Outdoor bumps aren't optional. Here's the shock-tuning order we run when the track is rough.
- Shock oil in 5wt steps from 30wt to 50wt
- Piston set with varied hole counts
- Spring set (team-spec baseline plus one softer, one stiffer)
- Tire gauge
Start soft, go stiff from there
The instinct on a bumpy track is to go stiff. Don't. Start at the softer end of your spring set and one step thinner on oil than your flat-track baseline. Bumps want compliance, not a board.
Adjust pistons before springs
If the car is pogo-ing over repeated bumps, go to a piston with fewer holes (faster compression, slower rebound). Change pistons before you change springs — pistons tune the shock's behavior, springs tune the car's ride height.
Tune front and rear separately
Front bump behavior and rear bump behavior need different solutions. If the nose is diving on exit bumps, go thicker on the front oil. If the rear is stepping out on the washboard sections, soften the rear spring half a step.
Small changes, measured results
Every change: one variable at a time, three laps of feel, compare notes. If you can't tell a difference after three laps, the change was too small — double it next time.