Shock Droop Question

[md7989]

Hey guys, I have heard about "drooping" your shocks to gain some suspension performance, but what does drooping your shocks mean and how do I go about doing it???

I'll admit, I'm a newb and someone mention doing this after I wheeled for the first time this weekend.

Let me know your thoughts and info, as it will be appreciated.

 

[camobob]

If you search for them they will come . search droop , dozens of answers . Just dont plan on it with the stock shocks

 

[jsowens]

just dont plan on it with the stock shocks

I ran the stock shocks in full droop with medium tension springs and 100wt oil for about 6 months with no leaks or issues whatsoever.

md7989, there are hundreds of topics on droop...it's something that could work for you, but ultimately I went back to sprung shocks because I didn't like the lowered belly getting hung up. Drooping the shock means to take off the external spring and install an internal spring under the shock piston that keeps the shock fully compressed and the shock extends when the crawler articulates. You can also do semi-droop which uses internal springs as well, but you have one spring below the shock piston and one spring above so the shock isn't kept fully compressed.

It's one of those cheap mods that you can do, try it out, then if you hate it you can remove the internal spring, put the external spring back on and you're back to normal. All you need is a few internal springs (I bought a box of assorted springs at Lowes for a few bucks) and I would recommend heavier shock oil 60wt and above. As far as it being a performance gain...I guess that's all up to personal opinion since I prefer a good sprung suspension over droop...it works better on the rocks I crawl on.

 

[md7989]

I ran the stock shocks in full droop with medium tension springs and 100wt oil for about 6 months with no leaks or issues whatsoever.

md7989, there are hundreds of topics on droop...it's something that could work for you, but ultimately I went back to sprung shocks because I didn't like the lowered belly getting hung up. Drooping the shock means to take off the external spring and install an internal spring under the shock piston that keeps the shock fully compressed and the shock extends when the crawler articulates. You can also do semi-droop which uses internal springs as well, but you have one spring below the shock piston and one spring above so the shock isn't kept fully compressed.

It's one of those cheap mods that you can do, try it out, then if you hate it you can remove the internal spring, put the external spring back on and you're back to normal. All you need is a few internal springs (I bought a box of assorted springs at Lowes for a few bucks) and I would recommend heavier shock oil 60wt and above. As far as it being a performance gain...I guess that's all up to personal opinion since I prefer a good sprung suspension over droop...it works better on the rocks I crawl on.

Thanks for clearing that up...I may try that out sometime.

 

[Col. Sanders]

I ran the stock shocks in full droop with medium tension springs and 100wt oil for about 6 months with no leaks or issues whatsoever.

I ran mine for probably about 30 minutes until both front shock caps ripped off! :shock: They leaked quite a bit in the process.

 

[seven_gun]

Imagine this would be good for comps, but for just messing around reg' articulation is plenty good enough already. less likely to hung up as well like stated above.

 

[jsowens]

I could easily mount my stock shocks back up and use them...I just prefer sprung suspension now. Droop does lower your rig, and you can get hung up, but it's not THAT big of a hinderance. With full droop my rig still sat at about 2.5-2.75'', which isn't bad.

 

[Santa Cruz Jeff]

Limiting your travel. You do not need mega articulation to crawl. It looks cool but most times too much articulation hurts the cause. You can cut small pieces of tubing and put them inside your shocks under the valves to limit your travel to gain performance that is done to your taste. Or a real full DROOP is to run the shocks bottomed out and let the crawler run superlow and the suspension kind of runs in reverse. You drag and the power of the car pulls the suspension higher in the stroke to get over stuff. Low COG

 

[Col. Sanders]

Limiting your travel. You do not need mega articulation to crawl. It looks cool but most times too much articulation hurts the cause. You can cut small pieces of tubing and put them inside your shocks under the valves to limit your travel to gain performance that is done to your taste.

I have to agree with you there. If you don't limit your travel, The front end will try to flex enough to let the front end work its way under ledges and obstacles and flip the truck on its lid. Especially if your running droop! If you run droop you need to limit your travel, especially on the front end.

My rig is running a sprung setup and I find that limiting the travel is still one of the biggest improvements in performance I have done to it so far. My rig is far from stock now, but I still will never run more than 40-45 degrees of articulation, EVER It just doesn't work! I usually try to stay around 35 degrees.

 

[md7989]

I have to agree with you there. If you don't limit your travel, The front end will try to flex enough to let the front end work its way under ledges and obstacles and flip the truck on its lid. Especially if your running droop! If you run droop you need to limit your travel, especially on the front end.

My rig is running a sprung setup and I find that limiting the travel is still one of the biggest improvements in performance I have done to it so far. My rig is far from stock now, but I still will never run more than 40-45 degrees of articulation, EVER It just doesn't work! I usually try to stay around 35 degrees.

When you say degrees of articulation, I assume you are referring to to how much angle the axle can create with respect to a flat surface...like lifting one tire up into the air to see it flex?

I was also checking out some crawler comp videos on youtube and noticed how they really don't flex as much when compared to the stock RS10 flex. I will try limiting the flew somehow this weekend.

 

[talon0713]

When you say degrees of articulation, I assume you are referring to to how much angle the axle can create with respect to a flat surface...like lifting one tire up into the air to see it flex?

I was also checking out some crawler comp videos on youtube and noticed how they really don't flex as much when compared to the stock RS10 flex. I will try limiting the flew somehow this weekend.

its not so much limiting the flex as alot of those guys are using internal springs and creating full droop suspension or semi droop. for full droop you just install an internal spring on top of your shock piston. and semi droop you have the internal spring with an external spring on as well. and you can try different spring rates to see what suites you best.
heres a link to some full droop shocks. http://www.ckrccrawlers.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=113&products_id=969

 

[Col. Sanders]

When you say degrees of articulation, I assume you are referring to to how much angle the axle can create with respect to a flat surface...like lifting one tire up into the air to see it flex?

Yes, but on both axles, if your total of articulation from front to rear is 35 degrees thats what I'm talking about!:mrgreen: Not 35 degrees on only the front and another 35 on the rear as well. I would also limit the front articulation more than the rear... something like 15 on the front and 20 on the rear for a total of 35."thumbsup"

 

[talon0713]

Yes, but on both axles, if your total of articulation from front to rear is 35 degrees thats what I'm talking about!:mrgreen: Not 35 degrees on only the front and another 35 on the rear as well. I would also limit the front articulation more than the rear... something like 15 on the front and 20 on the rear for a total of 35."thumbsup"

ya i have mine set up like that but i left a little more flex in mine just because theres alot of frame twisters out here that will flip you over if you dint have a bit more flex. mine is at about 20 front and 30 rear. so all and all it just really depends on what and where your wheeling on how you tune your suspension.

 

[eggie]

So much to learn... good stuff

 

[DinoCrawler]

These are great numbers. Thanks for the info.

 

[redcatguy]

also you can just spend some bucks and get a nice set of inner sprung shocks. i got the integy set a while back and am liking them. they come with three different spring tensions in the kit. the kit is 65-70 bucks though. also you could get the losi shock kit it comes with springs to be ran on the outside but you could get the inner spings for it easily. hope i helped a little bit.

Brent

 

[Col. Sanders]

ya i have mine set up like that but i left a little more flex in mine just because theres alot of frame twisters out here that will flip you over if you dint have a bit more flex. mine is at about 20 front and 30 rear. so all and all it just really depends on what and where your wheeling on how you tune your suspension.

Very true! It does depend allot on the terrain but I've rarely seen any obstacles that NEED lots of articulation... never more than 50 degrees.

 

[talon0713]

yah thats about as much as you really need. anything beyond that your tires start to bind every thing up and it just causes over rotation and flips you over anyway lol...

 

[seven_gun]

good info guys, Might have to invest in a set of drooped shocks and see how I like it.
Keep up the good work."thumbsup"

 

[jsowens]

good info guys, Might have to invest in a set of drooped shocks and see how I like it.
Keep up the good work."thumbsup"

Honestly, I would suggest you running the stock shocks in droop before investing in a set of droop shocks that you might not even like. Granted the stockers wouldn't be as good as some nicer shocks, at least you'd get a feel of how they perform and how the ride height is. Not to mention it's better to only be out of a few bucks in springs and shock oil than buying a set of $50ish shocks and not liking them.