To rebuild, or not to rebuild...

[3pointX]

So I went to the track tonight for some more practice, which by the way, I'm improving immensely every week. Noticed that the front left wheel was just bouncing all over the place, and on a hard right hand turn the buggy would dig in and roll. Pulled her in and whatta ya know, I got zero damping in the shock. I had noticed teh other day it was getting a bit weak, but today it's just shot. The shop was closed and I had drove all the way down there to practice so I figured whatever, and kept going. Started noticing the right front doing the same thing. Guess what, the front right shock has almost no damping in it either. I went ahead and checked the rear shocks and they're not quite as bad, but definitely getting weak. This would likely explain why the suspension has been so loose the last week and why it wants to drift so much.

So I'm at a crossroads. Do I rebuild, or just replace? I've never rebuilt shocks before but it's cheaper than buying new ones, especially compared to the big bores. Then again some shocks come unassembled anyway so if Caster followed suit in this aspect I guess either way I've got a project on my hands.

Any thoughts people?

And as a side note, what would cause all the shocks to just die like this anyway? We go to the BMX track on occasion if the shop's track is too muddy or something, but the Ravager's suspension has held up just fine.

[vnmsgt]

Did you check and see if there is fluid in them??

[3pointX]

Haven't yet but considering they were both completely covered in what I'm pretty sure was shock oil, my guess is they're empty. Could I just fill them and be back on my way?

[vnmsgt]

yes you might be able too. Your shock caps probably came loose and unscrewed. I have had this happen. I periodically check my shock caps because that can happen. Just remove the shocks and clean them out and refill and you will probably be ok.

[3pointX]

Awesome. I'll take a look at them tomorrow.

[skeller]

If the fuid you see is at the bottom of the shock...the spacers and o-rings are shot. If you re-oil....it will all just come out again. You need to re-build them.

[lowlife88]

You definately have some leak problems. First of all, you need to contact cam for shock seals. All the bottom seals as well as the top bladder. The top bladder tends to swell, causing it to slip down into the shock body if it's the clear style bladder. Once they swell they are NOT re-useable. I tend to rebuild my shocks often that way my set-up stays consistant. Seal sets are WAAYYY cheaper then buying new shocks. However, if you don't have the new BB's I stongly suggest you get them a try.

[vnmsgt]

I was just going by him saying they were covered in shock fluid which usually means the shock cap came loose. I did forget about the clear shock bladders. If you do have those they need to be replaced with the black ones. Remove you dust boots and see if they are all wet inside, good sign the orings are leaking.

[3pointX]

Thanks guys. I actually didn't want to go with the BB if I didn't have to, since I'm not a hard core racer and the stock shocks seem to work fine for me. By the way, I was fortunate when I got my buggy as the shocks all have black bladders. But, here's what happened. I finally got a chance to sit down and take a look today and I found that the shafts were dry on all four corners. So the bottom seals appeared to be fine. I pulled the front shocks first, and the left one had a loose cap and was almost completely empty, and the oil that was left was black and runny. So it appears that I somehow managed to cook the fluid AND it was leaking out of the cap. I didn't even know it was possible to cook the fluid in these things, I'm used to seeing cooked shock oil in real race cars but not in an RC buggy. Anyway, the front right was more of the same but it had more fluid than the left. The rear shocks were only about half full and the bladder on the right rear had slipped down inside the body, but it ma have did that when I removed the cap, it seemed to be fine. I inspected all the seals and bladders, and all appeared to be fine so I filled the shocks with Associated 30wt silicone, bled the off to remove any air bubbles, and reassembled. I haven't made it don to the track, tehy usually race on Saturdays so I'll go down there tomorrow morning to see how everything holds up. I did take it out to the school and in the parking lot anyway, it seems to be MUCH better, even better than stock. No squat, less body roll, and it seems much more controlled. I rechecked everything again and there don't appear to be any leaks. So maybe this will even help with my lap times now that I have a properly functioning suspension again.