New shocks released by ae!

[justinspeed79]

Wow, I'm surprised about the comments about the Associated shocks. To each his own, but I think Associated shocks have been the best on the market since whenever it was that they stopped using bottom loaders. I for one liked the fact that they didn't have bottom caps. I have to admit that is mainly because I like the way they look that way, but I don't see any real advantage to having bottom caps. I too have been drilling my own caps for years, and have never had a smoother shock than Associated, and I have had just about all of them in 1/10 scale.

I'm not saying this about anyone here, but I think in that in general, most of the problems reported with Associated shocks are from people not building them right.

[mikedealer]

Associated shocks are teh suck and have been since 1983. I have Kyosho Velvets on my FTB4 and Losis on my Atomic S2, and they are infinitely better shocks. The new bottom cartridge assembly is 20 years behind where they should have been already. Every high end shock on the 1/10th buggy market uses top and bottom caps with serviceable bottom cartridges. It's about freakin' time they updated their 30-year old shock technology.


I still have to say, I'm looking forward to the FTSC10.

the velvet shocks are just amazing.. smooth

[aconsola]

how do you drill your own caps?

[justinspeed79]

The hardest part is finding good screws to use. Try to find some in-between coarse and fine thread. I guess you would call it medium thread. Find some screws, get the appropriate drill bit, and just drill diagonally down through the side of the cap. You can kinda see it here. I don't have a close up of the caps, but I can get one if you want.

[slotcarrod]

Wow, I'm surprised about the comments about the Associated shocks. To each his own, but I think Associated shocks have been the best on the market since whenever it was that they stopped using bottom loaders. I for one liked the fact that they didn't have bottom caps. I have to admit that is mainly because I like the way they look that way, but I don't see any real advantage to having bottom caps. I too have been drilling my own caps for years, and have never had a smoother shock than Associated, and I have had just about all of them in 1/10 scale.

I'm not saying this about anyone here, but I think in that in general, most of the problems reported with Associated shocks are from people not building them right.

X2

[SteveK]

I will admit HPI's Sport/Super shocks build a little easier than Associated shocks, but the cap snaps on, so once that wears out it's a pricey rebuild. Tamiya's CVA shocks also build very easily and feel pretty smooth for such a basic design.

I have a Losi Mini-T, tried their oil filling shocks when they first came out, and I pull my hair out every time I try to build them. Fortunately my hands are always covered in oil because the shocks won't stop leaking, so I still have all my hair. I talked to the guys at my LHS, every Losi RTR they have had has leaking shocks, so not even people paid to build them all day can get them right.

[aconsola]

I will admit HPI's Sport/Super shocks build a little easier than Associated shocks, but the cap snaps on, so once that wears out it's a pricey rebuild. Tamiya's CVA shocks also build very easily and feel pretty smooth for such a basic design.

I have a Losi Mini-T, tried their oil filling shocks when they first came out, and I pull my hair out every time I try to build them. Fortunately my hands are always covered in oil because the shocks won't stop leaking, so I still have all my hair. I talked to the guys at my LHS, every Losi RTR they have had has leaking shocks, so not even people paid to build them all day can get them right.

our mini slider shocks were leaking before we got it out of the box, those things are terrible.

The hardest part is finding good screws to use. Try to find some in-between coarse and fine thread. I guess you would call it medium thread. Find some screws, get the appropriate drill bit, and just drill diagonally down through the side of the cap. You can kinda see it here. I don't have a close up of the caps, but I can get one if you want.

Thanks for the info and visual, I'll have to give that a try.

[Eau Rouge]

This discussion is amusing at this point, because it has been the same thing everywhere I have seen it. Some people LOVE Associated shocks, some people HATE them and can't figure out why Associated would "upgrade" them with bleeder caps and rebuilable cartridges. Obviously, they see a need, even if some users like them the way they are.

In 1985, we had to use plumbers Teflon pipe thread taps on the shock caps to keep them from leaking all of the oil out while you were racing. Today, people rebuild Associated shocks every weekend and put new orange O-rings in them. Neither is a good thing. There is a reason every shock on the market is using bottom-up cartridges. There is a reason Associated is making this change, too.



Kinwald no longer races for Losi or Associated. He races for a company that builds chassis and not shocks. He can use ANY shock in the world. Do you know what he uses? Kyosho Velvets. Maybe if he stops by here anytime soon he can tell us why.

[adam lancia]

This discussion is amusing at this point, because it has been the same thing everywhere I have seen it. Some people LOVE Associated shocks, some people HATE them and can't figure out why Associated would "upgrade" them with bleeder caps and rebuilable cartridges. Obviously, they see a need, even if some users like them the way they are.

In 1985, we had to use plumbers Teflon pipe thread taps on the shock caps to keep them from leaking all of the oil out while you were racing. Today, people rebuild Associated shocks every weekend and put new orange O-rings in them. Neither is a good thing. There is a reason every shock on the market is using bottom-up cartridges. There is a reason Associated is making this change, too.



Kinwald no longer races for Losi or Associated. He races for a company that builds chassis and not shocks. He can use ANY shock in the world. Do you know what he uses? Kyosho Velvets. Maybe if he stops by here anytime soon he can tell us why.

+1 I would have tried the Kyosho shocks a long time ago if it wasn't for my indifference to how the Associated shocks work. I have never used the Kyosho shocks and my wallet is thankful for that I'm sure they are very 8th scale smooth and precise which is something I *really* value but I don't race often enough or at a high enough level to justify the expense. I, like so many others here, have so many sets of Associated shocks that it would be financial suicide to get rid of them all just for to have the new hot part, better or not.

.02¢

[jwscab]

other than the attachment points for the lower o-rings, and seals at the top of the shock, aren't they all pretty much the same design?

2 red o-rings on the bottom. a plastic piston sliding in a smooth bore.

I know I'm oversimplifying, but i never had a huge issue with any shock that had 2 orings to seal the shaft, and a decent seal for the cap.

even though the associated shocks are supposed to be an emulsion design, I always ran them with bladders, which simplified assembly, both from consistency and sealing success on the cap.

out of curiosity, what about the new shock designs is so much better? And I'm not arguing at all, I've just curious how other companies have improved '2 o-ring seals and plastic pistons in a smooth bore'.

its one of those things where one guy says 'those xxxxx suck' and then another guy says 'no, they are awesome, THOSE xxxxx suck'. fill in the blank with chevy/ford, pepsi/coke, etc etc etc....

so please 'splain how others have improved.

[littleVETTE]

i'm surprised no ones mentioned that they look very yokomo-ish

[SteveK]

Just built the SC10 shocks tonight. Everything went lovely until I got to the bleeding part. These newer molded caps fit very tightly, so you have to really back them off to bleed the shocks, which let's in air which seems to give the shock more pressure than it had before. I'll run them like this and then on the first rebuild I'll try drilling the caps. I have some screws from a Losi Mini-T that might work.

HPI and Tamiya shocks have a groove down the middle of the threads to let excess oil out. But they are also sealed with a bladder or big o-ring on top of the shock body, before oil even gets to the threads.

If you use bladders in your shock, drill a small hole in the cap to prevet air from building up and pressurizing the shock.

[rc10johnny]

The standard RC10 black shock caps are molded to be bleeder or not,heck for the price diff,I'll take 2 mins and drill my own,done most of them anyway Johnny

[SteveK]

There are at least four sets of caps that I've seen. There were the original black aluminum ones, then the first set of molded caps. This SC10 has slightly different molded caps, basically the same as the last one except for a bit of a lip on each side of the mounting hole, and they fit very tightly. There are caps shown on Associated's website look like the bleeder caps, but aren't drilled and don't have screws. And then there are the bleeder caps.
Aluminum: http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXWL86&P=7
Molded 1: http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LX2582&P=7
Molded 2: http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXHEY3&P=7
Molded 3: http://67.199.85.166/main/productdetails.php?text=6428&category=3129.xxxxx
Bleeder caps: http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXYEW6&P=7

#1 and #3 have the same part numbers, and if you search for #2 on the Associated website you get the same cap as #3, all of which appear to be the bleeder caps without holes and screws. The screws are just 2-56 button head, which you can get separately from a couple places (DuBro has cap heads with larger hexes). I'm curious to see if the old style caps have enough 'meat' on them to hold the screws securely.

[justinspeed79]

The old style caps hold the screw just fine. That's what I have been using for years.