Need more shock travel
 

I'm currently using the factory Twin shocks. I need more travel out of them. I keep hearing about the Savage shocks being long but at the same time they are to long and soft. Should I find a longer shock or run a canti. set up. I'd rather run shocks without the canti to keep it simple and less cluter.

I modded the factory 2 link bushings on my Twin to act simular to a Johnny joint or RE joint used by alot of guys with their 1:1 crawlers. I wanted to see how they worked,well they worked pretty good. On the same run I lost one of the bolts that hold the knuckle to the axle,on a highspeed run across the front yard. I thought something was funny when it all of a sudden started doing a donut on its own. I guess it's my own fault,it said to apply loc-tite on assembly to these bolts. I feel I'm kinda lucky though,the way the axle shaft was lodged when the knuckle started to come off,I'm suprised it didn't break something. Everything was bound up so tight I liked to never get it all apart. While reassembly was in progress,I had the shocks removed. To my suprise,I could get alot more twist if I had longer shocks

Twin shocks are 4.36" long and probly have about 1 7/8" travel. The savage shocks are 6.75" travel and I'm guessing they've got around 3" of travel.

Should I go with longer shocks or a canti set up?

Thanks

Re: Need more shock travel
 

on my clod i have the tmaxx shocks on it and im getting 80 degrees out of each axle the closer you can mount the shocks on the links or how ever you have it and mount the shocks almost striahgt up you should get more out of it

Re: Need more shock travel
 

Yeah I thought about that but,in this picture,notice how from the factory the shocks are mounted on a pretty steep angle.

http://www.kyosho.com/cars/kyoc0103-body-2.jpg

Thats another way to achieve more travel out of a shorter shock. If I put the shocks in the middle of the link and straight up and down,I think it would net the same amount of travel out of the shocks. This also would decrease the amount of dampning the shocks have and thats a down grade if you ask me. In all reallity,I don't like the canti set up and would rather mount my shocks to the axle and more straight up and down than they are factory. The more I think about it,unless I can find another shock thats longer,I guess Savage shocks are the thing I need.

I wish there was a list of ALL RC shocks and what there specs were. Like........

What car they come on--?
How long they are compressed--?
open--?
How much travel they have mounted at 90 degress--?

That would be handy for alot of people building rigs from scratch.

Re: Need more shock travel
 

You could try drilling a hole in the suspension arms ("links") and mounting the shocks there. It would help travel and cost a lot less than new shocks.

Re: Need more shock travel
 

well, i can tell ya that the Savage shocks are 4 1/4" compressed( center of eye-center of eye) and 6 1/4" full extension

Re: Need more shock travel
 

This is my Twin Force with Savage shocks and TF springs. I made longer links. It works well. Still trying different shock angles. Hope this helps.

http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/9900/crawler.th.jpg

Re: Need more shock travel
 

According to Towers site,the Savage shocks are 6 3/4" long. I know you've got a set and your measuring yours. Are Towers figures a little off?






O.K. that helps,thanks. With the modified stock link bushing I can get at least that much twist if my shocks were longer. I've got another idea on how to keep the 2 link deal to keep it simple and should net a substantialy better amount of twist. Just guessing here,if my idea works,I should be able to get about 11 inches under 1 tire with the rest on the ground. I'm gonna try and order up the parts I need to build my idea

Thanks guys

Re: Need more shock travel
 

There are some problems with more articulation:

1. The tranny and diffs are offset from each other.
the axle's cycling action makes the pinion rotate. At some point the angles in the drivetrain are to much and th DB pops out or gets chewed up.
2. slip yoke on output cups instead of driveshafts.
you could get more travel with the slip on the d-shaft, and pointed pinion.

3. The d-shaft hits the upper right link when the axle twists on a four link.

My setup so far is closed end of tranny drivecup. It prevents the DB from falling out also allowing you to set the distance between the tranny drivecup and the diff drivecups to get max flex. Remember the distance gets shorter and longer as the suspension cycles. I also extended the rear length two inches. Running a limit strap and Savage shocks with TF springs are 75% compressed.

In my opinion, to get more flex you need to put the tranny and diffs in the center of the truck and buy two long axle tubes and two long DB's, make new link mounts and bolt them all up! or hybrid axles.

Re: Need more shock travel
 

As far as making hybrid axles,that would make them wider. I don't really want to get much wider. I'm alreadt at 19 1/4" wide and the few runs I've made so far,I thinks it's perfect. Really stabile but not to crazy wide. I've also got a few ideas about building driveshafts with slips in them to get rid of the dogbones. If I need them,I'll play around with my ideas and figure something out.