Jato suspension..how good is it?
 

I was just wondering how well the Jato suspension performs compared to similar trucks that have much longer shocks, like the RC10GT, or any electric stadium truck. i just can't see how it gets as much suspension travel as a truck with regular sized shocks, and Traxxas even claim it has more travel than its competitors?!? I'd love to know how that works so I can use small shocks like that on my truck without loosing travel.

Cheers.

its all in how low the shock towers are, the angle the shocks are mounted at, and the length of the arms.

On my custom truck, I can mount the shocks wherever I like on the tower (all I need to do is drill the holes). I'm already using Jato front arms (I love RPM for making these), and my current shocks are at a similar angle to the Jato's.

And in spite of all this, it still confuses the heck out of me to see how if I was to fit shorter shocks, I would get the same amount of travel I get right now :C: Maybe I should try it with a pair of buggy shocks and see what happens..but to me something doesn't make sense. I know it works on the revo because it uses them rocker things but no such thing on the Jato.

I have a Jato. it has more travel than either a Losi or AE ST. It actually has two settings: one for bashing with long travel and a setting with shorter travel for racing, based on where you put the shocks on the arm.

You guys are giving me a headache :W: There must be something I'm missing, because I've just been experimenting with my T2 based truck, and nothing really seems to help. Not that there's anything wrong with the suspension travel on my truck already, but more is good, and some decent Jato shocks are a lot cheaper than some decent AE shocks, and no-where sells springs for AE shocks that are stiff enough for my truck, whereas it seems Jato type ones would be easier to find.

M'kay, so I have the shock mounted on the hole closest to the inside of the wishbone, and I currently have my shock mouted lower than the standard shock tower was designed for. I'm able to use the full travel of my current shock going from full droop to the car being bottomed out, they are 3.8 inches long, how can I get the same suspenion travel out of a shock only 3 inches long?!?!? I think my heads about to explode :C:

The shock tower is narrower at the top and the shock mounts on the are are closer to the bulkhead, so you have a greater leverage on the shock. With the mounts closer to the center of the chassis, the piston and rod move less in relation to the arm, so you have more travel. Look at a Jato and look at your truck and you'll see what i mean

Are you trying to stiffen your suspension?If so you'er going in the wrong direction. the Jato arms are designed to be on the Jato and putting them on anything elseWill get the soft feel you have.

My recomendation would be to go back to the T2 arms and put the shocks in the outermost positions so the shock will have the greatest leverage on the arm

Sorry for such a long post, but i hope this helps.

I think I'm starting to understand..so if I moved the shocks further into the shock tower so they were close to the centre of the chassis, and lowered the mounts increasing the angle of the shock, I should get the same amount of suspension travel out of shorter shocks? I can see how this would help..something to try tomorrow I guess. Hopefully I can apply this to my truck so I can get some cheap, good threaded shocks.

Just another que, are Revo shocks the same as Jato shocks aside from the Revo ones having an alloy body? And are the springs compatible?

Yes they are, except the pistons and material. The springs may be too stiff, they are designed for the cantilevers. To use them with the Jato springs you need to change the pistons with the Jato's

So Revo shocks, with Jato springs/pistons, would make some nice shocks? I figured Revo springs would be too hard (22lbs springs? Thats harder than the ones on my touring car I think).

Thanks for your help mate, if this all works out I just found me a new front suspension setup for my custom truck :) Shame I can't re-design the rear end enough to work like this, but with cvds I couldn't really use any extra travel anyway.

On the initial question of how good the Jato suspension is, I'd have to say I like it better than my FT T4 and the XXX-T MF I used to have. The way the shocks are set up, the damping, and the suspension travel made for a VERY good handling truck.
If Traxxas actually releases an electric Jato, I'll be selling my T4 the week it's announced ;)

As far as the travel, it is all about leverage, as previously stated.

You and me both