Shock Oil Question

[Tar18]

Hi. I want to add shock oil to a set of shocks from my Feiyue Desert Eagle 3 but not sure what type of oil to use. I am over 3 hours to a Hobby Shop so are there any other options of type of oil to use? I have some Amsoil two stroke oil but again not sure.
I could use some suggestions please.
Thanks
Regards
Tar

 

[Jim85IROC]

Most of those cheap RC cars are way over sprung, which means you need a thick oil to help them work OK. The front shocks on that car are a laydown style, and have very stiff springs, so they will need a thick shock oil. In my 10428B, the front laydown shocks needed something like 7000wt diff oil before they started to do anything. The rears on my 10428B ended up with somewhere around 50wt shock oil.

There's really no way to tell what yours will need until you experiment, or hit the RCGroups: Remote Control, Radio Control Planes, Drones, Cars and Boats offroad forum. They have a pretty large thread about that vehicle, and I'm sure that plenty have fooled with shock oil so that you'll at least be able to get a decent starting point.

Of course, this all assumes that those shocks can hold oil. Do you know that they can?

 

[Tar18]

Hi Thanks for the comments and suggestions. I have no idea if these shocks will hold oil but found a YouTube video on them and other than adding an "O" ring (which I will be hopefully getting tomorrow) they seemed to work. But that was on the video. I will give it a try but just not sure of the oil or type. I will check out the forum that you suggested Jim to see if any info there concerning my question. I am awaiting spring "hobbyjumper" so I can get outside. Still lots of snow up here to get rid of.
Thanks folks.
Regards
Tar

 

[ferp420]

i have used automotive oil with out any problems but you need to know if they will hold oil if not use greese a smallnamount of greese will give some dampning even if they dont hold oil and if they do ive mixed greese and oil to get thicker oil

silicone shock oil is best if they do hold oil at all

 

[Jim85IROC]

If they don't hold oil, the cheap ebay shocks for $7-10/pair work OK. I've put them on a few cars, including my 10428 when I converted it to standup shocks. Speaking of which, I'd suggest you do exactly that on your vehicle. I know there are guys doing pretty simple stand-up front shock conversions. It'll make way more of an improvement than trying to get those existing front shocks to function.

 

[Tar18]

Hi folks. Thanks for the suggestions. I will be picking up the "O" rings today (hopefully) and then find out if they do at least hold oil without leaking. I will also be
looking into setting the front shocks up right. One more thing thinking of shocks. On the rear shocks there seems to be another hole that you could use that, I think , that might put the shock up straighter. If the shock was straighter would that be better?
Thanks again for all of the help.
Regards
Tar

 

[Tar18]

Hi folks. Well I did try to put some 3in1 Oil (I had it so figured I would try it first) in the shock but the top of the shock leaked. Now it might have been my fault as I pushed the rod in all of the way, which thinking about it would most like not happen, and the oil is very thin. I am gong to try some thicker oil to see if that works.
I am also going to reseal the top cap to see if that helps.
I have not given up yet so will let everyone know what the outcome is.
Thanks for all of the help and suggestions with this.
Regards
Tar

 

[nightcrawler48]

If you filled the shock with oil with the rod fully extended it will push oil out at the top or bottom if you try to fully compress the shock with the cap on. The reason this happens is, as you compress the shock, the rod takes up area below the piston that reduces the volume of oil that can be displaced to the bottom of the shock. Try this - fully extend the shock, fill with oil, put the cap back on, leave the spring off, and slowly compress the rod. There will be a point before you get to full compression where it will require more pressure to continue compressing the rod. This is the point where your above and below the piston volumes are balanced. If you continue compressing the rod, the oil has to go somewhere and that is why you see the leak. One way to reduce this affect somewhat is to fill the shock with oil, compress the rod until the piston is just at the top of the shock body and then put the cap on.

The stiffness of the springs can be somewhat compensated for by moving the shock at an angle off the vertical. The more you tilt the shock, the "lighter" the spring rate will feel. This is one way to try and find the ideal spring rate without having a bunch of different rate springs on hand.

 

[Tar18]

Hi again folks. Thanks nightcrawler48 for that explanation. I am going to give it another try to fill the shocks and not do what I did before. It has been suggested to me to try Mineral Oil in the shocks. It is thicker and it will not hurt the inside of the shock or the rubber. I will pick some of it up to try and see.
Has anyone tried Mineral Oil? If so how did it go.
Thanks again folks for all of the help.
I will report back again once I have tried it.
Regards
Tar

 

[Jim85IROC]

Even mineral oil will be way too thin for the front shocks. Stop fooling with these various forms of monkey piss and buy RC shock oil.

 

[ferp420]

i would just add some greese and forget the oil all together just dont over fill them with greese some will leak out for sure but i have shocks that have run like that for years the greese just adds resistance to the shock body and piston not ideal but it works better than dry shocks that wont hold oil any kind of bearing greese will work just fine

for what its worth automotive oil wont hurt anything the worst case it will exspand the rubber seals and help to seal the shock body i have stock axial wraith sbocks going on 5 years old now no leaks using 10w30 oil they still have the oringinal orings installed snd havent been opened up in years

 

[Tar18]

Hi folks. I am going to try to fill the shocks again today. I now have more info about what not to do. I do have some thicker oil now so will try that.
I will let everyone know how this turns out.
Thanks again everyone for helping me out with this.
Regards
Tar

 

[Tar18]

Hi folks. An update on the shocks. I was able to get them filled with 30 Wt oil and the back ones did well. I was very careful this time and they did not leak. Now the front ones were different. Boy is that spring strong. I had trouble with trying to fill with oil so just decided on using grease, to see how it worked. Now I will have to wait for a time to get outside to see how it works. Still lots of snow around here.
I would also like to ask a couple more questions.
Where can I find out how to change the front shocks over to up right ones.
Are there other shocks out there that would be better?
Thanks so much for all of the help.
Regards
Tar

 

[Jim85IROC]

Hi folks. An update on the shocks. I was able to get them filled with 30 Wt oil and the back ones did well. I was very careful this time and they did not leak. Now the front ones were different. Boy is that spring strong. I had trouble with trying to fill with oil so just decided on using grease, to see how it worked. Now I will have to wait for a time to get outside to see how it works. Still lots of snow around here.
I would also like to ask a couple more questions.
Where can I find out how to change the front shocks over to up right ones.
Are there other shocks out there that would be better?
Thanks so much for all of the help.
Regards
Tar

This thread has all the info. The most common options are to adapt a shock tower from a WLToys A959 or to DIY one.
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?2661007-WLtoys-12428-1-12-4WD-Crawler-review

And yes, those front springs are very strong because the mechanical advantage from the cantilever design requires it. The cantilever design also requires a high quality shock and very careful tuning to get it right, which is why so many people convert to a stand-up design.

 

[Tar18]

Hi again. Thanks so much for all of the above info.
Now I have a lot of reading to do but that is fine because I will learn from it.
Thanks again folks
Regards
Tar