ASK Cubby – Crystal Clear Questions, Muddy Answers
Travel
Just a quick question for you Cubby, how do you measure suspension travel in your reviews? What would you say is a good amount for a tenth scale truck?
Bob C.”
Cubby- Hey ya Bob, thanks for the email.
First off, I want to say that I think suspension travel is an extremely important specification in off-road vehicles. Travel isn’t typically stated by the manufacturers, but we measure it to give consumers an idea of how much travel one truck has compared to another.
So… how do we measure it? First thing we do is to put the vehicle we are going to measure on a good solid stand, we typically use the metal one from Pro-Line. We make sure all wheels are a couple inches off the ground and that the a-arms are fully extended down towards the ground. Next, we measure the rear, it is the easiest to measure. We grab a handy dandy tape measure and see how far the rear axle moves upwards. We don’t stop when the tire is flush with the chassis, we measure its full upward movement. The front is a bit trickier because most vehicles have a bit of kick-up on the front. For the front we have to angle our tape measure to correspond with the amount of kick-up the vehicle has. Then, once again we measure how far the axle moves from its fully extended point until it can no longer physically travel any further upwards.
How much travel is a good amount for a 1/10th scaler? There is no “good” amount, but the more it has, the more it has to work with when landing from big jumps or when going through rough off-road sections. But also remember, the quality of suspension travel also extremely important. Well done spring rates with proper piston/oil damping, plus a lot of travel, equals a vehicle that can truly eat up the rough stuff.
One last note… we actually measure most of our vehicles after testing has concluded. This is less than optimal, we really should do it first thing. After we bash the daylights out of a vehicle plastic can stretch, shock shafts can get bent, etc, giving us a less than perfect travel measurement. You might even measure your own vehicle at home and find it is different than what we have posted. This could be due to some damage on our test vehicle, but it can also be affected by something as simple as you having moved your shocks to a different spot on the shock tower or a-arm.
There ya have it, and there ya are…
“HPI status in the industry
I’m looking at getting a Savage of some sort probably 4.6 nitro!!! My question is how do you think HPI is doing as a company? I’ve seen info on the Internet that they are going out of business!?! This makes me hesitate to get anything from HPI for fear of no more support for my vehicle!!!
Thank you!!!
-Ash”
Cubby- Hey ya Ash, how is Pikachu? I kid, I kid, I am getting pretty burnt out on the whole Pokémon Go thing myself.
So here is the scoop…
Yes, HPI had been having a rough time the last few years. However… things are MUCH better now. As we Posted Right Here, a company named RipMax ended up buying HPI Racing. While the thought of them being bought out might not be a good one, we have had the chance to talk to them Face To Face to feel them out for where the company is headed. After talking to them one-on-one, and after numerous emails since then, we are feeling pretty stoked about the state of HPI. The folks at Ripmax have been incredibly outgoing and honest with us, something that we really appreciate. The Ripmax guys know they have a long road ahead to get HPI back to where it used to be, but they are very enthusiastic about attacking the challenge.
So… should you cut the check on a new HPI Savage 4.6? I would say go right ahead. At this point I wouldn’t hesitate. From what we’ve have seen and heard, HPI is going to be around for a long time to come.
Heck YES, another ASK Cubby is a wrap! Don’t be scared, shoot me an email- thecubreportrc at gmail dot com. Every letter that makes the big time gets a free sticker pack, while our letter of the month winner gets the hook-up on a BSRC t-shirt.
YOUR Cub Reporter
