• Welcome to RCTalk! 🚀

    Join the #1 RC community where hobbyists connect, share, and get expert advice on RC cars, trucks, boats, drones, and more!

    • Friendly & passionate RC enthusiasts
    • RC tips & troubleshooting
    • Buy, sell & trade RC gear
    • Share builds & upgrades

Shock Oil Help

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Meep556

RCTalk Basher
Messages
65
Reaction score
176
Points
130
Location
Louisville, Ky
RC Driving Style
  1. Bashing
  2. Racing
What kind of shock oil do you all recommend for a basher? I was gonna order some for my basher, but then I noticed the WT... 35,40, and so on. What do these numbers mean? I figured it was the viscosity of the oil or whatnot.
 
5038X-shock-oil-guide.webp

I usually like to follow this chart, for bashing at least.
 
Last edited:
What kind of shock oil do you all recommend for a basher? I was gonna order some for my basher, but then I noticed the WT... 35,40, and so on. What do these numbers mean? I figured it was the viscosity of the oil or whatnot.
What truck/buggy are you working with? Manual should have the weight oil from the factory or the stock setup. That's usually a good place to start. Most of mine are in the 30-40wt range
 
From RC Car Database: "In RC car shocks, "wt" and "cst" both refer to the viscosity of the shock oil used in the shocks, but they use different units of measurement.

"wt" stands for "weight" and is typically used to measure shock oil viscosity in the United States. The weight measurement is determined by the rate at which the oil flows through a specific size hole at a particular temperature. For example, a 30 wt oil flows faster than a 40 wt oil through the same size hole at the same temperature.

On the other hand, "cst" stands for "centistokes" and is used to measure shock oil viscosity in the metric system. Centistokes is a measure of fluid viscosity, based on how fast a fluid flows through a narrow tube. The higher the number, the thicker the oil. For example, a 300cst oil is thicker than a 200cst oil.

While both "wt" and "cst" measure viscosity, it's important to note that they don't always directly translate to each other. A shock oil with the same "wt" measurement as another may not have the same viscosity if measured in "cst" units. As such, it's crucial to use the proper viscosity measurement units when selecting shock oil and to refer to the manufacturer's recommendations for the correct weight or cst oil for your specific RC car model and driving conditions."

1742219252933.webp
 
What truck/buggy are you working with? Manual should have the weight oil from the factory or the stock setup. That's usually a good place to start. Most of mine are in the 30-40wt range
I'm messing with an MJX H14BM. It's become my little project truck lol. The manual didn't mention anything on it though.
 
I'm messing with an MJX H14BM. It's become my little project truck lol. The manual didn't mention anything on it though.
Perhaps finding a thread on that particular RC platform will get you in the right direction. I consider 30wt. shock oil to be a great starting point for 1/10 scale RCs. For a general starting point on 1/14 scale RC shocks... 🤷‍♂️. I bet 40wt/500cSt would be a great place to start. On-road/off-road; rough; smooth... the environment a person runs their RC in, and the quality of the shocks/pistons will come into play as well.
 
Last edited:
I also generally start around 30-40WT initally unless its a rig i plan on jumping alot and then Ill go heavier. Somewhere around 80-100WT but it really just depends on the weight of the rig, the shock pistons, how high i plan on sending it etc.

Shock oil, diff oil, and gearing is all things you just have to experiment with on each rig to find the right combination. Once youve played around switching these things up on rigs for a year or two, you'll start to get a feel for where to start with each new rig.
 
That's very handy for beginners to suspension tuning!

Minus the 20wt recommendation for crawlers.... absolutely not lol.
Yeah, people sometimes put thin oil in crawlers which may look cool and bouncy but hinders performance.
 
Back
Top