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Super Clodbuster Junkie

How strong are the springs in the shocks on the Superclodbuster?

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Sup y'all,

I just bought a suspension lift kit from a fabulous website with upgrade and replacement parts for  the Super Clodbuster, Clodbuster, and some parts for the Ground Pounder called Crawford Performance Engineering. The suspension lift kit allows the shocks to have more travel room. Because the shocks have more travel room, I do not think the shocks have to be as strong. I would like to keep the eight shock look, so I think a easy way to do that is to buy weaker springs. In order to buy weaker springs, I have to know how strong the original springs are. I looked on the web slightly and could not find the info. I think have a link for the suspension lift kit somewhere on this thingy.

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I'm going to follow this thread.

On Clods, springs don't seem to move.  They just bounce on the tires... (which is what real monster trucks are like... but I prefer suspensions actually doing some work)  

Seeing as how the Bruiser's suspensions can be improved by removing 2 smaller leaves, I'll be curious to see how soft you can make the suspensions of the Clod.  

 

 

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2 minutes ago, Juggular said:

I'm going to follow this thread.

On Clods, springs don't seem to move.  They just bounce on the tires... (which is what real monster trucks are like... but I prefer suspensions actually doing some work)  

Seeing as how the Bruiser's suspensions can be improved by removing 2 smaller leaves, I'll be curious to see how soft you can make the suspensions of the Clod.  

 

 

Okay, thanks. This is kinda random, but on the Crawford Performance Engineering website, you can get 10% off every item with the promo code THANKS. Wow, that was really random.:mellow:

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I've never found a rating on the stock Clod springs unfortunately. I do know they've changed over the years. My original Bullhead springs are different from my Super Clod Buster springs. I can say the stock black springs that come on the TXT-2 Agrios are softer than the stock Clod springs. Believe it or not, the stock Clod springs do compress but, as you've discovered, are extremely travel-limited in stock form due to clearance issues (which the lift kit alleviates). Clods have a ton of unsprung weight (the chassis does little more than haul the battery and radio gear) and big bouncy tires which don't help matters.

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The key thing I am looking for is the weight strength or whatever it is supposed to be called number. What I mean is how many pounds it takes to fully compress the spring, not the actual weight of the spring. For example, on the Crawford website, they sell 2.99 pound springs. (That is not the weight of the springs, that is how strong it is.) I have no idea if a 2.99 pound (1.356241 kilograms)spring is any stronger or weaker than the stock/original spring.

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Don't have the spring rating for you, but have a lot of experience with Clods and all types of RC monsters.  The issue with a stock Clod is the tires are essentially the suspension.  Until you get some foam in the tires that will never change, the tires will always compress before the springs/shocks no matter what you do.  

As Saito said, the TXT-2 springs are extremely soft and will help on a Clod with oil shocks (I recommend Maxx shocks from Traxxas, cheap and built very well).  You could also use TXT-2 springs/shocks if you have access to them.  If you really want the suspension to work you'll need to run only one spring on each corner.  You can still run dual shocks, but only use a spring one one of them.  Fill the other with heavier oil (50wt works) and just use it as a damper.  I run this setup on a few of my monsters.  Another option is internal spring shocks.  You can run dual on each corner and they will definitely soften the suspension as the springs are fairly small.

First thing I would do if you really want a soft suspension that lands well is get some foam in the tires, get some oil shocks, and start experimenting.  I use most of my Clods as crawlers as it's much easier to make a TXT based truck jump well, but it can be done and they can be decent racers with some time and tuning.

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Well done speedy. If you need any measurements I have a super clod and unbuilt Agrios I can measure coil diameters.

Anyway, for those interested, here is the equation and referance.

The spring constant is calculated according to the following formula:

Formel

R = Spring constant

G = Modulus of shear N/mm2

d4 = wire thickness to the power of 4

D3 = Mean diameter to the power of 3

n = active coils

The spring constant describes how much the force in Newtons is increased per mm the spring is compressed.
The spring constant is linear for a cylindrical compression spring.

The spring constant is the result of the combination of wire thickness, diameter, number of active coils and free length.
The drawing below shows the increase in force Fn as a result of R.    

23 Nov 2018, Retrieved from,

http://www.industrial-springs.com/faq-wiki-springs/compression-springs/how-do-you-calculate-the-spring-constant-of-a-compression-spring

 

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1 hour ago, speedy_w_beans said:

I can measure the spring constant for you in a few hours after I get home.

Thank you speedy_w_beans, I was wondering at first if I could just weigh them, but I do not have the proper equipment. Let me know when you get the measurement.:D

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@Super Clodbuster Junkie Here's what I measured:

  • Turns:  15
  • Wire Diameter:  1.20 mm
  • Length (uncompressed):  72.2 mm
  • Mass (resting):  6.8 grams
  • "Mass" (compressed 5 mm):  218 grams
  • Spring Constant (lb/in):  2.37 pounds per inch of compression
  • Spring Constant (N/mm):  0.41 N/mm
  • Spring Constant (g-f/mm): 42.2 g-f/mm
Of course the standard kit configuration is two springs per wheel, so the spring constant as the chassis and axle see it is double (4.74 lb/in).
I'll update my main table in the build tips thread soon.
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