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Stampede 4x4 shocks

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Mikeryder

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Hi all, I am now learning pretty quick. Honing my driving skills. I need to learn quite a bit more. I have a question about my shocks. My kit came with shock adjusters(inserts). Now I'm learning to drive(btw I'm 61 and my first truck) I'm getting better. I have noticed if I jump off a small hill onto the road it bottoms out. Do the inserts help with this? This is my new stress release not a basher. I'm trying now to get it tuned in as much as i can. Its fun......
Mike
 
Hi all, I am now learning pretty quick. Honing my driving skills. I need to learn quite a bit more. I have a question about my shocks. My kit came with shock adjusters(inserts). Now I'm learning to drive(btw I'm 61 and my first truck) I'm getting better. I have noticed if I jump off a small hill onto the road it bottoms out. Do the inserts help with this? This is my new stress release not a basher. I'm trying now to get it tuned in as much as i can. Its fun......
Mike
It will help because it puts more tension on the springs to begin with, so they want to rebound sooner, but it will make it sit higher. You could add spacers and move the shocks to an outer shock mounting location if possible. You could also replace the shock fluid (if they are already filled) with thicker fluid, which would increase the damping and make it harder to bottom out. You could also get stiffer springs. Just depends on what you feel comfortable doing.
 
Thanks, I am starting to get it. I have relized the soft shocks are great for turns without flipping. but there also to soft for a little jump. I need to find my sweet spot. I'm just not sure what different shocks, oil, spacers will do. I guess like everone else I will learn, as I have limited funds, I'm trying not to do it the hard way.
 
Experiment with the free options first, shock position and spring tension via the spacers is a good place to start. The fronts and backs don't always have to have the same settings. Good to experiment and learn, especially when there is no cost involved.
 
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You want the shocks to bottom out and let the chassis slap the ground, as in not letting this happen will break many, many things... shock towers, a-arms, shock rod ends, shock rods, bend hinge pins, etc.

For better shocks, look at getting Traxxas GTR shocks. The GTR shocks are a huge upgrade over the stock Ultra Shocks that come on the truck.

Traxxas just refreshed the 3s 4x4 and 2wd lineup, and those come with composite GTR shocks, which would also work well. Though they aren't for sale yet, you should keep them in mind for a lower cost upgrade over the all aluminum GTR shocks.

The composite GTR shocks that came stock on my Jato 4x4 (4s now with Castle 1415 2400kv/Mamba X) have held up really well. Once Traxxas releases the composite GTR shocks, I'm putting them on all of my trucks that don't already have the aluminum GTR shocks.
 
It's a compromise between ride quality and bottom out resistance. Ideally when you squash the truck to the ground and it rebounds the driveshafts should be near level. This isn't absolute. You might try 35wt fluid in your shocks. This will stiffen up your truck a bit without being excessive.
 
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