Changing to Losi shocks

[Matt-h]

I am going to try Losi shocks on the B44 then the B4 to see if i can gain better damping.
The thing i'm trying to find out is what i need to do to get a fair comparison?

At the moment the B44 is running;

• 35 wt front 25wt rear
• silvers all round
• piston 2 front 1 rear
• All using associated oil

B4

• 30wt front 25 wt rear
• Green springs front Silver rear
• Ghea piston 2 front 1 rear

the set up works well (although i may go 30wt front on the B44), so i want to set it similar to get a direct comparison.

Ideas?

Matt

[ian h]

I use losi pistons and oil in my ae shocks on my b44 and that works well, think I'm using blue and orange pistons but I'd have to check.

[Stu]

I ran Losi shocks on the B4 all last year, I don't think there was any performance advantage. Red front pisons, Orange rear, 30wt both. Green front spring, pink rear.

I ended up going back to a new set of AE shocks, settings copied from a Cragg set-up sheet from Kiddy, it was then perfect.

I like working with Losi shocks, but I dont go with the hype, both shocks build right work just as well.

[team furious]

i use TRF501x 4wd shocks on my b44 with 25w and 30w they work very well on my b44

[/tobys]

On the B44, try:

Front
Red Piston
Green or Blue Spring (blue is a similar rate to AE silver)
40wt AE oil

Rear
Orange Piston
Pink Spring
30wt AE oil

Shocks mounting holes as per AE shocks.

Not sure if its 100% necessary, but I run the AC rear shock tower as this has an additional set of holes to accomodate the longer Losi shocks (run the long rear bodies from XX4 with the 'regular' shafts from the XXX). You'll also need some Losi shock bushings as the AE ones are a smaller diameter and won't work.

Losi shocks are much easier to work on and you can often reuse the oil when changing pistons/internal spacing, which is not possible on the AE shocks. Personally, I find them much easier to work with and they certainly don't perform any worse than the AE - but I didn't find that 'quantum leap' in performance that I was half expecting.

[Matt-h]

thanks guys.

i am hoping for more consistency from the Losi's.
The AE's seem to go off on the right rear corner due to the high speed sweeper.

Matt

[super__dan]

I've got Losi shocks on my BJ4,
Fr - Red piston, Blue spring 35wt oil
Rear - Orange piston, Yellow or pink spring, 25 or 27.5 wt oil outdoors, 30wt indoors

[sosidge]

Originally Posted by Matt-h

thanks guys.

i am hoping for more consistency from the Losi's.
The AE's seem to go off on the right rear corner due to the high speed sweeper.

Matt

Sounds to me like you have a lack of roll resistance at the rear.

Try going up a spring (from green to silver, or silver to grey). Or try a stiffer bar, or try a more angled upper link. Or many of the other solutions to increase roll stiffness.

Bear in mind that the Losi rear springs are somewhat stiffer than the AE ones - pink Losi is roughly grey AE. That is the difference that people are noticing in the handling IMHO, not the pistons or the shock design.

If you find the Losi's easier to build then go for the change. Personally I have no problem with the AEs, but it's true that there is a technique to building them that isn't made clear in the manual. They need a squeak of air in them to work correctly.

[/tobys]

Originally Posted by super__dan

I've got Losi shocks on my BJ4,
Fr - Red piston, Blue spring 35wt oil
Rear - Orange piston, Yellow or pink spring, 25 or 27.5 wt oil outdoors, 30wt indoors

Dan, is that with Losi oils?

[Matt-h]

Originally Posted by sosidge

Sounds to me like you have a lack of roll resistance at the rear.

Try going up a spring (from green to silver, or silver to grey). Or try a stiffer bar, or try a more angled upper link. Or many of the other solutions to increase roll stiffness.

Bear in mind that the Losi rear springs are somewhat stiffer than the AE ones - pink Losi is roughly grey AE. That is the difference that people are noticing in the handling IMHO, not the pistons or the shock design.

If you find the Losi's easier to build then go for the change. Personally I have no problem with the AEs, but it's true that there is a technique to building them that isn't made clear in the manual. They need a squeak of air in them to work correctly.

Thanks for the input.

I run Silver on the rear with 25wt oil and silver rollbar.

I have no problem building associated shocks(there is a good guide on here which is excellent), the main reason for change is to hopefully gain more consistency within the shock.
Even if its a psychological edge, a gain is a gain.
If i dont like them i can easily sell them.

Also the shock bodies are the normal size not the long ones.
i take it my fibre lyte towers will be fine?

Matt

[sosidge]

Originally Posted by Matt-h

Thanks for the input.

I run Silver on the rear with 25wt oil and silver rollbar.

I have no problem building associated shocks(there is a good guide on here which is excellent), the main reason for change is to hopefully gain more consistency within the shock.
Even if its a psychological edge, a gain is a gain.
If i dont like them i can easily sell them.

Also the shock bodies are the normal size not the long ones.
i take it my fibre lyte towers will be fine?

Matt

In your initial post, did you mean "go off" on right rear as in the shock build goes bad, or "go off" in the sense that the car handling is bad through that fast corner?

If the shock build goes bad in one shock, I doubt very much it has anything to do with a corner. The loads on the shock are pretty intense regardless. It's more likely to be a bad part in the shock - try swapping them from side to side and see if the same shock still "goes off" or not.

[Matt-h]

I meant 'go off' during the meeting.

Dont think its a build issue (hope) as i have only encountered it at my home track

[super__dan]

Originally Posted by /tobys

Dan, is that with Losi oils?

Yes.

[super__dan]

I went to Losi shocks purely becasue I couldn't stop the seals blowing out of the rear shocks (4 blown shocks in 3 runs at Worksop). That said I much prefer the Losi ones anyway though the B4.1 shocks look good!