Hot Racing Shock Bodies

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Nineball

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Arrma RC's
  1. 4x4-Mega
  2. Kraton 6s
Well, I bought a set of these shock bodies and... wtf?

First of all, they say to follow the arrma assembly instructions but they use completely different parts, so that doesn't work at all.

So I looked up how to put these together. No written instructions anywhere, which I think is better than a badly edited and blurry video, but whatever. Off to youtube, and good old Pat saves the day, right?

Arrma instructions say: o-ring, spacer, o-ring, cap. Pat goes in the order: spacer, o-ring, o-ring, cap. Outright, I can't for the life of me get both o-rings in under the cap, let alone get it to seal. I snap one together with just one o-ring and try to thread it together, but the cap is oversized. Sensing something was up, I tried a different shock and it went right together. So I had to empty out the body, dry fit it, dig out all the plastic it chewed off because it didn't fit right, then refill and reassemble the shock. Got it all together, bashed a bit, but there is zero rebound in my shocks. Is it because I only used one o-ring?

My buddy, with his tricked out slash and suspension mechanic knowledge, said my shocks weren't working right. His shocks have an inherent rebound without a spring, mine just sit in place. I filled them with 40wt, overfilled and bled as best I know how. I'm tempted to carry over the arrma preload spacers, since there aren't preload springs in the kit. Even then, I'm not sure that would solve my problem.

At this point, I'm tempted to just Frankenstein the originals with the new o-rings and hope for the best. Either these shocks were bunk from the factory or I'm too dumb to get them together right. Based on my experience, there's no way I'm getting two o-rings in. I tried pliers, lube, a screwdriver... it's not happening. Did I bleed too much oil? Are they leaking? What am I missing here?
 
A combination of user error and lack of understanding about shock building and tuning as well as the fact that HR makes garbage for shocks. The blind leading the blind. HR instructions are poor and incorrect.They don't assemble like stock. Cartridge dimensions are obviously different. O-rings are separated by a spacer on 99% of the good shocks out there. That spacer is important for guiding the shaft centrically during its stroke. It prevents leaking and wear of the shaft as well. :unsure:
Kidding aside.
I know it can be frustrating working with garbage. Learn more about shocks. If this was your first attempt at building shocks, then you were at a complete disadvantage. Unfortunately. Have you considered Typhon 6S shocks??? Those stock shafts you were using to build the HR bodies are known to break off at the rod end.
BTW, what do you mean by Preload springs???
:cool:
 
The spacer wouldn't go in on the first one I built, so I figured the order was off. Turns out it was just a little oversized and had to be forced in. The caps don't snap into place like they're supposed to, and they are too big for the threads on the body. I had to dry fit every one to make sure the parts went together right. Of course, building them upside down and opposite the bleeder means they're still a royal pain if you've overfilled the shock.

I'm still not sure if they're filled 100% right, but they're working now, and they're significantly better than stock.

Preload springs are on most aftermarket shocks. Stock shocks usually have preload spacers. So recycling the spacers is a must with these bodies, or you'll be at the limit of your adjustment to get the right tension.
 
The spacer wouldn't go in on the first one I built, so I figured the order was off. Turns out it was just a little oversized and had to be forced in. The caps don't snap into place like they're supposed to, and they are too big for the threads on the body. I had to dry fit every one to make sure the parts went together right. Of course, building them upside down and opposite the bleeder means they're still a royal pain if you've overfilled the shock.

I'm still not sure if they're filled 100% right, but they're working now, and they're significantly better than stock.

Preload springs are on most aftermarket shocks. Stock shocks usually have preload spacers. So recycling the spacers is a must with these bodies, or you'll be at the limit of your adjustment to get the right tension.
I'm confused, the plastic spacers used on the stock shock bodies would not be used with the HR Racing bodies (which I have as well)....you'd use the Nut/spring retainer that came pre-installed (you tighten or loosen for preload). I have mine nearly all the way compressed. Some basic googling and youtubeing will help with shock knowledge...here look at this video, skip to time stamp 4:30 and it begins showing these same HR shocks and how to install.
Enjoy.
 
I think people only buy these hot racing bodies because thier stock shocks leak. I could be wrong, but i doubt their is any performance gain using these as they use the same springs, shaft and piston from the stock shocks. My opinion is save your money and just get new orings for the stock shocks.
 
This worked for me on the leak stock shocks. Using Tamiya o-rings plus green slim. I did get the oversized outer o-ring he mentioned here...but I feel it would work if I did not use the larger outer o-ring and OEM outer o-ring. No leaks at all with the OEM shocks anymore. The video below with part numbers.

I still did replace it as I posted to another user only because I wanted a polished shock look. I still have the OEM on standby if ever needed but this fix worked.

Big Bore:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/BIG-BORE-A...824767?hash=item4215fe3cbf:g:lMkAAOSwHMJYLnYG

 
This worked for me on the leak stock shocks. Using Tamiya o-rings plus green slim. I did get the oversized outer o-ring he mentioned here...but I feel it would work if I did not use the larger outer o-ring and OEM outer o-ring. No leaks at all with the OEM shocks anymore. The video below with part numbers.

I still did replace it as I posted to another user only because I wanted a polished shock look. I still have the OEM on standby if ever needed but this fix worked.

Big Bore:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/BIG-BORE-A...824767?hash=item4215fe3cbf:g:lMkAAOSwHMJYLnYG

Great to hear the tamiya orings work. I have a set of these tamiya orings as well which I bought, thinking the traxxas orings will start leaking. But haven't needed them yet, the traxxas orings seem to have fixed all my leaks :)

And with the larger oring i still just use the stock orings, make sure you don't clamp them down when tightening, only needs to me slightly snug, and they don't leak.
 
The spacer wouldn't go in on the first one I built, so I figured the order was off. Turns out it was just a little oversized and had to be forced in. The caps don't snap into place like they're supposed to, and they are too big for the threads on the body. I had to dry fit every one to make sure the parts went together right. Of course, building them upside down and opposite the bleeder means they're still a royal pain if you've overfilled the shock.

I'm still not sure if they're filled 100% right, but they're working now, and they're significantly better than stock.

Preload springs are on most aftermarket shocks. Stock shocks usually have preload spacers. So recycling the spacers is a must with these bodies, or you'll be at the limit of your adjustment to get the right tension.
Hardcore RC has a descent video on these shocks. Still, the assembly-cartridge-whatever it's called does have to be forced in.
 
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