Suspension issues

[jplynch90]

Hey fellas I have a scx with wheel weights, red springs and battery up front and it seems that it doesn't flex any where as much as it should, I took a tiny bit of oil from the shocks and it seemed to fix it but still seems rather hard to compress each shock? Should the shock not be compleatly filled with shock oil? Thanks for any help guys

[big bronco]

are your shocks on the out side or inside of the axle? what weight oil are you using?

[jplynch90]

There on the outside

[snail78]

mine are on the outside with 70W all around

[habenero]

Originally Posted by jplynch90

Should the shock not be compleatly filled with shock oil? Thanks for any help guys

When you filled the shock with oil did you have the piston all the way up or all the way down?

I start my fill with the piston down, add some oil and slow push it up, letting any bubbles rise. Then I top off the oil or take away excess to have it just below the top of the body. Once filled you should be able to compress the shock fully. If it is overfilled the shock will feel "sprung" and be difficult to compress even with no springs.

Not sure this is the fix for your problem, but hope it helps.

[Tanis]

Originally Posted by habenero

When you filled the shock with oil did you have the piston all the way up or all the way down?

I start my fill with the piston down, add some oil and slow push it up, letting any bubbles rise. Then I top off the oil or take away excess to have it just below the top of the body. Once filled you should be able to compress the shock fully. If it is overfilled the shock will feel "sprung" and be difficult to compress even with no springs.

Not sure this is the fix for your problem, but hope it helps.

Sounds like this is the problem to me as well, the piston should be all the way compressed when you tighten the cap.

[Scottmisfits]

Originally Posted by Tanis

Sounds like this is the problem to me as well, the piston should be all the way compressed when you tighten the cap.

Not true in all cases. If you want a fast rebound using the same oils and springs, when you tighten the shock cap down, have the shock shaft pulled all the way out. If you want slower rebound using the same springs and oils, build the shock with the piston at top of the shock when you tighten the cap down. Most of my offroad stuff is built with little to no rebound in the shock, piston up when I tighten it up. My onroad stuff is built with the piston's down. Not in all circumstances, but typically.

[NeoK5Driver]

Or you can just get different shocks cause the stock ones are lousy!

[generalee7]

Originally Posted by Scottmisfits

Not true in all cases. If you want a fast rebound using the same oils and springs, when you tighten the shock cap down, have the shock shaft pulled all the way out. If you want slower rebound using the same springs and oils, build the shock with the piston at top of the shock when you tighten the cap down. Most of my offroad stuff is built with little to no rebound in the shock, piston up when I tighten it up. My onroad stuff is built with the piston's down. Not in all circumstances, but typically.

The problem with having the shaft pulled all the way out (at least in my case with the SCX-10 shocks) is they didn't even compress enough to reach the rubber bump stops so I would say too much oil is the case.

Crawlers don't need a lot of rebound, they need wheel travel. On road cars need more rebound because it's more about handling than wheel travel.

[FodigoDave]

Mine did the same and I bleeded the air from the shocks before capping it with 30W oil. They compressed but with great force applied at the top end. I replaced mine with the proline ones. And instead of filling, I only added a few drops of oil to coat the inner tube and rubber washers. Its a lot smoother and they compress easily. However, the stock scx shocks have just a little more travel than the very expensive proline ones. And are a bit more "clickie soundish" from the spring compressing against the threads. My advice, drain your shocks and let the duel tension springs do the work. Paint them up to look cool, and its a free easy fix.

[izeman]

from my experience:

shock full compressed, then wipe away oil untill even with the top, and attach the cap -> correctly filled

if fully expanded and then filled with oil, the shock can not be compressed at all -> over-filled

[rednck21]

Originally Posted by jplynch90

Hey fellas I have a scx with wheel weights, red springs and battery up front and it seems that it doesn't flex any where as much as it should, I took a tiny bit of oil from the shocks and it seemed to fix it but still seems rather hard to compress each shock? Should the shock not be compleatly filled with shock oil? Thanks for any help guys

how much weight did you put in the wheels? did you leave the rubber bump stops out when you built the kit? when i first built mine i was running a lexan body and i thought it was way to stiff because the rig was too light. some bumpers and sliders added some weight which helped, but it seemed like the more i used the springs the softer they got.

[alaskancrawler]

Is it still three link in the front? If you did the 4 link conversion on the front that will take away alot of the articulation. Which when you have the shocks mounted on the truck and try to flex it it will be limited by the links.

[jplynch90]

cant remember what weight i put in the wheels, and i took the bump stop out but it always was way to hard to compress the shock before it reached the stop anyways, i will try removing more shock fluid and see what happens thanks for your help

[Locked Up]

You need to account for the amount of fluid the piston itself displaces as it moves up into the body.
As many have already said, I too have found it's just easiest to compress it all the way and wipe the top off before putting the cap on.


Since we are on this topic, has anyone found a shock bladder that fits these? I was considering drilling a small overflow hole in the cap and adding a bladder but I haven't seen any the right size.