Originally posted by Crashby
Even the Silva shock will blow up if the shock and car are not set up properly. While the Silva shock does have a threaded on cap for the shock body, under a sever crash, I have seen the piston come off of the piston rod!!
The trick is so make sure that your shock and car are in sync. When the car is in it's ready to race state, meaning batteries and motor in car, and the droop of the rear pod and the chassis ground clearance is correct, the shock piston should never, ever bottom out or hit the top of the shock when the motor pod moves forward and or aft.
You can check this by placing the car, ready to run, on a flat surface and press down on the antenna. The piston should not bottom out inside of the shock. Next pick up the car and pull down on the back of the motor pod. Again, the piston should not hit the top of the shock. Getting the static length of the shock is tricky but once set right, your car will work much better and you will stop blowing the shock apart. You set the static length of the shock by screwing the ball cups in or out. Sometimes you may have to shorten the ball cups to get the correct static shock length.
Sounds good. I understand the basic concept you are trying to convey in your message. If you push "down" on the antenna, the chassis should hit the ground/surface before the shock bottoms out. I feel comfortable with that idea.
I am struggling with the understanding of the shock extension when held in the air? If you have your droop set, won't the shock piston bottom out when the shock is extended? If not, then what will cause the extension to "stop" or bottom out when the shock is fully extended.
I am just trying to understand and gather information as this is my first experience in 1/12th scale and I have just recently started blowing out VCS shocks. I am running a CRC CK 3.2.
Thanks,
Joe