TiN coated shock shafts?

[Handling>Speed]

The stock limitless/infraction/felony shafts are uncoated. For both performance and cosmetic reasons, I'd like to have the shafts TiN coated. Does anyone here happen to work in metal processing? It would be nice to not have to formally put in a purchase order with some company, and have direct communication with the person doing the coating.

 

[SrC]

In theory, the only advantage to have having Titanium Nitride coated shocks would be for Off-road Long travel shocks. Track Racing Kits. What this originally was designed for.
Any TiN shaft shock performance gain for the short travel 1/7 On-Road rigs would be minimal at best if any. IMHO.
Cosmetically, you barely see any exposed shock shafts on the Infr/Fel/Lim anyway. Spring retainer hides most of the shaft in regards.
I do Polish all my shock shafts, all my rigs when rebuilding them. Sometimes even new out the box. I use Jewlers Rouge (Flitz) in a drill to do this.
The performance results are the same as TiN coated IMHO. I have TiN shafts on a few of my other TA rigs. No difference in performance over nicely drill polished shafts. Arrma Shock shafts are consumable parts at some point and cheap enough to replace. Polishing them extends the shock life overall. Having a shock with less stiction as well. More plush response.
And the TiN Coating wears off anyway at some point. Been there. Not worth it IMO.
I also use 6s Typhon Rubber Shock Boots ( trimmed to length) on my Infr and Lim Shocks ( F+R) The rear shock's shafts especially get beat up and scratched from dirt and debris. Most rigs at the rear shocks in this way. This leads to worn/leaking O-rings and bottom cartridge and ultimately introduces dirt into the shock oil.
My experience.

 

[Handling>Speed]

In theory, the only advantage to have having Titanium Nitride coated shocks would be for Off-road Long travel shocks. Track Racing Kits. What this originally was designed for.
Any TiN shaft shock performance gain for the short travel 1/7 On-Road rigs would be minimal at best if any. IMHO.
Cosmetically, you barely see any exposed shock shafts on the Infr/Fel/Lim anyway. Spring retainer hides most of the shaft in regards.
I do Polish all my shock shafts, all my rigs when rebuilding them. Sometimes even new out the box. I use Jewlers Rouge (Flitz) in a drill to do this.
The performance results are the same as TiN coated IMHO. I have TiN shafts on a few of my other TA rigs. No difference in performance over nicely drill polished shafts. Arrma Shock shafts are consumable parts at some point and cheap enough to replace. Polishing them extends the shock life overall. Having a shock with less stiction as well. More plush response.
And the TiN Coating wears off anyway at some point. Been there. Not worth it IMO.
I also use 6s Typhon Rubber Shock Boots ( trimmed to length) on my Infr and Lim Shocks ( F+R) The rear shock's shafts especially get beat up and scratched from dirt and debris. Most rigs at the rear shocks in this way. This leads to worn/leaking O-rings and bottom cartridge and ultimately introduces dirt into the shock oil.
My experience.

Well, my perfect shocks would be TiN shafts with hard anodized bodies. Both for looks and longevity. I like having a bit of scratch resistance, and the stock shafts have very little. You're correct about the shafts not being exposed very much, but I kinda love suspension I'm still working on getting just the feeling I want out of the shocks, but on my limitless I'd like to get rid of most of the red, and have black/gold/cf. I'm going to be painting a bittydesign seven65 body for it.

 

[SrC]

I am also Very anal about my shocks. Goes back to my Track days. I also use a vacuum pump for bleeding them precisely.
If I were you I would look to getting the POM/Delrin TLR Typhon Pistons and bottom cartridge as a set for each of your shocks. Best performance for the buck. And polish the shafts. They will be smooth and shiny like chrome.
This is my direction utimately. I have a TLR on my bench. These longer travel shocks are obviously better with the Delrin parts. Just that the Delrin Pistons and bottom cartridges are not available yet. I want them in my Krtan and Noto. Long travel shocks.
With the On road shocks, spring tension rate is so high that I don't feel there would be any distinct advantage. Been running my Infr and lim for close to 2 years, speed running them. It is why the Hardcore speed run guys keep them stiff and hard. There is little compression or rebound anyway. Sticktion is much less of an issue.
Seems you are more cosmetic inclined???

Good luck.

 

[Handling>Speed]

I am also Very anal about my shocks. Goes back to my Track days. I also use a vacuum pump for bleeding them precisely.
If I were you I would look to getting the POM/Delrin TLR Typhon Pistons and bottom cartridge as a set for each your shocks. Best performance for the buck. And polish the shafts. They will be smooth and shiny like chrome.
This is my direction utimately. I have a TLR on my bench. These longer travel shocks are obviously better with the Delrin parts. Just that the Delrin Pistons and bottom cartridges are not available yet. I want them in my Krtan and Noto. Long travel shocks.
With the On road shocks, spring tension rate is so high that I don't feel there would be any distinct advantage. Been running my Infr and lim for close to 2 years, speed running them. It is why the Hardcore speed run guys keep them stiff and hard. There is little compression or rebound anyway. Sticktion is much less of an issue.

Good luck.

I currently LOVE how both my limitless and felony handle. I've mostly just done alignment adjustments and changed out springs. Oh and used the 1mm wider hexes in the rear so now the rear track width is nearly equal on the limitless. I do mixed driving, basically tuning like it's a pikes peak(current, not gravel) car or something. The limitless is torn apart right now and I'm "building" it... New bearings, strengthening/stiffening up a few areas, plenty of cosmetic mods... But in the process I'm tuning the suspension and diffs again. I'm still trying figure out what I can get the EXB limited slip diff to do for me.

 

[SrC]

Where will you be putting the LSD diff? The center?
I kept the standard diff in the center of my Infr. But with 500K cst.
The Lim, I alternate between my Spool and the standard diff. Also 500k in there.
I like 15k F+R for both rigs.
Mostly speed running and also multi Lap race these with my son on a 1/4 mile Velodrome Banked track. Top speeds on the Velo is around 70MPH. I can get about 12 laps out of a pack on the track. They both run cool. Both 6s gear. Lim running Sensored HW 2250Kv/XR8Plus , Infr running Non sensored V1 Infr. OE gear.
My speed runs are just shy of 100mph. So these are geared for all around use in this regard.

 

[Handling>Speed]

Where will you be putting the LSD diff? The center?

I've already tried it in the center with its stock setup, but I've wondered what it would be like to have slightly more lock on the front half, with the front diff being more open than the rear diff. I'm trying to find great braking traction, while still not having the car understeer on throttle. It didn't make a huge difference, but it did make the car feel just a little more responsive when accelerating and braking at lower speeds. Having lsd f/r would be pretty limiting in a way since there's just one spur gear available and the gear ratio would just increase through both the center diff and the f/r.

 

[SrC]

I find that keeping the F+R diff action bias the same makes for a better balanced rig handling wise. These LWB chassis tend to want to understeer in general. Especially if you widen the rear track. or in the case of the Fel. Just me. It is kind of hard to have that sweet spot for all around running.
I also played with spring rates and thicker/ thinner sway bars. Also Thickened the shock oils equally F+R. This can help alot also. As well as altering the Roll center at the rear. This helpd with On thr. ST. Moving rear camber links up or down for example changes the Roll center. Helps with ST.

 

[Handling>Speed]

I've found that one of the biggest impacts has been the f/r balance of grip on both vehicles. My limitless is actually an infraction v1 with a limitless body. Both it and the felony handle nearly the same, though the felony actually turns better(more). My intuition wants to tell me that having a wider rear end compared to the front actually decreases stability, but I'm not positive on that. Do you run any static negative camber on the front? After adding the suspension shims(1mm on lower arm) I went back to the stock caster setting and I'm really happy with it so far.

 

[SrC]

I like zero camber. I Feel a touch of toe out works.
I would also try changing the Ackerman more for improved ST.

 

[Handling>Speed]

I like zero camber. I Feel a touch of toe out works.
I would also try changing the Ackerman more for improved ST.

I have a slight bit of toe out, though with the slop in the steering, I'm curious if it's probably almost toe in when force is applied to the outside wheel. I guess I'll try out the rear holes in the Ackermann plate. I wonder what 0 toe in the rear would be like. Generally I tune my camber until I get even wear across the tire, and that seems to come along with the best feeling, but I do as much turning as I possibly can. I love high speed sweepers.

 

[SrC]

Since this is 4WD, under load front wheels naturally want to Toe-In Under power. Consider this when compensating for front end ST slop. So yo don't end up with any Toe In Under power. Can cause ST drift at some point. Will seem like ST is off center at a certain speed. But is really not off center.
Just my spin.

 

[Handling>Speed]

Since this is 4WD, under load front wheels naturally want to Toe-In Under power. Consider this when compensating for front end ST slop. So yo don't end up with any Toe In Under power. Can cause ST drift at some point. Will seem like ST is off center at a certain speed. But is really not off center.
Just my spin.

Well 4wd... Sorta... That's why I want to mess with the diffs and stuff. I drive a subaru one issue with the rc car is when the rear end loses grip under braking, the center diff will prioritize the end with the least resistance. So the braking force is limited by the end that has the least grip. The same is effectively true under acceleration, but my oversteer mostly comes from turning in while I'm braking for the turn, so a little throttle induced understeer on exit isn't a big deal as long as everything else is still well balanced. I feel like it will be a challenge to get the braking I want without sacrificing something.

 

[SrC]

Zero camber seems to be best for on road and even tire wear. IMHO.
In stock config, there is like 3 degree rear toe. Some say this scrubs off speed. But usually the 140+ MPH speed run guys will mod them to zero rear toe. They are trying eek out another 1-1.5 mph at those speeds..
99% of most RC rigs have rear toe in for directional stability under hard throttle. Keeps the rig pointed straight. Easier to control. Also increases Off throttle Steering to some degree.
Even Real scale cars have rear toe-in for this reason. (IRS)

 

[Handling>Speed]

Zero camber seems to be best for on road and even tire wear. IMHO.
In stock config, there is like 3 degree rear toe. Some say this scrubs off speed. But usually the 140+ MPH speed run guys will mod them to zero rear toe. They are trying eek out another 1-1.5 mph at those speeds..
99% of most RC rigs have rear toe in for directional stability under hard throttle. Keeps the rig pointed straight. Easier to control. Also increases Off throttle Steering to some degree.
Even Real scale cars have rear toe-in for this reason. (IRS)

Yeah I've mostly just been curious about the rear toe. If anything I'd like just a touch less. I just got power hobby tires today, "the beast" tires I just love that they look like Michelin pilot super sports! Hopefully they grip well. Have you done anything to impact the center of gravity? I'm guessing I'll probably like what the front ballast weights do to the felony, not sure on the limitless.

 

[SrC]

I added about aprox 2.5 oz of weight to my Lim. Mostly at the front where weights are designed to be placed on my Lim.. Just ahead of the Fr shock tower. I used scale car wheel weights. 1/4 oz pieces. But I used a Digital Cross Weight Scale to confirm and balance it out perfectly. Made a huge difference ST and handling wise.

 

[1coopgt]

Ok what's ST=?

 

[SrC]

Steering.

 

[1coopgt]

I should have known it was going to be something simple.

 

[Handling>Speed]

I added about aprox 2.5 oz of weight to my Lim. Mostly at the front where weights are designed to be placed on my Lim.. Just ahead of the Fr shock tower. I used scale car wheel weights. 1/4 oz pieces. But I used a Digital Cross Weight Scale to confirm and balance it out perfectly. Made a huge difference ST and handling wise.

Corner balancing would be awesome. What tires/wheels have you used?