I fitted the super big bores and have the following notes for the XT8.
I wasn't going to fit these shocks until I was absolutely certain they would work correctly and not impinge on the design and function of the car overall.
I tested the X Ray shocks at factory mounting locations and found that at full compression the wheels are approximately 25 mm up past the bottom of the chassis. To me this seems excessive as it would only be required if you landed of a 6 ft jump into a 4wd rut.
I tested the X Ray shocks at varying arm and bulkhead mounting locations and realized why the X Ray shocks are so long. The extra length makes a myriad of of shock mounting positions possible while still allowing the wheels to travel past the chassis at full compression and allowing enough droop for traction.
The Jammin rears are approximately 7 mm shorter. So by fitting them to the lower row of holes takes up a majority of the difference in shock length. This allow nearly as much droop (5mm less), but full compression is less, however, it is more than enough with the wheels traveling past the chassis by approximately 10 mm.
If you lay the jammin shocks down by using the outer mounting hole on the arms I found that it reduces droop too much because 2mm less at the mounting location probably equals 10mm at the end of the arm when the shocks are mounted at this angle.
I used the short Ofna standoffs as Whitey said and believe with out a doubt they are the way to go.
Due to the shock caps being all ali and requiring a bushing you have to use the Ofna standoffs. The Ofna stand offs have the pivot ball built into the end of the stand off and require a washer and nut to hold them in place. Once the washer and nut is done up it reduces the amount of pivot movement even when backed off slightly to allow for extra movement.
Therefore, the short stand off aligns the shock better and place less eccentric load on the shock cap and bushing. I imagine with the long stand offs that the bushing will wear rather quickly and the cap will break in a decent crash.
I used the long rod ends as per Whiteys advice and used the Jammin pivot balls. I tried the X Ray pivot balls. The X ray balls fit but allow forward and back movement with in the rod ends because they are the same overall diameter but the center radius of the balls is different causing slippage.
With the Jammin balls fitted I had to place a 3X 6 mm washer to the rear of the pivot ball to stop movement of the rod end when being mounted to the suspension arms. This was simple. Put the rod end in position and thread the screw through the rod end. Use pointy nose pliers to put the washer in position and continue screwing up the cap head screw. The washer also helps for better alignment.
I'll be racing next saturday and I'll post my results for 1.3 mm pistons with 35 wt front and 30 rear. So far it looks a little soft for the weight of the truggy. I will probably end up with 1.2mm holes with the same oil.
Last edited by Tank time on Mon Mar 03, 2008 10:03:34, edited 1 time in total.
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