can monoshocks be made to work?

[Saito2]

After much debating a couple months ago between a new Bigwig or Boomerang, I settled on the Bigwig. At the last minute I changed my mind and got the Boomerang. Go figure. I like the monoshock front end. Like the Fox, its part of the car's "look" in my mind. Can it be made to work reasonably effectively as twin front shocks? I even prefer a monoshock's performance on the Thundershot chassis. It seems many with a Boomer on the track switch to Bigwig or Super Shot front ends. Any hints for the monoshock setup?

[qatmix]

The boomer was great back in the day. I won my first trophy racing mine against a field of cats and pb mustangs, they didn’t have mono shocks so maybe it’s actually better to have a mono shock

I had relatively soft oil in the front compared to the rear. More steering. It was epic on the grass / dirt tracks back in the day. 

[Juggular]

Congratulations!   I'd suspect that bigger holes on the shock piston might help. 

In the monoshock, the spring is between two arms.  A stiff shock can instantly transfer the shock to the other arm.  But a softer shock may reduce the bump-pushing of the other arm because spring absorbs the shock instead of transferring it.  My vintage Fox has small holes in the piston (per instruction).  I think I'll change that to one with bigger holes (or even drain the oil).  I should test it by lifting the front bumper and dropping the front --- if two tires don't bounce up, that's enough dampening even if there is no oil inside. 

Tamiya manuals often call for the stiffest setting, but I think the softest work the best.  I drilled holes bigger on the 4-hole pistons of my Bigwig.  I even ground the metal piston on re-re Blackfoot as well.  On Boomerang, short of putting on Supershot upgrade (and destroy the sleeker look), softening the shock could be the only one thing that may help the suspension.  

 

[Wooders28]

Good thread @Saito2 

Would different weight oil help things? 

I've the Novafox build coming up so it would be good to get the right oil in first time.

[ThunderDragonCy]

This is pure hand waving here, based on what I am looking at so feel free to take with a punch of salt. I think super soft is going to be a good way forward, but the other thing to consider is that unlike a twin shock setup the monoshock looks like it will offer almost no roll stiffness from the spring itself because in roll, as one side compresses the other side extends therefore hardly compressing the shock at all. A front anti roll bar, possibly with a couple of stiffness options, would be a real help if you are really fine tuning the handling I suspect. 

[Jonathon Gillham]

I don't understand the question, the Boomerang is perfect out of the box 😍

[taffer]

9 minutes ago, Jonathon Gillham said:

I don't understand the question, the Boomerang is perfect out of the box 😍

yes, BUT like the Thundershot a tamiya superstock motor and 13t pinion is an improvement!

[Jonathon Gillham]

15 minutes ago, taffer said:

yes, BUT like the Thundershot a tamiya superstock motor and 13t pinion is an improvement!

Mine has 17T pinion and 13.5T brushless, does that make me a heathen?

[MadInventor]

1 hour ago, Jonathon Gillham said:

Mine has 17T pinion and 13.5T brushless, does that make me a heathen?

No, you have to use at least a 8.5T to qualify for heathen status

 

[Juggular]

ThunderDragon brought up a good point, so I was fiddling with my Fox (I really need to dust it).  Then I realized that the anti-sway bar looks different from Nova Fox. 

My vintage Fox has anti-sway bar mounted on carbon support arms. I always felt that old Fox and Hotshot's front anti-sway bars are rather strong.  If one arm goes all the way up, the other arm follows up in the end.  Anti-sway bar mounted on Hotshot's rear suspension works better somehow, though I think they are the same size.  

Nova Fox has it come out from the chassis.  More importantly, the ends are connected to the dead center of the arms.  Also Nova Fox's longer sway bar means it may work in a gentler manner.  Because of this, I am wondering if the monoshock of Nova Fox might work better than that of older Foxes.   (note to self -- you already have one Fox, there is no need to buy Nova Fox just to compare...)

 

(Below Nova Fox's photo is a JapanScaleDriver's photo from here at TC.)

 

[Saito2]

Moving into Fox territory, I've heard two scenarios involving front anti sway/roll bars. Some say they are need as earlier stated, without them there is no roll stiffness. Others claim, back in the day, a Fox did better without the sway bar as it would induce understeer. I've found that a stiff anti sway bar yields a flatter cornering attitude but does induce understeer. Without one altogether, the front end bites better but flops and rolls all over the place. I have a suspicion that the thinner bar on the Novafox might be a compromise that Tamiya was looking for. The Novafox bar was derided when the car was re-released because it wasn't like the old hop-up bar, but in the end Tamiya may have done their homework. 

Back to the Boomerang, I feel there's no question it needs a bar (especially since it's front end isn't ultra light like the 2wd Fox's). I noticed the dampening as suggested in the manual is pretty stiff too so I think I'll play around with the pistons after test driving it (after this fresh snow melts that is ).