[jondell]

I think my thoughts on this topic differ from others.....

The problem with RC cars is that as much as they are scaled down, it is not possible to scale down the laws of physics. if we where to scale up everything about our cars, we would have a massively soft and bouncy car. It would almost be funny how bouncy it would be... think beach buggy. Now i dont know about you, but i dont fancy the thought of going flat out on a super grippy surface, with velcro tyres in said beach buggy, but we do when controlling our RC cars (mind you i would never want to be in one)... comparing super grippy surface and velcro tyres in the real world would be tarmac and soft rubber tyres. Try pushing a real race car down and you will struggle... super hard suspension, but of course they dont go over bumps or jumps.

The thing missing in the RC world is downforce and load.. again scale our cars up, and your have a super lightweight car. Add suspension that does not move on a super grippy track with velcro tyres, and it would fall over all the time due to massive ride height..... I could go on and on. but point is, you cant always compare real life with RC... certain things you can, but only with a RC head on.

Taking that into consideration, my thinking is that a shock does not work as a shock on a car... more close to that of a motocross bike. Add into that our shock goes up and down at a million miles an hour with a stoke length that is again un-comparable.

Soooo to the taper shaped piston.... with the taper on the lower face of the piston, the shape allows the oil under it to be forced to the outside of the piston where it flows through the one hole that does not exist.... ie the gap between barrel and piston. Now if we had an o-ring around the piston edge which sealed the piston to the barrel, chances are the taper would have no effect, but we dont because the friction would mess up our long stroke, multi thrusting shocker.

This free floating piston, which is being moved from one side of the barrel to the other, appreciates the oil being directed to the path of least resistance, the gap between piston and barrel, wheres when the piston moves upwards, the oil hits a deadhead of the flat faced piston.

Maybe this could be better proved with a piston that is shaped like a contact lens. hmmmm, or maybe that would just develop a whole host of other things... must copy right that.