Jammin23

Hey everyone il try to explain my problem the best I can! I have a tamiya tb03r with the it's setup. The problem I'm having is when The front shocks compress for the first time they don't return to the original position so I end up with about 1mm of clearance at the front. Does anyone have any ideas why this is happening I'm pretty sure I've set it all up according to the manual. I'm sorry in advance as I'm still not that hot on what all the terms like droop mean!

olly986

Stupid question: do you have oil in your shocks?? did you build them yourself?

Is your ride height set correctly, if the springs are not compress the car will "drop".

Are your wishbones free of play, remove shocks and check that they move freely up and down.

Jammin23

Lol yeah I did put the oil in them! I'm not 100% on how to set my ride height! I'm goin to take it all off and check everything again

Foxxrocket

Ride height is set by a threaded shock body and coller, or spacers that slip above the spring. This is what keeps the chassis from bottoming out, and one of the most important setup adjustments you can make.

olly986

In what quantity?? are you aware of rebound ie: the amount your shaft is coming back out when you push it in and let go (without spring on !!)

Both shocks should have the same rebound, in general if you get the same speed and 50% rebound it should be ok for a start, to check hold both shock in one hand next to each other, press and let go together, see what is happening, they should both look the same, speed and lengh.

For your ride height, have your car on a flat surface with wheels on, use collars until your chassis with battery and all electronics on board is 5mm (for a start) from the flat surface or if your shocks have threads, screw the ring all the way up, then make a mark with a permanent marker on top of shocks and rings, this way when you unscrew the ring you can match right and left by keeping counts. Unscrew until again you reach 5mm front and back, if your track is very bumpy and your chassis hits the ground, raise it a little more.

Is this clear for you?

Jammin23

Thanks chaps you've explained to me what I've been trying to get my head round for a while! Both the shocks react the same and when off the chassis both come back to the same length il try adjusting the shock collars a bit later if that doesn't solve it any other ideas?

olly986

set that already and give it a try on track, which track du you race anyway in England?

the other thing is that maybe you are setting your shocks too wide ie: top whole on shock tower and furthest away on wishbone, but this is a little bit unlikely.

You need to set your droop also, I talk about this on the TC6 thread and explain how to set it.

Enjoy

Jammin23

No racing at the mo just bashing in the local car park cnt really find any tracks near by to me! I've got the ifs setup so I don't have the option of different holes on the tower unless vie missed something there?

olly986

I do not know your chassis at all, but any chance that front and rear shocks have different lengh and you have the rear to front maybe?

Jammin23

Just checked the manual and all 4 shocks are meant to be the same. I've adjusted the collars on the front to raise the height of the front to be the same as the back. You mentioned earlier about rebound how do you adjust this?

olly986

I have explain the concept above, to set it, if your shocks are full of oil the rebound will be 100% when the shaft comes back out all the way fast.

Think that a shock full of oil has not much place for the extra shaft capacity, so in general, there is a rubber bladder on top to compensate, this makes a bigger pressure in the shock and it pushes the shaft and piston out when released.

To stop the shaft to "bounce" too fast we use oil and piston, thicker oil or smaller holes in piston will hold back the shaft for a slower shaft "exit", thinner oil or bigger holes will do the opposite. This is call packing.

Then you have the spring which does exactly that, springing, harder, softer it depends on your car and track.

I am pretty certain that what comes in your kit is suitable for your car.
Hope by now you have learn the basics of car dampening.

rc_square24

iTrader: (9)

So have you checked your suspension travel/operation without the shocks installed? The whole arm assembly should move freely up and down when the shock is not on.

From what you have described I doubt it is a result of no oil or rebound settings, although the above techniques are good to know, you should isolate whether it is a problem with the shocks or the car itself.

You say it leaves you 1mm clearance after compression and rebound, but what was the clearance before you compress it?

Shocks with no oil would be bouncy but the spring itself will still return the chassis to the original ride height when compressed.

When you have the shocks off, bolt the wheels on and just lay the car on a surface, does it give you the minimum and maximum ride height? (Say, 5mm to 0mm)

If you say your car rests fine when laid on a table and it doesn't rebound to the same ride height after compressing it, sounds like a problem with the suspension assembly itself then the shocks.

Try backing out he set screws in the arms, verify all lengths of pushrods and that they are free, suspension arm travel, as you have IFS, check rocker arm movement too etc etc

You don't have this problem on the back, right?

Hope this helps.

Jammin23

the ride height is about 4mm before compression then goes down to 1mm and stays there il strip everything off tonight when i get home from work and see if theres a problem therthanks for all your answers so far ive learnt more in the last 2 days then ive tried since i got the car!