Educate me again on droop screws, please

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

parcou

Premium Member!
Premium Member
Hospitality Award
Build Thread Contributor
Messages
6,778
Reaction score
10,834
Points
978
Location
Eads, TN (outside of Memphis, TN)
Arrma RC's
  1. BigRock
  2. Felony
  3. Fireteam
  4. Granite
  5. Infraction
  6. Kraton EXB
  7. Talion EXB
  8. Typhon TLR
  9. Vorteks
Coming into the hobby, my first rig was the Infraction v1. Many here helped school me to droop, and it paid off on the lower stance, corning, as well as the stiffer springs in the front and coil adjustments. With all that, I have a great Infraction basher with suspension dialed for me!

I am lost when it comes to 4x4, the offroad 6S rigs. In particular, my three:
  • Kraton 6S EXB
  • Fireteam 6S
  • Talion RTR EXB
My only real understanding of droop is based on a video I saw for a Kraton basher. Basically on the 6S, the droop was adjusted to a point to protect the shock-end to relieve stress from it when fully extended. The arm did not hang as low in the end and came up a bit more.


On those three rigs above
  • I have never broken a shock end bashing
  • I believe but could be wrong the EXB has beefier shock ends 🤷‍♂️
  • I never do big air or big jump...yes, I do get off jumps but mine are more like the Dukes of Hazards it just fly in the air (low air)
  • On the ground is my playground, dirt, golf course, construction area, very low dead grass....no street
Is there a reason I need to make droop screw adjustments in my case if I am not breaking any shock ends? Is there a performance gain I am missing? Or, something else that I am missing

I get it with the Infraction. In my case for the 6S basher, I do not understand...maybe there is no need for me...? 🤷‍♂️

Thx
 
Nope.. sounds like your right on the money!! 💰
I haven't in my kexb yet either.. and I half send it, knock on wood!! 🤣
But I did adjust them once so far when I first got it!
 
It's there to adjust your ride height like you said and to protect the rod end like you said but mostly on the tumbling crashes that are yanking the arms downward. That's what snaps the rod ends. What you are doing sounds a lot like what I do for bashing and I never break them either.

If it ain't broke don't fix it 👍🏼
 
They're also there to protect axle shafts from being over extended which can cause binding/pre-mature wear.. also a tuning function of the suspension, although probably not very noticeable unless you were an avid track racer
 
There’s a good video by @razorrc where he talks about performance tuning for the 6s in general. Droop screws are discussed starting at 11:17 (front), 17:38 (rear).

 
Last edited:
Droop is a bit more black magic than science.

I just make the droop the SAME all around with the minimum adjustment possible. Then remove about 3mm from the front so the rear has a tiny bit more available.

This got me the fastest around our track. Out of the box there was too much rear droop and would cause a nose dive off a ramp.
 
It's there to adjust your ride height like you said 👍🏼
The droop screws have nothing to do with ride height. That is controlled or adjusted by the spring preload adjusters on your shocks. Adjust ride height with the vehicle static and batteries installed (RTR weight).

Droop screws limit the full extension of the A arms/suspension when the chassis is unloaded, or in the air. You don't want them overly turned it which will limit useable/useful suspension travel. Conversely they should be used to prevent over extension of the suspension unloaded, preventing over extension of the shock absorbers. You don't want the shocks acting as the unloaded suspension limiter, like when jumping big air, or even on a really bumpy track.
 
The droop screws have nothing to do with ride height. That is controlled or adjusted by the spring preload adjusters on your shocks. Adjust ride height with the vehicle static and batteries installed (RTR weight).

Droop screws limit the full extension of the A arms/suspension when the chassis is unloaded, or in the air. You don't want them overly turned it which will limit useable/useful suspension travel. Conversely they should be used to prevent over extension of the suspension unloaded, preventing over extension of the shock absorbers. You don't want the shocks acting as the unloaded suspension limiter, like when jumping big air, or even on a really bumpy track.
Sooooooo when you want to lower a street car do you just unload the springs? No you tighten the droop screws. You can do it with off road vehicles as well such as the kraton if you want a lower ride like a talion along with a tight (or loose) preload.
 
Sooooooo when you want to lower a street car do you just unload the springs? No you tighten the droop screws. You can do it with off road vehicles as well such as the kraton if you want a lower ride like a talion along with a tight (or loose) preload.
The main purpose for the droop screws is too adjust the travel and to protect the shocks. Not set ride height, even can use it for that.
 
Sooooooo when you want to lower a street car do you just unload the springs? No you tighten the droop screws. You can do it with off road vehicles as well such as the kraton if you want a lower ride like a talion along with a tight (or loose) preload.
Ah we are talking about rc surface vehicles here, not a street car. You are absolutely clueless on droop screws, and that is a fact. Here, this
may help you (or perhaps someone else here on the forum) understand droop screws and their adjustment. It's copied from my Tekno ET410 manual. Then again, it may not help you one bit going forward.

"Droop is the measured amount of down travel in the suspension. It is measured from the shock mounting
points while the vehicle is up on a stand allowing the arms to hang freely and is adjusted by turning the
droop screw located in the front/rear suspension arms. This screw limits the suspension travel by
providing a stopping point against the chassis. Left and right sides should always be equal, however the
front and rear of the vehicle can have different values. Droop affects all aspects of chassis
performance, including: braking, acceleration, jumping, traction and bump handling."
 
Ah we are talking about rc surface vehicles here, not a street car. You are absolutely clueless on droop screws, and that is a fact. Here, this
may help you (or perhaps someone else here on the forum) understand droop screws and their adjustment. It's copied from my Tekno ET410 manual. Then again, it may not help you one bit going forward.

"Droop is the measured amount of down travel in the suspension. It is measured from the shock mounting
points while the vehicle is up on a stand allowing the arms to hang freely and is adjusted by turning the
droop screw located in the front/rear suspension arms. This screw limits the suspension travel by
providing a stopping point against the chassis. Left and right sides should always be equal, however the
front and rear of the vehicle can have different values. Droop affects all aspects of chassis
performance, including: braking, acceleration, jumping, traction and bump handling."
By street car I was referring to something like an infraction.

Your manual is basically saying what I'm saying though? It's the measured amount of down travel, therefore you can limit the down travel which limits ride height.

I know you are trying to be all technical and correct and that's cool and you like to be the big man that's fine. But limiting your suspension with droop screws directly effects the ride height
 
When I started this post it was for open discussion....all responses are welcomed and appreciated!!!

Thx Gents for all the feedback. I feel my question was answered and there is enough info here for future readers.

Again, thx
 
I know you are trying to be all technical and correct and that's cool and you like to be the big man that's fine. But limiting your suspension with droop screws directly effects the ride height
I'm not trying to be "the big man" here, you are simply wrong here, and you won't own it. The info is either correct or its not. Roger75 confirmed this fact in a post above. And my Tekno manual excerpt I posted above. I'm done in this thread. Quite a few "little boys" here on AF. Grow up!
 
Last edited:
+!
Shock Droop just limits the shock extension stroke. The Arms will limit full extension. Droop should always be identical L-R on each axel.. F/R droop can be different as required. It prevents the pistons from breaking, because they won't bottom out within the shock bodies. And your Shock ends will not break easily.
Shock spring Preload will control suspension height. I usually start my height with my Arms level to the ground.
I usually reduce full shock droop aprox. 4-5mm on average. This will protect the shocks enough when considering arm flex and hard impacts. This also keeps the rig more planted and lower.
:cool:
 
Last edited:
Sooooooo when you want to lower a street car do you just unload the springs? No you tighten the droop screws. You can do it with off road vehicles as well such as the kraton if you want a lower ride like a talion along with a tight (or loose) preload.
I absolutely lower ride height using droop, especially if "out in the field".

turning shock spring load adjusters on mojave is PAINFULL for me soft skin hands :p

imo is totally moot that droop is ideally just a geometry adj...is laughable in this context, in particular arrma off road bashing...wheels on my mojave have like 1/2 cm of slop all around...not to mention actual suspension slop.

am picturing someone out in the field doing detailed shock damper adjustments to simply lower the ride height of their mojave just for a bashing session lol

"No!! yOu Can't uSe DRooP to LoWer RiDe heiGht!!"

holy pedantic!

to lower my mojave I crank those grubs down so hard they're ruining the chassis :p

the shocks / dampers are adjusted for RH i typically use, but sometimes the surface may have too much traction so I just lower using droop.....I guess ideally I'd have a second set of shocks / dampers to swap out?
 
I absolutely lower ride height using droop, especially if "out in the field".

turning shock spring load adjusters on mojave is PAINFULL for me soft skin hands :p

imo is totally moot that droop is ideally just a geometry adj...is laughable in this context, in particular arrma off road bashing...wheels on my mojave have like 1/2 cm of slop all around...not to mention actual suspension slop.

am picturing someone out in the field doing detailed shock damper adjustments to simply lower the ride height of their mojave just for a bashing session lol

"No!! yOu Can't uSe DRooP to LoWer RiDe heiGht!!"

holy pedantic!

to lower my mojave I crank those grubs down so hard they're ruining the chassis :p

the shocks / dampers are adjusted for RH i typically use, but sometimes the surface may have too much traction so I just lower using droop.....I guess ideally I'd have a second set of shocks / dampers to swap out?
Thank you 😁 better watch out though. The droop police might come for you for this wildly outrageous and incorrect post!!
 
+!
Shock Droop just limits the shock extension stroke. The Arms will limit full extension. Droop should always be identical L-R on each axel.. F/R droop can be different as required. It prevents the pistons from breaking, because they won't bottom out within the shock bodies. And your Shock ends will not break easily.
Shock spring Preload will control suspension height. I usually start my height with my Arms level to the ground.
I usually reduce full shock droop aprox. 4-5mm on average. This will protect the shocks enough when considering arm flex and hard impacts. This also keeps the rig more planted and lower.
:cool:
I know this is a somewhat old thread but how exactly do you make sure L-R droop is identical on each axel? Using a micrometer or is there another way?
 
Back
Top