Shock Oil Difference?

[Greatscott]

I'm rebuilding my AX10 shocks, I went to grab for the shock oil and realized I have three different brands of the 30wt I am using, Traxxas, Axial, and Associated. Anyone know if there is any difference? Is one brand better, or are they all pretty much the same stuff?

(Yes, I know the differences in the weights and what they do)

[Espeefan]

Shock oil is shock oil! If they are all pure silicone oil, then there shouldn't be any difference.

[TURTLE]

Yeah I would have to agree I have had all three and never seen a difference, not that I pay attention or even remember what I put in.

[dkingston]

Ultimate Shock Oil Comparison
These are the charts we have been using in racing for a while, to compare the different ratings and oils on the market.
__________________________________

Which manufacturer use which rating?
Which manufacturers you can use same rating oil?
Only manufacturers using Cts as rating are using a world standard and can be mixed used.
Other ratings like W and WT differ from brand from brand as WT or is not a world standard!

	shock oil
Brand	bottle values	label rating	linear values in Cts
Kyosho	100 - 900	numbers	yes
Mugen	100 - 900	numbers	yes
Associated	10 - 80	WT	no
Losi	10 - 100	WT	no
Orion	10/100 - 80/800	numbers	no
Xray	100 - 900	numbers	yes
GS-Racing USA	20 - 60	WT	no
GS-Racing Europe	200 - 900	Cts	yes
Crono	?	?	?
Serpent	20 - 50	W	no
Thunder Tiger	?	?	?
Trinity	?	?	?

For shock absorber use, this is the comparison table when using LOSI, ASSOCIATED and SERPENT some others silicone oil rated in "WT" "W" or are not labeled with a rating but just a number like 30/300

unofficial conversion values provided by Gene Hickerson USA
Cts	Losi WT	Associated WT
100	10	7.5
150	15	12.5
200	20	17.5
275	25	22.5
300	27.5	25
350	30	27.5
400	32.5	30
425	35	32.5
450	37.5	35
500	40	37.5

[dkingston]

XRAY

Xray silicone oil with Rheometer 09-10-2005
Rating	Cts
100	106
150	179
200	248
250	292
300	354
350	381
400	441
450	475
500	542
600	625
700	702
800	799
900	913
1.000	1020
Differential usage
2.000	2490
3.000	4270
5.000	9000
7.000	10500
10.000	13000
20.000	30000
30.000	39600
60.000	65000

KYOSHO

Kyosho
rating	Cts
250	244
300	302
350	351
400	411
500	506

[dkingston]

ASSOCIATED

Associated silicone oil measured with Rheometer 09-10-2005
rating WT on bottle	Cts	Cts*
10	108	100
15	--*	150
20	208	200
25	286	275
30	373	350
35	454	425
40	525	500
45	-	575
50	707	650
55	-	725
60	725	800
70	960	900
80	1040	1000

TRINITY

Trinity silicone oil measured with Rheometer 09-10-2005
rating	Cts
30	337
35	376
40	505
45	497
50	658
55	568
60	799
70	757
90	974

LOSI

Losi silicone oil measured with Rheometer 15-12-2005
rating	Cts
15	110
17.5	158
20	243
22.5	243
25	294
27.5	345
30	381
32.5	397
35	459
37.5	477
40	546
45	657
50	886
60	844
70	970

[dkingston]

SILICONE SHOCK OIL AND TEMPERATURE

Although everybody thinks silicone oil is not affected by temperature, we can wake you up out of that dream.
When the same test is done @ 10 or @ 30 degrees Celsius we get other values!
Test result from our laboratory provid us with the following fist rule:

Below some examples.

Silicone shock oil measured in Centistokes at various tempratures in Degrees Celsius (Rheometer)
Shock oil temperature	Losi 40	Trinity 40	Associated 40
5	754	688	747
10	677	622	685
15	605	555	598
20	539	492	536
25	501	467	502
30	455	420	456
35	409	377	410
40	373	345	375
45	345	320	346
50	319	294	319

I hope this was helpful.


- David

[EeePee]

Originally Posted by dkingston

I hope this was helpful.

It was, and the best one was the temperature changes. I knew there were big changes, and people told me I'm wrong. Ha! I win!

How could you not tell the truck gets all stiff in the freezing cold is beyond me.

[RC Shocker]

So how does a "heavier" weight shock oil compare to a "lighter" weight oil on the effect of articulation?

As the shock compresses will a heavier weight oil impede that compression? Or just slow it down? Can it limit the articulation?

Thanks

[RobCam]

very informative. by far the best post concerning shock oil. thank you

[Duuuuuuuude]

Originally Posted by RC Shocker

So how does a "heavier" weight shock oil compare to a "lighter" weight oil on the effect of articulation?

As the shock compresses will a heavier weight oil impede that compression? Or just slow it down? Can it limit the articulation?

Thanks

A heavy oil will make the suspension react more slowly than a thin oil.

Imagine what its like sucking pop thru a straw vs a chocolate shake thru a straw.

You cannot compress liquid. Shock oil will not limit articulation, only change the rate at which that motion is achieved.

[Greatscott]

Uh.... wow...

Ok, so the simple answer is, yes, there is a difference.

Nice info dkingston!!!!

I know in 'go-fast' RCs shock oil gets heated a lot by the friction of the oil passing through the baffles, that heat changes the viscosity. In our slow motion, crawling trucks, does the shock oil really get hot enough to change the viscosity?

RC Shocker: The heavier oil will slow down articulation and should not limit it.

Anyone run different weights in the front than in the back? I have been thinking about going with the standard 30wt in the front, and 50-60wt in the back, to slow down the articulation of the back shocks. This should act like preloading the shocks to limit torque-twist, but would make the back suspension a bit more nimble.