Learn what ride height is and how you can use it to tune your RC car's handling
Measured chassis-bottom to the ground, at race weight (battery in). Off-road ride height is surface-dependent — run the low end on carpet/astro, higher on rough dirt.
| Class | Typical ride height |
|---|---|
| 1/28 small-scale on-road | ~2 mm |
| 1/12 pan | ~3–4 mm (measured at the rear pod) |
| 1/10 touring (on-road) | ~5 mm (4–6 mm) |
| 1/10 off-road buggy (2WD/4WD) | carpet/astro ~13–18 mm · dirt/clay ~20–26 mm |
| 1/10 short course | ~18–26 mm |
| 1/8 buggy | ~22–28 mm |
| 1/8 truggy | ~26–32 mm |
Ride height is the distance between the bottom of the chassis and the track surface. Ride height is usually changed by moving the spring limiter up and down on the shock (changing the pre-load.)
Lower front ride height
Higher front ride height
Lower rear ride height
Higher rear ride height
When racing pan cars, it is common to also measure the ride height in the middle of the car, at the front of the rear pod. Its impact on handling will be similar to that of the rear ride height.
If one end of the car is lower than the other, that end will typically have more grip, but big differences in ride height between front and rear make the car less stable.
Changes to ride height will also change the car’s droop if no other adjustments are made.
It ranges from about 2 mm on small-scale on-road cars and ~5 mm on touring cars up to 22–28 mm on 1/8 buggies. Off-road ride height depends on surface — lower on carpet/astro, higher on rough dirt. Always set it at race weight.
Put the car at race weight (battery in) on a flat surface, measure from the bottom of the chassis to the ground, and adjust with the spring pre-load collar.
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