ZD Racing shocks

[Plugga]

Hey guys! So, I received the ZD's in the post today and am planning on fitting them to the Senton over the weekend. I did a quick dry run on the front, and saw that the spring rubs on the drive shaft! Does anyone have a fix, or know why it's happening?

 

[jondilly1974]

Hey guys! So, I received the ZD's in the post today and am planning on fitting them to the Senton over the weekend. I did a quick dry run on the front, and saw that the spring rubs on the drive shaft! Does anyone have a fix, or know why it's happening? View attachment 77678

Put a spacer on the bottom screw. Like an extra pivot ball or some washers.

 

[Harriot10]

Hey guys! So, I received the ZD's in the post today and am planning on fitting them to the Senton over the weekend. I did a quick dry run on the front, and saw that the spring rubs on the drive shaft! Does anyone have a fix, or know why it's happening? View attachment 77678

Depending on what size pivot ball is on your shock ends. You can purchase the pivot balls with offsets. I used the one on the left for my front

 

[Plugga]

Awesome, will try that out. With less thread in the arm though, is more likely to break something?
...forget I said that. Obviously a longer bolt would do the trick? Bit of a blonde moment!

 

[Harriot10]

Awesome, will try that out. With less thread in the arm though, is more likely to break something?
...forget I said that. Obviously a longer bolt would do the trick? Bit of a blonde moment!

I used 20mm! Worked perfect

 

[Plugga]

Got the shocks in! As mentioned earlier in this thread, the rears are waaay too stiff/slow with the 55w oil I have in them. So, quick question: Can I remove a little shock oil to help speed them up?

 

[Outcastblxnut]

Got the shocks in! As mentioned earlier in this thread, the rears are waaay too stiff/slow with the 55w oil I have in them. So, quick question: Can I remove a little shock oil to help speed them up?

No you don’t want air in there. I have 45wt in mine and it’s good

 

[TimePancake]

My zd's came with I'm guessing it was 30wt in them, I did a comparison with 45wt. I've left the original oil in the rears, the 45 was too stiff.
Shock oil is pretty cheap on ebay, I used Team Associated, one pot will do loads of shocks ?

 

[Plugga]

Thanks legends!

 

[suchtragedy]

Finally got my hands on a set of these ZD shocks (part numbers: 8001 and 8002). It took 3 friggin months took to get them from Banggood (ordered 4/1, arrived 6/30) and I actually forgot I ordered them.

Anyways here's my overview and thoughts to help anyone who might be wanting to try them coming from someone who's tried a few different shock options for the 3s trucks including 6s Typhon shocks, 3s and 4s eBay big bore shocks, and mixed parts of 6s shocks built from the 6s Kraton fronts and 6s Mojave fronts with different spring and oil pairings.

First thing I did was measure eye to eye length:
Front: 106mm
Rear: 127mm

Stock 3s length is 100mm front and 115 rear (eye to eye) so some length needed taken out. I 3D printed a 12mm spacer for the ZD rears and a 6mm spacer for the ZD fronts. During disassembly of the fronts I actually found that they don't screw down the shock rod ends all the way (can't tell because of the rubber boots covers it). Once screwed down all the way the eye to eye length is actually 102mm so I didn't even bother installing spacers since it was close enough. I installed the 12mm spacers on the rears, confirmed the 115mm eye to eye length, then filled both with 50wt oil. The shock cap eyelets are too big for a small 3mm screw as mentioned by others (opening is 6.5mm wide) so I printed some TPU rubber bushings and installed to take out the play. This opening is similar to the size of the 6s shock cap (7mm) so I am fairly confident that the Axial bushing suggested for the 6s shocks will also fit the ZD shocks.

The springs they ship with are way too stiff for the granite so I used 6s Typhon front springs for the front and 6s Kraton front springs for the rears (only springs I had left long enough for the rears in my parts bin). Overall with the 50wt oil and about 50% preload on the front and 35% preload on the rear things felt about right. If I had my choice of springs I would suggest 4s Kraton/Outcast springs to use with these.

The rear shock bodies are pretty long so when installed with granite length RPM arms using the inside most mounting holes the chassis barely slaps before the shocks bottom out and at the very end of the travel the shock gets very stiff. Worried that this might lead to breaking the shock mounts on hard landings I moved the shocks to the outer most hole and now it's much better.

The fronts were fine on the inner most mounting holes on the granite RPM arms but they did require a spacer to not rub on the driveshafts. I used a 4mm thick spacer with 3mm ID center hole and a longer 20mm screw and they fit fine after that.

After installing, I noticed that one of my fronts was leaking pretty badly from the bottom seal. I emptied it and took it apart and it seems that I knicked one of the rubber o-rings in the bottom cap when putting them back together compromising the bottom seal. Normally this would annoy me but luckily the o-rings they used are very common metric sized nitrile ones and matched one of the sizes found in my harbor freight mixed o-ring kit. It's just two rings stacked on one another and when the bottom cap (knurled so easy to grip to tighten/loosen) is installed they are compressed to provide a nice seal. I covered them with a little bit of silicone grease and put them back together and no leak. In fact the tension was a little tighter than before so shock play was a bit stiff so I just backed off the bottom cap a little to release some compression and travel was now smooth and still no leaks.

Overall the value for money is there. Total spent on all 4 shocks from Banggood with shipping: $28.39 USD. Spring cost to swap is like 8 bucks per set of springs ($16 total) so total invested minus new oil was $44 USD. They are built well and I would say they are very comparable to Arrma 6s shocks, maybe a tad bit lower quality wise but not much. They are easy to work on and service because the caps have bleeder holes and bladders and common sized o-rings in the bottom seals. The rods and rod ends are common sized and threading (4mm shafts, same thread as 6s shocks) so replacements shouldn't be an issue. They come with rubber shock boots just like the 6s shocks so dirt and debris wear on the bottom seals should be better just like with the 6s shocks. When compared to eBay big bore I think they are miles better just because everything about those big bores is not common or more difficult to use (5mm shafts, weak rod ends, no bleeders or bladders in the caps, no individual parts spares sold for them anywhere, no shock boots, all rounded/smooth and no where to put a wrench in them to tighten/loosen things, etc.)

Anyways that's my take on them. I don't like that it took 3 months to get them but that's probably because I ordered them during the peak of covid and the supply chain issues. Hopefully orders now would much faster.

 

[TimePancake]

That's a great write up! Loads of helpful info and very honest. It can be a mine field when trying to adapt things to suit, and things like spring length, spring rate, and even little details like the rod ends not fully home all make a difference.

I'm still running the original springs on my set but they are a little stiff. Think I might try either some tekno ones to match 3s rates or the kraton ones you suggested @suchtragedy ?

 

[crimsonfancy]

Finally got my hands on a set of these ZD shocks (part numbers: 8001 and 8002). It took 3 friggin months took to get them from Banggood (ordered 4/1, arrived 6/30) and I actually forgot I ordered them.

Anyways here's my overview and thoughts to help anyone who might be wanting to try them coming from someone who's tried a few different shock options for the 3s trucks including 6s Typhon shocks, 3s and 4s eBay big bore shocks, and mixed parts of 6s shocks built from the 6s Kraton fronts and 6s Mojave fronts with different spring and oil pairings.

First thing I did was measure eye to eye length:
Front: 106mm
Rear: 127mm

Stock 3s length is 100mm front and 115 rear (eye to eye) so some length needed taken out. I 3D printed a 12mm spacer for the ZD rears and a 6mm spacer for the ZD fronts. During disassembly of the fronts I actually found that they don't screw down the shock rod ends all the way (can't tell because of the rubber boots covers it). Once screwed down all the way the eye to eye length is actually 102mm so I didn't even bother installing spacers since it was close enough. I installed the 12mm spacers on the rears, confirmed the 115mm eye to eye length, then filled both with 50wt oil. The shock cap eyelets are too big for a small 3mm screw as mentioned by others (opening is 6.5mm wide) so I printed some TPU rubber bushings and installed to take out the play. This opening is similar to the size of the 6s shock cap (7mm) so I am fairly confident that the Axial bushing suggested for the 6s shocks will also fit the ZD shocks.

The springs they ship with are way too stiff for the granite so I used 6s Typhon front springs for the front and 6s Kraton front springs for the rears (only springs I had left long enough for the rears in my parts bin). Overall with the 50wt oil and about 50% preload on the front and 35% preload on the rear things felt about right. If I had my choice of springs I would suggest 4s Kraton/Outcast springs to use with these.

The rear shock bodies are pretty long so when installed with granite length RPM arms using the inside most mounting holes the chassis barely slaps before the shocks bottom out and at the very end of the travel the shock gets very stiff. Worried that this might lead to breaking the shock mounts on hard landings I moved the shocks to the outer most hole and now it's much better.

The fronts were fine on the inner most mounting holes on the granite RPM arms but they did require a spacer to not rub on the driveshafts. I used a 4mm thick spacer with 3mm ID center hole and a longer 20mm screw and they fit fine after that.

After installing, I noticed that one of my fronts was leaking pretty badly from the bottom seal. I emptied it and took it apart and it seems that I knicked one of the rubber o-rings in the bottom cap when putting them back together compromising the bottom seal. Normally this would annoy me but luckily the o-rings they used are very common metric sized nitrile ones and matched one of the sizes found in my harbor freight mixed o-ring kit. It's just two rings stacked on one another and when the bottom cap (knurled so easy to grip to tighten/loosen) is installed they are compressed to provide a nice seal. I covered them with a little bit of silicone grease and put them back together and no leak. In fact the tension was a little tighter than before so shock play was a bit stiff so I just backed off the bottom cap a little to release some compression and travel was now smooth and still no leaks.

Overall the value for money is there. Total spent on all 4 shocks from Banggood with shipping: $28.39 USD. Spring cost to swap is like 8 bucks per set of springs ($16 total) so total invested minus new oil was $44 USD. They are built well and I would say they are very comparable to Arrma 6s shocks, maybe a tad bit lower quality wise but not much. They are easy to work on and service because the caps have bleeder holes and bladders and common sized o-rings in the bottom seals. The rods and rod ends are common sized and threading (4mm shafts, same thread as 6s shocks) so replacements shouldn't be an issue. They come with rubber shock boots just like the 6s shocks so dirt and debris wear on the bottom seals should be better just like with the 6s shocks. When compared to eBay big bore I think they are miles better just because everything about those big bores is not common or more difficult to use (5mm shafts, weak rod ends, no bleeders or bladders in the caps, no individual parts spares sold for them anywhere, no shock boots, all rounded/smooth and no where to put a wrench in them to tighten/loosen things, etc.)

Anyways that's my take on them. I don't like that it took 3 months to get them but that's probably because I ordered them during the peak of covid and the supply chain issues. Hopefully orders now would much faster.

View attachment 87801

View attachment 87802

Nice job delivering the info. When I blow out my EBAY Specials, these will be ordered...or maybe should order some now. Same cost for better adjustability and aftermarket parts support. Good stuff. Thanks for testing and bringing the information. ??

 

[dg1726]

any idea the shaft size in these? I have them and my shock end part snapped i dunno what thread size it is to buy the replacement

 

[suchtragedy]

any idea the shaft size in these? I have them and my shock end part snapped i dunno what thread size it is to buy the replacement

These were 4mm shafts and thread pitch shouldn't matter because new rod ends usually aren't pre-threaded as far as I can tell. I've always had them thread themselves when I first put them on using shock pliers to hold the shaft from spinning and then start threading the rod end by hand. Once started a couple turns I put a driver through the eyelet and thread it the rest of the way.

 

[dg1726]

These were 4mm shafts and thread pitch shouldn't matter because new rod ends usually aren't pre-threaded as far as I can tell. I've always had them thread themselves when I first put them on using shock pliers to hold the shaft from spinning and then start threading the rod end by hand. Once started a couple turns I put a driver through the eyelet and thread it the rest of the way.

even metal ones?

 

[suchtragedy]

even metal ones?

Ah metal ones, not sure but I assume pre-threaded to fit a specific model rod thread. I am not 100% sure but I believe the ZD were the same threading as 6s shafts. I have a thread gauge tool set for getting the thread size and pitch of unknown nuts and bolts and I'll maybe try to check the ZD and 6s arrma shafts to get what they actually are if I have time later.

 

[Mk_Rc]

Thanks @suchtragedy for revealing all the information about these shocks and how to mount them ? I have a pair of these front shocks .... the other day I bought from a friend when I broke one of the eBay shocks on my granite and he had these zd shocks replacement, when I saw them, I immediately liked them ... so I asked him if he want to sold me one...and he did ? today I order a pair of rear zd racing shocks to put on my incoming 3s typhoon. .. i saw you mention kraton / outcast 4s spring, is this gona be the best choice or are you exploring others petencial better?

 

[suchtragedy]

Thanks @suchtragedy for revealing all the information about these shocks and how to mount them ? I have a pair of these front shocks .... the other day I bought from a friend when I broke one of the eBay shocks on my granite and he had these zd shocks replacement, when I saw them, I immediately liked them ... so I asked him if he want to sold me one...and he did ? today I order a pair of rear zd racing shocks to put on my incoming 3s typhoon. .. i saw you mention kraton / outcast 4s spring, is this gona be the best choice or are you exploring others petencial better?

I mentioned that if I had my choice of springs I'd just get the 4s Kraton/outcast springs front and rear and call it a day. They are a little firmer than 3s stock springs but not too much. My second choice would be Typhon 6s springs. However the 6s Kraton front springs on my rears aren't that bad just need to set the preload low.

 

[Mk_Rc]

I tried these zd shocks that I have at home, I installed springs from Typhon 6s on it ... I think they have 45w or 42.5w shock oil and it works similarly to the shock of Typhon 6s ... so this is a good substitute for stock typhon 3s and also not as expensive as 6s shocks and looks good ?


here is just a comparison of zd shocks and typhon 6s shocks

 

[Rainger40]

Z disappointment racing shocks haha. First run the pistons failed and pushed over the rod making them almost useless. Emailed amazon seller to see if they’ll send me parts to avoid return back and forth. I might just order some 16mm pistons and give tuning them myself a go. Wasn’t there a member that printed some? Would said member be interested in making a handful for me? Happy to pay for whatever the material ect costs. I think they may have been assembled wrong or missing a washer, shouldn’t there be a washer under the piston on top of the rod to prevent the push through I experienced.