I can't get the same specs as you, I am at the same ride heights as you and the exact same rear tire set up (not sure if that makes a difference honestly). Guess there's nothing more I can do at this point, must be something slightly different between mine and your vehicle, but hey a -2.3 camber isn't THAT bad either would've been worse without the adjustable arms.

 

[Doanster1]

Whoops sorry @Doanster1 accidentally tagged the wrong person LOL! I was at the shop writing my original post so I will clarify a bit.

They did try adjusting the toe but it was maxed out at the -1.2 camber. This is the second shop that's had that issue now.

I really don't know why I can't get the same specs as you, I am at the same ride heights as you and the exact same rear tire set up (not sure if that makes a difference honestly). Guess there's nothing more I can do at this point, must be something slightly different between mine and your vehicle, but hey a -2.3 camber isn't THAT bad either would've been worse without the adjustable arms.

No worries. Just hope you get it sorted out vs settling for basically no change from the stock setup.

 

[Aggmeister2010]

Whoops sorry @Doanster1 accidentally tagged the wrong person LOL! I was at the shop writing my original post so I will clarify a bit.

They did try adjusting the toe but it was maxed out at the -1.2 camber. This is the second shop that's had that issue now.

I really don't know why I can't get the same specs as you, I am at the same ride heights as you and the exact same rear tire set up (not sure if that makes a difference honestly). Guess there's nothing more I can do at this point, must be something slightly different between mine and your vehicle, but hey a -2.3 camber isn't THAT bad either would've been worse without the adjustable arms.

Honestly, -1.2 degrees of camber is pretty damn good, especially when coming from -2.3. That's plenty neutral to eliminate most of your inner edge wear without making the car squirrely in the back. If they can match that on both sides, I'd stick with that!

 

[pabla]

Honestly, -1.2 degrees of camber is pretty damn good, especially when coming from -2.3. That's plenty neutral to eliminate most of your inner edge wear without making the car squirrely in the back. If they can match that on both sides, I'd stick with that!

They weren’t able to get to the-1.2 of camber without the toe going way out of spec, I think they said it was at a 1.3”. The cars back now and it’s at a -2.3 camber with a 0.1” toe

 

[Aggmeister2010]

They weren’t able to get to the-1.2 of camber without the toe going way out of spec, I think they said it was at a 1.3”. The cars back now and it’s at a -2.3 camber with a 0.1” toe

That's the fun part of alignments - it's a balance. changing one thing affects the others. So, I do think they could potentially get you to -1.5 or -1.8 degrees of camber within the limits of your toe arms, and even that change is significantly easier on your tires than -2.3.

 

[pabla]

That's the fun part of alignments - it's a balance. changing one thing affects the others. So, I do think they could potentially get you to -1.5 or -1.8 degrees of camber within the limits of your toe arms, and even that change is significantly easier on your tires than -2.3.

At this point I’m just going to stay at the -2.3, if I spend another $150+ on alignment I’m already over the price of a set of tires

 

[Aggmeister2010]

At this point I’m just going to stay at the -2.3, if I spend another $150+ on alignment I’m already over the price of a set of tires

Fair enough. I'm surprised that their response to not being able to meet -1.2 was to totally undo their work, rather than just find the max balance they could get between accurate toe and camber.....but each shop has their own way of doing things.

 

[pabla]

Fair enough. I'm surprised that their response to not being able to meet -1.2 was to totally undo their work, rather than just find the max balance they could get between accurate toe and camber.....but each shop has their own way of doing things.

It was already past end of day for them, they spent 2 hours getting the -1.2 camber in the first place and I needed the car back for the next day. I’m sure they could’ve got a better camber with the toe still in spec, but I didn’t force it either.

 

[Pluturi]

Following up for completeness...
Had the realignment done. Camber had drifted back to -2.3 and toe was 0.28. Not sure if I still believe that is enough to cause that much wear, but those were the numbers. More concerning is now that it has been realigned (not by Tesla because of the third-party arms) it now has a nasty fishtail on hard acceleration (enough to engage the rear motor). The alignment sheet says that it is pretty close to what I requested. -1.3/0.2 rear camber/toe respectively. Any ideas on what they messed up to introduce the fishtail?