Revo suspension on a Savage.

[Tarnish]

I know, I've been gone for a while.

I had a Revo. I sold it. BUT, I was very impressed with the suspension the Revo had. It was very articulated, it could crawl like a spider as you drove it and it would walk up a street curb like it was nothing. Plus, the shocks were inboard, not outboard.

I've been working on Angry Hornet for a LONG time ... LOOOONG time.

I wanted a lower profile than a stocker Savage, but when I switched to a shorter, but stockier shock (the Revo ones) there was a problem.

The stock shocks would hit and stick from a shoulder high drop (abt. 6 feet). The lowered truck on wider towers (home built) and Revo shocks hit and bounced. With this setup, the truck could not bottom out, but a really hard hit would have blown the shocks off the caps.

I thought about it for a week and then remembered that the Revo shocks worked on a cantilever system, not direct impact.

I made the pushrods from ARRMA turnbuckles and HPI shock rod ends. Shorter in front than will be in back.

That way I can keep the aggressive stance. Once I have the suspension dialed from the 8 pair springs and the extra 2 sets of cantilever arms, I'll let you all know how it turns out ... Once the springs act right, I have to reset my Sways.

I have the shock problem solved. Now, I need to dial it in.

Now, once I move the battery mount a bit higher and I have the suspension properly dry tested and working, I'll look into a "run" video. WARNING: This truck is NOT a cheap build. I've sunk a damned fortune into it.

 

[maximusraylius]

looks cool.. unique set up like to see how it moves ...

 

[Shaun]

that is awsome buddy!!!!!!! I'm with you on the revo suspension its like no other.........

 

[Pope]

Very interesting

 

[Pope]

Nice to see you btw

 

[88gtanotchback]

theres a lot of thought in this one! very original thinking!

 

[Shaun]

yes its great to see some of the original members popping in. green/red hpisf

 

[redneck]

looks sweet

 

[BIGDAN89]

holy sheets your alive tarn lol btw nice set up any vid of it moving about ? and any plans on making it cleaner over time ??

 

[Tarnish]

More Pics:

Okay, I put some more drill work in today and I buttoned up the rear suspension. As you can see, I used longer push-rods on the back in the hopes of an aggressive stance to the truck. I'm quite happy with the action of the shocks and the movement of the cantilevers, but as I said in the first posting, it's a little TOO soft now. I have 4 stronger pairs of shocks and some different Progressive arms (sets 1 and 3) to try out, it looks like the Long Travel ones I selected in the first place are a touch too wide for the steering in the front. I need to change at least those arms to one of the new sets so they don't project as far from the pivot point.

The current stance of the truck looks like this (below) ... Also, I had to move the battery case so it didn't jam against the fuel tank. It fits kinda nice over top of the brake arm and shouldn't interfere. The weight on that side of the truck should offset the weight of the pipe.

Dan: Eventually, I'll re-make the shock towers to see about a better/cleaner design, maybe try making them out of CF or something. For now, this is just a prototype (a lot of eyeball engineering) and what I'm mainly after is proof of concept. If I had access to a Cad/Cam program and a water jet cutter, it would be awesome.

I also have to figure out how to dial in the Sway Bars.

 

[]-[0pa]0ng]

Good to see your around Tarn. Very cool looking suspension setup you have created. Hope it all works as planned. Vid would be even nicer.

 

[Mickey]

Looks very cool tarnish. I would try giving some angle to the push rods with the next version of the shock towers tho. It should help with the stiffness of the suspension.

 

[Tarnish]

Thanks for all the support in this idea guys.

Hop: A vid will be coming after some more dry fitting of parts, I need to visit the LHS and pick those up tomorrow. Then an experimentation day or two.

Mickey: As you can see, I already had to angle the shocks when I mounted them and the towers can barely have space for the combination of shocks and cantilever arms without hitting the opposite shock. However, the Progressive 1 and 3 arms that I am getting tomorrow are significantly shorter than the Long Travel arms I have on there, that will be a factor in the push-rod angles.

Image and vid updates to come.

 

[Mickey]

ok cool tarnish. fyi ill be down your way again late july . i think its bash time again. ill bring the baja this time tho.

 

[redneck]

we need to up with a canadian bash again

 

[Tarnish]

Latest Pic.

The stance is VERY aggressive. Maybe a little too much.
For clearances:
1" ride height in front.
1.5" ride height in back.

I should probably change the short front push-rods for the longer turnbuckles (like the back) and bring the nose up some. I also think I need a little thicker shock oil in the front of the truck.

Here's a short (stationary truck) vid of how the shocks look in motion.

http://s686.photobucket.com/albums/vv223/TarnishedOne/?action=view¤t=MVI_0123.mp4

 

[Mikey D]

Best custom suspension ive seen on a savage! Job well done sir!

 

[BIGDAN89]

hmm stance kinda reminds me of truggie and buggies ...

 

[maximusraylius]

looks sweet good job and great to see ppl getting away from the cookie cutter trucks on here nice work....

 

[Tarnish]

I'm in the process of a revamped design of the shock towers. Both to a) reduce weight and b) increase functionality. I'm drawing up a template on cardboard to get exact measurements. Then I will draw up and cut out the cardboard to see where I stand ... More to follow.

 

[Upbasher]

That is just awesome....but is it durable? I know those those rockers break in the revos a lot...

 

[Tarnish]

Update: Changed rear AARMA 71mm arms to front and put Traxxas 105mm turnbuckles on back. Took series of photos cause Firebug Bob wanted to see ... Soon to follow, just need to resize, upload, then link into post. Hang tight.

 

[Tarnish]

Drop test results: Waist high drop - 0 velocity = Bounce.
The truck does NOT bottom out anymore.
Conclusion: Springs are too strong (I have weaker ones to throw on) rods are a bit too long. The thread on the 71mm AARMA turnbuckles is 2x as long as I need, the 105mm rods in back will be replaced by 94mm rods.
The truck will still have a "Rat Rod" profile ... High back, lower front.
The goal is a hit/stick for the drop test.

When that is solved, I will only need to figure out a) how to heat shield the body from the ERCM #007 pipe and b) the height to mount the body. The body I am going to mount is likely a Baja Bug (I have a spare one here) that is unpainted, but is prepped with the Bob Dively liquid mask ... I may still take a marker and do either a puzzle cut multi-colour or a zebra print Dazzle (ship camo) scheme.