Tenacity DB pro shocks faulty?

[ScubaSteve1898]

I have had my tenacity db pro since November of 22. It spent a majority of its life so far at an indoor carpet track. I have had to rebuild each shock probably 10 times due to the shaft pulling through the piston/e clips failing. It’s been in dirt twice and snow maybe 3 times? Dirt was both in the last month. I did install droop screws in the rear before the two dirt sessions and that seemed to do nothing. I am now wondering if these shocks are shot from them coming apart and rebuilding them so many times. I have been replacing internals as they break/become damaged but it doesn’t seem to matter. Any ideas?

 

[tntpoof]

sounds like your running to thin of shock oil. I've only rebuild my shocks at start of a racing season never had issue you have.

 

[WickedFog]

Are you using quality e-clips? The cheap Chinese ones aren't good. They are soft, with no spring to them, and they don't hold onto the shock shaft properly.

 

[ScubaSteve1898]

Are you using quality e-clips? The cheap Chinese ones aren't good. They are soft, with no spring to them, and they don't hold onto the shock shaft properly.

I have tried three different clips. These current ones are working best for sure.

sounds like your running to thin of shock oil. I've only rebuild my shocks at start of a racing season never had issue you have.

I’ll try true TLR 40 weight or something instead of the 325 or 375 I’m using now

 

[tntpoof]

if your blowing shock pistons apart it aint the E clips its the thinness of the oil.i ran 65 front and 50 rear in my tlr 3 3500kv on 2 cell back in the day on a offroad carpet track that had 20 foot x 4' high table tops

 

[hood52]

How did you set the droop screws? The shocks shouldn't fully extend when your in the air. The droop screws should be stopping there movement before they fully extend.

 

[tntpoof]

my guess he is not fully extending shocks. he is masing piston into to of piston cap blowing shaft thru it.id advise to thicken oil also add a piece of nitro tube to bottom of shaft where it goes thru bottom shock end to limit itslast1/8 travel

 

[ScubaSteve1898]

How did you set the droop screws? The shocks shouldn't fully extend when you’re in the air. The droop screws should be stopping their movement before they fully extend.

They are set so they are never lower then they are on the ground if that makes sense. I need to adjust fronts although the fronts hit the chassis before they fully extend I believe?

my guess he is not fully extending shocks. he is masing piston into to of piston cap blowing shaft thru it.id advise to thicken oil also add a piece of nitro tube to bottom of shaft where it goes thru bottom shock end to limit itslast1/8 travel

I’m going to try 40wt in the rear and see if that helps. Might try 37.5 in the front but that might be a bit much. I don’t bash much more ripping around on tracks. I have some tubing I can put on the bottom of the shaft so it doesn’t slam down and blow through that way. I did get some TLR bleeder tops just to make rebuild easier….

 

[jakebullett]

I have had my tenacity db pro since November of 22. It spent a majority of its life so far at an indoor carpet track. I have had to rebuild each shock probably 10 times due to the shaft pulling through the piston/e clips failing. It’s been in dirt twice and snow maybe 3 times? Dirt was both in the last month. I did install droop screws in the rear before the two dirt sessions and that seemed to do nothing. I am now wondering if these shocks are shot from them coming apart and rebuilding them so many times. I have been replacing internals as they break/become damaged but it doesn’t seem to matter. Any ideas?

I had a couple issues with those shocks as well. I feel the shocks are the weakest part of that rig. The c-clips are inadequate and do not hold up to the rigors that rig was designed to take. I swapped them out for proline shocks. So far so good. And yes, oil weight is key and the fuel tubing as a travel limiter is essential.

 

[islandlife]

Imo, having to limit your options on what oil can be run in a shock is a bandaid for a different mechanical issue, either over extending, or bottoming. Groove on the shock shafts for the clip could be worn as well. Could put a dab of adhesive on the clip during assembly to help retain it if needed maybe?

 

[RustyUs]

That^^^. E-clip grooves quality control issue?

Is it possible to... scratch that. I just looked at the latest TLR SCT & stadium truck platforms, and seen they still use e-clips. I thought for sure Losi has moved on to, by now, using screws to secure the pistons... well, they did on the 22 5.0 shock shafts.

I was going to suggest getting new updated shafts, but TLR only has 3mm shafts for the buggy...

 

[nino]

Maybe upgrading to some beefier shocks is in order. Driving on carpet is probably tougher on the truck than driving on dirt.
Some kind of 1/8 buggy shock set with soft enough springs, or Traxxas' GTRs?