Better performance? Pen Spring shock question.

[Alxe24]

Hi all. I think watching too much you tube is both helping steer ideas and somehow messing me up at the same time.
I'm starting to realize that I truly don't know crap and I'm buying things for the sake of buying just because someone on you tube said is good. Long story short, I got these set of RC4w King dual spring shocks for my 2021 TRX4 bronco. I wanted to try putting 100mm and gain a bit more clearance, but the local hobby store only had 1 set of 100mm and one of 110mm so that is what I got. I put the longer set at an angle in the back and the shorter one in the front. You'd think for good or bad I should notice a dramatic difference, but not really, it does feel more tipsy and has a huge travel on the rear, the clearance is there but is does wobble more.

Now I came across the spring pen trick thing and figure let see what happens if I do that. I took them apart put the springs and they compressed close to 10mm so if seems like I have 90mm front and 100mm back as far as clearance but it also made the whole rig quite a bit stiffer. I sure handles nice on the pile of rock I have.

Is going to a longer shock and compress it back with internal spring a stupid idea and a waste of time and money? Or would it keep the clearance the same and enhance the climbing and side hilling properties. It does make the rig feel stiffer. not sure if one thing will negate the other

[CODYBOY]

I have never been a fan of a huge amount of travel. In my opinion all of that travel is wasted if your COG is raised to a point of being a little top heavy. All my crawler shocks are 90mm or less and some with internal limiters. Just my 2 cents worth.
And yes impulse buying is something we all battle with.
Ernie

[B-MOW71]

I 100% agree with what CODBOY has mentioned. I too run 90mm length or less shocks. And I also have a couple rigs that I have internal and external limiters to limit the shock travel even more.

Too much flex can be and usually is a bad thing IMO! I have never found a good use for extreme flex. I have had better luck with shorter shocks.

The TRX-4 GTS shocks that you took off are one of the best shocks out there. I have bought many set of these to use on a number of my rigs. They are super smooth and never leak!

[Alxe24]

Thanks for your insights.
What could one expect but putting a 10mm longer shock and compressed it back to it’s original length? Same clearance with a stiffer rider and any other benefit?


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[tigris99]

People seem to miss one very important thing with shocks. OIL. If the rig is tippy but you want the travel, thicker oil, slow them down. Trail rigs/rock crawlers need digressive dampening, not progressive. So need to slow them down.

For me it helps being I'm also into 1:1 mild offroading (more towards "overlanding").

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[islandlife]

Originally Posted by tigris99

People seem to miss one very important thing with shocks. OIL. If the rig is tippy but you want the travel, thicker oil, slow them down. Trail rigs/rock crawlers need digressive dampening, not progressive. So need to slow them down.

For me it helps being I'm also into 1:1 mild offroading (more towards "overlanding").

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Agree! Im no expert, but ive been running 80w oil in my stock capra shocks, and it has really stabilized it.

[tigris99]

Originally Posted by islandlife

Agree! Im no expert, but ive been running 80w oil in my stock capra shocks, and it has really stabilized it.

A rule to use whether 1:1 performance, mountain biking (both of which I do) or anything else on wheels with shocks.

The springs control the weight.
-So use spring rates that support what they need to and allow things to get the travel you expect.

Damper controls the springs.
-damper is what controls how fast the spring and shock compress and decompress (compression and rebound). This is the most crucial thing in any performance suspension.

So in rc as it's very simplified but same basic principal and operation we have 2 variables. The size and number of ports in the pistons and the thickness of the oil. Thicker oil or less/smaller ports slow down the shock/spring movement. Bigger/more ports or thinner oil allow them to move faster

Since rc is simplified, not having a seperate rebound flow circuit (damper or in rc the piston) you have to determine what control matters most.

In a crawler the shocks have 0 need to move fast on compression and rebound to maintain control at speed. Instead you need to be controlled coming over an edge either straight or off camber, both done at low speeds, so you need to keep the springs from causing a rapid center of gravity shift. Basically one side compressing too fast, side up high rebounding too fast. Basically just used a spring to flip yourselves over. Slow both sides down suddenly you can do things you never expected without tipping over.



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[Njeffs8]

I did the pen spring mod on the front of my Capra. Helped keep the front down on climbs