New Traxxas Slash - Very Low Ride Height - Normal?

[BENBOBBY]

I recently bought a Traxxas Slash 4x4 Ultimate.

I was getting ready for its first outing and noticed the suspension is extremely slack and the chassis sits very low to the ground (less than a fingers width gap!). The plastic body is literally about an inch lower over the rear wheel than in all the official display pictures. So something doesn't seem right!

Compared to default:

I know you can alter the ride height slightly with spacers or twisting the retainer on the springs, but as this is an off road vehicle it doesn't make much sense that the default position is only a few mm off the ground!? Plus using spacers would obviously limit the suspension travel which can't be ideal.

In the display photos the retainer ring appears to be in the top position yet has way more clearance, so presumably this is how mine is supposed to be too?!

Thanks for any advice!

 

[DavidB1126]

Well, more lower ride height, the better it will stay planted! My race buggy is currently like 15mm ride height and its exactly like yours. For general use you don't want yours that low unless its real high traction surface.

You can lower the spring collar to add preload on the shocks. And/or move the shock mounting position on the arm further in.

My advice from using my slash 2wd. When i would run on carpet I would have the ride height set super low with no preload clips ( using the lower end shocks). When bashing I add 1 thick preload spacer to the rear shocks and it makes the arms even when at rest.

 

[WickedFog]

Adding spring spacers won't limit your travel. The shock shafts are what limits your travel. Add some spacers. Run it. If the chassis slaps, add more.

 

[easy rider]

Did you take the zip ties off on each end that comes on a car outta the box. It suppresses the suspension to fit in the retail box. It’s a legit question. Not being a wise guy.

 

[Panko75]

It's never a bad idea to check your shock oil when you buy a brand new RTR, they may not be filled all the way.

 

[Mrgoodwrench35]

It shouldn't sit that low, shock oil or not. I'm with easy rider, looks like it's zip tied in transport mode.

 

[Weezel]

It does look like a packaging ziptie is still attached.
This is an easy check. If you lift up on rear bumper do the rear arms drop down?

 

[9x19]

Nope not normal, see above ^

 

[RustyUs]

A pretty good guide from the fastest name in radio control...
Traxxas RC Suspension Tuning Guide: https://traxxas.com/news/suspension-tuning-guide-part2
Bookmark it.

 

[BENBOBBY]

Thanks for all the replies - its great to see a forum thats still so active an helpful these days (seem to have all been replaced with Discord!)

In the end I returned my model to store so they could have a look at it. But they weren't particularly helpful - they didnt check the shock oil level as I requested and basically said the model is as it should be and can adjust the ride height by winding down the collars.

They seemed to ignore the fact that in the display pictures and unboxing videos on YouTube the default ride height with the collars up seems to sit higher than with mine. As for the zip ties - there weren't any on mine, apparently the polystyrene locates it securely in the box.

Anyway I just got the model back and put the collars all the way down, it seems better but doing a short drop test from about knee level the bottom of the chassis still slams into the ground! Is that normal? The Traxxas promo video for the Slash Ultimate is basically 2 minutes of it doing massive jumps which I can't imagine mine doing with such soft suspension!!

How do I know if the shock oil is at the 'right level'?

 

[WickedFog]

Thanks for all the replies - its great to see a forum thats still so active an helpful these days (seem to have all been replaced with Discord!)

In the end I returned my model to store so they could have a look at it. But they weren't particularly helpful - they didnt check the shock oil level as I requested and basically said the model is as it should be and can adjust the ride height by winding down the collars.

They seemed to ignore the fact that in the display pictures and unboxing videos on YouTube the default ride height with the collars up seems to sit higher than with mine. As for the zip ties - there weren't any on mine, apparently the polystyrene locates it securely in the box.

Anyway I just got the model back and put the collars all the way down, it seems better but doing a short drop test from about knee level the bottom of the chassis still slams into the ground! Is that normal? The Traxxas promo video for the Slash Ultimate is basically 2 minutes of it doing massive jumps which I can't imagine mine doing with such soft suspension!!

How do I know if the shock oil is at the 'right level'?

Your shock oil has no effect on your ride height. It's the springs, and the springs alone that do that.

My only guess is your springs are too soft. Maybe somehow they got the wrong springs on there from the factory. If you bought that at a hobby shop, I would take it back there and have them replace it if they don't want to fix it. That definitely doesn't look like the normal ride height. Your A-arms should be more level to give your suspension decent travel in both directions.

 

[BENBOBBY]

Thanks for the reply and explanation.

Sounds plausible, is there any way to determine the stiffness of the springs used? Any markings etc? I notice there's 4 black lines (two lots of 2) at the top of each spring if thats significant?

Edit I see from the tuning guide posted above by RustyUs that the springs are indeed colour coded. From Traxxas' images they appear to be using black marked springs too, so seems like I do have the right ones. hmmm

 

[WickedFog]

Thanks for the reply and explanation.

Sounds plausible, is there any way to determine the stiffness of the springs used? Any markings etc? I notice there's 4 black lines (two lots of 2) at the top of each spring if thats significant?

Edit I see from the tuning guide posted above by RustyUs that the springs are indeed colour coded. From Traxxas' images they appear to be using black marked springs too, so seems like I do have the right ones. hmmm

I am not familiar with the Traxxas spring rates, but I 'think' those black marks tell you the spring rate.

You can check spring rate yourself. You would compress the springs 1", then see how much more weight it takes to compress them another inch.

There are spring rate testers out there too.

 

[easy rider]

At this point, if the car is wrong, I’d call Traxxas and tell them the problem I was having with my car and my lhs. If they can’t help, return it as defective for a full refund. And, don’t buy another thing from the store if that’s where you bought the car.

 

[WickedFog]

Good advice