Shock oil tuning?

[Goggles Paesan]

Could someone explain what difference the oil weights make when tuning.

[Fastforward]

Higher viscosity shock oils take more time to flow through the holes in the shock pistons and therefore slow down the transition time for that corner of the car. Lighter oil will let the car transition faster. Finding the right balance is what chassis tuning is all about. You can also tune the shocks (sometimes called dampeners) by changing the piston in the shock to have more holes or larger holes.

Also, remember that the springs control how much travel you will have for a specific load and the shocks control the speed of the transition. If have too soft of a spring, you can't hold the car up with heaver shock oil.

Hope that helps.

[Goggles Paesan]

Thanks BBB.

[DaveW]

Keep in mind also that dampening pack can "feel" similar by jockeying piston hole size and oil weight.

For example... an Associated #1 piston with 50wt oil might "feel" the same as an Associated #3 with 20wt oil. By "feel" i mean when the shock shaft is moved in and out of the shock body by hand.

The difference on the track is a larger holed piston (less piston surface area) with heavier oil will always feel more planted and seem to provide more overall traction... and works great on medium bite asphalt and carpet tracks (even off-road).