The spring doesn't care if it's horizontal or vertical. Moving the mounting point (top or bottom) closer to the wheel makes the spring stiffer. Moving it inside makes it softer. This is because of leverage - moving the mounting away from the tire makes the lever longer, which is more mechanical advantage, which makes it softer.

Theoretically, you could mount two springs in two totally different locations and get the exact same frequency and spring rate. The shock, however, would act completely different - you would need to have heavier oil or a smaller hole piston to get it to act the same as the outside position.

This is why I went to the trouble to calculate it. Once I figured out what it was supposed to be and got a set of springs that were matched, when I visually checked it it was perfect.

If you don't want to do the calcs, and you're having trouble seeing it, the next best shot is shooting video and slowing it down.

Go back to page 1 and read again.
"bounce on springs" = oil to thin
"wheels start to bounce" = oil to thick

A smooth track like that will most likely want a high frequency. Bumpy tracks want a low frequency.

Good luck and go kick some butt!

CraigMBA- how to you 'calculate it'?

Yea I was wondering the same thing about calculating it.
So the stiffer the spring the higher the frequency? and the more the shock is mounted toward the wheel,the higher the frequency?do i have this correct?

In the past couple weeks of trying to get this thing dialed i have experience the car bouncing on the springs and the wheels bouncing up. It is very frustrating and trying to find the perfect combo is hard,which is why im hoping this will help.

I think I am starting to think i am in the right direction towards finding the perfect combo.

I am experiencing something weired in the rear while finding a spring/mount combo. When the rear is coming up after i drop it, It bounces up and then back down,then back up?What can this be?there is still no oil in the shocks. Is this a clear explanation?
Thanx again everyone,help is greatlly appreciated.

The rear will bounce up & down more than the front because it has more travel. The important thing is that the front & rear both 'top out' at the same moment because they are traveling at the same rate. Sure, the rear will want to bounce again. That is normal. If you could match the front & rear droop and extension it would be easier.

"Bounce on spring" & "wheels start to bounce"-
Think of it like this. You put 20wt oil in the front & rear shocks. Put the car down and drive it around in your driveway. It will act as tho you don't have any shock oil. That is "Bounce on the springs".

Now go thicker on the oil. Keep going until you see the tires start to lift/bounce. Now you are bouncing on the tire.

What you want is that in between stage where you see the tires go up & down following ever dip & bump but your body doesn't. Does that help?

Yes thank you.
I still have no shock oil in and am trying to find balance.
So if one side bounces faster than the other,put a lighter spring in?
would it be ok to say have a silver spring in the rear and a green in the front?

I think i found balance with silver spring in front,outside hole on bottom,most inner hole on shock tower.
Silver spring in the rear outside hole on top outside hole on the bottom.
But what also works in the rear is gray springs,inner hole on bottom,outer holer on top.

What should i do in the rear?Does this seem a least in the ballpark of balance?

If one end bounces faster, not one side put a softer spring on that end.

Mount the bottom of the shock on the inside hole like you did with the gray rear spring. The gray spring is stiffer than the silver spring. When you moved it to the inside hole it lowered the frequency. Now it appeared softer like the silver spring.

Where you locate your battery, speed controller, receiver, & transponder can affect the overall balance of your car. I have 2 identical batteries so my SC10 is consistent.

Try another spring on the front? Have you tried the blue or gold front spring?

BINGO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I found it!!!!!
I ended up going like this:
Rear-Green spring,outside hole on top,outside hole on bottom
Front:Silver spring,inside hole on top,outside hole on bottom

Now for shock oil.
I think i am going to start with #2 piston and 30 shock oil. or is 30 to high to start out with?(My sc10 had 37.5 rear and 50 in front with #2 piston all around)
I am going to the track tommorow to try it out. Thank you for all ur help guys

30 would be a good starting point. Keep going up until you see the tires bouncing over the bumps. You will find there is a range like 30-50 in the front & 30-40 in the rear. Just an example.

Remember you don't want 'spring bounce' Watch the body & tires. Tires should be moving up & down. Body should remain smooth as butter.

My taking was that you dont want it to be so light that it bounces on the spring but not to stiff to where the tires bounce up

Maybe I missed it in this thread, but: given a full set of springs, when balancing, what springs should you start out with? It seems you pick your spring rates arbitrarily at the beginning and then adjust up or down. Do ou start out soft or hard? Somewhere in the middle? Go with a medium collar location and start off by ride height?

Thanks in advance.

I just started in the middle.

What is ur track like? A lower suspension frequency is good for bumpy tracks. A higer suspension frequency for smooth tracks. The shock collar location is only to set ride height.
I had to read the first page of info a couple of times to fully understand it

Whatever springs/positions you had for a standard setup.

My wife is a high school math teacher. As he might say - thats your homework, I already know how to do it!

If you're really interested, I would suggest you start by doing a Google search for "spring frequency" and look around at what they do on full sized cars. Contrary to common belief, the laws of physics apply the same in all scales.

CraigMBA, you're creaping up on 1000 posts. Next thing you know you are going to be a moderator!!!!