Which shock oil for Traxxas Slash 4x4?

[WickedFog]

You can go significantly longer on the hub bearings, but still a good idea to inspect regardless, the diff bearings absolutely need to be repacked every 2 hours if running on dirt, you can get away with longer run time if bashing on the street with no dirt present... it will take some trial and error to figure out a solid cleaning interval that works for you... 2 hours has been a necessity for my program for many years and I haven't had a single failed bearing yet.... I see failed bearings at the track all the time, first question I ask is when was the last time they cleaned and packed their bearings and I always get a response along the lines of "I didn't know I needed to clean and pack my bearings with grease", doh!

So dirt gets into your diff case, and then inside a sealed bearing?

 

[bill_delong]

So dirt gets into your diff case, and then inside a sealed bearing?

absolutely!

The bearings are exposed on the sides where the outdrives protrude from the diff case, and sealed bearings are no longer sealed once the grease has broken down

 

[WickedFog]

absolutely!

The bearings are exposed on the sides where the outdrives protrude from the diff case, and sealed bearings are no longer sealed once the grease has broken down

Oh, so the grease breaks down after 2 hours. Gotcha.

 

[majin]

Testing and tuning. Trial and error.

get the traxxas big bores. Great shocks for anything. I’d search eBay, Jenny doesn’t have them right now.

I have only ran the 30 wt I put in when I built the shocks
When I change em next time I'll try something different then

 

[bill_delong]

Oh, so the grease breaks down after 2 hours. Gotcha.

Just to clarify, the bearings need to be inspected every 2 hours of use, not all bearings need to be repacked, only flush/pack bearings that the grease has turned black.... most brands ship with a clear grease and I use white lithium where you don't want to use black grease to make it easier to know when the grease has failed.

 

[WickedFog]

I have only ran the 30 wt I put in when I built the shocks
When I change em next time I'll try something different then

I have seen people say 50-60wt. But that's just kinda silly on a crawler I would think. About the only time the shock oil viscosity is going to be useful on your crawler (if you have full droop) is going over a dropoff and the truck lands hard on the suspension. Then, the oil is going to cusion the blow.

 

[majin]

I have seen people say 50-60wt. But that's just kinda silly on a crawler I would think. About the only time the shock oil viscosity is going to be useful on your crawler (if you have full droop) is going over a dropoff and the truck lands hard on the suspension. Then, the oil is going to cusion the blow.

Ic so for me it is irrelevant in comparison to other things as I run full droop and don't really get much from the shocks

 

[Greywolf74]

If I were a competitive racer then Id be checking my bearings very frequently just because Id want any edge I could get, but for bashers and just having fun at the track, Id only check whatever bearings I took off the rig when I had to repair/inspect something for an issue. No one cares if a bearing fails on a basher.

 

[bill_delong]

...No one cares if a bearing fails on a basher.

I disagree, a failed bearing can create a cascading effect of failed parts making a very costly repair... I once saw a guy melt his hub carrier and bonded the bearing sleeve to the axle which also bent a shaft and bent a turnbuckle as well as snap an outdrive... something like $50 in parts

 

[DavidB1126]

I disagree, a failed bearing can create a cascading effect of failed parts making a very costly repair... I once saw a guy melt his hub carrier and bonded the bearing sleeve to the axle which also bent a shaft and bent a turnbuckle as well as snap an outdrive... something like $50 in parts

Yep. Had that once. It was on my slash, a couple times actually with the RPM rear hubs. Switched to aluminum hubs and I rarely have bearing issues. Maybe its something with plastic hubs that cause bearings to do stuff like that.

2 hours?
Yeah, I think all my cars are overdue bout 15+ hours.

 

[WickedFog]

Ic so for me it is irrelevant in comparison to other things as I run full droop and don't really get much from the shocks

Yeah, your shock oil isn't really doing much for you at full droop. It will help keep your chassis from flopping about as your truck goes over obstacles. But other than that, I wouldn't be overly concerned with it.

Just to clarify, the bearings need to be inspected every 2 hours of use, not all bearings need to be repacked, only flush/pack bearings that the grease has turned black.... most brands ship with a clear grease and I use white lithium where you don't want to use black grease to make it easier to know when the grease has failed.

You don't use white lithium grease on bearings man. That might explain why you're going through all that. White lithium is for hinges, and slow moving, heavy duty applications like farm tactors and such. It's not thick enough for bearings. And it's not good for plastic or rubber either. It speeds up the decay of such materials.

 

[Greywolf74]

I disagree, a failed bearing can create a cascading effect of failed parts making a very costly repair... I once saw a guy melt his hub carrier and bonded the bearing sleeve to the axle which also bent a shaft and bent a turnbuckle as well as snap an outdrive... something like $50 in parts

I mean maybe if you never maintenance your bearings but the entire time I've been in this hobby I've never experienced a failure like that from a bearing. I never said I didnt maintenance my bearings, I said I only do it when I have that part of the rig apart for repairs/inspections. Your example is an extreme one imho. If it ever did happen then an extra $50 for repairs over the course of nearly 19 or 20 years in the hobby is inconsequential to me in the overall scheme of things. Plus I have far too many RCs to constantly tear them apart to inspect them for issues unless I suspect theres a problem in the first place.

 

[bill_delong]

I mean maybe if you never maintenance your bearings but the entire time I've been in this hobby I've never experienced a failure like that from a bearing. I never said I didnt maintenance my bearings, I said I only do it when I have that part of the rig apart for repairs/inspections. Your example is an extreme one imho. If it ever did happen then an extra $50 for repairs over the course of nearly 19 or 20 years in the hobby is inconsequential to me in the overall scheme of things. Plus I have far too many RCs to constantly tear them apart to inspect them for issues unless I suspect theres a problem in the first place.

In the case I witnessed, guy bought the car used and his first mistake was not doing a complete rebuild immediately... it was a TEKNO EB48.4 which is close to 6 years old so worst case scenario, the bearings may have never been serviced for 6 years which is no bueno.

At a bare minimum, I would service the bearings every 6 months or immediately after seeing any moisture like wet grass or a sandy beach!

It takes me about 2 hours to do a complete rebuild, that's a 1:1 ratio of time spent playing/wrenching which is fair, and the whole point of the hobby it to enjoy wrenching on the cars, if you dislike wrenching then I would recommend a different hobby

 

[Greywolf74]

In the case I witnessed, guy bought the car used and his first mistake was not doing a complete rebuild immediately... it was a TEKNO EB48.4 which is close to 6 years old so worst case scenario, the bearings may have never been serviced for 6 years which is no bueno.

At a bare minimum, I would service the bearings every 6 months or immediately after seeing any moisture like wet grass or a sandy beach!

It takes me about 2 hours to do a complete rebuild, that's a 1:1 ratio of time spent playing/wrenching which is fair, and the whole point of the hobby it to enjoy wrenching on the cars, if you dislike wrenching then I would recommend a different hobby

Yeah, cuz I'm going to stop enjoying a nearly 20 year long hobby because you dont think I service my rigs enough.

Seriously though, why dont you save the racing advice for the racers. All of your advice you give on this forum is centered around racing and racing practices but theres hardly any racers in this forum. Not trying to be a jerk, just my opinion. I still love ya all the same

 

[Lostinthewoods86]

You don't use white lithium grease on bearings

Is my Tony chachere grease ok to use?

I’ll have to get a pic later

 

[WickedFog]

Is my Tony chachere grease ok to use?

I’ll have to get a pic later

You keep that backwoods bayou stuff for your crawdads man

Now I gotta order some.

 

[bill_delong]

Yeah, cuz I'm going to stop enjoying a nearly 20 year long hobby because you dont think I service my rigs enough.

Seriously though, why dont you save the racing advice for the racers. All of your advice you give on this forum is centered around racing and racing practices but theres hardly any racers in this forum. Not trying to be a jerk, just my opinion. I still love ya all the same

I started out as a basher around 1985, my first kit was a Tamiya Hornet that I paid with my own money from a paper route which puts me close to 40 years of basher experience

I did not get into club racing until 2010 and even then I was more of a basher than a racer. The biggest mistake I made was "quantity over quality" where I once was maintaining over 25 cars to share between my kids and their friends where we'd have block parties with all the neighborhood kids racing cars in out cul-de-sac. I'd even bring a carload of "best friends" along to the local race track for club racing, but this wasn't sustainable. I severely lacked the ability to properly maintain all the cars and repair costs became unmanageable.

Over time, my racing skills would improve and I would focus more time on tuning/maintenance as well as investing in higher quality brands which in turn would save me more money in the long run.

Eventually, I would give up bashing and become a dedicated racer, but I still have a basher interest at heart and I truly believe that the information I am sharing will save bashers money and frustration based on my personal experience.

Probably the most frustrating thing for me is trying to help folks tune their cars to be drivable, and some random person spouts off an opposing recommendation that would make things worse for the OP because "they know more about a basher setup" and I just have to bite my tongue

The hardest thing is coming up with a solid baseline setup where having an easy to drive car is not very easy if you don't have a proper setup sheet

 

[Lostinthewoods86]

You keep that backwoods bayou stuff for your crawdads man

Now I gotta order some.

It was the first thing I found sitting around works pretty dang good too

 

[Greywolf74]

Probably the most frustrating thing for me is trying to help folks tune their cars to be drivable, and some random person spouts off an opposing recommendation that would make things worse for the OP because "they know more about a basher setup" and I just have to bite my tongue

I never said don't service your bearings. All I said is that doing it after 2 hours of drive time is only something competitive racers would do, for the most part, because it's overkill for someone who's just bashing. It's not that I "know more about a basher setup" than you do, I know you know a ton of stuff, but in the particular case this is just a personal preference. You have yours and I have mine.