Kraton Went too big? Broken Kraton shock shaft

[Rich Duperbash]

Hey guys. Had solo bash today and was itching to really blast Kraton with new Tekno orange springs, stock oil still. Got sort of carried away maybe and busted rear left shock shaft right at bottom retainer. Has anyone else done this? Loaded vid in media if anyone wants a visual, monster backflip finally did the trick, loaded as "Kraton 6s mega launch". If anyone has thoughts or ideas please share. Like to avoid a repeat and not sure how often this happens. Bent is one thing, snapped is another. Had to search a bit for my new spring, but I found her!

 

[Va-jeeper]

Hey guys. Had solo bash today and was itching to really blast Kraton with new Tekno orange springs, stock oil still. Got sort of carried away maybe and busted rear left shock shaft right at bottom retainer. Has anyone else done this? Loaded vid in media if anyone wants a visual, monster backflip finally did the trick, loaded as "Kraton 6s mega launch". If anyone has thoughts or ideas please share. Like to avoid a repeat and not sure how often this happens. Bent is one thing, snapped is another. Had to search a bit for my new spring, but I found her! View attachment 4863 View attachment 4864

I've snapped one on my Nero and I wasn't even pushing it hard. I went into a decent cartwheel and when it stopped my Nero had a lean to it. The cold does funny things to an rc car. When I broke my shock it was about mid 40's and I guess the metal was cold and brittle. Snapped the end clean off.

 

[Rich Duperbash]

I've snapped one on my Nero and I wasn't even pushing it hard. I went into a decent cartwheel and when it stopped my Nero had a lean to it. The cold does funny things to an rc car. When I broke my shock it was about mid 40's and I guess the metal was cold and brittle. Snapped the end clean off.

Thanks Va-jeeper, I guess stuff does happen. Thought maybe I need to tone it down some with launching her skyward, downtime is always a bummer. Thought maybe spring had slipped sideways
or came off center of plastic spring cup/retainer prior to last jump and simply overloaded the shaft with next big hit. Think I will check my springs more often when going big just to know, happened to me with the Outcast on rough terrain and didn't notice spring was resting crooked until I picked the truck up.

 

[dpricenator]

I just wish I had a field a bug as that. And with built in jumps. You need to go out there with a shovel, metal rake, or a hoe and clean up the runway to those jumps. I use the word NEED loosely, as with the Kraton you really don't need to smooth out anything.

 

[Rich Duperbash]

I just wish I had a field a bug as that. And with built in jumps. You need to go out there with a shovel, metal rake, or a hoe and clean up the runway to those jumps. I use the word NEED loosely, as with the Kraton you really don't need to smooth out anything.

I here you bro, brought shovel and rake for 2nd time, just worried city parks people will flatten this spot like they did to 2 others nearby. I grew on BMX and MX and have seen this crap over and over since early 80s, build it up, watch it go down. Hoping they'll leave this spot alone, but it sits right next to city outbuilding, fenced area you can see in vid. If I groom it too nice I guarantee it will go bye bye.

 

[dpricenator]

yeah we are trying to keep a spot near my office quiet, but the kids have gotten out of hand. I go out there and there are beer can everywhere, and trash all over. It's in the hills, behind a fence that says No Trespassing. They are all BMX or mountain bike guys. I had to tell them the best way to continue using this place was to clean up after yourselves. If no one knows that you were here, then they will not make a point to keep you out.

Put these co-ordinates in google maps and you'll see the place I'm talking about. The RC track is on the right hand side, but is too small for the Kraton to let loose on. It is fun with the 1/18 cars I have. However the large section of jumps you see are X-Games sized big air bike jumps. that run off a hill side. I have hit a few pretty big with the kraton, but it's hard to drive because you can't see the landing, and while the jumps are 8 feet wide, after that it get's to tight to drive. So one mis step and it's all over. But it does look cool to send the car 10 feet high off a 10 foot ramp and then watch it disappear behind the ramp, only to find it waiting patiently on the other side.

 

[Rich Duperbash]

yeah we are trying to keep a spot near my office quiet, but the kids have gotten out of hand. I go out there and there are beer can everywhere, and trash all over. It's in the hills, behind a fence that says No Trespassing. They are all BMX or mountain bike guys. I had to tell them the best way to continue using this place was to clean up after yourselves. If no one knows that you were here, then they will not make a point to keep you out.

Put these co-ordinates in google maps and you'll see the place I'm talking about. The RC track is on the right hand side, but is too small for the Kraton to let loose on. It is fun with the 1/18 cars I have. However the large section of jumps you see are X-Games sized big air bike jumps. that run off a hill side. I have hit a few pretty big with the kraton, but it's hard to drive because you can't see the landing, and while the jumps are 8 feet wide, after that it get's to tight to drive. So one mis step and it's all over. But it does look cool to send the car 10 feet high off a 10 foot ramp and then watch it disappear behind the ramp, only to find it waiting patiently on the other side.

Don't see coordinates, but got your message loud and clear. Super fun to blast off big jumps, spotting them is a real challenge. Wish younger generation would get clued in to staying low profile and be cool about keeping spots going.

 

[dpricenator]

Don't see coordinates, but got your message loud and clear. Super fun to blast off big jumps, spotting them is a real challenge. Wish younger generation would get clued in to staying low profile and be cool about keeping spots going.

my bad here you go

33.661871, -117.661295

 

[Rich Duperbash]

my bad here you go

33.661871, -117.661295

Thanks I'll check it out later, at work and things are crazy right now. The run ups at my local jump park are single track, must hit perfectly and doing sets means you have no sight of landings what so ever. Going to try and scout a good natural terrain area to fashion a big jump track somewhere descreet that's close to home. Would be fun with the kids for sure.

 

[vman38]

Thanks Va-jeeper, I guess stuff does happen. Thought maybe I need to tone it down some with launching her skyward, downtime is always a bummer. Thought maybe spring had slipped sideways
or came off center of plastic spring cup/retainer prior to last jump and simply overloaded the shaft with next big hit. Think I will check my springs more often when going big just to know, happened to me with the Outcast on rough terrain and didn't notice spring was resting crooked until I picked the truck up.

Hi guys. I have been searching these old threads looking for an answer. I have snapped the rear LHS shock shaft on my kraton 4 times in a row in exactly the same place as shown in the picture (only doing pretty small jumps). My kraton is a V1 however I modified my rear shocks to take the Tekno 4mm dia shafts and also made aluminum pistons and shock ends. Has worked well now for a couple of months but then snapped the rear lhs shaft first time - welded it then it snapped again so I tried the stock 3.5 mm shafts again and have snapped two more all inside one week! The rear droop seems to be set fine. I am running stock arms and so have removed them and they seem a little bent and possibly a little too flexible. Maybe the stock plastic degrades over time so I have now ordered rpm rear arms to see if this helps. Would appreciate any help or advice guys - maybe I'm missing something more simple!

 

[bicketybam]

Hi guys. I have been searching these old threads looking for an answer. I have snapped the rear LHS shock shaft on my kraton 4 times in a row in exactly the same place as shown in the picture (only doing pretty small jumps). My kraton is a V1 however I modified my rear shocks to take the Tekno 4mm dia shafts and also made aluminum pistons and shock ends. Has worked well now for a couple of months but then snapped the rear lhs shaft first time - welded it then it snapped again so I tried the stock 3.5 mm shafts again and have snapped two more all inside one week! The rear droop seems to be set fine. I am running stock arms and so have removed them and they seem a little bent and possibly a little too flexible. Maybe the stock plastic degrades over time so I have now ordered rpm rear arms to see if this helps. Would appreciate any help or advice guys - maybe I'm missing something more simple!

What tires are you running?

 

[vman38]

What tires are you running?

Hi - running backflips.

 

[bicketybam]

Can you push your truck down so the chassis is flat against the ground. If so, do you have any travel left on the shocks? I can flatten mine and still lift a tire a hair.

 

[vman38]

Can you push your truck down so the chassis is flat against the ground. If so, do you have any travel left on the shocks? I can flatten mine and still lift a tire a hair.

I'm gonna have to do a quick rebuild later to check that one out as the rear end is torn down at the moment. Will get back on that - thanks!

 

[vman38]

I'm gonna have to do a quick rebuild later to check that one out as the rear end is torn down at the moment. Will get back on that - thanks!

Looks like you nailed it man! When I push the truck down flat I can lift the RHS wheel about another half an inch before the shock bottoms out but as you can see in the attached pics (of my v dirty truck!) the broken LHS shock has totally bottomed out. Now I just need to figure out how to fix it! My shock tower is nearly perfectly straight, the shock mount bolts are straight and the chassis is not twisted. Some thinking to do!

 

[vman38]

Still life left in the old dog yet! Old rear arm was badly bent so have replaced both rear arms with the RPM ones and going good!