Protecting Your Shocks

Give your suspension a break. RC bashing involves awesome stunts and crashes that can do some awful damage to your RC. I don't know about you, but I don't have the kind of money to go out and destroy a $600 RC just to get some cool stunt footage for YouTube. But if you do crave the thrill of a big jump, at least do your RC a favor by minimizing the impact on that landing. It's an old but easy trick. All it takes is a tiny piece of plastic fuel tubing.

For each of the shocks on your RC, cut a small bit of fuel tubing to a length that is just a bit longer than the shock shaft when the shcok is fully compressed. Slip it over the shaft then put the shock back together. This provides added protection when you land that somewhat prevents your RC from slamming down and bottoming out on a hard landing.

Fuel tubing on shock shaft. Bottom: with shock compressed.
Image © M. James

What I've described is a quick and easy fix that offers some cushioning on landings. You'll also want to be sure that you are maintaining your shocks properly.

But if you're really, really rough on your RC, over at Beat Your Truck 28offroader illustrates a way to build DIY cable shock limiters that look cool and cost very little ($10 bucks or less). And, as he describes it, "The fuel tubing inside of the shocks are just for limiting travel. The outside cable limiters will also limit your travel but will also save a lot of abuse from your shocks. On rollovers when your wheel hit the ground upside down all of the force will be put onto the limiting cable instead of your shock." This method is a little more involved and you may need to adjust his instructions for your specific truck or buggy, but it's something you might want to try.