RCCrawler Forums

jado6006 · 03-02-2011, 06:38 PM

Alright gentleman, I am looking for a definitive answer to a question i've seen asked many times, but was never satisfied with the answer. I want to know the secret to a great droop suspension. I've tried over & over, but can't seem to get it right! Here's the baseline: stock axial plates, stock axial big ass plastic black shocks. I know there are alot better shocks, i have those as well. I just want you to have a picture in your mind of what i'm working with. I've tried different combos of internal, external, different weights of oil, and it always seems to get floppy under load. Right now i have a set of losi red internals and a plethora of conventional springs. Obviously, the reason i want to run one is low cg and ride height. I'm also curious about semi-droop, but that's another show. Also, i've got losi 20wt. oil, and 35wt. I'm no newb, but this droop thing leaves me scratching my head every time. Thanks-in advance. If you have a really long answer, pm me.

MikeyBike · 03-02-2011, 07:56 PM

I ran the droop on my Axial with Losi Comp shocks. I had good success with TCS internal springs and anywhere around 35-55wt oil in them. However! I ditched this as I did not like the "growth" my truck would get inder a front tire load. I changed the chassis to a Chaotic Crawlers Demon and changed the shocks to 70mm Yeah Racing shocks, this linited my articulation a bit but keps my cg pretty much the same. This is basically untested as I have jsut made the change but I think it will be much better. The biggest issue I had was the Losi shocks would leak constantly and then as the oil level got lower there would be lots of sag on the shocks. Hope this helps a bit at least.

gooba · 03-02-2011, 08:19 PM

I ran droop on my axial for a long time and after hours of tweaking and testing i got it to work fairly well. Consider this though before you dive in if you crawl anywhere where you need center ground clearence more than once or twice pass on droop youll hate it. If not or u insist on droop 4 link the rear atleast both ends is better but atleast do the rear. next and i can not stress this enough limit your articulation!!!!!!!!!!! I limited the rear and left the front stock and it really helped keep the rearend form walking under the truck. If you crawl flatter ground with few climbs weight the wheels fairly evenly that will keep the suspension predictable at both ends. That all the tips i can think of off the top of my head. pm me if you have any questions or want to chat more in depth

NeXt559 · 03-02-2011, 08:37 PM

because of different temps, terrain, an especially driving styles take my advice with a grain of salt, but these tips and setup has worked well for me. and took me well over a year and a half to dial in.

first off , dump the stock chassis. you're not doing yourself any favors there. at $40 the mfm black widow chassis is one of the best bang for the buck aftermarket ax10 chassis on the market imo 4 links and double triangulation is extremly important

second, get yourself some shorter shocks. personally ive had great luck w/ XXL traxxas big bores. the stockers are too long and the caps arent going to hold up.

third, it sounds like weight of the oil your using is too light. during the colder months in fresno (45-65) i'd use 65-80 wt oil. and in the warmer months (70-110) id use 120-150 wt oil. *because of the heavier weight oil you need to make sure you have a good solid shock

fourth, the ratio of weight in your axles (= electronics +battery + wheels +wheel weights+ foams +tires) and internal springs is key. when you lift your rig the axles should drop to full droop in about 5 seconds.

again just as a reminder set ups are different for everyone. but hopefully my setup helps you a little in the brain aneurysm inducing task we call setting up a droop suspension.

Duuuuuuuude · 03-02-2011, 08:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NeXt559

again just as a reminder set ups are different for everyone. but hopefully my setup helps you a little in the brain aneurysm inducing task we call setting up a droop suspension.

X2

Droop takes tuning to get right, a lot of tuning. I ran droop for a year or so in a handful of different chassis's, and each time I'd change something I'd have to retune the shocks and springs.

Some like a floppy rig, some like a tight rig, its all in how you want yours to be.

You can also pick up small springs at the hardware store to go inside the shocks. Probably the cheapest way to get it done.

03-02-2011, 06:38 PM	#1
jado6006 Quarry Creeper Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: In the pre-game lobby Posts: 378	Droop help plz! Alright gentleman, I am looking for a definitive answer to a question i've seen asked many times, but was never satisfied with the answer. I want to know the secret to a great droop suspension. I've tried over & over, but can't seem to get it right! Here's the baseline: stock axial plates, stock axial big ass plastic black shocks. I know there are alot better shocks, i have those as well. I just want you to have a picture in your mind of what i'm working with. I've tried different combos of internal, external, different weights of oil, and it always seems to get floppy under load. Right now i have a set of losi red internals and a plethora of conventional springs. Obviously, the reason i want to run one is low cg and ride height. I'm also curious about semi-droop, but that's another show. Also, i've got losi 20wt. oil, and 35wt. I'm no newb, but this droop thing leaves me scratching my head every time. Thanks-in advance. If you have a really long answer, pm me.

03-02-2011, 07:56 PM	#2
MikeyBike Quarry Creeper Join Date: May 2008 Location: Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada Posts: 294	I ran the droop on my Axial with Losi Comp shocks. I had good success with TCS internal springs and anywhere around 35-55wt oil in them. However! I ditched this as I did not like the "growth" my truck would get inder a front tire load. I changed the chassis to a Chaotic Crawlers Demon and changed the shocks to 70mm Yeah Racing shocks, this linited my articulation a bit but keps my cg pretty much the same. This is basically untested as I have jsut made the change but I think it will be much better. The biggest issue I had was the Losi shocks would leak constantly and then as the oil level got lower there would be lots of sag on the shocks. Hope this helps a bit at least.

03-02-2011, 08:19 PM	#3
gooba Quarry Creeper Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: dsm IA Posts: 416	I ran droop on my axial for a long time and after hours of tweaking and testing i got it to work fairly well. Consider this though before you dive in if you crawl anywhere where you need center ground clearence more than once or twice pass on droop youll hate it. If not or u insist on droop 4 link the rear atleast both ends is better but atleast do the rear. next and i can not stress this enough limit your articulation!!!!!!!!!!! I limited the rear and left the front stock and it really helped keep the rearend form walking under the truck. If you crawl flatter ground with few climbs weight the wheels fairly evenly that will keep the suspension predictable at both ends. That all the tips i can think of off the top of my head. pm me if you have any questions or want to chat more in depth

03-02-2011, 08:37 PM	#4
NeXt559 RCC Addict Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Fresno Posts: 1,464	because of different temps, terrain, an especially driving styles take my advice with a grain of salt, but these tips and setup has worked well for me. and took me well over a year and a half to dial in. first off , dump the stock chassis. you're not doing yourself any favors there. at $40 the mfm black widow chassis is one of the best bang for the buck aftermarket ax10 chassis on the market imo 4 links and double triangulation is extremly important second, get yourself some shorter shocks. personally ive had great luck w/ XXL traxxas big bores. the stockers are too long and the caps arent going to hold up. third, it sounds like weight of the oil your using is too light. during the colder months in fresno (45-65) i'd use 65-80 wt oil. and in the warmer months (70-110) id use 120-150 wt oil. *because of the heavier weight oil you need to make sure you have a good solid shock fourth, the ratio of weight in your axles (= electronics +battery + wheels +wheel weights+ foams +tires) and internal springs is key. when you lift your rig the axles should drop to full droop in about 5 seconds. again just as a reminder set ups are different for everyone. but hopefully my setup helps you a little in the brain aneurysm inducing task we call setting up a droop suspension.

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