Granite Do You REALLY Need Shock Oil?

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cageywhite

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Arrma RC's
  1. Granite
I'm sure I'm going to get torched on this but here goes (and I don't really care lol) ...

But do you really - REALLY - need shock oil? And does it really make a difference?

I ask because I had all four of my Granite shocks go kaput and leak oil all over the place. I haven't looked but I'm sure they are bone dry by now.

I ordered some of those big bore aluminum replacement shocks from EBay which I took a couple of weeks to get here. In the mean time, I drove my truck anyway and let the springs to all the work. Now I'm no racer and my driving skills are marginal at best (I just bash), but I really could not tell any difference between the way the truck handled with full or empty shocks. Seems like the springs have a bigger impact than the oil does. I do notice that springs of different stiffness make a difference, expecially with spacers to adjust the rigidity of the shocks and the ride heigth of the truck. But not the shock oil, bone dry or different wieghts and made virtually no difference.

I should note that I had the same experience 10+ years ago when I got into the hobby with a Stampede and a Rustler. Those shocks leaked too, or the caps popped off during a run and spilled the oil out everywhere. I just popped the caps back on and kept driving, empty shocks and all. I drove both cars for months with my shocks bone dry and again, no difference in handling.

Makes me wonder if how much the oil really matters ... doesn't make much of a difference to me.
 
I was in the same situation - 3/4 shocks leaked, full of spacers when I'm waiting new shocks. And it was very painful to hear "slap, bam, dang!" from chassis during bash from my ramps. The day when I installed new shocks and bashed was the happiest in the week. So I'd say yes, you need it for bash - really smooth landing and no skratches to chassis.
 
If you don't see the difference, I guess not. I drove my Wraith (a whole different kind of beast but still) without oil for a while. I kinda liked the bounciness, it was fun.

Oh btw the preload clips or collars don't affect the shocks rigidity (aka spring constant, which is... well, a constant), only ride height. Unless the springs are too long or you preload them so much that they're preloaded when fully extended, which is a no-no.
 
Yes shock oil absolutely makes a difference , but you’re not the first guy to run without for a while. General driving in the yard or on the street you probably won’t notice a huge difference, but when you start getting air time is when you’ll see how important it is. The difference between a chassis kiss or a chassis kaboom.

ps kudos for asking the question, it’s what the forum is for. Anyone that takes themselves so seriously that they can’t kindly answer a newbie question can bug off imo
 
shock oil, together with shock pistons provide damping. when a spring is compressed, it stores energy, and it will want to return to its uncompressed state when the load is removed. So without damping, this happens real quick making your truck more bouncy. Damping is needed when you land from a jump and don't want it bouncing off the ground, and when going on really uneven terrain this lack of control or damping, will make it difficult to keep the vehicle planted. Just my opinion and preference.
 
ps kudos for asking the question, it’s what the forum is for. Anyone that takes themselves so seriously that they can’t kindly answer a newbie question can bug off imo

Thanks for saying that. 99% of the folks on this forum are just fantastic, and without them there is no way I would be able to keep my truck running and enjoy running it in the process. Every once in a while someone gets a little snarky and I wish they wouldn't ... just not necessary. But kudos to you and the 99% of the good folks who are here to help.
 
I’ve had an esc go out after a chassis slap on concrete on my K4s and have broken the esc tabs on my granite. I was probably pushing things too far any ways. I had said screw it to the leaky shocks and bashed on anyways. As stated above With minimum dampening that is a lot of energy transfered elsewhere, especially when landing on hard surfaces.
 
I’m not going to do anything about the leaky shocks on my Senton.
That said, I do notice a difference. In general driving over bumpy terrain, it is more complaint. When getting air on hard surfaces, chassis slap is more severe. So, I’ll try to avoid getting big air on hard surfaces.
 
I tend to use the stock weight that is was shipped with unless my suspension needs differ from default usage.
ie., I use a lighter weight in my Senton for different race modes.
 
What shock oil is best for a standard granite blx 3s

Think answer will vary here on that one.....

I run my oil this way for the two sets of shocks I swap... I have the Typhon and the Big Bore...currently, the Big Bore are one:

  • Summer use 60 wt (77 Fahrenheit)
  • Winter use 42.5 wt (14 Fahrenheit)

I am in hot Tennessee so with the heat index it gets over 100+ degrees. I could go heavier with heat it would work but for my style of bashing and running this works for me...she just floats over the terrain when running it and good response to landings. I run these all 4 I don't vary from front to back.
 
Know this is an old one. I got 50 50 right now front and rear. and only going about 5 feet in the air it landed and blew up a battery. Big slap. I'm wondering if I need heavier oil or new shocks or a new car. Lol. Guess I'll try 100 wt oil.

I get hitting a little is good. But I was shocked to see fire shoot out of my battery. Ripped it off and threw it
 
But do you really - REALLY - need shock oil? And does it really make a difference?

I ask because I had all four of my Granite shocks go kaput and leak oil all over the place. I haven't looked but I'm sure they are bone dry by now.

I ordered some of those big bore aluminum replacement shocks from EBay which I took a couple of weeks to get here. In the mean time, I drove my truck anyway and let the springs to all the work. Now I'm no racer and my driving skills are marginal at best (I just bash), but I really could not tell any difference between the way the truck handled with full or empty shocks.
First off, I'm happy you asked this - not because I have the same question but because I wondered the same thing plenty of times. I've come to realize that depending on the car, whether the shocks are topped off or have fresh fluid or not doesn't feel different at all. That being said, the cars I don't notice it much are my smaller cars - Losi Mini-B, SCX 24 (is there even oil in there?) ie. thin shocks. I also barely noticed on my Rustler 4x4.

But on my TLR 22X-4 (race buggy) and my Kraton 4S, oh hell yeah I can tell something is off pretty soon, although it's more important with the Kraton to make sure it's perfect because I do really dumb stuff with the Kraton - the race buggy I already tune constantly so the instant I realize something's off, I know I haven't been keeping up with it lol
 
I have heard of running on bananas. Just squish them into the shock and you're good as long as the banana lasts, which isn't very long. Also you should only ever use overly ripe bananas (like the kind you would bake with) or the shock cap will burst and the smell will attract monkeys. But we're not talking the fun monkeys from the movies nooooono not one bit - these are attack monkeys.

You gotta be bananas not to believe it!
 
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