Droop vs Sprung set ups...

[ncmtb]

I have a SW3 2.2 with shocks & springs... this I know is a sprung set-up.
I am looking to buid up a tuber & have been told to try a droop set-up on it. How does this set-up work & what are the ins & outs of setting it up????
THANX FOR ANY HELP!!

[punkafi888]

the droop involves setting up the suspension so that it does not have up travel it has down travel instead. you put the spring on the inside of the shock under the piston. from what i have heard it is the way to go. but i have yet to try it. it also allows you to articulate out more.

[Offroader5]

Originally Posted by punkafi888

the droop involves setting up the suspension so that it does not have up travel it has down travel instead. you put the spring on the inside of the shock under the piston. from what i have heard it is the way to go. but i have yet to try it. it also allows you to articulate out more.

You're not really going to get MORE articulation out of a droop setup. The shock has the same travel whether it's sprung or droop...especially if you run no internal springs like I do. The difference is that you can achieve a much lower center of gravity running a droop setup if you compare using the same shock in a sprung configuration.

[ncmtb]

I guess I don't understand how, if the shock has no spring, the suspension works in a droop set up. :? The shock is bottomed out because of the lack of a spring, so what causes the shock to extend out? Do you run the same weight shock oil in both set ups? If I just take off the springs from the shocks-is it now a droop set up??

[mavicracer]

I just finished a tuber, and I run a droop setup in it, but I do not run springs. Rather I control the compression, or decompression, with different weight oil. What I have noticed is that gravity controls the shock, if there is place for it to fall, or extend, then it will. the weight of the car will re-compress the shock once the car levels out or if pressure is applied. Also, you have to be careful of your angles if you are making a tuber, when mine was first finished, the rear end would creep up closer to the from because the suspension angles were a bit off and there was no spring to keep the rear end under the truck. hope this helps, and I am a noob too, so if I am wrong I am sure an admin will correct me.

[asfasasu3]

So then, do you run thicker oil in the shocks to slow down the travel speed? (so it doesn't just flop from side to side)

I can understand what you guys are doing with this set up, I just don't see how it helps, other than lowering the GC.

[Offroader5]

Originally Posted by ncmtb

I guess I don't understand how, if the shock has no spring, the suspension works in a droop set up. :? The shock is bottomed out because of the lack of a spring, so what causes the shock to extend out? Do you run the same weight shock oil in both set ups? If I just take off the springs from the shocks-is it now a droop set up??

What causes the shock to open up and droop out is the weight of the axle, tire, wheel, and any other thing that's putting weight on the axle. Gravity is pulling the shock open.

Many people that run droop, do run internal springs UNDER the valve disk inside the shock. This spring is trying to close the shock rather than open the shock as it would on a regular sprung setup. I don't run a spring at all and just regulate the shock movement with the oil weight/thickness and the valve disk inside the shock (more holes in the disk, the faster the oil can pass from one chamber of the shock to the other, and vise versa).

Originally Posted by asfasasu3

So then, do you run thicker oil in the shocks to slow down the travel speed? (so it doesn't just flop from side to side)

I can understand what you guys are doing with this set up, I just don't see how it helps, other than lowering the GC.

Yes, if you don't run internal springs, you run thicker oil than you would with a normal sprung shock.

It helps mainly the center of gravity...and that's a BIG factor. Center of gravity and stability is a huge part of getting your rig to perform. I'd rather drag my belly skid over some rocks and have the tires droop out to meet the ground than having too high a center of gravity and rolling over all the time, just to have more underbelly clearance. IMO, it also gets rid of any bounce you may get when running a spring.

Also, you have to realize that even if you're running droop with an internal spring, you are not able to use the full extension of the shock. Now that there is a spring inside the shock under the valve, this keeps the shock from extending all the way cause now the spring is acting as a stop or spacer. You'd have to run a bit longer shock to get the same travel as a shorter one.

[bulfrog]

Post #7 is bad ars!!!! Everything said well. I run a tuber and droop is the way to go. I tried sprung but droop is a lot more stable, conforms better to the rocks to find the perfect bite. I run thin oil, small pistons, soft springs.

[A.R.C.]

Offroad5, what weight Oil are you using?

[Reflection]

Offroader did explain things nicely.

In my super,I ran 1000 weight diff oil in my shocks. No internal springs,nothing. In a couple 2.2's I built with a droop set up,even 10 weight oil was TOO THICK. Point is,you gotta set the oil weight to the shocks piston and valving. With a droop rig,weight and shock valving is key to getting it to "flow" smoothly. I like the droop on my super but have gone back to a sprung set up on my 2.2

[Offroader5]

Originally Posted by A.R.C.

Offroad5, what weight Oil are you using?

I have settled on 30 wt. oil. This is with no spring and the stock valve disk in the Proline shocks I am running.

Originally Posted by raptorman57

Offroader did explain things nicely.

In my super,I ran 1000 weight diff oil in my shocks. No internal springs,nothing. In a couple 2.2's I built with a droop set up,even 10 weight oil was TOO THICK. Point is,you gotta set the oil weight to the shocks piston and valving. With a droop rig,weight and shock valving is key to getting it to "flow" smoothly. I like the droop on my super but have gone back to a sprung set up on my 2.2

Yup, I went through several different weights to find what worked best on my 2.2. I did all the tests with the stock valve disk and then figured I would start swapping those out as part of the process...but I ended up finding out the 30 wt. did what I wanted without having to swap out the valves. I started with a thicker 100 wt., then after finding that to be way to slow, I tried 80 wt....still wasn't fast enough, so I then went to 50 wt....and ditto on that..then to the 30 wt. and it was perfect.

Just takes some time to tweak it in the beginning is all