Rear suspension on a bit?
 

Okay I got this idea from my Epoch (if you don't know what they are, look on the forum, they're awesome).

Why can't a bit have a T-bar rear suspension?

I just cut the sides of the chassis as you see, and make sure to leave the bottom whole so you can still use the normal charger. I decided to use a piece of good ol' Oak for the mounting block. You could use plastic for lighter weight, but the oak is not too heavy, and I haven'e seen any wood mods yet.(haha)

Okay, so I used a rear axle for the pivot rod and ran it trough the wood block and epoxied the axle to the wood, and the wood to the front piece of chassis. If I have calculated and measured correctly, I will now have the same amount of suspension travel on both front and rear. I need to put some coil springs in front, and use a single coil compression spring for the rear. I may have to make a custom rear spring out of small guitar string.

The project is on hold, 'cause I'm bored with it. I'll try to finish it soon, though. The joint is tight, so tracking should be spot on, and there should be enough room for the cell with the PCB flipped upside down. If anyone does one of these before I finish mine, lemme know how it goes. I love the thought of full suspension!!!

woooooo
 

very cool
keep us updated dont get bored.:D

Go for it! Nice!

I was wondering; at the scale we're dealing with, and the average stresses these cars see when running, if a piece of foam rubber in there might give you the kind of action you're looking for in that confined space instead of a spring?
I'm sure different kinds of foam would give differing responses, but one might work the way you want ot to, singly, or in layers.

some other guy did this on the "other" forum but it was crapily done. hope everything works out for the best but since theese bits are so small the suspension wouldnt really help that much wouldnt it? unless you drivin your bit off your table ands it always landson its wheels thats really the only way it would. cuz there not like the 1/10th rc's

Suspension on the rear of one of these cars might help.

I watch the rears of my cars hopping up all the time on my kitchen floor.

I was thinking foam because of the limited space, but it looks like the space has been opened up by pushing the battery forward or something, it's hard to see.

Actually, I may ditch this chassis for an extended one, or a Zap chassis. (more room) The reason being I usually can't get my single cell cars going fast enough to jump very high, or to accelerate hard enough to get any wheel hop. I can't hammer my tricell booster Zap all the way on my kitchen floor tight weave carpet, because I get wheel hop like 1/2 inch high. Rear suspension may help alot. I also jump my multicell cars like 5-8" tall and 1-1/2' long. The landing 'may' be smoother, I dunno. I have noticed that with the front suspension, when I turn hard one way or the other, one of my rear wheels is off the ground. (the inside one) maybe I can get a bit better tracking if I can make it flex a bit more.

The foam idea is fantastic, if I can't make a coil light enough, I may try it. I want about 3/4mm to 1mm of sag in the rear. That's usually how I set up the front.

Cool mod! Sounds like it will work ok.

ive done it
 

yeh i did that like 2 months ago heres a pic

No offence and all, but that looks like hell..... And I don't get how it is connected to the rest of the chassis. I see that there is a spring on there, but is there a part under it?

nah it auctually works really good the spring is bent downward
at and angle and its kinda stiff

Weird, it looks like the spring is too small too be stiff.... Cool though!

I only see one problem; when you use a body, it'll lock up the suspension!

Never thought about that one...... Good thinking! And on the second one, the dam body wouldn't even fit on :p

hmm... i would REALLY wanna see this work... cuz i hate the harsh, hopping rides that lowered cars have to deal with...

maybe... you know the slots that the rear axle goes in? maybe drill them higher, but stuff it with foam, and very, VERY smooth film where the foam contacts the axle.. it seems much more simplistic, although im deadly afraid of trying it...

but this way, the body would not lock the suspension... and you could actually get the body on..!

feedback anyone?

That wouldn't work because the gears wouldn't mesh correctly.

My gears are attached to the whole suspended rear 'T-bar' section.

The body doesn't attach to the rear end. It is attached in front on the tab, and on the sides of the battery compartment. I'm trying to build a light enough spring to have about a mm of sag in it.

Nevermind then, I'm too lazy to explain it :p

And besides, if this DID work on a bit (which it probably will and does) the body would have to be modded to fit on, because the rear end wouldn't be able to just snap in.

Dude.... that's what I'm sayin'. It is attached in front at the tab and on the sides on the battery compartment. The rear is not attached at all. You cut the tab off, and get the up and down travel you need.

You said that already? Dam man, I should really start readin the thread more careful.... :)

I guess I should finish the car, 'cause I'm positive it'll work great. I have been making a single cell tech track car. (slightly slower) I used some ZZ knuckles and steering bar with magnet and it turns soooooo tight. It's an MS Pro Celica.

Too many projects.

Sounds cool!

Um, how are you going to hold the rear end of the chassis to the main part? Are you going to just stick something small in there to hold it in? And, you better make sure that there is a little bit of space on each side between the pieces of chassis, it will move up and down easier.

Actually I already epoxy'd a rear axle into the piece of oak. It holds the rear T-bar well and still moves very freely.

Cool! Got any pics of your updates?

No pics yet. Not much progress. Project on hold.

.. i've been owned once again... lol, xatu i didnt think of that...

Hehe :D I like to think, but sometimes I think too much... Like, this morning, me and my mom got into and argument whether the bread would get soggy if it was frozen, and then fried and made into grilled cheese... Looks like I lost :p

Wow, that holding the body by the sides idea blew my idea away!

I though harsh choppy suspension was the natural trade off for the lowering? It has to be choppy or it will give too much and the body will hit.

Well, let's weigh out the reasons for suspension on a car this size.

Is it for a better ride? Probably not.
Does it handle corners better? I doubt it. Unless you are running on a bunch of hard beans glued together. That'd be a cool rocky area on a track though.
How bout jumping? No real reason here. A bit is so small that it doesn't get hurt when it lands. Mine falls off the counter all the time.

The reason I wanted to do this mod origionally was to have a full suspension bit. Why? Just to have one. My tracks are all road courses with jumps. My jumps have landing pads.

The actual performance upgrade here for me would be to eliminate wheel hop when accelerating on tight weave carpet. But that's on my 3cell car booster Zap. I really should scrap the project and do a new one on a Zap chassis. More room for suspension and extra cells.

I should have added that I run my cars on a large textured Vinyl floor, so I see the difference between the suspension adjustments I've made. I also tend to mod for speed, so I see my cars act much differently than on a track that is usually a smaller, with a perfectly flat surface.


Your point is a good one. If you are running on a prepared surface like a track, I can imagine seeing very little "hop" or other suspension issues at all.