Originally Posted by
fredswain
On a 2WD buggy you are going to end up running a heavier front oil than the rear anyways. On my vintage RC10 (the car I have been playing with the most lately), I run 40W in back and 60W in front with #2 pistons all around but the spring rates are still balanced. My front oil is 50% heavier yet the car has about 45% less weight up front than in back. A different piston could change that ratio though. If I were running 40W all around, the back end would pass the front everytime I get on the brakes.
I don't understand. Given the springs natural frequencies are matched, I thought the rear which is heavier needs more damping vs the front. In doing so, the chassis should settle evenly when hitting bumps or landing off jumps. However, using heavier oil in the front which weighs less doesn't make sense to me? When you do the drop test WITH these oils in your car, does the chassis still bounce evenly? The reason I ask, is because I have tested this extensively years ago and the front end was overdamped.
I had a similar setup when I tested matching f/r spring frequencies. I had to use a heavier oil than I would like to in the front. Otherwise the front end would dump in the middle of the corner. The heavier oil cured that, but I didn't like it because the front end was overdamped and didn't rebound fast enough. BTW no amount of adjusting camber links, tire selection corrected this so I HAD to run heavier oil like you do OR just increase the front spring rate slightly.
I realize I'm contradicting your preference in setup and I'm not saying it's wrong, it just didn't work best for me. As I said in my previous posts, I personally prefer a slightly stiffer front when compared to the back. This allowed me to run a lighter front oil, so when you do the drop test WITH oil the chassis settles evenly. It also allowed me to enter the corners without the front end dumping. Overall I got faster lap times and it was easier to drive at the limit.