Are alloy shock towers a good upgrade?

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

neeper

Well-Known Member
Messages
109
Location
Vancouver, Canada
Hey guys, just wanted to get your opinion on whether or not alloy shock towers are good upgrade for bashing. I realize the help the suspension as they don't flex but the FG shock towers are quite solid, is going alloy unnecessary and just adding extra weight?
 
I hit a hidden concrete slab in tall grass ,an snapped one of my upright tower ,but mended it with JB weld ,an some
homemade supports out of aluminum on mine ,that is one of my next upgrades though ,because ,sh** does happen!



 
If you broke the original, I always recommend buying the upgraded version to whatever broke.

But sometimes the original parts are really good so it’s best to just buy the original part.
But this is very rare in all scale of Rc IMO ?


Remember any time you change out a plastic piece for anything sturdier like aluminum... That will put stress on another part....
so technically speaking next time you won’t break the upgraded part.
You’ll be breaking the next weak point along the line....
 
@neeper I can't comment on the FG shock towers, but as a basher, I won't upgrade anything unless I see a real benefit to my fun. I've run the everloving piss out of my HPI 5t with the stock plastic towers and until I destroy them, I won't upgrade. Even then, I'll probably upgrade to a more robust plastic bit or replace with stock and add a billet brace before I go full on billet towers. They add so much weight without any real benefit.

I've known many a basher who had to have aluminum arms, towers, and other bits. Once they hit a stump, boulder, blind ravine or even had a nasty roll, their billet bits were bent or twisted. The fun was over and they were out quite a bit of money. All of our cars are designed around a few cheap break points. It's usually the suspension. In such a crash situation, if a rear A arm takes a hit and breaks, you might have just saved your transmission. If your shock tower flexes just so much, you will have saved your steering linkages, servo and chassis.

IMHO, there is definitely a place for billet: transmission cases, clutch systems, plates, tower braces, etc. But I tend to calculate the weight, durability and flexibility of any part I run. For me, running the stock or aftermarket plastic towers with a billet brace is the best compromise for flex and rigidity. The brace will add some strength, but will also allow the towers to flex a bit in an impact without breaking anything important. And it will save you some weight over full on billet.

I love the look of billet parts, but the added weight and possibility of losing the insurance of the cheaper stock/plastic bits breaking vs. something more expensive in the car is too much for me to invest in. I'd rather beat the hell out of my truck than worry about breaking expensive billet parts.

That being said, you should definitely get them if you want them! I won't crap on anyone who wants to add more bling to their ride. That's what keeps this hobby going and growing!
 
@neeper I can't comment on the FG shock towers, but as a basher, I won't upgrade anything unless I see a real benefit to my fun. I've run the everloving piss out of my HPI 5t with the stock plastic towers and until I destroy them, I won't upgrade. Even then, I'll probably upgrade to a more robust plastic bit or replace with stock and add a billet brace before I go full on billet towers. They add so much weight without any real benefit.

I've known many a basher who had to have aluminum arms, towers, and other bits. Once they hit a stump, boulder, blind ravine or even had a nasty roll, their billet bits were bent or twisted. The fun was over and they were out quite a bit of money. All of our cars are designed around a few cheap break points. It's usually the suspension. In such a crash situation, if a rear A arm takes a hit and breaks, you might have just saved your transmission. If your shock tower flexes just so much, you will have saved your steering linkages, servo and chassis.

IMHO, there is definitely a place for billet: transmission cases, clutch systems, plates, tower braces, etc. But I tend to calculate the weight, durability and flexibility of any part I run. For me, running the stock or aftermarket plastic towers with a billet brace is the best compromise for flex and rigidity. The brace will add some strength, but will also allow the towers to flex a bit in an impact without breaking anything important. And it will save you some weight over full on billet.

I love the look of billet parts, but the added weight and possibility of losing the insurance of the cheaper stock/plastic bits breaking vs. something more expensive in the car is too much for me to invest in. I'd rather beat the hell out of my truck than worry about breaking expensive billet parts.

That being said, you should definitely get them if you want them! I won't crap on anyone who wants to add more bling to their ride. That's what keeps this hobby going and growing!
Lol don't stop but...... hell it's like a PhD theasis every time you respond ????????
 
Back
Top
AdBlock Detected

We get it, advertisements are annoying!

Sure, ad-blocking software does a great job at blocking ads, but it also blocks useful features of our website. For the best site experience please disable your AdBlocker.

I've Disabled AdBlock    No Thanks