Need help

[Fundog]

Hey guys. I'm new to this forum and need some advice.

I am a Mechatronics engineer who's designing and building a lightweight, compact e-scooter from scratch, and I've recently encountered a problem with my e-Scooter design. As an Australian, I have designed my e-scooter to be all-terrain, but the thing is, where does one go to order small shock absorbers? I am speaking of the coil-over shock absorbers typically used in vehicle suspension systems. I am having a great deal of trouble finding shock absorbers to suit the size and specifications of my e-scooter. Yes, there are already such things as miniature shock absorbers in RC cars which are of the appropriate size, tho the spring rates I require from my shocks are orders of magnitude greater, as this is to support a human's weight and not for a plastic RC toy.

So I figured to ask for help here. Is there such a thing as small (30-80 mm, eye to eye length) shock absorbers for human-ridden transport available on the market? I do know that similar products exist, as I have seen the shock absorbers of the Bajaboard to be of similar size to the ones I'm after. Although I am completely puzzled as to how the Bajaboard team was able to acquire these shocks.

 

[Dauntless]

I would guess that the only human ridden shocks you'll find are the RC shocks that you test and decide will work. I would say if they others you mention are not made inhouse they're either RC or industrial.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/381354182403?lpid=82&chn=ps&ul_noapp=true

 

[thisrealhuman]

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1313.TR2.TRC1.A0.H0.Xmountainbike+rear+shock.TRS0&_nkw=mountainbike+rear+shock&_sacat=0

Something like these? They make child size mountain bikes now that probably have even smaller shocks.

 

[Fundog]

Thanks for the responses so far. I am currently looking into wheelchair shock absorbers, although my search has proven rather difficult as the lengths are never specified, so I'll be grateful for anyone who can clarify the sizes of power wheelchair shock absorbers.

I have already browsed thru mountain bike shock absorbers of all sizes including children's and these are still too massive for my application, and it's impractical to redesign my suspension geometry to accommodate the increased suspension size as my design goal is a compact e-scooter. Furthermore industrial shock absorbers are a no-go for me, as these are typically linear decelerators which are not the kind of shocks you'd use for vehicle suspension since the stroke distances and damping characteristics are undesirable. I am mainly looking for oil-filled coilover shocks.

 

[bandaro]

One thing I have found useful for finding the market for obscure parts (or the conventional and therefore cheaper) is type it into google and run an images search.

Neo Scooters has this one, 100mm eye to eye: http://www.neoscooters.com/proddetail.asp?prod=126-33_Shock_Absorber&cat=1362

Ace Controls has a full range of miniature shock absorbers, with strokes ranging up to an inch. Couldn't see an eye length, but I'm sure they will have spec sheets on there. Some models are 100+PSI, so they should have the strength required. They do look like they will cost a pretty penny too, but they may give you some fields of use to look for more suitable/cost effective alternatives. http://www.acecontrols.com/us/products/automation-control/miniature-shock-absorbers.html