Firehammer MT Shocks

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krypton, first of all thanks for the compliment. I though it looks real beefy.

Q. One shock tower screw?
Actually I have 2 screws at the shock tower. The plate is 1/4 inch thick so the 2nd hole is drill and taped.

Q. Drive shaft not level?
Thanks for bring up the ride height. I need to set the sag so the drive shaft is almost level. This shock has a longer travel so I can set lower sag.

Q. Where does the truck bottom?
Currently the truck bottom out on the shock and that it is not a good thing. I have a spacer at the bottom so I can bring it down lower. I only have a ¼ of an inch before the car bottom out.

Q. Plan for the front?
I figure most of the weight is in the back so I need a beefier shock. The front will be stock for now. I will later upgrade with an RC8T (ASC89047) rear shock. This shock has the same spec as the current shock but it is a better design.

I’m up grading the shock first because I just hate anything that leaks.
 
ya dude, i completly understand. that would drive me crazy too. and it has. i would hate to see you blow cash and not get proper resoults. i have been keeping an eye on this thread. i see what your trying to do. your trying to fix a serious problem the right way, with the posibilities of upgrading your suspension. but what i see is that you are using 8th scale parts on your fifth scale and are going to be mix-matching front and rear components. just like i don't like parts to leak, i also like them to match and be built for "my" application. it seems as tho you have allready invested money, but this seems to be a better option(in my opinion) and cheaper too. they don't have a history of leaking (i have them). they may be a couple mm's too long but you can put some restrictors on the inside of the shock body and still have suspension travel beyond your chassis bottoming out.
stock- http://www.rampagehopups.com/product.sc?categoryId=12&productId=144
upgraded- http://www.rampagehopups.com/product.sc?categoryId=6&productId=281
these are fg shocks. they don't come with spring or lower shock mount, but you already have those on you stock shocks. this price is for one. but they are still cheaper then the shock you have and are a direct fit.
http://www.fgsupply.com/Shocks-Rear_shock_absorber_1pce.html
please don't take my post as a complaint. im just trying to help. whatever you do is going to be better then your stock set-up.
 
Hey Krypton, I value your comments and everyone. I'm here to learn and learn from your comments.

I did not find any spec on FG parts during my research and i saw some oversea parts that I was not willing to venture. Basically, I took dimension from stock parts and start from there.

As far as mismatching shocks, I do not mind it at all. Many people change oil viscosity, piston orifice, length, and spring tension to accommodate the weight different between front and back of the car. The LST shocks are overbuild for it application because some company like to use it as marketing tool. Honestly a single 16mm shock for the rear is under design for the hammer.

Thanks for the link. I will try different seal and plastic washer on the stock shock first. If that does not work, I will upgrade to some FG parts. I don’t mind trying something different or minor modification. I enjoy it as a hobby. Where is the fun in buying something of the rack and bolt it on? I know it will cost me more in the long run and I’m known for not leaving well enough alone.

Krypton, I know you are very good with the cars because you notice the rear ride height. I notice that during the assembly but did not act on it till you brought it up. Thanks for calling me on it.
 
I am going to make my own pistons today from some stuff I have here. I used it to make stand offs for my carbon servo plate in the semi. the plastics store here sells delrin, nylon etc rods. this stuff is nylon with molybdinum woven in. it's very slippery. I just need to either turn the OD down or find something that fits.... I also have a container of old shock parts so hoping I get lucky and find an actual piston to fit from something else but if not, I'll make some.... I am off work today and it'll divert me from cleaning the garage hehe... my shop is getting better but I have way too much crap in here...
 
Pip, do it up man. I'm hoping to find an of the self piston kit for short money to try.

I hear ya on cleaning the garage. I have lots of hobby and the RC is holding my attention right now.

Keep me posted.
 
thats great rodeo, im glad you didnt take my post the wrong way. its hard to take someones dimeaner thru simple text. i think its great that your looking outside the box and doing the fab work as well as posting your findings. thats what the forums are all about. after taking a second look, i see that you did in fact drill and tap the holes out on the shock mount. like you, i spend countless hours in the "hobby room" experimenting and trying diffrent things. some things work, and some don't. but thats what we love about it.. rock on, and keep this thread updated with your finding... jason
 
I got side tracked and had to put some window tint on the house window. Heat shield stuff. An experiment. I use limo black auto tint on a west facing window as the heat coming in there in summer is brutal and we live in a condo complex. I am on the corner and the street runs along that window. Can't open the blinds while sitting there or everybody sees what you are eating. And the park is right behind so the kids like to look in lol... been putting that one off..

tell ya it sure is easy to do though and makes a huge difference. today it's snowing and I just read slawhammer's project so time to get to work. taking over the kitchen table as I can't feel my fingers out here in the shop. Shocks first and I'll take pics and such.
 
I have ripped the back 2 shocks apart. I took a couple small vids and will upload shortly (just came out to the garage for a smoke break)...

one thing I have found is the play in my pistons isn't so much between them and the shock body, but at the shaft itself. The underside of the piston has a recession for the c clip to fit into and it appears it has too much recession. plus the slot on the shaft for the clip is too wide and the clip wobbles. I actually managed to get 2 clips in that slot on the underside and put it back together and it is much tighter now. I still need to rebuild the bottom as the brass bushing is worn, but I wonder if there is that play in new shocks as well. I can't see the clip wearing that slot down so evenly.

I did find a set of 4 pistons in my box o plenty (old kitchen drawer I toss loose bits into hehe) and was going to drill out the center for the shaft when I noticed the play wasn't the outside. Sure it has a little, but not as much as I had first thought since most of the play is in that clip on the shaft. I even shimmed with a small thin washer on top to tighten it up.... I am going to fill the back 2 now and see... funny enough I hadn't leaked fluid since I had changed the o rings on bottom with some in my box from an unknown rc. they still had rebound.
 
PIP great observation on the woblely piston. My shock is still out for service and I can't wait to rip it open to tighten the pistion. The new LST shock i have does not use E-clip on the piston. They use threaded shaft and lock nut so the piston does not wobbe at all. At the bottom they use nylon and aluminum (no metal near the shaft at all) so it can't gouge the shaft.

You mentioned brass bushing at the bottom of the shock body. My shock have metal washer and it is the main culperate that gouge up the shaft. The original washer look like brass but it stick to magnet.

I think we have a compound problem with the DTX shock. Wobbly piston, bad o-ring and metal washer that tear up the shaft.

Keep up the good work and post your results.
 
I remember going to the hardware store years back and getting this package of nylon spacers in various sizes that I used for rebuilding shocks. I have finally just about run out. I guess I need to see if I can find those again... nylon would be better than the metal ones... it just looks brass, I guessed it was. steel is even worse
I stuffed some rubber o rings from the box o plenty in and they don't leak anymore... the double c clip made a huge difference in the wobble. the videos are short but my cam takes fairly large mov files. I have to convert them to upload (photobucket only allows 100mb max)... here's 2, last one is uploading now
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it's funny listening to yourself... so busy thinking I missed some words, like fit in the shock body? hehe


simple fix though, just add an extra clip. I wish I had some thin shims to add to the top. nothing I had fit so next rebuild I will have to add some shims to the top of the piston under that clip and it'd be super tight
 
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Funny thing after watching.
One, your a good old hockey fan.:cool2:
Two, your just rooting for the wrong teams.:clown:

I wondered why I had installed those plungers upside down and fitted a washer on top to fit in the indent. I couldn't figure it out when I last tore them down.
The other thing I like about your new plunger idea is the three spots on the DTX's are just too big for the oil to get by. Its like having half a plunger. I put 2000wt oil in and its still like water due to the openings.
Did you try the new plunger with the two holes?
 
LOL. I know what you mean, I mixed some 40wt I had with 1000wt dif oil and they are still too soft. I might have to try some thicker oil now too, or change the piston. I just tossed them together as they were to see what difference it made... still amazes me they are made so poorly. I've had other Duracrap products that were tough as nails... I had an F1 that we beat the heck out of and it never broke.

Hey I am a hockey fan through and through. I hate to admit I am a Vancouver fan, though having Sundin from Toronto, and our second goal scorer Wellwood from toronto, means I can hassle my bud's out east about losing their 2 best players to us... even if our team still sucks. I don't really care what teams are playing, I'll watch hockey and wrench rc's. If not hockey, then MMA (watched the Affliction fight card last night while tinkering after the hockey was done). Normal tv shows bore me, aside from Family guy or Futurama, and they aren't normal.

I might just rip those shocks apart and try the other pistons after all. I might have shims that fit those thinner ones. The Flames just opened the drain valve and scored a ton in 3rd, and the Canucks are just coming on ;) so I'll have something to do.

Ya BTB, I followed your lead and mixed my own. I had 7000 and 5000 dif oil, 7k is a bit thick hehe. I mixed the 7k with 20wt to come up with about 3500 and that seems to be much better.
 
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Yup..nice vid your doing there....Yeah the firehammer shocks leak big time...
I would say to rebuild you would need the piston made out of nylon and the shaft threaded
with a lock nut..going thru a nylon washer.......
I think I am just going to look for a heavy duty spring..and let the spring do most of the work......Or spend the money for FG Shocks...They seem to be better..AKASlawhammer
 
that might be the ticket. just tap the shaft down to the bottom groove and use a washer and locknut. My shocks feel really good right now until I order the rebuild stuff, so am going to leave as is. I wrenched the redcat to get it prepped for breaking in the big block this week, semi tires arrived in Blaine yesterday so I'll have that to work on this weekend... too many toys and too many projects hehe

a friend and I are doing up a couple pocket quads and spent the night brainstorming some ideas to improve... I watched videos and noticed they need some suspension tuning. I think they'dmake a super tough platform for bashing and a cheap alternative. I saw on a crawling forum a guy made a moveable weight on a servo and that got me thinking. The Kyosho HOR has a rider that leans so why not a leaning weight inside the chassis on a Y cable and servo? add a thick skidplate to chassis bottom for low cog weight to compensate for no rider,,, oops babbling wrong area LOL
 
My wife of all people got me into hockey. When I really started becoming a fan of the sport the dang North Stars split town. I met my wife a crazy Flyer's fan and I was hooked. Now we have our own team the Wild and its still hard to not keep rooting for the Flyer's. My wife always buys the NHL Hockey Ticket and we get to watch both. Heaven.
 
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