Running 4 shocks instead of 8?

[red rado]

Well I want to start off with a short into...

My name is Rich, I'm new here. I've been into the RC game for a couple months now and have already learned a bit from reading the threads in this forum....

now on to the topic. Rather than spending a bunch of money upfront, I decided to go after my suspension yesterday. All I bought were 4 trinity heavy,heavy,heavy blue springs and 80wt oil.

With only 4 shocks installed and setup to where the A arms sit flat. I was able to drop it from 3' with bearly bottoming out.

I tried doubling up with one set of stocks and one modded set of shocks and was able to drop it from 5' without bottoming out, but it would jump back up another 6"....not good for racing...

Today I'm going to re-valve a set of stock shocks to the single hole valves and 80wt with the blue springs and I'll let you know...

anyone else in here running singles at each corner? if so, what's your setup and drop test results?

 

[mrfatride]

well the only things i hear about people runnin 4 shocks they are using 1/8 buggy shocks.

 

[red rado]

yeah

Yeah Well I re-valved my stock shocks and they are basicly junk. There is too much of a gap between the stock pisons/valve and the shock bodies to make the oil usefull.....So in summary stock traxxas shock pistons are a joke

So I guess, next payday I'll be looking at some Ofna 9.5 rear shocks to go all the way around.

 

[SkyMaxx]

From what I understand of suspensions and racing, most racers do not go with quite as stiff a set-up as what you have described. I won't speak for them, but heavy springs with 80wt oil makes for a shock that has extremely slow atriculation...meaning really freaking stiff. For road racing this might be what you want, but for offroad racing you need a slightly less stiff set up (even if you are running only the four shocks). With a super stiff suspension , every little bump is going to push the wheels off the ground and remove them from driving. The object is to try and keep all four on the dirt and pushing as much as possible (except when taking the jumps).

What do I recommend? As a basher with a heavily modified T-Maxx (that weighs quite a bit also) I have some seriously heavy suspension but not nearly as heaavy as what you described. I have Trinity Heavy (blue) and super heavy (black) springs mounted on 8 AE aluminum shocks with 60wt oil. I have also added bumpstops to the shafts to further keep the truck from bottoming out on big air.

As a racer, I'll have to defer to those who are. Sorry.

 

[SilentHunterKellen]

:stupid: For racing, go with some lighter shock oil 50wt should be perfect! Go with springs that lower the ride height to about even arm lengths. One set of shocks at each corner couldnt be good for your A-Arms or shock mounts. Wouldnt landing hurt the shocks alot more since there are alot less places of absorbation-(wtf word is that?). Just my 2 cents.
[move]-Kellen[/move]

 

[red rado]

Thanks guys..... I only went with the 80 wt because the 60wt didn't do anything for the shocks and pretty much the same with the 80....no real change....

I would guess there is about .25mm gap between the piston and the sidewall of the shock body.

All of the local tracks I've been racing on since I started a few months ago are all groomed tracks. Of the 3 tracks 2 of them have 4' tall jumps where 6' air is not uncommon.

the big thing is I don't want any bounce if I flat bottom the big doubles.

I currently also use Unlimited Engineering shock towers (hand me downs) so I can actually have the shocks fully preloaded and have the A arms sitting flat.

I also run Proline bowties with wide offset RPM wheels, and MIP CVD's all the way around.

here is a pic of the shock towers from unlimited:

 

[AoD]

A few racers here run two in the back and one in the front on each side. It seems to work for them, and air is certainly a BIG factor around here. They all like the lighter weight oils for the big landings. If it bottoms out, they just keep going. They all say that bottoming out is better than flipping, and if that's the way it's gotta be, then it's gotta be that way.

 

[red rado]

Yeah but,....

I've got a friend of mine( the one that got me addicted) He runs 8 ofna supershocks with blacks and 60wt. gets the same air with no bounce at all. its totally controlled.

it turns flat. the front inside tire doesn't come up off the ground.

its all traction all the time.

I know, I know....why not just do what he's doing right.... well at over $200 in shocks, thats why. So I'm figuring same shock heavier spring and oil, and whaaaala..... I'll find out here in a couple weeks.... other wise I'll just end up with his same setup.

 

[Supernitro17]

just make sure it doesn't land solid like a brick , you need some kind of motion in the shocks, it will also help handling a little bit if you have some slight roll in the turns, not a lot , but you dont want to be driving a wooden plank around a track. the lean will keep you from sliding around.

you could also simply swap oils and springs on your stock shocks ... that would be cheap and seems to work fine for a lot of guys.

 

[HumboldtBlazer]

I am currently running 4 long 1/8 GS buggy shocks on my Maxx and it handles so much better in my opinion. not only can I jump higher without bottoming out I can keep more wheel to the ground as SkyMaxx put it so well. I think those plastic shocks are for people that dont get real daring or demanding with their T-Maxxes. IMHO they are junk and should be one of the first things that get replaced if you race or like to jump big.

 

[red rado]

yep,

I ordered my Ofna 9.5 rears to go all the way around yesterday afternoon.

As for the stock shocks, I did try different springs and oils but because there is a gap between the piston and the shock body, Oils are useless.

My new shocks should be in next week and on the weekend, I'll try and get some video in.