288LikesTamiya mini cooper
09-24-2007, 10:12 PM
#5056
soft inserts. its tricky and takes time getting at all in but gluing is the easiest part once you get it all perfectly snug.
09-25-2007, 10:52 AM
#5058
I don't think it matters. Use whatever you got so long as you get the desired droop. You could even use plastic spacers, but o-rings are usually pretty plentiful and they fit the shaft perfectly.
09-25-2007, 01:54 PM
#5062
HiH
Ed
09-25-2007, 01:59 PM
#5063
With the internal spacers (and the spring retainer on the shock), total shock travel is 1/4" or even less, I think.
By the way Tim, I think Derek and I are going to race at Trackside this Saturday to get some practice in before the big Mini Mayhem event there next weekend. Come on up and we can get things tuned up.
09-25-2007, 06:27 PM
#5066
My input on the spacer issue.
I for a long timje used o-rings, what I noticed is that it was very inconsistant from shock to shock I found that the drrop would vary as much a 3mm from shock to shock, that was from o-ring age to type os material, how long it was in shock oil. and so on (I assumed)
So I went away from the o-rings and went to spacers, although a pain to adjust I found that I could be more precise, I then could set it exactly as I wanted. .1mm per corner adjustments.
With that said. the magic setting...... there is none.
I start with flat arms from side to side when unweighted (front and rear). Trying to use a straight edge to measure from arm to arm. Then I would adjust the limiting internal to the shock as I needed more or less droop for the track. One thing to keep in mind you need to keep the shocks on the corner of the car it was shimmed for. once I got the car where I liked it I noticed every corner had different spacing. But the good news once it is set up the first time you remove equal amounts from each side.
The other thing that this did was to adjust the droop to the weight in the chassis. What I mean is use the droop to correct the tweak. So for instance when I lift the front of the car I would make sure the tires came of the ground at the same time. I would balance the rear spring to keep the car flat and maintain the front droop equally. And doing the same for the rear as well.
It seems to make the car more consistant.
I know ramble ramble ramble. (sorry)
I for a long timje used o-rings, what I noticed is that it was very inconsistant from shock to shock I found that the drrop would vary as much a 3mm from shock to shock, that was from o-ring age to type os material, how long it was in shock oil. and so on (I assumed)
So I went away from the o-rings and went to spacers, although a pain to adjust I found that I could be more precise, I then could set it exactly as I wanted. .1mm per corner adjustments.
With that said. the magic setting...... there is none.
I start with flat arms from side to side when unweighted (front and rear). Trying to use a straight edge to measure from arm to arm. Then I would adjust the limiting internal to the shock as I needed more or less droop for the track. One thing to keep in mind you need to keep the shocks on the corner of the car it was shimmed for. once I got the car where I liked it I noticed every corner had different spacing. But the good news once it is set up the first time you remove equal amounts from each side.
The other thing that this did was to adjust the droop to the weight in the chassis. What I mean is use the droop to correct the tweak. So for instance when I lift the front of the car I would make sure the tires came of the ground at the same time. I would balance the rear spring to keep the car flat and maintain the front droop equally. And doing the same for the rear as well.
It seems to make the car more consistant.
I know ramble ramble ramble. (sorry)
09-25-2007, 07:11 PM
#5067
Tamiyaracer - you have me confused on how to setup the droop with the spacers. The way I read it, you set up the shocks, then make minor adjustments in droop ... but without taking apart the shocks again, how do you make the minor adjustments? How do you "tweak" the droop to fix the tweak? I don't understand.
09-25-2007, 07:30 PM
#5069
Tamiyaracer - you have me confused on how to setup the droop with the spacers. The way I read it, you set up the shocks, then make minor adjustments in droop ... but without taking apart the shocks again, how do you make the minor adjustments? How do you "tweak" the droop to fix the tweak? I don't understand.
As for tweak:
it is hard to type easy to show.
But in a touing car what I find is that even though you measure your droop and set it exactly you will find if you lift the front slowly you will not get the front tires to lift off of the table at the same time (usually) When you set the droop to the table (Dave Jun method) or you measure from the bottom of the chassis, I always continued to have problems and what I notice (with some help) was that if a car is balanced and weighted properly it will raise of the table squarely. meaning the tires come off exactly at the same time. in a mini that is very difficult. remember it is a molded chassis.
what I also notice if you raise the fron you might notice the rear sink as the weight transfers, you might also notice that the car will also sink further in one real corner than the other. adjust the springs so the rear of the car stays flat, then the front stil won't come off at the same time unless you space each shock indivudually. I know it is confusing, and I wish I could show youin person, maybe I will get a video camera some day and I can show that way.
But what I'm trying to comunicate is as weight transfers in the molded car it doesn't really work well if everything is set the same. the molded chassis is not square. I use the smae method on a TA05 when I have a chassis that is warped, and noticed a night and day difference in performance, cause the car acts square to the track, not to a set up board.
09-26-2007, 03:29 AM
#5070
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You can also set tweak using the external spring preload spacer (or ring on a TRF shock):
* Take out the motor and remove the pinion, then reinstall the motor (you need the motor in the car so it is in 'on track' condition). You also need the battery in the car.
* Put the car on a truly flat surface (plate glass or setup board)
* Put a nickel slightly toward the front on the top of each front wheel and slowly lift the front of the chassis at the centerpoint (where the two chassis halves come together) with an X-Acto knife.
* The nickels should both roll foward at the same time. If not, add a thin spacer (or move the ring downward slightly) on the rear wheel OPPOSITE the front wheel that needs to roll sooner. NOTE: This will only work if you have some diff action. Those who run with a spool type front end need to figure out some other way to do this.
* Once you have the fronts rolling forward at the same time, do the same for the back wheels.
* Take out the motor and remove the pinion, then reinstall the motor (you need the motor in the car so it is in 'on track' condition). You also need the battery in the car.
* Put the car on a truly flat surface (plate glass or setup board)
* Put a nickel slightly toward the front on the top of each front wheel and slowly lift the front of the chassis at the centerpoint (where the two chassis halves come together) with an X-Acto knife.
* The nickels should both roll foward at the same time. If not, add a thin spacer (or move the ring downward slightly) on the rear wheel OPPOSITE the front wheel that needs to roll sooner. NOTE: This will only work if you have some diff action. Those who run with a spool type front end need to figure out some other way to do this.
* Once you have the fronts rolling forward at the same time, do the same for the back wheels.