Dual stage pistons

[H-3612]

Anyone using them in their crawlers?

Im going to a set in my slash to test and tweak cause i bash with it and want it to be able to absorb jumps and such but have a quick rebound to get the tires back on the surface faster over gravel and such.

Curious about running a set in my ascender also for moments of off canter where the vehicle is leaning say to the right and the right front drops into a hole or into a void off a rock. The fast rebound will allow the wheel and tire to drop into it quickly but the slow and dampened compression will catch the weight of the vehicle better and slowly let it compress keeping the truck more stable.

[H-3612]

Thinking about it a little more makes me feel that the shock/spring opposite the one that is dropping into the void will unload quickly and push rig over quicker. We dont run super stiff springs anyway but wondering if that would be an issue.

[micro racer]

They're a neat concept, but I personally haven't found any worth buying (again). Since the MIP flapper valve pistons are discontinued for the Traxxas Ultra shocks, I tries the RPM sliding valves on my 1.9 Wraith with the aforementioned Ultras. They "work," technically, but I spent about two hours filing and sanding the pistons to get them to slide freely when I installed the upper E-clip on the shock shaft. Also, I can't really tell if the pistons are what did the trick for my setup, or the 15 wt. oil I changed to at the same time I did the pistons.

Honestly, I think you're better off messing with different weight oils and then spring rates. While tuning my 1.9 Wraith, I ended up buying five sets of different rate Losi springs to get the suspension to actually compress, then another four oil weights to get it to stop bouncing. Mind you, this was for an Ultra4 or otherwise high-speed rig.

On my SCX10, I run Axial 7mm Icon shocks, with a Traxxas shaft to put the length at just over 85mm. They have the the POM 7mm pistons, with 40 wt oil all around, stock dual-rate springs, save for a white-rate long spring in the back. This setup allows full suspension articulation, but the 85mm length keeps me from dropping tires too far into crevices, and the 40 wt oil controls body roll/weight transfer when the truck crosses up. 40 wt is also light enough in the smaller bore shocks that the suspension still reacts quickly over gravel and other rough trails; the body/chassis stays mostly level while I can see the wheels and tires bouncing in and out of the wheel wells at speed. To counter torque-twist, I just put a turn or two more preload in the corners.

Sorry for the long post, but I hope it helps...

[H-3612]

No its a great response and why did proline discontinue the bypass 1(flapper valves) anyway, looked like a great and tunable setup. I know the RPMs will need adjusting to fit the stock ascender shock body maybe. But right now ive done the same as nate dog by drilling the stock pistons to i think it was a #25 bit and adjusting the oil wt which has made it a very predictible rig as far as weight transfer and suspension cycling.

Was just curious about if the bypass piston would allow the wheel to drop into a hole faster and the compression be able to catch the weight and keep it from a possible roll. Right now the wheel drops fine into voids but when the weight transfers i would rather it transfer a little slower.

[EeePee]

I had some RPMs on my Losi and did way too much testing with various types and oil weights and springs only to conclude that it's not working. I'm not going to say it was a complete waste of time but I'll say don't waste your time. They ended up in my Slash and I like em on that. You get compression right and the rebound was wrong. Or flip them over and it's the opposite or just not balanced. One was too fast other was too slow. Try as I might, I couldn't find a good middle ground. And I tried a lot.

[H-3612]

That is the point of the bypass though. Say you have them installed to dampen compression and bypass for rebound, it will compress slow but soon as it starts rebound in will allow the spring to override the oil wt and keep the wheel and tire in contact with the ground.

Thats why i want to run them in my slash cause its fast and i bash with it over rough terrain and off jumps. I wanted them to absorb the large jumps and hard impacts without the rig bottoming or the shocks bottoming and still be able to rocket over the rough stuff and keep thr tires on the ground by allowing the springs to override the oil and keep them there.

That said on a crawler its different as im not trying to go fast but rather let the wheel and tire drop fast into a voind and catch the rig weight on a soft slow transfer vs let it just flop. Could honestly make no diff but its so easy to change wanted to trt and was curious if anyone had already tried them.

Cant remember what weight i have in the shocks but they need a drain and clean anyway and ill go to probly a 40wt and see how i like it. As of right now it works great aside from i dont like how it flops the body weight onto the lower wheel when it drops to a hole but im exaggerating gow bad it is i guess. It compresses great on the flex and is very predictible but wanted to try something else, also fogured it might help with suspension hop on steep up hill climbs or ledges, i have the UCA relocate brackets in it and that helped alot with the bounce.