Home made springs for my bit

ph2t · Post by **ph2t** » Thu Apr 17, 2003 8:42 am

Fellas, I had a rare brainstorm at work and raided some storage cupboards and found some really old DDS tapes(4GB to 8GB sized tapes used to backup data from servers). At first I was thinking that maybe I could pull apart some floppies and use the spring from them. But then I thought, why not try the DDS tapes. And would you believe it the springs in these mofo's are perfect!

So here's what you need to do, first source a tape!

Then pull it apart and look for two springs sticking out of the plastic backing. Refer to where I have the needle nose pliers pointing for the springs, you can see them but they're a bit fuzzy.

Below shows the springs removed from the DDS tape unit and placed next to a clone wheel so you can see the size of these. A little bit long but otherwise purfect!

One third along the length of the spring the coil changes and becomes compressed (as you can see in the previous pic). I cut this portion off since it's too long anyways...... Below shows the springs cut to a good size.

Obviously you need to remove the cover of the steering assembly to be able to put the springs on. Notice the clearance given by the springs to the pivot to allow the cover to sit back on without overcompressing the spring and therefore inhibiting steering ability.

And your done..................

So all you pimps who work in IT get those DDS tapes now before they disappear!

ph2t.

sessiz · Post by **sessiz** » Thu Apr 17, 2003 8:51 am

Great find man. I unfortunatly don't work in IT so finding a dds tape would kinda tough

You did give my brain a jolt and what I will do is go look at all the misc vhsc and 8mm tapes I got laying around and see if I can't scavange anything from them.
Thanks

noxorc · Post by **noxorc** » Thu Apr 17, 2003 8:54 am

ph2t wrote:...and found some really old DDS tapes(4GB to 8GB sized tapes used to backup data from servers).

ph2t.

those are not really old...we still use them in unix backups.
Sheiat, I got a current customer problem booting one now..
been workin on it for a week.

-nox

ps.. what's that white pile of shit? puddy to keep your bit still? nice load.

ph2t · Post by **ph2t** » Thu Apr 17, 2003 9:07 am

Hey sessiz, you might have better luck with the Hi-8 tapes than VHS, they have a similar loading / tape protection action as DDS tapes which could mean a similar setup with springs.

Nox, the shit is called Blue-Tac, dunno if you yanks have it, but it's THE best way to hold your front assembly together when farkenwidit. lol!

At work we use 200GB LTO tapes/tape drives, so 'scuse my attitude on tha whole DDS thang.

ph2t.

hogjowlz · Post by **hogjowlz** » Thu Apr 17, 2003 9:31 am

so how do they ride?

ph2t · Post by **ph2t** » Thu Apr 17, 2003 9:41 am

They ride well. Biggest difference is that when I hit a bump the car doesn't change direction as great as before, turning is still the same I think, didn't notice much . I'm experimenting with removing the stabiliser bar as well and trying slightly stiffer springs.

I want to try the full wheel mod for the front section using the rear wheels from a clone to see if that improves steering as well.

One tip though, if your magnet falls out of the arm it's encased in make sure you put it in the correct way. I had to stuff around for an hour wodering why my steering was so shithouse , put the magnet in the right way and all is sweet again.

ph2t.

Post by **CaboWabo** » Thu Apr 17, 2003 10:18 am

excellent tips and find ph2t!
thanks playa, Im gonna have to see what we got a work.

custombitbodys · Post by **custombitbodys** » Thu Apr 17, 2003 10:51 am

yea if you dont have those tapes lying around dont buy any.. they would probably cost more than a dollar.. find a place that has slot cars. and buy some slot car springs. i bought 4 of them for 1.25 and you can get different heights and spring rates... and no they are not magnetic..

hogjowlz · Post by **hogjowlz** » Thu Apr 17, 2003 10:53 am

ya im happy with my tyco springs. they could be a little stiffer but they still help a lot.

Post by **CaboWabo** » Thu Apr 17, 2003 11:00 am

no shizzle? slot car springs, hmmm sounds a lot easier! lol

custombitbodys · Post by **custombitbodys** » Thu Apr 17, 2003 11:05 am

yea. i couldnt imagine a more perfect fit.. they have about 15-20 different springs at my LHS.. you can find the perfeft height spring so there is no cutting involved..

ph2t · Post by **ph2t** » Thu Apr 17, 2003 10:47 pm

If it costs a buck in the US, it's gonna cost 5 - 10 bucks in Australia.....

The DDS tapes were free so no skin off my back

ph2t.

custombitbodys · Post by **custombitbodys** » Fri Apr 18, 2003 12:57 am

yea thats cool. i know if you were to go buy those tapes they would cost more than 5 bucks.. thats the only reason i suggested it. i havent tried the tyco springs. im using aurora springs.. they had 6 different sizes of them. and then they also had some no name springs too.. different colors!! i think they just anadized them..

z-beam · Post by **z-beam** » Wed Apr 30, 2003 9:19 pm

mmm anodized!!!! what brand are these springs?

hogjowlz · Post by **hogjowlz** » Thu May 01, 2003 9:36 am

anodized would be cool

the tyco ones are pretty nice. they really help take hits. i tried tomy afx springs once and they are useless.

bitPimps.lixlink.com

Home made springs for my bit

DDS Data Tapes are tha bomb!

Re: DDS Data Tapes are tha bomb!