Here are two quick and effective tricks to adjust the hardness of your RC vehicle suspension. Your RC suspension is pretty much like an ordinary car’s suspension where it mainly consists of two components – the coil spring and the damper (a.k.a. shock absorber).
How RC Car Suspension Works
Again, just like a standard 1:1 scale vehicle, the suspension has a coil spring that takes in all the energy from bumps and dips when your car is moving. In other words, suspending your car when in motion.
However, this act of suspending your RC does not dampen the energy it absorbs. This means the car will continue to move up and down until the energy slowly dissipates. This is where the shock absorber comes into play.
The shock absorber, as its name implies, absorbs the shock or energy taken in by the suspension. It is that piston and cylinder structure you see. Inside the cylinder contains damping oil which is essential in dampening the shock. The entire mechanism works like an oil pump where energy is dissipated by the oil when it is compressed and expanded. Some portion of the oil leaks to the other end of the pump thus, quickly reducing the vertical motion.
Soften or Harden The RC Suspension By Adjusting the Tension of the Coil
The easiest method is to just tighten and untighten the coil. If you view your RC suspension closely, there’s a screw thread at the top of the suspension body. This is what holds the position of the coil spring. Loosen the coil tension by moving the coil upward and the suspension will soften. Tightening will have the opposite effect of hardening the effects.
Soften The Suspension By Completely Removing the Coil Spring
If you’re really looking for a fast and furious way to dramatically reduce the tightness of your suspension, then just get rid of the coil spring.
After you remove your suspension from your RC, pull back the coil to expose the piston and you will notice that the spring seat has an opening that allows you to remove the coil from the coil spring assembly. Remove the spring seat and the coil spring and you will get something like below.
Now, install back the suspension without the coil springs and you’ll notice a substantial difference. It becomes significantly softer. That’s it! Below is what your suspension will look like thereafter.
