Drm31078
Rock Crawler
Doesn't length of shock affect center of gravity? Longer travel shock good for absorbing but creates higher center of gravity?
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Longer shocks better or worse for crawling?
- Thread starter Drm31078
- Start date
new2rocks
I wanna be Dave
The short answer is that it all depends on your starting point and how you add longer shocks. As a general rule of thumb, lower CG and higher ground clearance are good, but sometimes you have to trade off a gain in one for a loss in the other. And too much suspension travel can actually make a truck less stable. So if your starting point is a truck with limited suspension travel (like the front suspension of the TF2), a longer shock can help, esp. if you can create a higher upper shock mounting point through a taller shock hoop or other means. But if your truck already sits high and has a lot of articulation, raising the CG and adding instability from longer shocks is much more likely to produce a net loss in overall performance. You can also set up a longer shock in droop by using an internal spring so that it is partially compressed at rest, allowing you to maintain or even lower ride height while increasing shock travel, but that type of setup also has its pros and cons. So when tinkering with a suspension setup, it's important to figure out your biggest issue(s) before trying to figure out the best ways to improve it. And once you start tinkering, it's always best to make one change at a time and test to see what happens, rather than making multiple changes at the same time and then trying to figure out which of them made the difference (if any).
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I run a 60/40 droop. so the shock height settles in 40%. so it sits lower but I still have travel in both directions. I have no internal springs I just run soft springs and adjust the droop by adjusting spring tension. I am really happy with the performance. I can tuck tires in on compression without the body wanting to get pushed up and I still get good traction from the low tire. Works great for side hilling
Natedog
I wanna be Dave
All good info. I like to run less travel, lower ride height tires not too tall...Works well for me...very stable and predictable.
Drm31078
Rock Crawler
So do you just pick one shock oil weight and only adjust springs? Or do you vary both?
I tend to run heavy on the oil. It crawling not racing so shocks don't need to respond as fast. Plus it helps stiffen the soft springs on compression and slow the rebound. On my current set up with the proline scaler shocks I ran the single rate springs and set the ride height with 25wt oil. I then play with the oils to find the right feel on the rebound. I ended up with 60wt
So yes I vary both. If I couldn't get the droop with the springs I had I would have to find softer. Some might look at shock set up as a science. I think it's more of a feel. Run the set up you feel is right and make changes if you don't think it is working
So yes I vary both. If I couldn't get the droop with the springs I had I would have to find softer. Some might look at shock set up as a science. I think it's more of a feel. Run the set up you feel is right and make changes if you don't think it is working
