Ok, so right around a month ago I finally got around to installing my MPP Adjustable Coilovers and adjustable rear camber arms on my LRAWD Model 3. I had the coilovers installed at a local high-end tuning shop, and immediately following install took it to his recommended alignment shop/guy. I get the car back from alignment and I'm blown away at how much better the car feels compared to the stock suspension. After driving a bit and with the springs settling I ended up raising the car a bit to give me some additional clearance over neighborhood speed bumps and curbs. At this point, the car is still driving great, even with the ride height changes. I'm really happy at this point, because I felt the car previously had way too much body roll on hard turns and that was totally eliminated. The car feels brand new.
At the time, I had the car on the stock 18s with OEM all-seasons because I regularly take the car snowboarding in the winter. Fast forward to a week ago and I'm switching out the 18s for my summer wheels, 20" Vorsteiner VFF 109s, 245 front/285 rear Michelin PS4S. First driving impression is another "wow" moment going from the Primacy's to the PS4S plus extra tire width/stiffer sidewall. So now we get to the first issue. I'd just put new tires on the rear wheels and about 20 miles after driving a warning comes on the screen "Uneven rear tire wear. Rear tread depth too low." Which is literally impossible since they're brand new tires (fronts are probably worn down 40-50%). I'm planning on having the alignment re-done anyway at this point due to ride height changes and the new rear tires, so I'm not stressing it too much assuming this should sort it out.
Last Friday I take the car back to the alignment shop, and they tell me the normal alignment tech is out on vacation, but they have someone else that can work on it. I'm like ok fine, as long as they know what they're doing go for it. When I pick up the car (red flag- it took over 3 hours for the guy to "do" the alignment), they give me the printout and I'm immediately a little confused. I notice that theres a large difference in front camber (L-2.1, R-0.8), front cross camber is at -1.3, and the rear camber is now at L-2.6 and R-3.2... They didn't have time to test drive it because I was in a rush to make another appointment due to the alignment taking so long, and they said if there's any issues to bring it back. As soon as I leave the lot, I notice the car is pulling pretty decently to the left, but after a mile or two the "Uneven rear tire wear" alert turns off. I take the car back to the shop towards the end of the day and explain the pulling left issue, but that the "uneven rear tire wear" warning went away and they say they'll fix it. I get the car back, the guy tells me he's re-adjusted the rear camber to around -1 on each side, and that he thinks he's corrected the pulling left problem. We take it for a test drive and it's now pulling to the right! Not only that, but the "uneven rear tire wear" warning comes back on. It's now the end of the day, and he tells me to bring it back on Monday, and that the normal alignment tech should be back from vacation.
I'm very hopeful that the normal alignment guy can get me dialed in, driving straight, and avoiding uneven tire wear tomorrow, but any advice here would be appreciated... Is it normal to have to run that much negative camber in the rear to avoid that tire wear warning going off? If it was a camber issue, why didn't I get that with the stock tires on? What camber/toe specs are you guys using for street setup? Front cross camber should be as close to 0 as possible right? Is there anything particularly difficult about doing an alignment on a Tesla that I should be aware of?
If you made it this far, thanks for going on this journey with me, and thank you for any help you can provide!!!
At the time, I had the car on the stock 18s with OEM all-seasons because I regularly take the car snowboarding in the winter. Fast forward to a week ago and I'm switching out the 18s for my summer wheels, 20" Vorsteiner VFF 109s, 245 front/285 rear Michelin PS4S. First driving impression is another "wow" moment going from the Primacy's to the PS4S plus extra tire width/stiffer sidewall. So now we get to the first issue. I'd just put new tires on the rear wheels and about 20 miles after driving a warning comes on the screen "Uneven rear tire wear. Rear tread depth too low." Which is literally impossible since they're brand new tires (fronts are probably worn down 40-50%). I'm planning on having the alignment re-done anyway at this point due to ride height changes and the new rear tires, so I'm not stressing it too much assuming this should sort it out.
Last Friday I take the car back to the alignment shop, and they tell me the normal alignment tech is out on vacation, but they have someone else that can work on it. I'm like ok fine, as long as they know what they're doing go for it. When I pick up the car (red flag- it took over 3 hours for the guy to "do" the alignment), they give me the printout and I'm immediately a little confused. I notice that theres a large difference in front camber (L-2.1, R-0.8), front cross camber is at -1.3, and the rear camber is now at L-2.6 and R-3.2... They didn't have time to test drive it because I was in a rush to make another appointment due to the alignment taking so long, and they said if there's any issues to bring it back. As soon as I leave the lot, I notice the car is pulling pretty decently to the left, but after a mile or two the "Uneven rear tire wear" alert turns off. I take the car back to the shop towards the end of the day and explain the pulling left issue, but that the "uneven rear tire wear" warning went away and they say they'll fix it. I get the car back, the guy tells me he's re-adjusted the rear camber to around -1 on each side, and that he thinks he's corrected the pulling left problem. We take it for a test drive and it's now pulling to the right! Not only that, but the "uneven rear tire wear" warning comes back on. It's now the end of the day, and he tells me to bring it back on Monday, and that the normal alignment tech should be back from vacation.
I'm very hopeful that the normal alignment guy can get me dialed in, driving straight, and avoiding uneven tire wear tomorrow, but any advice here would be appreciated... Is it normal to have to run that much negative camber in the rear to avoid that tire wear warning going off? If it was a camber issue, why didn't I get that with the stock tires on? What camber/toe specs are you guys using for street setup? Front cross camber should be as close to 0 as possible right? Is there anything particularly difficult about doing an alignment on a Tesla that I should be aware of?
If you made it this far, thanks for going on this journey with me, and thank you for any help you can provide!!!
