hpi hd shock set-up..my way, no droop.

[kryptonite]

so alot of us are having "droop" problems with the hpi hd shafts. it took me awhile and many diffrent set-ups to get something that works. the main problem is the shaft thickness. its just too much for our small shock bodies. if you fill the shock to the top you will hydro lock it. its the small amount of air on the top that creates the droop. also the shock shafts lower the ride height making it seem worse.


-shim the shock piston with washers or a plastic spacer. don't use fuel tubing! it will come right off and create even more droop from the piston moving up and down


-make sure the piston is tight. if its loose it will spiral while working, making shock oils feel thinner


-up front i use some large fuel tubing on the bottom of the shock shaft, becouse the top of the shock shaft bottoms out on the shock cap.measure with the spring retainer installed as to not limit the suspension too much. you will notice the front end will not bottom out. thats not a bad thing


- i also added just a tad more oil so that the shock is slightly hydro locked. if you push the shaft all the way in it will force itself out. its important that you do that as the extra air creates more sag. it also allows the shocks to work in a progressive manner as it gets harder as the suspension travels upward.


-now for the goods. it may sound like alot, but it works and still has a super "gooshy" feeling. im running 75wt in the rear and 65wt up front with stock springs.


-you may think "how could that be".. but think of the air in the shock body as water.


inclosed is a pic after fully compresing the chassis and letting it come up on its own. take note to where my pre-load adjusterments are. less then 1/2" down so im not running on all springs here. i havent tested it but dead dropping the truck from 4' in the air it lands like a corr truck with wings


sorry for the long thread. you guys should be used to this by now..

 

[AlphaDog777]

Haha... I'm already ontop of it krypt... I did all that from the get go... Nitro mt's aren't any different I might try stock springs though

 

[kryptonite]

Haha... I'm already ontop of it krypt... I did all that from the get go... Nitro mt's aren't any different I might try stock springs though

never really had any problems with the shock shafts being too large on a nitro

 

[AlphaDog777]

the partiall hyro locking is the key to keeping the trucks from having excesive droop...


on the other end, i come from a drifting background I intentionaly put 100k did lube front & rear to create as much equal power distribushion I could get... My truck dosent turn... It drifts! it pushes pretty hard if i don't initiate a slide... I love it this way! I've gotta get video of how it performs... so I think naturally are setups will be different.. Mine seems to be pretty decent for the way I drive....

 

[AlphaDog777]

don't get me wrong, you hit the nail on the head....(no ive never had that problem either, I meant the partial hydro lock and the rotating piston and what not)...I have takin some thought to the all springs comment... I'm gunna loosen them up... See how she rides....


this post should have been before my other one... lmao

 

[Piranha2]

I got absolutely zip out of that..... ......I feel like such a dope!

 

[AlphaDog777]

don't worry, i think i had a little to much mary jane last night when i wrote all that... im reading it now like... wooowwwww... I'm dumb

 

[Piranha2]

so alot of us are having "droop" problems with the hpi hd shafts. it took me awhile and many diffrent set-ups to get something that works. the main problem is the shaft thickness. its just too much for our small shock bodies. if you fill the shock to the top you will hydro lock it. its the small amount of air on the top that creates the droop. also the shock shafts lower the ride height making it seem worse.
-shim the shock piston with washers or a plastic spacer. don't use fuel tubing! it will come right off and create even more droop from the piston moving up and down


-make sure the piston is tight. if its loose it will spiral while working, making shock oils feel thinner


-up front i use some large fuel tubing on the bottom of the shock shaft, becouse the top of the shock shaft bottoms out on the shock cap.measure with the spring retainer installed as to not limit the suspension too much. you will notice the front end will not bottom out. thats not a bad thing


- i also added just a tad more oil so that the shock is slightly hydro locked. if you push the shaft all the way in it will force itself out. its important that you do that as the extra air creates more sag. it also allows the shocks to work in a progressive manner as it gets harder as the suspension travels upward.


-now for the goods. it may sound like alot, but it works and still has a super "gooshy" feeling. im running 75wt in the rear and 65wt up front with stock springs.


-you may think "how could that be".. but think of the air in the shock body as water.


inclosed is a pic after fully compresing the chassis and letting it come up on its own. take note to where my pre-load adjusterments are. less then 1/2" down so im not running on all springs here. i havent tested it but dead dropping the truck from 4' in the air it lands like a corr truck with wings


sorry for the long thread. you guys should be used to this by now..

Aww, c'mon....where's Kryp.....can someone check the freezer? Actually, not funny....anyone have contact lately? Well, hopefully he's just been working real hard for more aluminum!

 

[DemonRC]

Aww, c'mon....where's Kryp.....can someone check the freezer? Actually, not funny....anyone have contact lately? Well, hopefully he's just been working real hard for more aluminum!

Maybe he was riding around in the pink mobile and some Mary Kay ladies jumped him for impersonation .

 

[Piranha2]

Can someone elaborate on this?.......you guys were willing to share ALL your other secrets!

 

[DemonRC]

Can someone elaborate on this?.......you guys were willing to share ALL your other secrets!

What are you needing to know?

 

[Piranha2]

Hey Cat, I'm just wondering how to allow (?) or prevent (?) the shocks from hydrolocking.....I should have my Ramtech springs today but I want to square away the "fluid" situation. I have 1" of compression and zero rebound. Oh, and don't be interested in the sidepipe just because the last one sold for $20. (I'm watching you! ) I too have the Asgard!

 

[DemonRC]

Hey Cat, I'm just wondering how to allow (?) or prevent (?) the shocks from hydrolocking!

That's just a matter of letter enough fluid out so that the shock doesn't rebound all by itself without a spring on it. I always bleed my shocks from the top. It seems to work the best for me.

 

[kryptonite]

Maybe he was riding around in the pink mobile and some Mary Kay ladies jumped him for impersonation .

nice bro. im gone for a week and you guys hang me out to dry??

 

[kryptonite]

Hey Cat, I'm just wondering how to allow (?) or prevent (?) the shocks from hydrolocking.....I should have my Ramtech springs today but I want to square away the "fluid" situation. I have 1" of compression and zero rebound. Oh, and don't be interested in the sidepipe just because the last one sold for $20. (I'm watching you! ) I too have the Asgard!

i found that getting them slightly hydro locked works better couse of the excess air in the shock bodies. takes a few try's but i like when you can just barely compress the shaft all the way, then it will push out on its own. with the air that is needed if the shock isnt "slightly" locked you will get alot of droop. wich meens you will always be pushing down the spring retainer, thus riding on mostly spring, thus being not so fun.. like the word "thus" easy to spell

 

[DemonRC]

nice bro. im gone for a week and you guys hang me out to dry??

I figured it was Mark Kay chics or that rotting bear head giving you Ecolli or something bad

 

[pipeous]

Droop is how far the shocks travel down when the chassis and tires are lifted off the ground. Droop is controlled by limiting the downtravel. Most rc's have a screw adjustment that hits either the chassis or a part that contacts near the arms. It is good to limit shocks from extending to their fullest extent as a tuning device but also to stop the pounding the plastic shock ends take every jump. As a tuning device, you will notice with these beasts that if the suspension travels down to far the dogbones will bind in the outdrives or dif cups.... put you rc on a box or something and spin a wheel and if it is notchy, then something is binding.


I found 10mm from stock shocks eliminated the binding. 5mm with the phatdad shafts as they are shorter. with the phatdad shafts I installed them upside down and used a nyloc nut above and below the piston... a 5mm nut. while limiting straps I think are the best option so far, this worked for me and was holding up well.


Shocks need to be able to work. There should be a little rebound each direction if filled properly. over filling the shocks to stop them from bottoming out just puts pressure on the seals, and you'll end up popping a cap or blowing the seals out the bottom. When you have bled the air out of your shocks moving the piston around, you bring the piston to the top, put some oil in the cap and screw then together holding the shaft up while screwed on. in when tightening the shaft pops ou and unable to push in all the way, then loosen the cap off and tighten back down. a shock needs to work smooth


Shocks always ride on the springs no matter where the spacers are. the spacers are for the ride height; less spacers, less tension on spring, the lower the chassis sits... stiffer springs require less spacers to get the same ride height, and a general rule of thumb is to start with the dogbones level


shocks are a science. you can even use pistons that have holes like V or ^ to change the dampening needed for down or up.


sorry to argue, but telling people to overfill their shocks is wrong

 

[kryptonite]

wow thats alot of good info their. maybe i didnt explain myself well. hdro locking shocks are NOT good. i never specified to do that so they don't bottom out, but just to get some push, thats all. my shocks bottom out.. what i meant was the chassis doesn't bottom out, but thats not from hydro locking. its becouse the shaft hits the top of the shock cap. so in this case i think a VERY little bit of hydro lock isnt a bad thing. and to further explain i don't mean to lock up the shaft with oils. just enough so that when you push the shaft in it will push itslef back out slightly.. if you used the hpi shafts you should no that there is about a 1/4" of air on the top wich creates way too much droop. and no.. most rc's don't come with droop screws. infact only fg,fg clones, and on-roads come with that set-up..