New rs10 tips, newbie

[Pulsar85]

Just got my rs10, and got a few questions.

Stock suspension is way stiff and sits too high. Bottom of the frame sat at 3 3/8" from the ground. I moved the top shock mount to the most inside lower hole, and it dropped down to 3 1/4". Helped it from wanting to tip over a little, but not much. So I tried taking the bottom spring perch off each shock, and it lowered it right down, and left me about a half inch of travel down, but when the links flexed the shocks actually compressed and extended like it should, before the links just flexed with little to no shock compression.
Anyone run there rs10 with NO shock springs? Seemed to help my rig stay glued down. Any other tips to get the shocks working, like looser springs? Don't think the oil is too thick. I also found a set of $13 ebay shocks another user used and said he liked, but the thread was like 5 post long and no follow up on how they worked. I would be interested in cheap aluminum bodied shocks if they are not trash. Spring options and all that. Feel like I want very soft suspension so its not all link flex, and it sits stupidly high and stiff stock.

Second, I was wondering about bent links... See alkt about them but not much on why to bend them. I am guessing for ground clearance.

And why do so many build shock mounts for the axle? From what I read, you want your shocks as close to vertical and less horizontal, and it seems attaching them to the axle would lead to a more horizontal position.

Next would be tires. The stocks are leaving a lot to be desired so far. What would you guys consider the beat tire xoice? I know this mostly depends on what your driving on, but I'm on rocks, logs, dirt... I may be wrong, but it seems like I could benefit from a little larger tire, so that would be nice.

Last, anyone find any good wheel spacers? I also feel it would go a lot better with a wider stance, and my tires would not rub the shocks on a tight turn.


Sorry for all the beginner questions. Totally new to crawling and pretty new to getting back into rc in general.

 

[cabron]

you are asking a lot of good questions
they have been answered many times hahahaha.

you need the springs on the shocks, they are the suspension.
some shocks have springs on the inside instead of the outside.
the shocks in a more vertical position gives more shock action but less suspension travel.
also more suited to the scale guys to look realistic.
the shocks in a more horizontal position gives you more suspension travel but less effective dampening.

bent links are to lower the chassis (center of gravity) but keeping the links from dragging on the rocks
going over humps

I agree with using wheel wideners on the rs10, it is too narrow. need at least 1/2 inch or about 13mm wide ones.
can always find them on ebay, junfac.com sells some but it is a long wait for delivery.
you could get different wheels that have a lot of offset, your choice. both ways will help with the tires
rubbing on the links/shocks/motors as well as making it more stable side crawling.
also with the wideners there will be room to mount the shocks onto the housing instead on the links

for rock crawling you want articulation but not too much so that it flips over. as a rule you want the tire
to be able to rise up its own height but not too much over.

stock tires are very stiff. you can try removing the foams and cutting some of the tread. this will help some.
but new better tires and foams will be the best. white dot rovers seem to a very good choice without
spending too much money. I like leopards as well as sedonas. with some memory foams or two stage foams
I recommend oversize foams with the rovers. the pink dot rovers are a lot softer but are also a bit smaller
diameter. any tire is better than stock.

start shopping for metal gear servos. the stock ones will break quickly. there are several at about 30 - 40 dollars
or kobbyking has some fair ones for 12 - 20

this should get you going, I will come back to see if you have more questions later
enjoy

 

[jsowens]

The thing that helped me the most with suspension was experimenting with different setups and reading threads in some of the comp forums (berg, bully, etc...). The shock oil controls the speed that the shock moves. Thicker oil slows it down, thinner speeds it up. You can definitely experiment with spring weight as well. What ultimately worked best for my setup was Duratrax Evader 4" aluminum shocks, white losi springs all around, and 35wt oil. Swapping to a different chassis that allowed a lot more mounting positions was nice to dial in the feel I wanted.

Mounting the shocks to the axle housing is tough to accomplish with the stock setup. Most folks using the stock chassis have to make some kind of extension or buy longer shocks to do this. I liked the way it looked and my aftermarket chassis allowed me to mount them to the axle housing without modification.

Moving the shock position around is a much easier way to dial in ride height than removing springs, or going to a softer spring. Experiment as much as possible.

 

[Pulsar85]

I tried finding wheel spacers a few times, but can not find anything specific to the rs10. What model will work on this, ax10 or something else?

Biggest reason I tried it without any spring on the shocks is because the stock setup they do not compress. My buddy told me to cut a few coils off them and stretch them and they should soften up.

I tried the shocks in a few holes, but they didn't help with the stiffness. When I set the truck down they do not compress at all and going over obsticals I would say 95% of the time it's just the links flexing and no shock compression.

Like I said, sorry for the newbie questions! Lol. I was sure they were answered many times, but I been bouncing around the forum reading, having multiple tabs open, closig tabs by accident and loosing where I was at... Thought I would start a thread so I could just keep al the info in one spot

Read through the original rs10 thread up until you guys finally got your own sub forum, but that info was years ago and figured new and better tricks had been figured out by now

 

[cabron]

here are some spacers on ebay
Kyosho Crawler 4WD RC Truck 17mm Wheel Extension 1 10 Tamiya 12mm Hex S | eBay

these are 17mm long or just under 3/4"


Gmade Duralumin Wheel Widner Traxxas 1 16 Mini Revo Slash Summit RC Car R64401 | eBay

these are 11mm


Traxxas Mini 1 16 Revo Aluminum Wheel Extension Widener Kit ERV010 15mm Blue | eBay

these are 15mm and have the added benefit of staying on when the wheel is removed

 

[Pulsar85]

Thanks alot! Wish I knew, I had sold my mini revo with 15mm spacers on it an hour before I went and got the rs10 lol.

 

[fleckofly]

lots of good tips on steering mods here buddy http://www.rccrawler.com/forum/redcat-rs10/537906-redcat-steering-thread.html

 

[Pulsar85]

Thanks for the tips so far! I'll get to steering eventually, but other things need attention first.

Just bought some rover white dots this morning. Ordered up a new servo last night too. The front stocm servo burnt up after 5 mins of crawling on some actual good rocks. Plan on usi g that servo for a while, and if it holds up, I'll put another on the rear.

Next up will be suspension. I want some internal sprung shocks for it. Thinking the hr air shocks. They are fairly cheap and comes with a few spring options.

Going to be slow going though, as I don't have much cash to put into it

 

[Pulsar85]

Well I got my mini revo wheel spacers in today, and the hole for the shaft is not wide enough to install them into the shaft. It alides on, until the shaft gets wider where the hole is. Maybe take it to work Monday and see if they can open it up a little for me in a drill press

 

[cabron]

some things you have said are a bit difficult to understand, please post aa few pictures of the suspension.
shocks need that bottom cup where it is to work if you have outer springs.
have you moved the bottom of the springs closer to the axle housing? I prefer the shocks mounted
on the housing instead of on the links but you would need to fabricate your own shock mount and will definitely
need the wheel spacers.

pics please

 

[Pulsar85]

Not sure what you are looking for in a pic? I have moved my top shock mount to the outter most top mount hole, and the lower was about as far out as they can go from factory.
I put the bottom spring pwrcg back on. It did lower center of gravity, but the springs were still too stiff, so I'll be looking for softer springs.

I just got done drilling out my wheel spacers to fit on the shaft. I went 1/16" over, a little over 1/4" deep or so. I was hoping it would take up some wheel slop, but it stayed about the same.

Next up will be some softer springs, or internal springs. Looking for something way softer as I can put the truck on the ground and they do not compress at all. Any tips for what popular model springs will fit? I am thinking for this I will bring it to a hobby shop and see if they will let me test fit a few stiffness and see what feels right

 

[cabron]

normally the shocks wont compress when sitting on the ground not moving.
only when the wheel is trying to go over a rock will it compress, this is not the
same as a standard car though there are some shocks made with internal springs that
are on both sides of the piston so the piston can move in either direction.
gmade makes them I think try www.junfac.com
to not limit the suspension travel, the shocks would have to be pretty long.