Front suspension is useless right?

[Kerosene]

Does anyone believe their front suspension is making a difference?
I ve got soft springs and stainless kingpins on my mr02 and I don t reckon it does a thing.

[icebreaka]

do u mean is there a difference between the springs or are u asking if front suspension does nothing all together?

[Kerosene]

I’m asking if front suspension does anything.
Mine just seems way too firm to be able to move under the tiny weight of the car.

[betty.k]

the short answer is yes. the only case where no suspension is needed is a perfectly flat, smooth surface, like glass.
basically, a wheel that’s airborne cannot turn, accelerate or brake. the job of suspension is to keep wheels on the driving surface, not just for comfort.
try replacing the springs with solid blocks and see how it handles. my guess is it will bounce around alot. if you don’t believe it’s doing anything twist a bit of wire around the kingpin above the stabiliser bar so it won’t move unless the suspension moves. drive it around and see if the wire is still above the stabiliser bar or if it’s been pushed up.

i’m using stiff springs up front and my suspension is moving fine. in general you want the front suspension to be harder up front compared to the rear:8ball:

[jamiekulhanek]

The big problem is…….

Springs alone make a very inneffective suspension, the job ‘shocks’ are meant to do is to ABSORB shock, springs do absorb the shock, but they ‘store’ the energy and rebound, which gives bad traction and performance.

Proper ‘shocks’ have a dampener, which actually ABSORBS the shock and dissipates the energy stored in the spring, preventing rebound, keeping the wheel firmly planted to the surface.
But springs alone give more traction than none at all.

This is why oil shocks make such a HUGE difference, you can change the stiffness of the springs, and the viscosity of the oil to make the car ‘glued’to any given surface, including gravel, dirt, road, etc.

e.g. I have a 1/10 buggy that has non dampened spring suspension, and driving it offroad is very difficult. The thing, even at low speed has zilch traction, because the springs are constantly absorbing the shock and rebounding, making the wheels have very little contact with the ground. Therefore driver inputs have little effect= bad handling

I have another 1/10 buggy that has oil shocks, whish have a medium stiffness and 70wt silicone shock oil, speeds of 50kmh on uneven terrain are a piece of cake to control, even large bumps, rocks, ruts fail to put it off course very much at all, driver inputs are precise= good handling…

Just a bit of food for thought….

[betty.k]

and if that don’t fill you up
http://www.ausmicro.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1660&FORUM_ID=1&CAT_ID=1&Topic_Title=suspension+101&Forum_Title=GENERAL+CHAT:8ball:

[dgs73]

what I found with my MR-02 is that due to suspension limiters over the kingpins the knuckle movement (and hence front suspension) is limited to a tiny 1.5 – 3mm, which feels like nothing compared to MR-01… i’ve got s/s kingpins and front spring set too, and I feel it may make a difference if the limiters are removed altogether… anyone tried this?:question:

Edited by – dgs73 on 16 August 2004 09:11:43

[Kerosene]

Yeah I tried it without the suspensions limiters – it’s a bit better.

I might rig my usb camera to point at the front wheel.. just to see what’s really happening.
I won’t believe that the front suspension is actually moving until I can see it in action :p

[jamiekulhanek]

Quote:

Yeah I tried it without the suspensions limiters – it’s a bit better.

I might rig my usb camera to point at the front wheel.. just to see what’s really happening.
I won’t believe that the front suspension is actually moving until I can see it in action :p

It won’t move a lot on a really smooth surface dude.

[Kerosene]

I’m not driving on smooth surfaces 😀 😀

[Racer9]

lol If you really care about suspension travel that much get an Overland or Monster with oil shocks.

[jamiekulhanek]

dude thats not the point….

[peteWah]

Quote:

I’m not driving on smooth surfaces 😀 😀

Then your a stupid GIT…:evil::evil::evil::dead:

[SausaGe_LinK]

I find the front suspension does a pretty good job for what it is.

[betty.k]

smooth surfaces are for woosies!:D:8ball:

[jamiekulhanek]

Yeah, don’t be afraid to get down ‘n’ dirty!!

[z-beam]

what happens when the front is softer than the rear?

[betty.k]

you’ll end up with sloppy cornering and a bouncy rear end:8ball:

[ph2t]

my madforce would go nuts over gravel and dirt with just the stock spring shocks.

Now I have the oil shocks and I’ve put three spacers in each shock to stiffen the springs. The difference? HUGE!

It now glides over rock and gravel like butter. Now my front end stays down long enough to allow me to actually turn!

I’m working on lowering my madforce by raising the front & rear damper towers off the chassis. This way I still get the same travel but offset by approx -8mm. Should make a difference.

How does font end camber effect suspension?

ph2t.

[betty.k]

(negative :smiley2:)camber up front is more for adding traction when cornering. cambered wheels will “bite” into the road and a force known as camber thrust will propell you into your turn harder. i don’t think it makes much difference to the suspension, if anything it will get more of a workout due to the added traction:8ball:

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