RC10 CE updates

[sbednara]

Yes sir I do believe you are correct. Thank you.

[sbednara]

before I rebuild all the shocks, just curious what spring set you all might suggest I try first. As previously mentioned I have 3 sets, gold, silver and green. I plan to run this in the backyard on grass, on pavement, in the park on grass and wood chips, might/maybe see a carpet track occasionally. Got a lot to learn about tuning a car but just looking for suggestions as to where to start. I’m thinking silver springs as they aren’t the stiffest and aren’t the softest.

[XLR8]

The vintage shock oil and diff lube should be okay; no shelf life issues with either of those. Don't use other lubricants with the diff or it will slip. The Only disadvantage to the old shock oil is (and it's rather trivial unless you compete) it's petroleum based and, as such, the viscosity will change with changes in temperature. Modern, silicone based shock fluids are more thermally stable and hold their viscosity much better than oil.
Looks like you have a set of plastic wheel knock-offs that were also included with the original kit. They are meant for display only. You'll want to secure the wheels with metal nylock nuts when running the car.

[XLR8]

Silver springs are a good place to start. For backyard running, you probably won't notice a huge difference with alternate spring rates. The stiffer springs might reduce the chassis bottoming out in rougher terrain.

[sbednara]

Good info on the differential grease. I’ll be sure to use to what I got. As for oil, I bought some Lucas 30w at the local hobby shop. I’d assume it’s synthetic but I didn’t check, I’ll do that, I’d prefer synthetic.
Good call on the stiffer springs for backyard use. I got enough scratches on the bottom of this pan. May try the gold and see how they run too.

Appreciate your help and insight.

[sbednara]

well i got both of the front shocks rebuilt and back on the car tonight. I thought they turned out pretty good. both came apart easy, washed up nicely and amazingly went back together easy. i did each side individually so i could look at the opposite side and make sure it went back together correctly. WELL, after it was all put back together, I noticed that the passenger side front arm was hanging slightly lower than the driver side front arm. I didnt have time to mess with it, but i think its because i have the top shock collar slightly lower on the passenger side. its hardly noticeable though. Could it be something else? maybe the passenger shock extends further for some reason, ie i messed up the driver side shock? i'll prob take both off tomorrow and mess with em until i figure this out. anyone have any idea? what would be the most likely culprit? i'll try to post up some pics in the morning.

*** update***
The driver side shock isn’t fully extending. Im assuming it’s a prob with the rebuild. I plan to tear it down again and try once more. Hopefully that gets it.

[Lonestar]

*** update***
The driver side shock isn’t fully extending.

check
- more washers inside
- bent shaft
- different L/R shaft length
- piston with a flash

[sbednara]

-washers, o-rings, spacers were the exact same amount, now maybe some were a little out of shape or warped but I certainly didn’t notice when I was putting them back in
-could be bent. I’d bet this is the cause. I didn’t notice any bend, but prob just a slight bend preventing full extension on its own. I’ll check this on rebuild
-surely the shaft length is the same right? Was QC bad for AE back in the day? Is QC okay now for them? Any other top manufacturers/brands that are known for poor QC? I didn’t measure either of these when I had the chance. Prob should have. BUT I don’t think this is my issue. I’m able to get this shock to full extension if I pull on the shaft but it wants to stop short, about ¾ extension, on its own. When I fully extend it, both L and R arms appear to be at the same length.
-What is a flash?

Couple things I will note about my issue
1. as mentioned above, I can physically extend the shock to full length. It just doesn’t fully extend on its own. It stops about ¾ of the way. When I extend it out, both arms appear to be sitting at the same position.
2. both front shock bodies showed signs of wear on the inside of the body. The gold anodized sides has place where its worn down to the bare aluminum. It didn’t appear to be scratched, just worn. It wasn’t consistently 360* around, just in an area. I don’t think this is the issue. I would bet this is somewhat normal wear for standard use.

I’m betting it’s a bent shaft or not enough shock oil.

[jwscab]

it's your bleeding technique. if you have more air in the shock, it will rebound more. it's tricky but you have to try and build them exactly the same. it comes down to filling the shock body, and while holding carefully, pumping the piston up and down a little to let air bubbles escape, then add a few more drops until you are full, and also adding a drop or two into the shock cap, install the shock cap partially, then slowly push the shaft in all the way. then tighten the cap. depending on how/where you push in the shaft, and how much oil is in the shock, you can end up with a shock that has positive, neutral, or negative rebound. meaning, the shock when perfectly filled should basically have no rebound, a shock with no air will pull the shaft back in, and a shock with too much air will push the shaft back out. it's also dependant on the size and stroke of the shock, as the shaft fills the volume as you push it in and it needs something to displace, ie air. If the shock has no air inside, you will effectively hydraulically lock the shock up.

the newer shock caps have a bleeder hole to make this easier, and some shocks use a bladder to separate oil from air.

[sbednara]

So if I have rebound on both shocks, neither is correctly built? The one with more rebound has more air?

I didn’t work the air out by adjusting the shaft into the shock body but sounds like I should have. Then I know I didn’t fill the cap, I did put some oil in there, maybe not enough.

[jwscab]

you are better to set the shock up to have a slight rebound, this will give you the minimum amount of air. the trick is getting the rebound to be the same on both. ideally you push the shock in and the shaft will rebound just a little. Usually, when you push the shaft all the way in to push out the excess oil, then tighten the cap, it creates a slight bit of pressure in the shock and provides the required amount of rebound. kind of hard to explain.

BTW, I hate building shocks.

this is a decent video, the cap has a bleeder screw, where you are going to unscrew the cap slightly to allow the oil to escape.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hU6B9Z62hw

[XLR8]

... Was QC bad for AE back in the day? Is QC okay now for them? ...

I think the answer to both questions is no.

[Lonestar]

I had assumed , as the shocks were on the car, that the springs were pushing the shaft down all the way, at least enough to offset any extreme internal pressure that would prevent the shock from settling at the correct position

[sbednara]

where should I set the collar for the gold spring? before I took the shocks apart to check air/fluid levels, I adjusted the collars to make sure they were even on both shocks. They were not even before. I now have the collar set so the bottom of the collar is where the shock body starts to neck down. seems low though. really compresses the spring for rebound action. however doing this and putting both shocks back on the car, now neither shock fully extends, ( I dont understand that, the collar was higher previously) and the arms are closer to the same level but still not even when left to hang. i can fully extend each side on its own. next im going to check the fluid/air levels. should I fill the entire shock body with oil, oil the threads of the cap, then put cap on and tighten? will that leave the proper amount of air in the shock? im assuming consistency is more important here

pic is after i adjusted the shock collars. im half tempted to leave it. looks fairly even.

[NomadRacer]

The shock collars are used to set ride height. You would want to have everything installed on the chassis, motor, battery, wheels/tires,etc. Now use the collars to get the ride height you want. Refer to the manual for tips on that.