Order Placed - Bronco

[GraciousOne]

Originally Posted by Measuredpath

I was thinking that, but my buddies CR-01 is running weighted wheels and a wider offset and he gets more articulation than I.

What I am going to do is weight the wheels and use even lighter oil (30wt currently) with softer springs. Then I will remove the rear. I've already removed the front when I went out for its maiden run.

Thanks for tip

Well, I guess it is fair to say that I should have been more specific in my advice. I was referring to getting Max articulation with close to stock wheel weight and suspension/axle geometry.

The increased wheel weight and widened axles will increase their leverage on the sway bars, effectively making them softer, allowing more articulation. So I have no doubt that you guys are still getting good articulation even with the sway bars. Good points.

Keep the posts coming. I'm enjoying this build thread.

[Measuredpath]

Graciousone, might I ask what you had specifically in mind that might allow me to do so without widening the stance?

I appreciate any feedback thanks for the likes regarding my thread.

[new2rocks]

What springs are you running, Measuredpath? Also, can you post some side view pix with body off showing the suspension at rest, full extension and full compression?

[Measuredpath]

I am running the stock tamiya springs right now. I haven't switched over to the short barrel set yet. I have loss 30wt oil in my Axial shocks that might need a piston hole change (3 hole currently).

Rest



Compression



Extension

[new2rocks]

I don't see anything obvious jumping out about the geometry, so if I had to guess, I'd be thinking springs. I'd suggest softer springs (not sure how soft the barrels go) and lighter oil in the shocks. I'm running the stock shocks with the soft spring set (yellows) and an offset that looks pretty close to yours (RC4WD wagons that mount straight to the pin with no hexes), and I get great articulation.

[860Crawler]

There are softer barrels than the yellows (red markings) but they don't hold the truck up at all

sent from Galaxy S3

[EeePee]

I really liked my front suspension like this: EeePee's CR-01

[Measuredpath]

I might give those mods a try after I put some other bits on. I want to just add one mod at a time to observe the characteristic on some of the terrain I am running on.

Only thing that has been modified was adding weight to the wheels.

[GraciousOne]

I ordered a set of CR-01 springs off asiatees. There were three different stiffnesses and I used the softest. They seem to be a good stiffness as they allow good articulation but still hold the chassis up to a good ride height. As for dampers, I think shock oil weight is a lot less critical than spring rate for articulation. Having said that, for oil I think you really want to go with the lightest weight possible. Enough so the bloody thing doesn't completely wobble around like a bobble-head, but pretty much nothing more than that.

Obviously if it were a race truck like a short course Slash or even an Ultra 4 racing-type truck, then the shock weight would be much more critical to good performance, and you'd have to go heavier.

[new2rocks]

^ x2 to what GraciousOne said. That's exactly what I did to get my setup (my steelies were pretty heavy to start, and I added 2 oz of weight to each front). The latest pix are looking very good, MeasuredPath. Looks like you're getting close. How did it seem running it with the weights?

[Measuredpath]

thanks again everyone It ran really well with the weights, although you could tell it needed high clearance links. I ended up putting on some short barrel springs (FR - Hard, Rear - Med) and will tune from there. I lost a slight bit of clearance and will test in the same areas to see how well it does. I figure if I can run in this spot, I can run anywhere as the terrain is not in the least forgiving. Once I see how it performs with the shorter springs. I will start to add the other hop ups (i.e. Tamiya's High Clearance links).

[860Crawler]

Just something to keep an eye on, having softer springs in back and harder in front may give you some issues in climbing situations. The additional squatting of the suspension geometry from drivetrain torque could result in more frequent tipping back and rollovers.

I run the opposite with medium up front and hard in back to keep the truck more level. Also I use a thicker torsion bar in the rear as well to counter torque twist. Thin black bar up front and silver in rear. You've probably seen this in a few threads as well, flipping the upper rear links to the top of the mounting points gives the rear better geometry with the links being closer to horizontal.



sent from Galaxy S3

[GraciousOne]

Measuredpath - that *looks* like a stock tranny skid plate there. I would suggest ditching that if it is. Plain and simple, Tamiya cocked up the design on that one. The ribbing IS needed for stiffness and strength, especially since the skid plate is plastic. But they should have made the underside flush, and placed the ribbing under the tranny, obviously leaving provisions for the tranny to sit on. As it is designed, it will snag on everything. I bought a TopCad one off asiatees (Part Number = 14020). It has a pretty smooth bottom, although I think I will go a step further and countersink it so the screws are that much more flush. I personally didn't care for the blue anodizing, but I'll just paint it black.

Keep us posted!

[Measuredpath]

860Crawler, I have switched the springs around and thank you for pointing that out. I do not recall the reasoning why I did that since I knew that harder was needed in the rear. In my build process already flipped the links to a more horizontal position lol.

Graciousone, I have on order a new skid plate from KM group and other bits due this week. I will most likely put a thin sheet of metal to smooth out the bottom. You can get rid of the blue by using brake fluid or oven cleaner and letting it sit as it is a caustic solution. Just be careful when handling either liquid as they are harmful.

[GraciousOne]

Thanks for the tip on removing the anodizing.

[Osteo]

[/QUOTE]

That's a good looking rock garden! they are extending a highway about 15min from my house and there are a bunch of piles of those rocks all over the place, (my buddy is thinking about liberating a few!) hopefully I'll get to go out on the weekend.

860Crawler - I know I have read about changing the link location before but that picture is perfect and makes more sense to me now that I can see it clearly. Will have to do the same with mine.

As with everyone, lots one wants to do, but so little time!

Measuredpath - looking forward to seeing your hopped up truck in action!!

D

[OSRC]

Interesting, I do the opposite - running the hard springs up front, medium out back, no swaybars or anything. Maybe I'll swap them around and give it a run and see how it does.

Looks like a good amount of flex to me! Sometimes more is too much.

[Measuredpath]

I think it comes down to the type of driver and driving you'll be doing. I can see someone that is scaling up rocks more needing a stiffer rear with trail running being less of an issue with backwards rollovers. I know I might be playing with the wheelbase as well. Trying longer and shorter based off what I will be running this over.

[Measuredpath]

I received some of my KM parts in the mail today.

- 2 servo beds
- heatsink plate
- bumper thingy
- skid plate

They appear to be some very well machined parts.



I ordered some wheel extenders last night and looking at some new tires and wheels. Still waiting on my light kit as well.

[RichardinNZ]

Did someone say addictive?