ASK Cubby – More Letters, Less Responses

“Height

Hello Cubby, huge fan of yours. Every Monday I look forward to reading the Cub Report.

If you happen to read my email, I have a question for you. What is the proper ride height for my ARRMA Raider? What does changing the ride height do?

Thomas A.”

Cubby- Well hey there Tommy, cool question and thanks for writing in.

So you are the owner of an ARRMA Raider buggy. What should “proper” ride height be? Well, if you are going for good general handling and fast corner speeds, you’ll want to set the ride height to bones level in the rear with the arms level in the front (that is, level to the ground). This height helps keep the weight down low, thus reducing traction roll in the corners or flipping as much when catching edges while bashing, or when landing jumps slightly sideways.

If you lower the ride height, like slightly lower than bones/arms level, that will continue to reduce traction rolling. It will help corner speed on higher bite surfaces, but hurt handling when things get rough. If you were to go higher, like bones/arms above level, the buggy will flip over a bit more in corners and when catching ruts, but it will handle better in whooped out sections or when landing jumps. If all you do is go for massive air, you’ll want to run the ride height quite high. This will go a longs ways towards soaking up landings from 10+ feet up in the air.

The real tuning comes in when you want both good corner speed and the ability to absorb massive leaps. That is when compromises must be made, you’ll want to keep it as low as you can for corners, but as high as possible for jumping. That is where your own personal taste and driving style comes in. The perfect ride height setting for you WILL be different than the next guy that owns a Raider. So, if you are on a FB Group and Joe Blow with a million posts says “The optimal ride height for a Raider is 25mm and you are an animal if you use anything else!”, then just know they guy is full of it. That might work for him and for how he drives with his oil and spring settings, but is quite unlikely to be your optimal set-up. The moral here- do your own testing, be your own judge on what suspension settings feel best to you.

“Truggy Or Monster Truck

Cubby,

I have two cars right now, but both are 1/10. I want to buy something bigger, but am not sure what to get. To bash hardcore, would I be better off with a 1/8 truggy or with a 1/8 monster truck? What are their up and downsides?

Howard P.”

Cubby- Hola there Howard, thanks for writing in.

OK, shall we define the difference between a “truggy” and a “monster truck”? That line has been blurred pretty hard in recent years, but realistically, a truggy will come with a center diff, while a monster truck will be locked solid in the middle. Also, in theory, a “real” monster truck should have solid axles front and rear, but you don’t see that much in 1/8th scale.

So lets say you are comparing a truggy like the ARRMA Talion to something like the HPI Savage Flux monster truck. First off, the Talion will be easier to drive. It won’t want to wheelie as much and will be easier to keep flat while airborne. On the Savage side of things, it will be easier to pull block long wheelies and to do backflips while jumping.

I personally prefer driving with a center diff when I am doing general bashing. However, one of our test guys, Iron Mikeee, prefers a locked center diff. I am more into a truck that is easy to control while jumping, while Mikeee is all about pulling double backflips off every jump. There are other high points and low points, but it really boils down to exactly what YOUR driving style is like.

There it is, another episode of ASK Cubby is in the bank. Have a question? Need an answer? Did your girlfriend dump you and your dog ran away? Email me- thecubreportrc at gmail dot com.

YOUR Cub Reporter