GEN8 nose dives to one corner? shock oil?

[crick0234]

hi guys

i am noticing on my gen 8 that she tends to have a sag or lean to one corner @rest every now and then (driver's side, towards the hood). I dunno if its due to steering geometry that leads to this.

i was thinking maybe shock oil and have picked up a variety pack of different shock oil weights to experiment with.

wondering if anyone has had this issue?

also wondering what shock oil wt to use for the gen 8 (knowing its heavier i'd figure heavier weight but i'll probably start out around 27.5 wt)

[mgputer]

Originally Posted by crick0234

hi guys



i am noticing on my gen 8 that she tends to have a sag or lean to one corner @rest every now and then (driver's side, towards the hood). I dunno if its due to steering geometry that leads to this.



i was thinking maybe shock oil and have picked up a variety pack of different shock oil weights to experiment with.



wondering if anyone has had this issue?



also wondering what shock oil wt to use for the gen 8 (knowing its heavier i'd figure heavier weight but i'll probably start out around 27.5 wt)

It's from the pan hard and stearing geometry. The shorter the pan hard the worse the condition is.

Sent from my Vivo XI+ using Tapatalk

[HumboldtEF]

Or it could have nothing to do with geometry, a shock thats low on oil could act like this.

A good way to check that would be to remove both shocks on the front, take off the spring perch and springs so its down to just the shock. Compress each shock and observe it, they will typically rebound a little bit. If one has less rebound than the other then its likely a bit low on oil (they should both react the same or similar). Sometimes they just need a drop or 2 to make them even again.

Also check the shock preload collars, if one side is pre-loaded more than the other it can also cause this. The shocks on opposite corners can also do this whether its low on oil or the preload is off from the other side.

[ferp420]

Originally Posted by mgputer

It's from the pan hard and stearing geometry. The shorter the pan hard the worse the condition is.

Sent from my Vivo XI+ using Tapatalk

and the redcat rod ends are sticky adding just a bit of resistance

[crick0234]

thanks guys! i’ll check them tonight! would u recommend any starting point for oil wt - if one side is low then i proabbly have to dump all the oil and replace w known wt oil? (cant mix oil wts?)

[crick0234]

https://imgur.com/a/lxijwhE

oooo discoveryyyyy, thanks ferp! thanks humboldt!

[LetsBash]

Originally Posted by crick0234

thanks guys! i’ll check them tonight! would u recommend any starting point for oil wt - if one side is low then i proabbly have to dump all the oil and replace w known wt oil? (cant mix oil wts?)

On my redcat I Switched to 20wt all the way around and I felt it did amazing for low speed crawling. IF you are gonna be going high speed I would maybe do 25 in front and leave 20 in rear

The stock shocks are 93mm and do very well imo

[HumboldtEF]

Personally I dont worry about the oil WT when adding just a tiny bit of oil (I try to guess and be close if possible). I would think the stock oil is in the 20-30WT range for the Gen 8.

[crick0234]

hey thanks everyone. i ended up experimenting a bunch (was a mess) and ended up close to 20 wt (22.5) and am loving the responsiveness during slowspeed crawl (thanks letsbash!)

thanks humboldt thanks ferp! I ended up finding that one particular problem shock had less oil than the other 3.

tried to get as little rebound as possible but meeehhhh i dunno a good technique to get consistent rebound with bladder shocks, despite all the youtube videos. tried my best to get 1/8" rebound but two i got 1/4" and the other two about 1/2" and i said "F it, it's 4am." i pinched the bladder some to get some excess air out from under it but floopleflarp, whatever... it handles way nicer now (dunno if i woke the neighbors out in the backyard testing it). thing feels like it wants to hug a buncha rocks now.

[Mudsplat79]

I have horrible nose dive on my Gen 8. I believe it's the steering geometry, however I see some people in videos whose are not slouched like mine. My shocks have all been filled with 27.5 wt oil, and my truck is well maintained. Not sure what the problem is.

[LetsBash]

What type of nose dive? Upon breaking or normal speed driving?

The Redcat Gen8 is very heavy upfront, and as you mentioned limited linkage angles will cause a poor suspension travel

Right away change the horn and you will see some shock limitations removed, see if that helps

[Mudsplat79]

Originally Posted by LetsBash

What type of nose dive? Upon breaking or normal speed driving?

The Redcat Gen8 is very heavy upfront, and as you mentioned limited linkage angles will cause a poor suspension travel

Right away change the horn and you will see some shock limitations removed, see if that helps

Bothers me most just while normal driving, or even when it's just sitting there. My Hydrax tire is almost inside the fender well. But otherwise the sag is always there. Will take a picture when I get home.

I do have a cheap 20kg servo and installed the aluminum servo horn. Maybe I need to shorter it a bit by setting the screw closer. I'll have to tinker with it.

[LetsBash]

I swapped the rod end to the bent ones and added a small shim

This with the swapped horn & 100mm shocks seems to have 0 bind for me

[Mudsplat79]

Originally Posted by LetsBash

I swapped the rod end to the bent ones and added a small shim

This with the swapped horn & 100mm shocks seems to have 0 bind for me

I found out my Hobby shop has those same rod ends! Going to pick this up, and some 40 wt shock oil since the front of my Gen 8 is super heavy because of brass add ons and other mods.

[Natedog]

Originally Posted by HumboldtEF

Personally I dont worry about the oil WT when adding just a tiny bit of oil (I try to guess and be close if possible). I would think the stock oil is in the 20-30WT range for the Gen 8.

X2

Originally Posted by crick0234

thanks humboldt thanks ferp! I ended up finding that one particular problem shock had less oil than the other 3.

tried to get as little rebound as possible but meeehhhh i dunno a good technique to get consistent rebound with bladder shocks, despite all the youtube videos. tried my best to get 1/8" rebound but two i got 1/4" and the other two about 1/2" and i said "F it, it's 4am." i pinched the bladder some to get some excess air out from under it but floopleflarp, whatever... it handles way nicer now (dunno if i woke the neighbors out in the backyard testing it). thing feels like it wants to hug a buncha rocks now.

Good job! Over full shock oil can cause problems too, also check for bent shafts.

Originally Posted by LetsBash

I swapped the rod end to the bent ones and added a small shim

This with the swapped horn & 100mm shocks seems to have 0 bind for me

Nice, gotta get creative sometimes!

[Mudsplat79]

I adjusted the shock collar on my Gen 8 (almost half way down LOL), and that seems to have leveled out my Gen 8 a bit. The nose dive is not as bad as before. I also added the bent rod for the servo. I did not change the shock oil, as I think that would only change the rebound of the shocks, not actually keep the truck higher. Still would like my truck to sit higher, but if I do that I'd have to get the 100mm shocks, which my hobby shop did not have in stock.

[LetsBash]

Originally Posted by Mudsplat79

I adjusted the shock collar on my Gen 8 (almost half way down LOL), and that seems to have leveled out my Gen 8 a bit. The nose dive is not as bad as before. I also added the bent rod for the servo. I did not change the shock oil, as I think that would only change the rebound of the shocks, not actually keep the truck higher. Still would like my truck to sit higher, but if I do that I'd have to get the 100mm shocks, which my hobby shop did not have in stock.

Amazon has a good set of 100mm that I Use on all my trucks for sub $30, local hobby shop will have more expensive options only. Check it out HERE

This will help get the Gen8 to get you the ride height you're looking for and the springs have multiple options so you can choose heavy or light depending on your preference

Edit: Have you tried putting the shocks top mount on a lower setting?it has multiple holes for adjustment

[Mudsplat79]

Originally Posted by LetsBash

Amazon has a good set of 100mm that I Use on all my trucks for sub $30, local hobby shop will have more expensive options only. Check it out HERE

This will help get the Gen8 to get you the ride height you're looking for and the springs have multiple options so you can choose heavy or light depending on your preference

Edit: Have you tried putting the shocks top mount on a lower setting?it has multiple holes for adjustment

I have not tried putting the shock top tower on a lower setting, but will do so after work. I did order those shocks, as they were well priced and are 100mm. The hobby store I went to had 105, and they were wayyyyy overpriced (proline ones for $60 for 2).

My plan is to install the new shocks with 40 wt in the fronts, and 27.5 wt in the rears. Hopefully this will help properly adjust the height and leveling of the truck.

Thanks again, and I will keep you posted.

[Mudsplat79]

Originally Posted by LetsBash

Amazon has a good set of 100mm that I Use on all my trucks for sub $30, local hobby shop will have more expensive options only. Check it out HERE

This will help get the Gen8 to get you the ride height you're looking for and the springs have multiple options so you can choose heavy or light depending on your preference

Edit: Have you tried putting the shocks top mount on a lower setting?it has multiple holes for adjustment

So I did what you said and lowered my shock tops one notch down. Seems to have leveled out the truck better than before. I had it on the lowest setting for the front shocks, but then it got tip happy when I went on the trails yesterday.


Those blue shocks you recommended came in the mail! I haven't put them on yet. They seem a bit squeeky. I read somewhere our stock Gen 8 shocks are already 100mm.


Do you think the shocks would be an upgrade over the stock ones? Just wanted your opinion on them before I opened the package and put oil in them.


Thanks,


Jay

[rghouse]

My new Gen8 caught this disease as well, front driver side is the worst and causes rear driver side to be lower as well. Seems to be most notable when she's just sitting or starting out on the trail. More level after warming up, or less noticeable.



planning on removing shocks tonight and checking that first...