Ryft shock upgrades?
 

Been trying to search for some info/success with upgrades to the stock Ryft shocks, but not really finding anything recent, or much at all for that matter. Obviously the torque twist is an issue, but overall damping seems to be lacking. So, what are some of the current trends? Stock springs seem to be on the heavy side causing it to be a bit bouncy, as well as not allowing the rig to squat down very much. Currently shocks are completely stock with kit supplied oil. Want to keep it set up for general mayhem, as well as something my bride can drive ...and controll... whilst I am driving the crawlers.
Softer springs and heavier oil?
Shorter shocks? What brand?
Internal springs? What springs?
Thoughts?

I read a post about the Traxxas UDR shocks, but no recent findings with them actually in use. I am sure someone has a good solution, no need to reinvent the wheel.
I built the kit version, Holmes Puller Pro 540 V2-L 2700 kv, Castle Mamba X, Savox 1210SG, SSD aluminum axle housing inserts f&r, Vitavon steering servo saver and link, about to pull the trigger on some Treal beadlocks. The rest is all stock....for now :lmao:

Thanks in advance

Re: Ryft shock upgrades?
 

Oh, and yes I know the right rear tire is backwards, I swapped it after I took the pic :oops:

Re: Ryft shock upgrades?
 

I'm the Op who created the thread related to using the GTR shocks, along with the UDR shafts (for the Ryft's rear). In the thread, I provided all the steps needed to install them on the Ryft. I, personally, didn't add anything further after my final post, as I didn't feel anything else needed to be added. They work exactly as I had intended.

~ More peace, love, laughter, & kindness would make the world a MUCH better place

Re: Ryft shock upgrades?
 

I was going to link that thread but seems as though the OP beat me too it. I have a rtr Ryft and I know what your saying about being bouncy and the torque twist. I have had decent luck with changing out the shock oil to a slightly heavier oil. It will increase the dampening and stiffen the shock up some when under load and eliminate some of the bounce. I did this with a couple of my bombers and it worked pretty well. Think I ran 50wt in the rear and 35wt in the front. I will be experimenting with this on the Ryft as well to see if that helps. Couple bottles of shock fluid is far cheaper than new shocks and you might be able to tune more for your use that way. If it doesn't work out your not out much either.

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Re: Ryft shock upgrades?
 

Put a pair of 120mm unsprung shocks up front with some 50w oil and that did help a bit.
to lower ride height of the stock shocks, I picked up another set of the orange shock bumpers and put one under each piston which dropped overall height about 10 mm.
Sway bar helps of course. but I think a 2nd pair of stock shocks on the rear would be enough with the right oils in the rear shocks. but to do that with a sway bar, it needs the Trear Rear Upper shock mounts which has a 2nd rail to mount shocks to get both in place and should clear the sway bar mounts.


https://i.ibb.co/Q8VFvc7/IMG-20210726-122426885.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/QjbF0h1/IMG-20210726-122416922.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/txmBwmW/IMG-20210716-202718770.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/bmSTwzc/IMG-20210726-122124563.jpg

Re: Ryft shock upgrades? Getting somewhere!
 

So after trying to fit some misc springs, oil weights, not really achieving what I was looking for. I really wanted an internal spring set up, and after scouring the interwebs, nothing really fell into the size range that I felt was good quality. Reading Panthers thread, got me to thinking about the UDR set up and the non threaded second shock they use. The front shocks are 134 mm, bingo! Ordered up a set of front shocks from Jenny's, and started tinkering with the non threaded shocks to make them internal sprung. Found some 7/16 x 2 1/8 compression springs with .032 wire that fit perfectly inside and fairly soft spring rate. Had to fiddle a bit with o rings to eliminate the bladder, and came up with a 5/8 x 1/16, and a 1/2" grommet with a 5/16" shoulder that the spring fits snuggly over to keep it in place. Settled on 50 wt oil.

Outcome? Lower ride height by 10 mm, and about 10 mm of sag. Of course I had to modify front shocks to match ride height, so basically did a pen spring mod with some RC4WD springs to pull front end down. Cut down tremendously on torque twist, corners way better without flipping over, and pretty much all the "bounce" has gone away. I am going to call this a major win!

Did some measuring on the front end, and just ordered up a set of non threaded front UDR shock bodies to do the front, along with some GTR 47mm shafts. This combo should give me the same length as the modified fronts now. I will update if it is as much a success as the rear end turned out to be.

Re: Ryft shock upgrades?
 

Nice Mod. I like the beefier shock too.

Re: Ryft shock upgrades?
 

Good job. Glad to see more people coming up with "alternate" shock ideas for the Ryft.


~ More peace, love, laughter, & kindness would make the world a MUCH better place

Front shock mod
 

Received the front shock parts and got them together. Used same spring as in the rear shock, same o ring and grommet, and filled it with 20 weight oil. What a difference in handling with this set up!
Stock shock lengths:
Front- 127mm
Rear-145mm

Traxxas UDR set up:
Front- 110 mm
Rear- 135mm

Yes, travel is reduced, but is that much stock travel really needed? This UDR shock set up lowers rig by 10 mm, and allows for about 8 ish mm of sag. The lower cg makes for much better cornering. From a dead stop and punching the throttle, the front end stays a lot more planted without all the lifting and torque twist. Definitely a handling win for the Ryft! Also a much stronger shock.

I used the parts from the threaded shocks that came with the set for the fronts (top and bottom caps, piston and rod ends). I also used 3mm washers and nylon spacers to take up the slack from the narrower width ball ends. The rear parts are listed above, and the additional Traxxas front parts ordered were:
UDR non Threaded shock bodies #8453
GTR 47mm shock shafts #5463T

Hope this might help other that are looking for options. "thumbsup"