I might be going to the darkside

[SkyMaxx]

After taking to setting up my own shocks, I have never broken a single one. Prior to that I was popping shock caps on my T-Maxx left and right with the stock springs and oil. I then moved to all aluminum shocks with 60wt and Trinity springs and solved my problems.

When I bought my Savage, I went straight to all aluminum shocks with 60wt. Why? Because I expected to have similar problems with the all plastic stock shocks; that was until I felt the weak ass springs and oil in the shock. I probably could have left them stock with the HPI setup, but I knew those suckers would allow the heavy Savage to bottom out on my first major air. I didn't want that to happen.

For the record, I have not broken my shocks with this set up. The only damage to any shock of mine has been a broken rod end or two during install of the new HB threaded shocks and one rod end that let go during a major tumble after a very poor landing.

BTW...anyone out there know if Trinity is going to start making springs for the Savage?

 

[pseudorhombicubictahedron]

oh...i was talking about the stock shocks not HB aluminums...the only way the stocks would break would be in a crash or if you put really high wt oil in them...mine busted because of the petrol based shock oil HPI supplied with the savage solidifying and wouldnt compress in jumps. doesn't your savage just bounce around though with 60wt oil ...mine was doing it with just 30 wt...that is until i went back down to 10. trinity?? if they make springs for t-maxx i dont see why they wouldnt for the savage in the near future.

 

[SkyMaxx]

If your truck is bouncing around, it is because the springs are doing all of the work for your shock or the oil weight is too heavy as you mentioned.

The purpose of the oil/silicone cylinder is to dampen the action of the spring...allowing the shock to smoothly compress and in a controlled manner decompress. They key to making this work is to find the right silicone/oil weight that is appropriate for your shock set up (ie number of piston holes, overall weight of the truck, strength of the springs, preload and positioning if you have a multi position shock tower).

If the weight of the oil is so heavy that it impedes the motion of the shock, then you will get a truck that "bounces" do to the extremely stiff nature of the suspension. Time to lower the oil wt. If the truck seems to spend most of its time dragging its undercarriage over the terrain, then you need to get a heavier wt oil/silicone.

My Savage seems to like the set up I have given it. It runs smoothly over rough terrain and seems to absorb jumps without difficulty. When I get some decent weather and time to try for some serious air, I'll let you know how my set up handles it.