Shock oil wt

[YellowRabbit]

What shock oil weights do most people run? And do you run the same wt oils on the front and back shocks?

[Inspector86]

Depends on the truck, terrain, driving style and personal preference. Personally, I run 15wt in the summer and 10wt in the winter on my TRX4s. But there is more to it than just oil weight. I also run softer springs and around 50% droop. You need to try different weight shock oils and see which you prefer.

[AnimalHippie]

I run 15wt in my Trx-4 shocks front and rear at about 40% droop. Stock the Trx-4 has 30wt. But I didn't like how slow the shocks reacted with it in them. I posted a video comparing the 2 not to long ago. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BE4zu54tOvk

[QuesoDelDiablo]

I typically run 30-40, sometimes as high as 60.

Often it's the same weight front/rear but sometimes I'll go a little lighter in the rear. sometimes it's lighter in the front though too.

There's no black & white answer bu that should point you in the right direction to do your own tuning.

[Greatscott]

For a crawler (XR-10), I like running 60wt all of the way around. For my scale rigs, 30wt seem to work for me.

[rkj__]

I've seen videos of trucks running no shock oil in crawlers. For crawling, it looked pretty realistic to me. Anybody try that?

[Topher Builds]

Originally Posted by rkj__

I've seen videos of trucks running no shock oil in crawlers. For crawling, it looked pretty realistic to me. Anybody try that?

There’s a couple comp guys that do that out here, just a couple drops so the piston is lubed up. It seems to work well with the Proline scaler shocks and dual spring rate springs.

I run 10-20wt usually. I feel like the trx4 shocks do better with a light oil myself but it’s all preference and application specific. Get a few options in a range and see what you like the most.

[QuesoDelDiablo]

Originally Posted by rkj__

I've seen videos of trucks running no shock oil in crawlers. For crawling, it looked pretty realistic to me. Anybody try that?

Yup, I've done that plenty. Usually because it took me a long time to learn how to build shocks that don't leak so I would typically just let them leak and not bother refilling them.

And, several of the guys I run with deliberately run no oil because they're too lazy to fix their leaky shocks.

[rkj__]

Originally Posted by QuesoDelDiablo

Yup, I've done that plenty. Usually because it took me a long time to learn how to build shocks that don't leak so I would typically just let them leak and not bother refilling them.

And, several of the guys I run with deliberately run no oil because they're too lazy to fix their leaky shocks.

That's the direction I'm heading. I've noticed some leaking from my shocks, and really don't feel like taking them apart, unless the leaking yields unsatisfactory performance.

[QuesoDelDiablo]

Originally Posted by rkj__

That's the direction I'm heading. I've noticed some leaking from my shocks, and really don't feel like taking them apart, unless the leaking yields unsatisfactory performance.

In all honesty, for 90% of what we do with these trucks shock damping doesn't make a noticeable difference to handling..

[Browneye]

Originally Posted by QuesoDelDiablo

In all honesty, for 90% of what we do with these trucks shock damping doesn't make a noticeable difference to handling..

^^This. For slow speed it doesn't make much difference.

I will say though, a couple of years ago the vaterra piston holes were blocked by the retainer clip, so drilling them out and changing oil improved (reduced) damping action. The downside is it made torque-twist worse.


I run 25 or 30wt, whatever happens to be handy. The main thing is to keep them topped up if they leak. So far my experience is they all eventually do, plastic, alloy, any brand. Maybe I'll try the slime thing - not holding my breath.

[Ditchrat]

Originally Posted by QuesoDelDiablo

In all honesty, for 90% of what we do with these trucks shock damping doesn't make a noticeable difference to handling..

I would disagree with that statement. If you are talking about go fast type of handling, yes we don't do that at a rate where it is noticeable. But if we are discussing those times where we are bouncing over a series of obstacles or when we are applying throttle to get over one, you know the situation not much forward motion, but a decent amount of lateral, I think it is very important to have the damping set up to be predicable.


I certainly don't want my wheels to drop into a crack that I am trying to float over. For the most part I find 30-60wt helpful to slow the rate(speed) in which the wheel descends. Sometimes a little extra time makes the difference in a tire dropping in the hole and the front edge catching the hole and pulling out of it.


And honestly the difference between your really good competitive scale guys and the rest of us is good shock set up. I know I struggle with it all the time. I know a lot of people compensate for poor shock set up by changing driving style, I know I do, but when you have a set of gates or even just have getting over a set obstetrical as a goal dampening makes or breaks you.


Unfortunately this is something very hard to learn on the internet, I certainly wish I was better at it.

[Boogie]

Originally Posted by Browneye

I will say though, a couple of years ago the vaterra piston holes were blocked by the retainer clip, so drilling them out and changing oil improved (reduced) damping action. The downside is it made torque-twist worse.

I legit lol'd at this! Personally I run 30 or 45 weight in most of my rigs, although I may go lighter with my kids SCX10 running TRX shocks as it's a pretty light rig and 30 weight oil in those seems to be pretty slow on damping. I will say that as a continuation of what most are suggesting in this thread that damping doesn't make as big of a difference in slow speed crawlers, I would probably run thinner oil in general to make them work a bit faster if anything when making transitions and higher speed running. Stiffer shocks make the rig pretty bouncy with the tires and foams we typically run.

[Browneye]

So...we have fast-shock fans and slow-shock fans. I guess OP will never really know...

[Ditchrat]

Originally Posted by Browneye

So...we have fast-shock fans and slow-shock fans. I guess OP will never really know...

What are you going to do, it does come down to driving style and preference.

[Inspector86]

Originally Posted by Ditchrat

What are you going to do, it does come down to driving style and preference.

THAT is pretty much the bottom line!

[Ditchrat]

Originally Posted by Inspector86

THAT is pretty much the bottom line!

Cause stonecold inspector said so...





Couldnt help myself.

[Greatscott]

Put in a specific fluid, what comes stock, then change it to your liking.

[Panther6834]

Originally Posted by Browneye

^^This. For slow speed it doesn't make much difference.

I will say though, a couple of years ago the vaterra piston holes were blocked by the retainer clip, so drilling them out and changing oil improved (reduced) damping action. The downside is it made torque-twist worse.


I run 25 or 30wt, whatever happens to be handy. The main thing is to keep them topped up if they leak. So far my experience is they all eventually do, plastic, alloy, any brand. Maybe I'll try the slime thing - not holding my breath.

If shocks are leaking, it's usually caused by one of 5 things:
1) Shock cap improperly screwed on, or not tight enough.
2) Bottom cap improperly screwed on, or not tight enough.
3) Bleeder screw (if using "bleeder" cap) improperly screwed in, or not tight enough.
4) Diaphragm missing, or needs to be replaced (if using diaphragm, as opposed to bleeder cap).
5) X-rings (inside bottom cap) missing, or needs to be replaced.

These are not the only causes of leaking shocks...but is guess they are probably the cause of 95+% of leaks, and are all preventable, it very easily fixed.

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