Senton Fixing the Senton's rollover habit

[Paul777]

I recently added a 3S senton to my garage, initial impressions were good but on grass it was just too happy to roll over when cornering, and I spent too long walking over to right it.
So this is what I've done to (mostly) fix it. This all works with the standard body, and I was able to do it with bits I had lying around. At some point I might try some Typhon arms to widen it further but I think that will cause body issues.

1) Remove all the shock spacers to lower the ride (rear is still a bit high)
2) Fit 12mm Arrma hex (I had AR330132, but the new ones seem to be AR310816)
3) Fit these 12mm to 17mm adapters/extenders, provide about 10mm of extension https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/264912114991 (shimmed them with some brass shim stock to improve fit between the supplied long wheel "nut" and the main extender)

4) Fit some old 1/8 scale buggy wheels

It now runs pretty well and can be made to slide rather than rollover on the grass, although rolls are still fairly easy to invoke if you try. It flies pretty nicely too, not a back-flip monster like my Noto but nice and easy to get good landings.
The aim is that this is a "guest" car for when the kids friends come over, so wanted something easy to drive and reasonably robust.

 

[Glenn75]

I've done exactly the same 17mm extension and buggy wheels only other thing I've done is add some plastic spacers 8mm inside the shocks to lower the centre of gravity and stiffen them up a bit it seems to work.

 

[studawg]

I've done exactly the same 17mm extension and buggy wheels only other thing I've done is add some plastic spacers 8mm inside the shocks to lower the centre of gravity and stiffen them up a bit it seems to work.

Did you take out the preload spacers on top of the springs?

For those seeking to lower the Senton the RPM arms have alternate shock holes which allow you to do this. To me, the key to not rolling over was lowering it as much as possible.

Here's mine:

https://imgur.com/a/1obK9q4

 

[Paul777]

I've done exactly the same 17mm extension and buggy wheels only other thing I've done is add some plastic spacers 8mm inside the shocks to lower the centre of gravity and stiffen them up a bit it seems to work.

I've done similar on other cars - but obviously takes a bit longer than the other changes! Might do it on this next time I service the shocks, but for now its a hoot!

 

[Glenn75]

No I left them In, just put gpm aluminium suspension holders on with gpm lower arms. It sits flat now

 

[dbd6604]

I had this same complaint with the senton and fixed it with typhon 6s shocks and team Durango blue springs. You want it real soft in the rear and stiffer up front. I'm actually amazed with how well it handles now, regardless of the terrain. I was going to change the diff fluids as well but I don't think it's even necessary now.

I know lots of people run the buggy tires but if I wanted to drive a buggy I would have just gotten a buggy

 

[Paul777]

It really depends on the surface you are driving on, putting buggy tyres on it doesn't make it a buggy just that "buggy" tyres tend to have a wide range of grip options available (and I had a stack of them I picked up cheap). Getting it to handle on grass in a fashion similar to the way it would handle out of the box on a proper dusty dirt short course track means reducing tyre grip substantially. Getting the tyres right is one of the most significant steps to getting any car handling the way you want - look at any motor sport and they always start with matching the tyres to the surface. The suspension changes we make to lower it, reduce travel, reduce body roll etc. are more significant in making it handle more like a typical buggy. Many of us love the Senton but few of us have access to proper dirt short course tracks to run them on - so we tune them to achieve the effect we want and the surface we have available.

 

[toolideas]

Suspension is like life... if its too stiff the whoops will give you a headache,too soft and the chassis slap will make for a pain in the ass...
so I set it in the middle hang on and laugh a heck of a lot...