Acquiring 13" ride height.

[Bigshow]

Sitting my ride height to have 13" of ground clearance. My tail gate bumper combo weighs 41#s. Measuring from the rear of frame in back, and at the back mount on front a arm.

Have rear set, but the crossover ring is at the bottom of the threads on the body and this only leaves an 1.5" to spring lock nuts. Does this seem right? I think I need stiffer springs as I have the preload rings turned way to far down. I can not think my tailgate bumper weighs any more than a bought combo. Is everyone else's springs cranked down that tight?

 

[PaulF]

Talons are set too stiff from the factory so it depends on where that 1.5" is measured from/to.

Factory measures from where the top of the spring sits to the top of the upper crossover nut. Factory is 2.05" and that is just too much and make it ride like s***. If you are 1.5", you will get a much better ride. somewhere between 1" and 1.25" is about where coil bind begins.

If you are measuring from where the top of the spring sits to the bottom of the lower crossover nut, you may be at or very near coil bind and while that provides the best ride, I am not certain if the springs on the R are designed to be run at bind like machines without crossovers.

Here is the factory spec sheet...

 

[CID]

Beat to the punch by Paul, to whom I'll always defer.

I'm no suspension guru but I think your top, rear springs should be about 4" long. I squished the life out of mine - 2 spares, a bed extender and a full TSC box and ended up with this (photo). That's all the preload I had, they were down against the crossover rings and I had 10" of ground clearance. Note that I had my crossovers raised 20 turns to spend more time on the softer/upper springs before adding all the weight. My point - don't be afraid of having the crossovers up close to the preload rings, just put a zip tie around a tender coil and if it doesn't get pinched, you're ok. There's much more info about this linked in my sig.

Right before replacing the rear springs with Weller Racing HD springs.

 

[Bigshow]

I was hoping you would both chime in and thank you both for replying.

Paul, in your picture my crossover rings are all the way down with no threads showing. I have 1.5 inchs from top of crosser rings to lock ring on main spring. Red in the modified picture. From bottom of shock cap to top of lock ring is just over 7"s, blue in the modified picture.

CID I read your thread and followed it to set up my Talon as soon as I got it home. Plan on the zip tie test once again.

One reason I am asking about needing stiffer springs is from racing MX. The rule always was if you have the preload adjuster below the halfway point on the threads you need stiffer springs. I am past the halfway mark. I will give it a try and see if I have coil bind. And measure the way the photo shows. I think I am probably around 1.25" measuring like the photo.

 

[PaulF]

First off, I would NOT use a stiffer spring without a re-valve (the Talon is stiff enough to begin with). 7" preload sounds like the springs are shot anyway. I have a spare and heavy skids and a toolbox and I am not anywhere near 7" of preload. You really need a longer main spring but that might be a little difficult to install without a spring compressor.

Your red measurement is not the proper way to measure. I went out and measures and the difference is about .5" so you are at 1" for the proper measurement. That might work but you wont be able to add any if you need some bottom out resistance.

FYI, the stock springs on the R are as follows...

 

[Bigshow]

That is why I think something is not right, the Talon only has 500 miles on it. No way the springs should be worn out. I missing something somewhere and will keep looking at it.

 

[PaulF]

That is why I think something is not right, the Talon only has 500 miles on it. No way the springs should be worn out. I missing something somewhere and will keep looking at it.

Stock tires? Make sure they are at 16 PSI. Not stock then the 13" number is meaningless.
Stock figures are without driver/passenger.
Make sure you are exactly level and roll back/forth with the tire (do not drive it) 25 feet to settle the suspension. If you don't have 25 feet, do 10' multiple times.

 

[Bigshow]

Ok I was measuring with me in the Talon. I was rolling it back it forth around 10' 5 times. I do have 30x10x15 Megabites on it. With 12psi they measure 28 3/4". Measuring with me (300#) in the Talon prob is most of the problem.

Thank you for the help.

 

[CID]

With as little rearward weight as you have compared to me (41lbs vs well over 200 (but unmeasured)), your 'tender' springs should be over 3" tall. If they are, I'd suspect something else is going on. If they're short like mine then you'll be looking at springs. Note that it took me longer than 500 miles to sack out my rear 'tenders' (and maybe the main springs but not as easy to see). Using the static length of the 'tenders' isn't very scientific but it is a quick baseline. Defining static length as installed on the buggy, sitting on the ground, not the removed free length.

 

[Bigshow]

Measuring with me out of the Talon and finding out where my dad was measuring I got it figured out. When I measured it when I got home from work it was 15.75" ground clearance. I am at 13.25" ground clearance with the taller tires. Have my cross over rings at 1.5" the way Paul said to measure them and 5.25" from bottom of shock cap to top of lock nut on the preload. It all looks better to me now.

Thank you both for the help.