Crawler won't return to level after a sharp turn

[Ricekrispyota]

Hello. I just bought REDCAT crawler off of Facebook Marketplace. It has a ton of upgrades including shocks/springs. My problem is that when I turn sharp under power, or flex the truck out, the body/frame rolls and does not return to level and the 1.9 tires get stuck and wedged under the body. I haven't changed anything other than wheels and tires since I got it a couple of weeks ago. It came with the big stock REDCAT tires.

Where would be the best place to start to solve this problem? Springs (each shock has two springs per shock, long spring on the bottom and shorter spring up top), Oil (no idea when it was last done), new shocks?

Thanks for your help.

 

[Timmahh]

Servo Potentiometer likely is crap, or crapped out.

Servos are one of the things IMO, you should spend a little money on and not buy the cheap servos on amazon/fleabay.

I use a lot of Reefs servos personally. Good servos and while a bit pricey, not stupid pricey like the new high torque futabas or hitecs (though some hitecs are not too badly priced).

but you can get a Shifts servo for about 125, one of the higher torque Reefs are 140 and up (Triple 5, raw 500, Raw800, SMART 900 or 1100 etc).

Buy once cry once. and the Pontentiometer is one of the bigger reasons to buy quality servos. It is what controls the servo positioning, and if its shit, the centering ability of the servo is shit as well.

Hope that helps (not drain the wallet to much anyways).

 

[Ricekrispyota]

Servo Potentiometer likely is crap, or crapped out.

Servos are one of the things IMO, you should spend a little money on and not buy the cheap servos on amazon/fleabay.

I use a lot of Reefs servos personally. Good servos and while a bit pricey, not stupid pricey like the new high torque futabas or hitecs (though some hitecs are not too badly priced).

but you can get a Shifts servo for about 125, one of the higher torque Reefs are 140 and up (Triple 5, raw 500, Raw800, SMART 900 or 1100 etc).

Buy once cry once. and the Pontentiometer is one of the bigger reasons to buy quality servos. It is what controls the servo positioning, and if its shit, the centering ability of the servo is shit as well.

Hope that helps (not drain the wallet to much anyways).

This is definitely a possibility and I will look into it. However, even when I'm not driving the truck, if I push one side down, it will remain leaning to that side and not return to level. I'd like to fix this problem before jumping into more expensive servos. I would upload pics but don't have an account where they are stored. They are strictly on my computer.

 

[HumboldtEF]

It doesnt sound like a servo issue to me, more like torque twist and a soft suspension. You could be out of shock oil in your shocks or the springs could be too soft to push back.

Take off the shock caps and see if they have oil, hopefully you have some spare shock oil to top it off just in case.

 

[JimrC]

sticky shock shafts or springs too soft I would check first then oil weight

 

[AnimalHippie]

I’m with Jim! Take a shock off and see what’s going on.

 

[high plains drifter]

Likely what has already been suggested but also make sure that there isn't something else binding with the suspension components... upper/ lower control arms at correct length ( and equal length on both sides of the rig), as well as drag-link, tie-rod, etc.

 

[Gula]

Bent shock shafts, no oil in them, lol. Sounds like the long and short spring shock upgrade could be your issue.

*EDIT
i bet your upgrade shocks are a blue "alloy" color with adjustable threaded spring thingies

 

[ferp420]

with out pics its hard to say anything
is this a everest 10 sounds like it

theres about a 100 page thread about the everest 10

kinda sounds like your trying to make it a scale crawler

assuming my assumption is correct lol i would first remove the springs completly run it in droop
limit the traval of the shocks
run the shocks with out oil and remove 1 of the orings on the lover cap that is cousing the shocks to stick

but with out pics you could have a cucumber on wheels we don't know help us help you

 

[89Industries]

OP, did the truck do this with the original wheels and tires? You say the new wheels and tires get stuck in the body, there might be a clearance issue. New wheels could have different offset, bigger tires, etc.

Does it get stuck leaning to one side if you drive around without the body?

I have one truck that exhibits this same lean. It's a more scale trail truck with a bit heavier body and higher center of gravity and does not do it as much with the body off. I chalk most of the issue up to a bit of extra friction in shocks and links but for me I'd rather they be leak free without slop in the pivots as they are now. If it was a competition crawler I'd be more concerned.

 

[Ricekrispyota]

OP, did the truck do this with the original wheels and tires? You say the new wheels and tires get stuck in the body, there might be a clearance issue. New wheels could have different offset, bigger tires, etc.

Yes. It did the same with the original wheels and tires. Wheel offset is the same and the new tires are smaller.

Does it get stuck leaning to one side if you drive around without the body?

Yes.

I have one truck that exhibits this same lean. It's a more scale trail truck with a bit heavier body and higher center of gravity and does not do it as much with the body off. I chalk most of the issue up to a bit of extra friction in shocks and links but for me I'd rather they be leak free without slop in the pivots as they are now. If it was a competition crawler I'd be more concerned.

It’s not a scale crawler by any means. The body is just the standard thin, flimsy plastic. No add on bumpers/lights/winches etc.

with out pics its hard to say anything
is this a everest 10 sounds like it

Pretty sure you’re right about it being an Everest 10. It has front and rear steer.

theres about a 100 page thread about the everest 10

I’ll take a look at that.

kinda sounds like your trying to make it a scale crawler

No. I don’t want a scale crawler. I just want to keep up with my kid while he’s out using his.

assuming my assumption is correct lol i would first remove the springs completly run it in droop
limit the traval of the shocks
run the shocks with out oil and remove 1 of the orings on the lover cap that is cousing the shocks to stick

but with out pics you could have a cucumber on wheels we don't know help us help you

Is there a way to post pics without having a URL or website storing them?

 

[ferp420]

dose it have 2 motors or 1

 

[Ricekrispyota]

dose it have 2 motors or 1

on motor, centered on the skid plate. Servos on each axle.

 

[Ricekrispyota]

Not sure if this will work, but hopefully here are the pics.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1c5GAmpyudrWa-wDPDdi-Odl0eM41lPfq/view?usp=drivesdk

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1caxAZIVDt5dICGndyDmbfMQRnpDKRZEB/view?usp=drivesdk

https://drive.google.com/file/d/16FZOBv1PhZdG6OaTJgZL1G8DbCgnqzjM/view?usp=drivesdk

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1T4aA32OF4f_0t5iFQFL8frRv_Djj-7rd/view?usp=drivesdk

https://drive.google.com/file/d/18GcMUytkzmZkBMi3ii2xX4oJFvVpEBts/view?usp=drivesdk

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1caxAZIVDt5dICGndyDmbfMQRnpDKRZEB/view?usp=drivesdk

 

[AnimalHippie]

Google drive says I need access. Post Image site is very easy to use. Upload your pic and select direct link then post that link in the drop down pic in the reply area on the forum.

Postimages — free image hosting / image upload

Provides free image upload and hosting integration for forums. Free picture hosting and photo sharing for websites and blogs.

postimages.org

 

[Ricekrispyota]

I’m leaning it over to this

Pic 1 shows flex and tire sticking (I’m putting the pressure one it
Pic 2 shows bottomed out, no pressure holding it down.
Pic 3-4 show truck leaned over no pressure on it.
Pic 5-6 are normal ride height. The angles probably throw the image off a bit.

Thanks for the help.

 

[high plains drifter]

At least part of the problem is in the links. Uppers and lowers look flipped to me but I'm unfamiliar with this truck. It also seems that those shocks ( not rebounding maybe due to soft spring rate or mounting position) are suspect but that may be due to the links being out of whack. Looks like high-clearance links up top(?). Someone messed with this thing and screwed it up for sure but it is fixable.

I'm sure someone will help you out shortly here but the position of those links don't look right for sure. Shouldn't be sitting like that even without weight on it.

 

[Ricekrispyota]

The links are stock for the Everest. Upper links are stock curved and lowers are straight. They are mounted in the factory location. The lowers look flat or even sloped up because of the shock issue I think.

 

[high plains drifter]

That's good at least. Yeah... from the images it looked as if they had been adjusted incorrectly or that someone had installed wrong length links or in the wrong location(s).

As suggested regardless of anything else, I would pull those shocks and see what they look like, check fluid, etc. For whatever reason those springs on yours look much more compressed than in stock photos. Not sure if they are the original springs but again as originally suggested your shock/ spring setup may be suspect. And again... that's assuming that there is no binding or contact being made throughout the other suspension components... Steering linkages, drag-link, etc.

 

[nightcrawler48]

The shocks are most probably the issue here. There was a post years ago about shocks, angle of mounted shock, shock oil weight, etc. Unfortunately I can't find the post. Basically, with a specific spring rate, the spring will provide the most force when mounted vertically. As the shock is leaned over, the spring force decreases, even with the same spring. Something to do with geometry and physics I believe. As you lean the shock over, you need to use a lighter weight oil. Changing the shock angle allows for some minor shock tuning without having to replace the shock springs to a higher or lower spring rate. Without knowing the spring rate of the springs on these shocks it will be a little bit harder to pick a set of springs that will give you a higher spring rate.

I would say all four (4) shocks have the same issue as you're seeing it on both sides, right and left. As already mentioned, check each shock for damage, but if only one shock had damage (bent shock shaft maybe), I would suspect it wouldn't show up the way you're seeing it now. I'm with JimrC and AnimalHippie suggesting taking the shocks off, checking for oil in the shocks, how does the shock move without the springs, etc. If there is no oil in the shocks, I'm suggesting starting out with a really light shock oil, like 10wt.

Good luck.