Softer damping will help prevent shock shaft bending

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I baby my baja and I still bend shafts. It got so bad that I actually bent a shaft driving my baja at a local high school football field! No divits, no dips, no jumps. Shaft bent anyway.

To combat this I tried drilling out the largest hole in the piston (2 actually) just a hair bigger to give less dampening (I know, thinner oil would have the same result). Plus, I lowered the spring presets so the thing is nearly dragging it's belly on the ground. At least I haven't bent any shafts but I can only drive it on flat grass or dirt or on the street.

I own several other R/C vehicles and the only one that has NEVER broken or bent a shock shaft is my Traxxas Revo. And I beat the bejesus out of that thing. That's the toughest R/C vehicle I own. Maybe it has something to do with the short stubby shocks, a (relativly) wide shock shaft diameter and not much travel (A arms have lots of travel but due to the inboard nature of the suspension setup, the shocks don't move much).
 
Ride height has nothing to do with bottoming off jumps. When you leave a jump your suspension fully extends so that you have the full travel of the shock to absorb the impact. Your shock settings should be adjusted accordingly. Ground clearance is the only issue with ride height. :)
 
I have tryied every possible combo on these shocks and they still bend.Yes I jump my Baja because I should be able to.I think Turtle is on the right track with our problem just a little bit longer and our problems should be over with at the very worst it will cut the bent shafts I have collected in half.I spent hours well days trying to find a good set up and it does not exsist with what available right now at least as far as bending goes.I have found a couple of great set ups but they only bend them faster.But they do work awesome if you stay on the ground any air time and you guesssed it it looks just like the ones General posted above.
 
i think the shocks are the right size overall, but better springs, thincker shafts, maybe 4mm, and a resivoir shock would help a bit.

or a taller shock body with thicker, longer shafts so more of the shaft could be preloaded into the body would be a good start. maybe longer shafts and a longer guide on the bottom.
but yes something needs to be fixed up. hopefully TR will have good results with his testing for those of you haveing this issue
 
Well I bent one real good today going over some very minor routine jumps with it. I am about to locate some titanium rod so I can attempt to make some for myself till Turtle has some made up.
At least I have the NCT race this weekend to keep my mind off the Baja shock problem. I'll be busy breaking other scale cars.
 
The softer dampening just makes the pogo even worse. The shocks just need to be made strong enough to handle thick oil and stiffer dampening. Then we can start to dial these puppies in!
 
A couple of days ago I bent and broke the front right shock shaft due to losing the control of the baja at a very wrong moment. I was wondering though that is it really the damping force on the piston of the shock absorber that bends the shafts or the compression caused by the bottoming of suspension. When the suspension bottoms does the piston of the damper hit the top of the shock body or the bottom end of the shaft hit the bottom of the body? If it is the piston hitting the top of the body, some kind of rubber (something more rigid than the silicone fuel tube) at the bottom of the body or at the bottom end of the shaft could help. Big and rigid enough to make sure that the piston would never hit the top of the body. At the cost of wheel travel but if it helps, I'm willing to give away some wheel travel. I'll see about the matter this evening.
 
on the few i have bent here it appears to be the same. bent as it was entering the shock. but ive only bent 2 shafts and broke 2 shafts since last June.
 
Well, it seems that the piston or the top end of the shaft cannot hit the top of the shock body. Still I find it hard to believe that a plastic piston and the small circlip holding it could create and carry such a force that can cause the buckling of the shaft... Then again, what else could cause it..?
 
the other option for cuase would be the lateral movment the a arms have when landing that hard jump! the shock compresses, and then the a arms are pushed sideways from the forces of the impact, thus moving the arm and the shafts geometery and then bends the shaft from the lateral movement.
this is just a Theory i have, but i feel its the most reasonable cause of the bent shafts.
 
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