Sway Bars, End Links, and Rear Control Arms Installation & Impression

[beastmode13]

Please Mod, could we get a track dedicated sub-forum. Thanks


Overall all three companies produce high-quality parts. To be honest, I can't tell much difference of these parts made within the legal limits of street driving. The only time I could tell that the car behavior differently is when I was pushing a bit on the twisting roads of Page Mill/Skyline/Big Basin. With the rear sway set at medium and front at soft (thanks @isaax for the recommendation), there is more eagerness for the rear to rotate in tight sweepers. The real test comes when the car is on track. One thing I could possible validate is how these parts bling out the underside of my car.


Big thanks to @SD_Engnr for sharing the right Whiteline end_links and sharing his knowledge on suspension setup.


All three of these parts are relative to install and/or comes with good installation instructions, so I will only add insights and tips.


For some reason, @UnpluggedP installation instruction is not visible from their product page. A quick web search located a separate page with the instruction. Here is the link - model 3 sway bar installation guide - Unplugged Performance

Here is the specification from UPP product page.
Tesla standard 29mm front sway bar rate: 650 lbs/in
Unplugged Performance 31.8mm front sway bar rate soft: 720 lbs/in
Unplugged Performance 31.8mm front sway bar rate medium: 870 lbs/in
Unplugged Performance 31.8mm front sway bar rate firm: 1050 lbs/in

Rear

Tesla standard(none Performance) 16mm rear sway bar rate: 40 lbs/in
Tesla Performance 20mm, rate ???
Unplugged Performance 22mm rear sway bar rate soft: 114 lbs/in
Unplugged Performance 22mm rear sway bar rate medium: 130 lbs/in
Unplugged Performance 22mm rear sway bar rate firm: 150 lbs/in

UPP at this time does not have a torque spec for stock P rear bar. Given stock P bar is 20mm instead of 16mm, its toque force will be somewhere in between the 40lbs/in and 114lbs/in, perhaps it is around 80~100lbs/in. With this guestimation, it is easy to see with UPP sways bars, the rear will have a slightly higher increase rate compared to the front.

Front bar comparison. Both front and rear UPP bar have the bushing guide, a big plus.

Rear bar set at the softest setting.

 

[beastmode13]

Rear Control Arms.

Follow the instruction on @MountainPass website. Perhaps once upon the time, the control arms are shipped in preset of the correct length. My arms (toe & camber) were set too long compare to stock. Using stock nuts and bolts as tools, you can adjust the MPP arms to the right length. To maintain the stock alignment as much as possible, make sure you mark both sides of the eccentric bolts/washers for the toe arm before you remove them. I like to mark it with two lines to double the reference point.

MPP preset is longer than stock.

Using stock control arm bolt/nut as an alignment tool.

Wife's nail polish works great in a pinch as a paint marker pen.

The eccentric bolt and washer have two unequal sized grooves. Make sure they are aligned when you reinstall them.

You can maintain near stock alignment if you do the marking and alignment properly.

A solid block of wood is your friend. Jack up the suspension to where it would be when loaded with car's weight, torque all the control arms to spec.

 

[beastmode13]

Big thanks to @SD_Engnr for figuring out KLC180-295 and KLC102 are the proper links for P3.

Bright YELLOW bits.

Adjusting the length to 3mm longer than stock. This will get readjusted during corner balancing.

Use Whiteline supplied washers on each side of the sway bar mounting hole.

AnotheTesla idosynchrosy. Both of the Whiteline endlinks (F/12mm and R/10mm bolt size) and Tesla rear (10mm) have fine pitch thread. Tesla front (12mm) has coarse thread. Luckily, Whiteline comes with locknut for the endlinks.

Front

Rear

 

[Skione65]

@beastmode13,

Really appreciate you taking the time for this write up and spec out. Helps out a lot. I’ll have to decipher it all. Sure does give more flexibility and the ability to tweak for precision over OEM stock parts. Definite ability to dial in over stock.

Ski

 

[Orwell]

Another fine post from you. Thank you sir.

 

[Lucky13]

nice write up. What is the point of using end links like that? I never understood how they can help(I am not saying they don't just don't understand)? Can someone please enlighten me

 

[SD_Engnr]

nice write up. What is the point of using end links like that? I never understood how they can help(I am not saying they don't just don't understand)? Can someone please enlighten me

To remove preload on the sway bars. Probably worth 1second on the track

 

[beastmode13]

One second is huge when sixth thousand of a second was needed. @Lucky13 Kidding aside, might fine driving on a scorching day.

 

[beastmode13]

More detail discussion about the merits of adjustable end link. Some of us less talented need all the help we can.

Corner Balancing and alignment after coilover install?

 

[SD_Engnr]

One second is huge when sixth thousand of a second was needed. @Lucky13 Kidding aside, might fine driving on a scorching day.

Oooh, I left before @Lucky13 broke 2 minutes. Congrats to both he and Craig!

 

[Lucky13]

One second is huge when sixth thousand of a second was needed. @Lucky13 Kidding aside, might fine driving on a scorching day.

Haha, Craig wieghs less than me...

Oooh, I left before @Lucky13 broke 2 minutes. Congrats to both he and Craig!

Thnx dude. I really needed that sub 2. Craig is good at making me push harder.

I will look into understanding the preload better.

 

[dfwatt]

Rear Control Arms.

Follow the instruction on @MountainPass website. Perhaps once upon the time, the control arms are shipped in preset of the correct length. My arms (toe & camber) were set too long compare to stock. Using stock nuts and bolts as tools, you can adjust the MPP arms to the right length. To maintain the stock alignment as much as possible, make sure you mark both sides of the eccentric bolts/washers for the toe arm before you remove them. I like to mark it with two lines to double the reference point.

View attachment 435007

MPP preset is longer than stock.

View attachment 435011

Using stock control arm bolt/nut as an alignment tool.

View attachment 435010

View attachment 435009

View attachment 435014
Wife's nail polish works great in a pinch as a paint marker pen.

View attachment 435018
The eccentric bolt and washer have two unequal sized grooves. Make sure they are aligned when you reinstall them.

You can maintain near stock alignment if you do the marking and alignment properly.

View attachment 435020

A solid block of wood is your friend. Jack up the suspension to where it would be when loaded with car's weight, torque all the control arms to spec.

Another great write-up beastmode. We all owe you a debt of thanks!

 

[beastmode13]

I took the time to adjust the end links to remove any preload on the swaybar. I have a sloped driveway when using drive-on ramps the car is close enough to level; this allows me to work on one end of the vehicle at a time without fancy lifts.

My daughter plus eight gallons of water and a 20lb cowbell to simulate my weight in the driver's seat.

Without any weight in the car, the length of the end links from side to side are identical to reach zero preload. With the driver in the seat, the left side end links length are longer by approximately 1/4" for the front and 1/2 for the rear.

RearRight

RearLeft

FrontRight

FrontLeft

@Lucky13 Right there is worth at least a second.

 

[Lucky13]

I don't know but that looks like a lot of water weight, and hard to operate pedals like that..

 

[Knightshade]

I took the time to adjust the end links to remove any preload on the swaybar. I have a sloped driveway when using drive-on ramps the car is close enough to level; this allows me to work on one end of the vehicle at a time without fancy lifts.

My daughter plus eight gallons of water and a 20lb cowbell

 

[beastmode13]

Getting an alignment at The DriveWay in San Jose.

 

[beastmode13]

Stock, before the alignment. That -0.20 toe out on the right front is the reason why I needed to turn the steering wheel slightly to the left to go straight.

 

[beastmode13]

After the alignment. +0.04 toe in for the front, -0.04 toe out for the back. -1.8 camber rear.

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

Nail Polish. omg that's brilliant. Thanks!

 

[UnpluggedP]

Great review (and great pics) of your install and experience with our adjustable sway bars! Thank you so much for your support and for sharing this awesomeness here!

As far as the adjustability of the sway bars, Randy Pobst when development driving our sway bars for us preferred the rear bar at full stiff and the front bar on the first setting. In general we suggest the exact setting you have (front on level 1 and rear at level 2) and then adjusting the rear bar up or down depending on the desired balance of your driving style and car setup.