Raider Stronger Shock Tower DIY

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taupe

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Location
Northwest US
Arrma RC's
  1. Granite
  2. Raider
My son broke his shock tower for about the third time a few weeks ago and I though I'd share the more permanent fix I came up with. he has broken the shock tower twice since installing the aluminum shock tower brace which is no longer available. The last time the brace broke as well.

We removed all of the front shock assembly. After taking it all off I was shocked at how many parts there are simply to mount the shocks and stiffen the front end. All the parts below were replaced with a few parts made with typical garage tools.

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I pulled an aluminum piece out of a scrap bin, made a template out of cereal box cardboard, and shaped it with a bench grinder. Drilled a few holes in it that match up to the front suspension mount (ar330168) and voila, aluminum front shock tower. The braces are simple thin steel that I cut out with tin snips. I rounded them by squishing them between a small socket extension and a piece of wood in a vise, but they would work just as well if left straight. The aluminum spacers were cut from a .45 cent spacer out of the hardware bin at home depot. Those aren't necessary but look cool once painted and placed in the top of the suspension mount.

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I don't remember the length of all the screws, but just took the front suspension mount and aluminum piece to home depot and test fit to find the right ones.

The paint is spray paint made to look like anodized aluminum. It came from the local hardware store.
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Installed and painted the stock rear brace just for kicks
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Added the T-bone front bumper as well
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I added a random piece of black plastic to the top of the tower to protect it when it flips and absorb some of the impact. The biggest issue before was the screws catching on something when it flipped and putting stress where it shouldn't be. That shouldn't happen now. It worked so well I'll likely make one for the rear as well.
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My son flipped it about 15 times after the upgrade, including cartwheels and driving it straight up a tree. No damage other than some scrapes on the new piece of plastic. The best part is that everything lines up perfectly with no binding, just attach a flat plate to the back of the suspension brace. The front shocks function better than they ever have and the caps no longer pop off. I wish I had the tools to cut the arrma logo out of the plate, guess we'll just have to find a sticker or something.
 
Great job. Looks nice and sturdy.

Do you have a Castle Sidewinder 3 installed on the raider?
Sorry, I didn't see the second question the other night. Yes, my son went serious overkill and put the 6900kw sw3 in it.
 
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