I was reading about micro sprint 250s and a guy racing for hyper said that turning the shocks upside down reduces unsprung weight. He said that unsprung weight is the weight not carried by the suspension, such as wheels, axels, and bearings. He also said reducing unsprung weight is always a good thing.
Can anyone explain this in english (i am a beginner) please? Does this help the car?Or should i just leave them right side up?
First off you need to figure out which way is upside down and which way is right side up, we run all the shocks the right side up,but the question would be right side for what? That being said, would you run all upside down or all right side up or half and half?
If you mount your shocks upside down (shaft down) it makes the suspension lighter so it can stay in contact with the track surface better. Lighter supension can move quicker then a heavy susp. A heavy suspension will be slow and lazy over bumps and on rough surfaces. One prob w/mounting cheaper shocks (even afco) upside down is, if the seal is not tight the shock will leak. I mounted a brand new set of afco shocks on the car on a sunday, came out on the next saterday to find 3 of the 4 shocks had a oil running down the shafts. For more info a must read for new mini sprint racer is a book by Steve Smith "micro sprint tech" I saw a copy at speedmart the other day or you can get it off his web site. Good luck!!!!!!!!!
Shaft down is "upside down", and so 90% of people do run them upside down. To expand on Oman's explanation, think of "upside down" as hanging the shock bodies (heavy end) off the frame, versus standing them up off the axle. Any weight that is not supported by the suspension- the weight of the axles, spindles, hubs, wheels, tires are unsprung. The frame, engine, body, driver, wing etc are "sprung weight". In theory, it is better to reduce unsprung weight, because this is weight you cannot control. By having more weight "sprung" you can use your shocks and springs to control where the weight is, and more importantly, where it goes during acceleration, decceleration, cornering. In application, I would bet you can't tell the difference in having your shocks upside down or not.
From the looks of your pictures, you are running Carreras (twin tube- another big discussion) which can be mounted either direction. In some cases, mounting upside down is a requirement due to tight clearances with brakes, birdcages etc.
We've played with PRO and AFCO, but Carrera, and specifically Carreras built by Cory at Advanced Racing Suspensions (ARS) are by far the best shocks for the money. we have ARS shocks that went 3 seasons with little/no performance loss. We found the Afco's to be very short lived as well.
In addition to Oman's recommendation, feel free to stop by our pit and say hi. We keep a copy of Hyper's micro sprint suspension overview- including a shock guide, adjustment tips, setup sheets etc. Would be very valuable 250 specific info for a new racer. We don't have any secrets, and we enjoy making sure everyone is competitive.
