Hey Malice.. Good to see you one Oople..
I guess this message is for everyone.. I finally got to try my changes to the front suspension today.. Here were my results:
1. Could not find my spare pistons, so I had to leave the stock ones in place
2. Changed the front shock springs from Tamiya Yellow to AE Blue and it felt pretty good to me. You were right Malice, the AE springs seem to hold the DB-01 a little better in the front. Just so you know, the Tamiya Yellow springs have a lb/in rate of 3.58 where the AE Blue springs have a lb/in rate of 4.20. The stiffer springs feel more natural for the front weight of the car. The AE Blue springs add a bit more than the Tamiya Blue springs which have a lb/in rate of 3.80.
3. I solved the bottoming out problem with the AC Tower by moving my bottom shock mount to the far left and right holes instead of the stock center hole. It allowed the chassis to 'just touch' ground right before the shocks ran out of travel - maybe 1mm as mentioned earlier.. Laying down the shocks a little still felt good on the track, so I don't have any complaints.
4. I first ran the front shocks with 35W oil and it felt good. I later switched to 37 1/2W oil and it felt about the same. I think I will try the 37 1/2W oil a little longer to decide.
5. I reinstalled my thicker stock DB-01 front arms for a little more resistance to breakage. They held up well, but I noticed that the thicker arms put pressure on the spring retainers for the Aerated shocks. I experimented with a fix by adding some small spacers to the bottom shock mounts and used longer screws to mount them.. It's a little risky I know, but it seemed to work just fine and it solved the binding problem.. I may go back to the high traction arms to see if they hold up better now that my shocks have more resistance to impact.
6. For added insurance, I changed the rear springs from Tamiya Red to Tamiya Yellow since the track ran out of the Rear AE Spring Set.
The track I raced on was indoor clay - smooth with a good grip. I used J-Concept Bar Code Tires (front and rear) Gold Compound for indoor. They worked awesome on that track and had amazing grip..
I also got to try the Pro-Line Calibur Tires last week on a loose dirt outdoor track.. Again, they were the perfect tire for loose outdoor dirt..
I plan to keep running tests, but was very happy with the changes so far. It definitely solved some of the bottoming out problems after landing larger jumps. My friend said it felt more stiff than he was used to, but could not deny that it had good traction and controlled really well.
Oh, one last thing.. I did notice that the stock front tower does have it's upper shock mount holes in a slightly higher position than the AC Tower. This would explain the problems with the front AC Tower.. If the AC Tower was modified then it would be much easier to solve the bottoming out issue.
Again. Thank you everyone for your help... The suspension is definitely improving..
[QUOTE=TonyV2382;372315]
Quote:
Originally Posted by Carno
@TonyV
The carbon ones aren't as thick as the plastic shocktowers so it's only logical you'd need to use spacers.
Not that I thought of that myself when I ordered them.
I got the advise on here when I ordered the shocktowers, so I got myself a nice set of tamiya blue spacers, some longer screws and blue 3mm locknuts....
I was addressing the bottoming out issue to people who might not know of this issue. I never had bottoming out problems so I think the only reason it can be happening is due to the low stance at the front if the arms arent allowed to fully extend and I learned this the hard way. Couple of front arms later...lol.
I do recommend everyone try the AE spring sets though. Way more options as far as spring rates and better to fine tune the car . The tamiya whites are just too soft. Even the hards are too soft for the db01. Im running the 1.2's up front w/35w Losi oil and when I put the tamiya blues it still felt a bit mushy. The rear feels way better for some reason even with the soft springs.
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