AWD “Displacer” suspension board

Wouldn’t it be better if the angle was shallower the more it compresses (asymmetrical 4 bar linkage with shorter bottom instead of a fixed angle parallel linkage)? That way when you hit something and it absorbs impact it is less likely to wobble

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I would like to try that. My thinking in that scenario is when the truck angle decreases the leverage increases so it might feel more squirrely. Although that leverage gain might be offset by the leverage loss through the suspension travel as the deck height drops… On flexy decks the trucks actually increase in angle while flexing, since I never had issue with that, fixed angle just seems like a safe bet.

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I would love to get these into peoples hands one day. You know that feeling when you find a smooth road, this board makes all roads feel like that haha. The carving is amazing, really impressive considering the weight. I’ll upload some videos soon.

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For a second you’ll be locked into going strait but that’s it

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New parts ready to be welded.

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New shock tower worked really well. Even more plush and more travel. Ordered stiffers springs as the ones I have are to soft and having trouble with the ride height.

Here is @fessyfoo going over a little rough section

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For scale here it is next to xlr and redeemer

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Oh that looks great! Nice work, well done!
I‘m working on something in that direction as well right now, but just started to get into all the suspension stuff which is pretty new to me.
Could you help me out and tell me which spring damper you are using and which bushings you used in this places to enable everything to rotate?

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I’m using this shock in 150mm. They sell different springs, I’m going from 250lbs to 350lbs. The one complaint so far is the bushings are really hard to remove which you need to do in order to replace the springs.

For the bushings on the arms I’m using this type.

I saw the build you got going on freesk8, very cool. I was going to suggest suspension for it. Another route that might interest you is cartridge style suspension. It is less tunable but very compact.

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Thx man! I’m actually trying to integrate a suspension system in that board, but as i said, I’m pretty new to it and have some reading and researching to do.
I thought about ptfe lined bushings, but good to know yours work well.
I‘m geared 90-95kg, would you recommend the springs for 350lbs for that weight as well?

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Sick

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Were you thinking of doing a double arm suspension? With single arm the big drawback is the amount of angle change in the truck can be really high depending on the arm length and amount of travel wanted.

The spring rate really depends on many factors. The geometry, the amount of travel (for reference I have about 65mm of travel). Happy to give input if you have a suspension design.

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This is amazing. Now I really need to build a full suspension board. This seems a bit less complicated than full independent suspension, but most of the benefits.

I’m curious - did you try to fit your electronics within the frame? Or why go to a top mount box if you’ve got this seemingly ideal platform to play with.

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Suspension is a real game changer. I don’t think we really need independent suspension since the trucks do a pretty good job of going side to side over impacts. Independent might do better but they seem so unstable. With the truck design I have now, it is more stable than rkps, yet more carvy.

I think ultimately I want to have a wooden deck. I do want to do bottom mount for that. There might not be enough ground clearance for the ride height I want to run which is 5 inches (axle height) and at least 2 inches of down travel and still be able to go over speed bumps without scraping… I also like the ability to switch to lipos and drop 10lbs.

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At the moment I was looking at single arm.

That would be great!
Going to tag you when I have a sketch drawn up the next days hopefully.

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You could pull this off without pivot angle changes if your suspension assembly movement is purely vertical. You’d probably need a slot of some sort.

Or super long arms such that your suspension travel creates a very small/acceptable angle change. Just brainstorming :slight_smile:

Why though? If aesthetics, so be it. But for comfort and ride feel, shouldn’t most of that be taken care of and tuneable via the shocks, bushings, and angles?

If you’re willing to sacrifice some looks, i think you can really take advantage of the metal tube frame. You need places for your feet, at a certain height, of course. But in the center, you could drop your electronics box down into/onto the frame. You could utilize both if there’s not enough room under the deck

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Scooters have forks, they are still pretty big tho… Single pivot, with 150mm arms was like 13 degrees of angle change for the amount of travel I have now which is bit much.

Part of the reason for the wooden deck is aesthetics definitely. There is still a little vibration that gets transferred to the deck that wood would do a good job of getting rid of. The tires due a great job at soaking up the road, the shocks seem to due best at bigger impacts… Idk if my knee will ever get back to 100% but seems to be heading in the right direction. For reference riding other peoples board over expansion gaps is jarring, I need all the help I can get… This might be the most comfortable board ever built already.

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it’s super nice!
rides surprisingly well. like really well. like fak good job @Titoxd1000 well.

the soft suspension has a little bit of a snowboard in powder or wakeboard feel, as i have to readjust my approach to track corners. (yah we rode it on the track.) and lean back a bit more than I would as you brake into it. and it feels really fun to do it.

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Thanks @fessyfoo
It’ll get around the track pretty quick even at it’s size. You need to try it with these new tires. They feel like if Metroboard made 10 inch tires. Seem to have plenty of grip and this build feels like a skateboard again because of the smaller sidewall. 3d printed hubs are not ideal but they have been holding up so far. Another thing I’ve been meaning to try is the lockout on the shocks, this gives the shocks minimal travel so should be better for the track then.

Did two 35 mile rides on this board this 4th of July weekend and it felt pretty good. Could be even more comfortable for LA streets which are just the worst (Long beach street were fine), got some ideas on what to improve for V2.

Got around to wiring up the lights.

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The board carves pretty well at low speed.
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The high speed carving is not the best. 45/30 seems to steep on the angles on what are essentially no slop rkps. Going to try 10 degrees lower to be more in line with channel trucks. I tend to overshoot turns while riding or even at the track. More overall lean would be nice.

Also found out my spring was way to low. I had to much preload on a 350lb spring that made it stiff. Tried a 650lb and that was much softer with no preload. Since it doesn’t have proper sag I need even higher rate shock. Here is good calculator I found if anyone happens to need it.

Air shock seems like a good option right now since they are easier to tune. In my research coil shock has better bump absorption so I will stay with it. I want to try an 190mm mtb coil shock for version 2 even though it’s much heavier and probably way overkill.

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I got around to changing the angles of my trucks to 30/20 and it completely changed how it rides for the better. Carves much better and is way more stable. The deck leans a lot more and it’s easier to stay planted in the turns. Does pretty good on the track for how heavy it is and where suspension is actually a handicap.

Regarding suspension I came to the realization the front inner pivot in leading arm suspension has to be much lower to get adequate axle path. I ordered some new parts to test. Lowering the front pivot by 20mm which was as much as I could reasonably do. I’m also changing to 190mm shocks that are the similar to ones bajaboard uses. These have no compression adjustment and only rebound adjustment.

I think the star of this build is the 10 inch tuovts. They grip better than metro tires with the comfort better than Kendas. I think my suspension is not optimal currently and theyre the ones that made it comfortable. I would like to see more builds with these tires and plan to make another board using those tires on a more traditional “mountain” board to see how it compares. Would be nice to get some wheels machined for that.

Also working on modeling up version 2 of displacer. That version will address the foot space issue caused by the shock towers. All the parts would be machined aluminum to address the weight. I’m not sure when I will build it since it is a lot of custom machines parts.

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