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

[dark cloud]

What do “we” consider ideal rear allignment specifications? I’ve got a P85D with staggered 21’s. Not lowered. Would like 1) the car to handle well and 2) the tires to last as long as possible.

All I can give is my experience on 19's:

I had an alignment done 2 years ago. The rear camber were -1.75 L -2.0 R. I believe they align on standard and I drive on low 99% of the time, so my dynamic camber is even more negative; no sure how much more. The car handles on rails; have no need for 21's and the issues with potholes. (I used to roadrace motorcycles for a measure of how much g force I enjoy)

I believe the more important number for tire life is the toe: mine were on the small end of the scale; 0.17 and 0.18 (where the min spec is 0.15) and my Michelin 19" MXM4 have worn very well. The 21" don't wear as well as 19's, as the shoulder of the tires are firmer and therefore the whole tread is not on the road as evenly. (ASAIK)

Check out my 99% worn out RR (closeup of the inner shoulder); the middle grooves are on the wear bars, therefore I have 0/32nds of tire depth at the centre while 1/32 on the left and right (yes, I understand the risks; don't preach to me ) but the point is they have worn pretty evenly.

This centre wear also tells me the perfect tire pressure may be 43-44 psi over 45 psi (for the MXM4 anyway)

 

[EVTuning]

Pictures have been updated with product parts not prototypes.

 

[islandbayy]

Just ordered the camber adjustment links for my Model S. Can't wait to give them a review!

 

[EVTuning]

Just ordered the camber adjustment links for my Model S. Can't wait to give them a review!

Awesome thank you! Should be to you by the middle of next week.

 

[lolachampcar]

7075 is lovely stuff but it suffers from inter granular corrosion. It is worth keeping an eye on this.

This link is lightly loaded in comparison to the cross-sectional area (about a 1" thick part IIRC). It's actually a good weak link in an impact.

just my two cents worth.......

 

[dark cloud]

Check out my 99% worn out RR (closeup of the inner shoulder); the middle grooves are on the wear bars, therefore I have 0/32nds of tire depth at the centre while 1/32 on the left and right

Just to correct my ambiguous writing after rereading this: the tire tread when it has worn down to the wear bars has 2/32 of tire tread remaining, which means it is legally worn out: or 0/32nds of life remaining. So the tire above has 2/32 at the centre and 3/32 at the outer edges.

Just to emphasize that is with the camber at -2.1 degrees.

Anyone measured how much more the camber increases going from standard to low?

 

[Joelc]

Arrived much faster than their delivery estimate.
Placed my order 3 days ago.

Now just need to find someone to install them.
Any recommendations in NorCal SF/SJ?

 

[pimp-boy]

Custom alignment in Mountain View will probably do it... But they ain't cheap.

 

[Pluturi]

Just had mine installed at Electrified Garage. They look great and the alignment came in right on the numbers. Thanks Chad!

 

[Aggmeister2010]

I didn't know Tesla offered installation of these. May I ask how much they charged for it?
thanks

He meant that he just had Tesla install STOCK rear upper control arms. Tesla won't install aftermarket equipment. But to be honest, this installation is quite easy. You just need a couple sockets.

 

[islandbayy]

So, Overall, Undecided on these. FINALLY got around to having the installed. Drove out of the shop, and car felt wobblily as heck. Couldn't go in a straight line. Went back, checked alignment and it was pretty much spot on. Had an appointment with Tesla for some service, so thought I'd have them do another alignment, and it checked out. As the installation shop was going to have the calibration of their alignment machine checked. I've been using them for YEARS, and have never once had a problem with the quality of their work.
Tesla raises the car up, and back wheels are floppy. Turns out the toe bushings are all shot. Bolts were tight, everything was set as it should, nothing over-torqued or twisted. Not sure best way to say it. Camber bushings were fine. I'm waiting to hear back from Tesla what can be done. Said It's unsafe to drive (obviously) right now. By the time I got to tesla I felt like I was driving on a slick track.
Waiting to hear back if they would be willing to replace bushings. They don't usually install or work on after-market products. Given that it's the toe, of which i'm not too concerned about, I'll probably have them install factory links back on. Hopefully the camber bushings hold up :-(

 

[Aggmeister2010]

So, Overall, Undecided on these. FINALLY got around to having the installed. Drove out of the shop, and car felt wobblily as heck. Couldn't go in a straight line. Went back, checked alignment and it was pretty much spot on. Had an appointment with Tesla for some service, so thought I'd have them do another alignment, and it checked out. As the installation shop was going to have the calibration of their alignment machine checked. I've been using them for YEARS, and have never once had a problem with the quality of their work.
Tesla raises the car up, and back wheels are floppy. Turns out the toe bushings are all shot. Bolts were tight, everything was set as it should, nothing over-torqued or twisted. Not sure best way to say it. Camber bushings were fine. I'm waiting to hear back from Tesla what can be done. Said It's unsafe to drive (obviously) right now. By the time I got to tesla I felt like I was driving on a slick track.
Waiting to hear back if they would be willing to replace bushings. They don't usually install or work on after-market products. Given that it's the toe, of which i'm not too concerned about, I'll probably have them install factory links back on. Hopefully the camber bushings hold up :-(

Tesla won't work on anything non-factory. It's a huge liability no-no. You might be able to convince them to *remove* the aftermarket toe arms, but they won't do anything with them.

I'd say just put factory toe arms on. I'm using their first generation camber arms, and factory toe arms - works fine. As long as you have the camber adjusted already, the factory toe links seem to give plenty of room for adjustability.

 

[islandbayy]

Tesla won't work on anything non-factory. It's a huge liability no-no. You might be able to convince them to *remove* the aftermarket toe arms, but they won't do anything with them.

I'd say just put factory toe arms on. I'm using their first generation camber arms, and factory toe arms - works fine. As long as you have the camber adjusted already, the factory toe links seem to give plenty of room for adjustability.

Yes, correct. They were willing to do an alignment, And are willing to put new OEM toe links on, or possibly my original ones (I saved them of course) maybe. Either way, this has gotten costly :-( Not counting the current costs at Tesla Service, already could have purchased two if not three sets of tires :-( The old saying, leave good enough alone and if it aint broke don't fix it :-( This is a major one of those cases.

 

[David99]

If you look closely, BMW, Mercedes, Porsche, Auto, they all do their alignment that way. The fact that Tesla specifically put in arms that don't allow the camber to be adjusted in the rear wheels is another indicator. Maybe we shouldn't mess with it.

I drove over 300k with my Model S. The tire wear was a little uneven but not dramatically when it was newer. Over time it got worse and when it was eating up tired in 10k miles with very gentle driving I went to the service and they found worn out links. Once replaced the car stable again and tire wear was very reasonable.

 

[cmarshack]

So, Overall, Undecided on these. FINALLY got around to having the installed. Drove out of the shop, and car felt wobblily as heck. Couldn't go in a straight line. ..... Given that it's the toe, of which i'm not too concerned about, I'll probably have them install factory links back on. Hopefully the camber bushings hold up :-(

I am confused. Are you saying the bushings failed immediately when you drove out of the shop? And it was only the bushings in the toe arms? Do you have any photos?

 

[islandbayy]

I am confused. Are you saying the bushings failed immediately when you drove out of the shop? And it was only the bushings in the toe arms? Do you have any photos?

It was actually the camber arms. Mis-Communication with the service center before. Camber arms not toe link bushings, however, those are of the same consistency and don't look too good either right now

When I drove out of the installing shop, as I said, alignment felt off (When in the end, it was actually spot on). Meaning, the bushings were already having problems immediately upon install. By the time I got it in at service, the camber arms bushings were fairly mashed.

I will post photos. I left the links at my parents house 2 hrs away on my desk (Family Business), so this weekend I will get to photos.

Monday, I got a FedEx notice saying a package was delivered (Which either a porch pirate got the package or FedEx delivered to wrong address, as security camera had no FedEx delivery Monday). Tracked down where it came from, and it was actually EV Tuning. They responded that they were aware of defective bushings on earlier runs of the links and are proactively shipping out replacements to those who had gotten the older first run style. Unfortunately, it was a week too late, now that my vehicle is back to stock.
This was a large wasted expense for me. Original cost of the links, original cost for installation & alignment of the after market links, then all back to factory with alignment at Tesla service. Vehicle was not drive-able any longer by the time I got to Tesla.
EV Tuning did promptly refund me the original cost of the links. If FedEx ever figures out what happened to the replacement set they sent, I will send them back as well.
So thats where I'm at right now. All in all, after the refund for the links, this ended up being $2600 down the drain all in the name of trying to make my tires last longer. Thats 5 sets of tires I could have purchased :-(

 

[islandbayy]

I am confused. Are you saying the bushings failed immediately when you drove out of the shop? And it was only the bushings in the toe arms? Do you have any photos?

One note, the defective bushings, feel like a soft clay. In comparison to Tesla Stock bushings, which feel like a hard rubber.

 

[islandbayy]

pops came into town today, brought them with him. best i can get to show.

 

[D Unit]

islandbayy,

Has your issues with the EV Tuning camber arms been resolved? Or was it another issue? Has the vendor made any suggestions?

 

[islandbayy]

islandbayy,

Has your issues with the EV Tuning camber arms been resolved? Or was it another issue? Has the vendor made any suggestions?

They refunded me the cost of the adjustable camber arms. I cannot comment on the quality of the replacements, as the package marked delivered to my home, was never actually delivered to my home. FedEx driver must have delivered to the wrong address as no fedex delivery even shows on my security camera. So as far as I'm concerned, I guess it's resolved. Sucks I'm out the additional cost of restoring the car back to factory though.