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If you haven't considered upgrading the springs on your Maxx or AE Monster
GT yet, it's time to seriously consider it. A spring upgrade is one
of the best ways to improve the handling and jumping ability of your
truck.
There are a ton of different spring rates out there. Remember this:
the softer the spring, the softer the ride. Softer springs will keep
the truck from bouncing around like a pogo stick but can also make it
feel "mushy" in turns and can affect handling. Stiffer springs
will reduce "nose dive" when slamming on the brakes, will
reduce body roll and will keep heavier trucks at the proper ride height.
"Stiffys" will also help your truck handle bigger jumps.
Stock Traxxas springs are rated at 2.2 lbs. The titanium springs from
Lunsford are almost double the spring force of the stockers weighing
in at 4.25 lbs of force to compress. We installed these on a mostly
aluminum T-Maxx that due to it's construction is considerably heavier
than the stock setup. Reference the picture to the left: Note the Lunsford spring on the bottom and the much larger, coarser coil design than the stock Traxxas spring in the middle and the Traxxas Big Bore spring on the top. A stronger/stiffer spring is a welcome and required
upgrade on a truck of this heft. The truck is also equipped with Traxxas
Big Bore aluminum shocks, 50 weight Trinity oil and two hole shock pistons.
 Installation is pretty simple. Shock removal is not required for a spring
upgrade. You can just remove the lower shock mount, remove the lower
spring cup and slide the spring off. On a heavier truck like ours, we
decided to install all 8 springs. On lighter trucks (stock or slightly
modified), you might want to start with 4 and go from there. Special
note: As noted above, we installed these on Big Bore shocks. For some
reason, Traxxas uses a slightly smaller outside diameter upper spring
retainer and lower spring cup on Big Bores than they do on the stock plastic shock units (reference picture to the right)?
These springs do not fit
the Big Bore upper spring retainers and lower spring cups very well? In fact it is a bad enough fit, you need to go and steal the cups and retainers off of your old plastic shocks if you are planning on running these springs on the Big Bores. Weird! Once we swapped the
retainers and cups from our original stock set and everything fit together well. This should not be an issue if you are still using stock shocks...we just want to forewarn Big Bore users.
We took the truck out and put it through a number of different driving
conditions. First we gave it some high speed runs up and down the street
and noticed the truck was less wishy washy and felt that the springs
gave the truck better overall control. When trying to turn the truck
at higher speeds, body roll was significantly reduced and made the truck
feel more stable. (Note that on a lighter truck, running all 8 springs
may make it feel more "tipsy".) Strange as it sounds, the truck almost seemed faster
as it did not squat to the ground under hard acceleration, but it stayed
taught and upright (we know speed did not increase but we liked the
hole shot feel much better than the stock springs). Next we took it
out to our track and tossed it off a some big dirt jumps....over and
over again. The springs seemed to make the truck "pop" off
the jump faster. Landings were not a problem and bottoming out was at
a minimum. The springs seem to have a very fast response rate, meaning
they move back to their original length very quickly, without allowing
the truck to bounce excessively.
The springs are a HUGE improvement over the stock units. These are great
springs. Titanium offers a nice finish (although the silver titanium
finish is the only color available) and obvious strength and longevity.
We felt the force rating provided a nice blend of not too stiff and
not too soft. Something to remember: not only do they fit the Traxxas
T-Maxx (and E-Maxx and SportMaxx), but they also fit the AE Monster
GT. With a truck like the MGT, we would guess that all 8 springs would
be needed even on a stock truck.
The cost on the spring sets is a little high ($39.95 for the 4-pack)
when compared to other springs on the market. It should be
noted though that these are titanium springs, not steel. And
for many trucks, one set will be all that is needed. Lunsford may be
the only (or one of the few) companies offering titanium springs. And
let's face it people, when you buy Lunsford anything, you may pay a
little more BUT you get what you pay for. There are a ton of less expensive
companies out there but Lunsford has really done a nice job sticking
to their guns and providing high-quality components. Again, we like
these springs and look forward to giving them a serious butt kicking
this season.
Check these springs and other cool goodies out at the Lunsford
web site.
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