Ofna Ultra GT Suspension Oil/Springs

[amrrashad]

I have an Ofna Ultra GT buggy. I race my buggy on asphalt with a couple of wooden jumps; I'm running the white springs (Hard ones) along with 45 weight shock oil. Here's my question:

While jumping; I sometimes hear my chassis slam onto the asphalt as the buggy lands (on all 4 wheels). Should I buy stiffer springs (like the red ones for example) or should I use a heavier shock oil?

And what's the advantage of each over the other?

 

[Plaidfish]

OK here's a tip...DON'T JUMP ON ASPHALT!!!...that is one real quick way to ruin your buggy....they are designed to slap the chassis on the ground to distribute the shock of landing so hard.....but do it in the dirt or grass.....if you stiffen the springs too much you'll start blowing seals and letting your A-arms and towers take all the force of the landing....and they will break easier...

 

[amrrashad]

Thanks for the tip Plaidfish...
Now what should I do?? This is the only racing I can do here in Egypt and guess what... I can run circles round all the Savages, Rivos and other ofna monster trucks... Should I try finding longer travle shocks to raise my buggy?? Or should I convert it to a Truggy?? Or should run it in the on-road class??

Please help!

 

[Plaidfish]

well here's my opinion (as if I was ripping someone elses off)....you're trying to do stuff that WILL do damage alot faster to your RC....jumping on asphault is one of the easiest ways to wreck your car.....
first, doing heavier oils will make you blow seals alot faster as the oils can't displace easily through the piston heads when they need to compress..so you pop a cap or a lower seal from pressure.....stiffer springs will help but IF the jump is real big you'll probably bounce a lot on the landing......
since a buggy chassis is designed to smack the bottom...no way around that....you might look into putting a skin on the bottom so you don't just grind the metal away....I think Ratzo posted a link in another thread on just that....a clear plastic coat you stick on the bottom.....other than that the truggy conversion might help but it will be a lil slower on pavement.....get some road tires too if you haven't yet......I'd look into converting your suspension to a more road friendly setup...the OFNA 1/8 scale onroads are basically buggies w/ 2 speeds in them....see if the towers will work on your car and swap the towers and shocks...get a rally car body to coer the towers and shock caps so you don't grind em down when you slide on your lid.....but no matter what you'll have to accept the fact racing it on road and jumping it will do damage.....get spare A-arms (upper and lower)...turnbuckles and steering blocks (whichever type your car uses)....keep spares handy man....and good luck

 

[amrrashad]

Well...Looks like I'm gonna have to keep an extra buggy handy... as for the jumps, they're all little ones; about 10-15 cm's high... I also slow down before jumps and take them slowly so as not to smack the buggy into the asphalt and also to decerase my air time

As for what I'll do, I'll probable add some spacers to the springs to stiffen them up a little bit... I think this would be good...I've also already put road tires on it a looooong time ago... I bought those V-grooved road tires that were sold on tower hobbies last Jan... They're great by the way

Thanks for the advice Plaidfish