ZD Racing shocks

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I don't have that issue. I wonder if your bladder in the cap is ripped or not seated well? You could maybe try a layer of white teflon pipe tape on the threads. I wanted to order a set of 6S shocks but Typhon ones were too much. I'm trying Mojave 6S fronts (for the front) and Kraton 6s fronts (for the rear). That combo length is almost the same as typhon 6s. Then I bough typhon springs to get the match.

Yes, it is definitely expensive, I agree. Thank you for the tips, I will check the bladder when I will install the typhon pistons. I will see if I can find this teflon pipe tape nearby also. (y)
 
I don't have that issue. I wonder if your bladder in the cap is ripped or not seated well? You could maybe try a layer of white teflon pipe tape on the threads. I wanted to order a set of 6S shocks but Typhon ones were too much. I'm trying Mojave 6S fronts (for the front) and Kraton 6s fronts (for the rear). That combo length is almost the same as typhon 6s. Then I bough typhon springs to get the match.

Edit: Unrelated but I found a cool video on rebuilding ZD shock

I have now Typhon 6S shocks installed on my Granite. They are awesome. So I took some time to rebuild a ZD Racing shock with a spare Arrma piston that was on the Typhon 6S shocks package. The center hole of the Arrma piston is a little bit too large/wide but it is ok I think. The washer and the nut keep it in place well. I installed the bladder correctly this time. I also put some o-ring grease on the bladder and the o-rings. Everything is perfect. People must know that the shock shafts of ZD Racing shocks are definitely weaker than the Arrma ones, though. I bent one and bent it back really easily.

So ZD Racing shock quality is ok but not as good as Arrma's. The price difference is at least somewhat justified. ZD Racing shocks are still very good value for money. I think that replacing pistons and shock shafts could make them really perfect, but someone has to find a compatible and better quality shock shaft.
 
I just installed these a few days ago on my Typhon 3s. I really like the look and feel of them, however the rod on one of them bent on my first rollover. Performance seems very good, but durability is only so-so.
Hi mate what did u use for the pivot balls at top of shock cap
Thanks
 
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
Thanks for this write up. I just ordered the outcast 4s springs from rc planet as the ZD springs are too stiff for my Granite. I also 3d printed shocks cap bushings. I haven’t yet installed any spacers inside the shock body to limit the travel. I may do that soon as it’s still down waiting on a new esc and for drier weather. I have a build log thread for my Granite. It’s now more of a Big Rock than a granite as I’ve swapped to the lwb chassis and Typhon arms as well as ZD Racing shocks, tires and body. I guess we’ll see how long the ZD body holds up. I just finished drywall taping and shoegooing it.
 
I also 3d printed shocks cap bushings. I haven’t yet installed any spacers inside the shock body to limit the travel.

Hello, thank you for your feedback. Would you mind sharing the files for 3d printing your bushings please? I already have the Axial part but I would like to offer a set of ZD Racing shocks to a friend and it is difficult to find this part in Reunion Island.
Thank you! Have a nice day.
 
Hello everyone, I wanted to say that I replaced the crappy stock ZD Racing shock pistons by HB Racing pistons (part number HBS114744).
You can find it here for example: https://www.amainhobbies.com/hb-racing-v2-shock-piston-set-hbs114744/p447419
It is cheap and also definitely an must have upgrade for these shocks.
Thanks. I just bought them. I had one fail on me. I’ve also bent two of the shock rods. They are easy enough to bend back though. I definitely need to add some 50wt oil in them too as I’m running 40 in them now.
 
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
@suchtragedy
Do you have a link or the item # for the o ring kit you bought from harbor freight by chance? Going to see if I can find one as I have two ZD shocks that are leaking pretty bad and wanna try to fix them.
 
Hello everyone, i have zd shocks (8001 and 8002), i would like to shorten them to the length about front 105/106 mm and rears 125/126 mm, anyway is there anyone who has replaced the zd springs with other springs? The zd stock are too hard, so i though to replace them with arrma 4s springs
AR330532 and AR330533. Moreover regarding oil which weight would be better to use? I mean cps no W.
Thank you!
 
Hello everyone, i have zd shocks (8001 and 8002), i would like to shorten them to the length about front 105/106 mm and rears 125/126 mm, anyway is there anyone who has replaced the zd springs with other springs? The zd stock are too hard, so i though to replace them with arrma 4s springs
AR330532 and AR330533. Moreover regarding oil which weight would be better to use? I mean cps no W.
Thank you!
I 3d printed some spacers to shorten them, but you can use an ink pen spring or some tubing to achieve the same results. Anything to limit the travel of them. I am using 4s springs on mine and 55wt oil in the front and back. Just make sure to let them sit a while so all the tiny air bubbles are released. I'd also recommend buying this kit. It is compatible with the Zd racing shocks. https://www.amainhobbies.com/arrma-...egacy-blx-models-ara330203/p-qeartsyqgz2xactz
 
I 3d printed some spacers to shorten them, but you can use an ink pen spring or some tubing to achieve the same results. Anything to limit the travel of them. I am using 4s springs on mine and 55wt oil in the front and back. Just make sure to let them sit a while so all the tiny air bubbles are released. I'd also recommend buying this kit. It is compatible with the Zd racing shocks
Thank you for the reply, so it's good to buy the springs that i mentioned before (arrma 4 s like kraton 4s or outcast 4s), howevere can you please link me the codes of the springs that you fitted? moreover why could be better to take composite shock part set? In comparison to stock composite part, how should it be better?

 
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Thank you for the reply, so it's good to buy the springs that i mentioned before (arrma 4 s like kraton 4s or outcast 4s), howevere can you please link me the codes of the springs that you fitted? moreover why could be better to take composite shock part set? In comparison to stock composite part, how should it be better?

Whenever you break a shock end. Also the stock plunger disc things on the Zd racing shocks are trash. I had two of them fail on me before I bought this kit.
 
perfect, i'll do the same:) regarding the oil what gradation do you use? I mean cps (centi poise) no Wt
 
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