Shock Tips for Clod
 

Hi There,

I'm new the forum and to Rock Crawling. I'm in process of converting my old Clod to a crawler with the help of an NN chassis. I have a couple of questions for those of you how have experience building a crawler.

If there is already a thread on this, please point me in the right direction, I didn't see it!!!

1. I'm looking for the right shock and setup to use. I've seen that TMAXX shocks are the most popular. Has anyone tried the Duratax Evader ST rear shocks? They are just about 4.5" long.

2.. What oil weight is eveyone generally running? Is heavier say 70-100 wt prefferred or is lower better?

3. I"m assuming a soft spring is wise for the flex?

Thanks a lot!
Greg

Shocks are generally in the 4 inch range.

T-Maxx, Losi & Associated rear shocks, as well as Hot Bodies are commonly used.

I like to use 35wt oil in mine and the standard T-Maxx red springs.

Good luck!

For shocks, people use the TMaxx ones becasue they are easy to get hold of, and cheap. At the moment, I'm using the shocks out of a Kyosho Tracker, with clodbuster springs. I think most of the oil has leaked out, though. :lol:

I use Traxxas Stampede front shocks on mine with Losi rear buggy springs and 30 wt oil.

If you have a set of Duratrax shocks already then give them a try.

Welcome to the board.

Welcome. I also run the NN chasis. I use the 4" Hot Bodies shocks with the red T-Maxx springs and 60 weight oil. I try to find springs that are stiff eneough to hold the rig up with no droop, but allow full flex. I like threaded shocks so as to allow for adjustability. I also use limiting straps to reduce shock stroke by about 5mm. The limiting straps keep the articulation around 70 deg.

A link to my NN build if it helps.
http://www.rccrawler.com/forum/showt...hlight=rebuild

Thanks for all the good feedback so far! This forum has great information and everyone seems to be pretty helpful. I'm looking forward to crawling with some of you that are in the Denver area.

I think I'll try out the stock Tmaxx shocks since they are readily available at the local shop and cheap or maybe I'll upgrade tot he threaded Hot Bodies units. I have some pics of my build that I'll post as I get a little further down the line. I'm documenting the rebuild of the axles and addition of a locker and ball bearings so I can share later if needed.

Your crawler looks great! The pictures give me a lot of good ideas! The NN chassis seems to be a good buy with a lot of adjustability and the flex is pretty good. I'm curious if you had any problems with the collars on the lower links that hold the shocks in place, do they rub on the tires at all?

G-

I have not had any problems with the collars rubbing. My wheels have offset or I use wideners, which helps. I have also narrowed my wheels to just less than 2". The tires do come close to the collars at full turn. The NN is a great chasis, I have only good things to say.

T-MAXX stock shocks, springs and no oil... The springs hold it up good and no oil allows the suspension to work a lot faster...

Sounds like a hot set up!:lol:

How many times have ya been climbing up something and had one wheels lift and not settle down when ya let off too slow or not at all and the truck roll over? Too many to count I bet...;) When I let off the trigger with a wheel up, it drops now and authoritively... Very little rollback before I can get back on the trigger... Works good... I like the way the wheels can react as fast as they do instead of waiting on the shock oil to let up enuff to drop a wheel... There's virtually no resistance on my suspension at all...

Never happenes to me, I run torsion!"thumbsup"

Well then.. That would do it... hehe

But I'm sure you can see what I mean tho'... And tehre's gotta be someone out there that has had that issue with their shocks before...

I had that issue a long time ago but when I went to integy piggy backs I started running 40wt oil and added weight to the rims and no problems sence. adding weight to the tires will cure those reaction time problems!"thumbsup"

I got 3oz of stick ons on each rim already... That helped a lot, too, yea... I need more strips tho' I think... 3oz isn't much...

Try some air soft BB's!:twisted:

Thanks, good tips. I ended up buying the Tmaxx shocks and building with 10 wt oil. I see what you mean about them being slow to respond even with 10 wt. I am going to swap out the pistons for the three hole and see if that changes and then maybe leave the oil out! I haven't finished the electronics yet, hopefully this weekend.

thats it just 3oz. I run more than that in my tlt tires! if memory sevres I have like 10 or 12oz. each im my clods tires

10-12oz... Hmmm... Looks like I'm gonna hafta make a trip to the tire shop the same time I go to the LHS's here and raid them for some things... Thanks for the advice...

Dezfan: Buddy here tried bb's... I didn't like the way they piled up and made the wheels wobble when under speed... If I had lathe motors, maybe... But i have the stock Mab's and the BB's would just end up wobbling my wheels... I go by "When in doubt, throttle out!" as I have a TON of wheelspeed with the stock Mab's and 8t pinions yet...

How did you use Airsoft BBs in your crawler? Did you fill the tyres or less? I'm thinking of giving it a try, since BBs are only £1 for 1000 here.