Soft Spring Upgrade on 24v Grave Digger Power Wheels
Intro: Soft Spring Upgrade on 24v Grave Digger Power Wheels
Here's some quick instructions on how to install upgraded soft springs on you 24v Grave Digger Power Wheels.
You'll need:
Two 4.5mm Hex wrenches
A phillips screwdriver
A round file (sandpaper or a utility knife might work as well)
Upgraded soft springs - available on my Etsy page www.etsy.com/shop/Poppafixit
STEP 1: Remove the Old Shocks
I recommend putting the vehicle on jack stands for this. It's heavy and those springs do hold the weight.
The shock absorber assembly is held on by two hex bolts. You can remove both sets of screws and take the shock off completely, or you can attempt to just remove the top and slide the new spring on while the bottom stays attached. The screws are kind of awkward to get to, so it might be easier to only undo the top.
You'll need to do this to each of the 4 shocks, but I would do them one at a time.
STEP 2: Disassemble the Shock Absorber and Replace the Spring
This step is pretty simple. You can just unscrew the big metal washer and slip the old spring off, slip the new spring on. You might want to tighten the plastic cap that goes around the piston while you're in here. All 4 of mine were loose from the factory.
STEP 3: Enlarge Conduit Holes Into Body
If you look at the backside of the motors, there's this green pipe/conduit that protects the wires as they go up into the body. These pipes will move up and down with the new suspension flex. The holes on mine were very tight from the factory, so I widened them up a bit.
Unscrew the three screws holding the conduit to the motor housing. Then unplug the motor wire under the seat. Pull the conduit and wires out and away from the body. Now you can enlarge the hole a bit with a round file, sand paper or a knife. Doesn't need to be too big, just enough that the green conduit can slide freely up and down. Then reassemble.
Do this to both sides on the rear.
STEP 4: Get Bouncin'!
Replace the shocks on the other three corners and you're good to go!
3 Comments
jhentr 5 years ago
Bought the springs from MLtoys.com. Everything went fine except for 1 of the 4 shocks. I could not loosen the top washer. It stripped and even with a wrech, it wouldn't budge. My other three top washer, I was able to remove it by hand.
Fortunately I was able to remove the bottom piece by using a wrench to hold the shock shaft in place and then unscrew the bottom piece from the shock assembly.
Tips.
1. Do one shock at a time.
2. Make sure to loosen all the way the top washer before removing the allen nuts at the top.
3. No need to remove both top and bottom allen nuts (or the whole shock assembly). Removing top allen nuts only should suffice in sliding in and out the springs...unless you run into an issue where the top nut is stripped (like mines). Then in this case, remove the spring from the bottom.
4. I didn't have an issue with Step3 above as my conduit slide up and down easily (at least a 1/16" gap in both of mines.
5. My front shocks were 'sticking' and I had to loosen the middle allen nuts on both side where the suspension meets the frame (pivot point). I'm referring to the area right under the front doors or right behind the front wheels. You'll know what I mean when you look at where the frame ties into the suspension piece.
Checksepoxy 6 years ago
seamster 6 years ago
You've just about convinced me that I need to pick up yet another hobby . . . these have all been so fun to see. Well done, great string of how-tos!