by: J.P. Turner
Who can deny that one of the big thrills of driving your off-road RC buggy or truck is going wide open throttle off an incline and hurtling thru the air like a missile? It's awesome!
Of course, everything that goes up, must come down, and your RC buggy is no excemption. And the 2nd best thrill is arguably the 4 point landing (landing on all four tires). However, if your ride is not setup right, it may bounce like a jello mold or bottom out like a tank. Both of those are bad.
If racing is your thang, bad landings add time to your laps, and if you are just bashing your RC buggy, well... we can't be losing style points now, can we? Whether your landings are resembling Dom DeLuis' double chin or have all the precision of a block of granite, changing your shock fluids could be the cure.
Changing the fluids to a thicker variety will help solve your RC buggy bouncing problem. Your ride should dampen, and keep it composed on the landings. You will also reduce chassis roll.
If your bottoming out and adding nasty scrapes to your RC buggy chassis under-side, use a thinner shock fluid to let your ride have a little more "give".
Every track is different, so a good thing to do is ask local racers what they use. Especially other racers who drive your same model of RC buggy.I guarantee you will get many different answers, and most likely they will use different shock oils on the front and the rear, like I do. That can compensate for where the wieght is distributed on your buggy or truck, or even driving style. Experiment with this. And thankfully, shock oil isn't that expensive. So have fun with it.