13 lb Scale RC Trophy Truck Drop Test

I was going through some old footage and thought I would share some suspension goodness....

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If you didn't already know, the truck shown in this video is custom built by myself. It's 1/10th scale, weights 13 lbs, and it's fully caged with a steel chassis.

Sorry the video isn’t very long. When I do these quick tests I only drop it a few times. If you wonder how I get my suspension so dialed in, this is how.

Replicating 1:1 shocks without bypass or separate compression rates is pretty tough, which is why I heavily rely on slow motion tests like these to make tuning adjustments. Playing it back slowed down helps you get a feel of how the truck is reacting. You miss a lot of details in real time, especially the ride height after a hit (drop) and the rate the springs rebound.

For me this is my baseline "go-to" setup for the shocks. After all the testing I've done, it's been the best all-around performer for this chassis. From here I would adjust up or down 5wt depending on the conditions I'm running on. If I wanted soft/plush shocks, I'll go down 5wt F&R. That’ll give me a smoother ride and increased the scale look, but it’ll be much less reactive and struggle landing jumps. If I wanted to stiffen up the shocks for jumping, I would go up 5-10wt depending on the air time. Stiffer shocks make the truck more stable and nimble on flat ground, but as a result it's much more unforgiving and can get thrown around on rough terrain. For example I had the shocks pretty stiff for the Albany Dunes edit (knowing I wanted to jump it) https://www.youtube.com/edit?o=U&vide.... Through the whoop section you can see the stiffer shocks cause the truck to rebound, at some points losing control.

With a truck weighing 13 lbs, finding a good balance in between those two is what makes it tricky. Having the shocks "springy" even though it may look realistic, is also a problem because the truck will be unpredictable and dive into corners. I can't tell you how many springs I've tried but that's all part of the process. When you do find that setup that works just right it’ll feel like you won the lottery.

For the custom folks out there, my setup can be a starting point, but it's going to vary on every truck. That's why I encourage you to test and experiment yourself. It's all trial and error. Drop tests are great to get a rough idea, but doing that and landing an actual jump are two different things. That's why you tune, TEST drive it, take some video to see what the truck is doing, and repeat. And repeat, and repeat...

So here's my shock setup for this video:

**** Front ***
Proline Powerstrokes (110mm slash rears) + stock pistons + Tekno 70mm Orange (for 16mm shocks) + Losi 30wt

**** Rear ****
Axial Yeti Rears (127mm) + stock pistons + Tekno 85mm Red (for 16mm shocks) + Losi 35wt (proline xt shocks weren't out yet)

I don't use bumpstops because they just get in the way. That 1/4" of shock stroke is important. I'd rather let my chassis slap landing a jump then have the shocks bottom out hitting bump stops. Chassis slap is a fairly normal part of suspension tuning (at least for rc's).

Besides “what kind of truck is that?” shocks tuning questions are the most common. Like I said it’s all trial and error. Hopefully what I wrote helps, but if you have any other questions post them below and I’ll try to reply.