Need a hand with Springs and shocks

[2k2wranglerx]

Hey guys

So I traded a slash for a ready to go sawback. It's pretty decent but needs a little love.

The leaf Springs are all pretty bent. And one is broken. It comes with some spares but I'm not sure yet if they're good or not. I know the fronts are soft and rears are stock. Both running a single main leaf.

It does have a coil over style shock on it now. I'm not wild about the look. I'd prefer more scale.

Anyone have a suggestion on leaf spring setup and scale looking shocks? The ome look awesome but reviews said they were too stiff for this rig.

Thanks guys!







Just got it. I'm going to tear it down and clean a lot of this up.

[durfeec]

Buy a pack of new gmade leafs. I run the large leaf below the main leaf and that works well for me. My rig is a bit heavier though. I also have the anti wrap links to save the springs. Then just take the springs off the shocks you have now. No need to be running double springs. The oil in the shock will help dampen the leaf spring.


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[2k2wranglerx]

Originally Posted by durfeec

Buy a pack of new gmade leafs. I run the large leaf below the main leaf and that works well for me. My rig is a bit heavier though. I also have the anti wrap links to save the springs. Then just take the springs off the shocks you have now. No need to be running double springs. The oil in the shock will help dampen the leaf spring.


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got it. so ditch the helper springs for the main leaf springs.

thanks man

[scaled]

I use Boom Racing Type I shocks without the internal springs. Work good just use light oil and do not overfill. They are fatter than the stock boingers but look alright.

[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by durfeec

Buy a pack of new gmade leafs. I run the large leaf below the main leaf and that works well for me. My rig is a bit heavier though. I also have the anti wrap links to save the springs. Then just take the springs off the shocks you have now. No need to be running double springs. The oil in the shock will help dampen the leaf spring.

There's only one potential problem running the helper springs below the main leaf. They can get caught on rocks and bend down. Using zip tires to hold them together will help prevent this.

Replace your leaf springs. A pack from GMade is only about $20. While you're at it, get the GMade anti-wrap links or make your own. It will take a lot of bend another leaf.

[durfeec]

I've never had a leaf get caught. The zip ties will make it stiff


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[Jeepiac]

My two cents Stack the medium and short leaves on top of the main. This helps prevent axle wrap without making the suspension to stiff. Also anti wrap links will reduce suspension travel by a little bit. Drive the Sawback with some finesse and not like a basher and the leaves will last a long, long time, and use sensible power.

[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by Jeepiac

My two cents Stack the medium and short leaves on top of the main. This helps prevent axle wrap without making the suspension to stiff. Also anti wrap links will reduce suspension travel by a little bit. Drive the Sawback with some finesse and not like a basher and the leaves will last a long, long time, and use sensible power.

That's not true. More leaf springs make the suspension stiffer even if they're above the main leaf and you don't have them zip tied together. Two springs is fine, but all three makes the suspension too stiff.

The links do limit the travel a slight amount, but not enough to notice.

I used a 35T brushed motor on 2S and that will still pretzel leaf springs.

[Jeepiac]

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

That's not true. More leaf springs make the suspension stiffer even if they're above the main leaf and you don't have them zip tied together. Two springs is fine, but all three makes the suspension too stiff.

The links do limit the travel a slight amount, but not enough to notice.

I used a 35T brushed motor on 2S and that will still pretzel leaf springs.

The two shorter leafs stacked on top of the main leaf with ends loose and not zip-tied absolutely does not stiffen the suspension, but works similar to the old school traction bars. Now if you have the shorter leafs on top of the main and then zip-tie the ends, it'll stiffen things up. I think driving style and terrain has a lot to do with the life of the springs. Seems that with similar power that two different people can have completely different results.

[JatoTheRipper]

I've tried springs above, springs below and no additional springs. Springs above still make it stiffer even if they're not zip tied. They're still bound together in the middle. It's not as stiff as adding them to the bottom, but it's still additional stiffness.

The traction bar effect of putting the leafs on top is good in theory, but doesn't work that well in practice. I know this because it was my preferred method for a long time.

My current favorite method is running the long spring above the main spring with no zip ties and using anti wrap bars. That's what seems to work best for me after years of testing.

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[Jeepiac]

Next time I buy a set of springs I might have to do more experimenting. I messed and messed with mine and really couldn't tell a difference between just running the main leaf or stacking the shorter ones on top. But I run stock amount of travel too. It just seems to work for my style of driving and the terrain I crawl in. One thing I'm starting to figure out is that I must crawl like a puss. Year and a half with one spring change and no other failures. Everyone else seems to always be changing springs. I run fairly low power though, so that's probably is a major factor in spring life?

[2k2wranglerx]

so i tore the springs off and started to change some things and before i knew it i have the thing fully disassembled lol.





body is going silver like my old 46, i ordered a nicer but still simple front bumper.

i think i'm going to paint the frame black. It has some spots that are discolored and rusty from the screws. it's not rust on the frame as much as discoloration on the chrome from the screws being rusty. i could steel wool it but i'm thinking paint.

I also bought a set of bilstein shocks from my buddy. it came with all the different spring weights to tune them. Which is pretty cool.



He also sold me 3 sets of beadlocks for 30 bucks. one set are gearheadz and they're probably what are going on the rig:



These are my new headlights. they're the 2.50 flashlights from amazon. i'm using the curved lense and the bucket and just sliding the LED from the light kit into it. Originally i was going to try and run the LED but decided i was too worried about how that'd affect battery life.

[konasubs]

My two cents.....I run only the main leaf spring but did the CHINO mod by removing the brass insert from spring end and grinding the ends down to allow for more articulation. I cheated the scale look and added an axle wrap link prior to the KOMODO link system coming out. So I installed the SCALERFAB center tranny plate but drilled one extra whole front and rear on the plate and then installed some slash captured links off a slash that attach to the top of the pumpkin. So I get articulation with stock shocks, single leaf and CHINO mod. About 4"....Another GREAT mod is to move the shock mount inward so that the shocks compress at about a 45 degree angle versus straight up and down. Softens suspension and gets rid of a bit of the "bouncing" of a leaf system. If you move the rear shock mount to the forward hole and drill a new hole in the frame for the forward screw you will have to make a small mod to bed of body behind seat. Fronts have no issues with clearance. I went thru the stage of using the red RC4WD tf2 red front leafs. You cant do chino mod on them. Metal is brittle when it gets hot whereas GMADE leafs can bend, curl up and you can readjust if you get a lil knarly on trail and munch one....Hope this all helps. I have pics of my rig in this grouping on another thread. Enjoy and remember this is not meant to be ultimate crawler just a cool scaler that can crawl pretty darn well to boot.