Ok, I'm going to ask a dumb question. Right now, I'm running 2-hole pistons (I believe they're just the stock ones, I bought a roller so I'm not 100% sure yet), and put 30 weight oil front and back. If I wanted to adjust damping, I'd just use 27.5 or 32.5 oil to do that. Why would I want to mess with piston hole numbers or diameters? Isn't changing those the same as changing shock oil viscosity? Or is going from 2 to 3 holes a slightly less dramatic change than going from 30 to 27.5 weight oil?

it feels different. pack vs low speed dampening vs plushness. If all you ever needed to do was change oils, there would only be 1 set of pistons available. When ever you buy a used roller, you should always take the shocks apart. Check the pistons, the amount of limiters and replace the oil. You need to know your car inside and out, so you know where you are and get to where you want to be. I have had several guys at the track say my car is pushing or it feels unstable. Then, I ask, what is in your shocks. Several will say, "I dont know". At this point, I normally giggle, wish them luck and suggest they open up the shocks when they get home. I often buy lightly used kits because of the cash saving and the chance of getting tires that work at my track for cheapish. But, I tear it all the way down, check for stripped screws, rebuilt/set the diff, check out the shock package and look for worn parts in need of replacement. If it is a kit I have never owned before, this also lets me get a feel for how the car goes together and how to fix it. Plus it can highlight what tools I need for the car. i.e. the Kyosho shock tool is trash and best to replace.

The triple after the two doubles... was Hump able to make that or was he dbl singling it? Also curious if it was a 6 min main? Was that your daughter running the camera? The humming and singing and back and forth b/t the girls cracked me up, precious.

yeah, she was running the camera. Yeah, hump was the only one doing it double, double triple in 17.5. In 13.5 and mod they did it no problem. Yeah, not sure why the main was 6 minutes. 13.5 ran for 10 minutes......I figured we would at least get 8 minutes...

I raced my B4.2 for the first time this past weekend.

TQ'ed by a lap. While running in 1st with a quarter track lead... lap traffic. Got tapped coming off of a pretty decent sized jump and broke a front arm. 1/10 cars are not made for 1/8 tracks!

I have never driven a better handling, easier to work on, or faster car than the B4.2 in complete stock form. Factory Team setup to the T and I could not be any happier.

Has anyone had any front arm breakage problems? I broke one in practice after a large 25ft double, and one in the main. I have lost my ability to drive smoothly at all times after a year hiatus from 2wd buggy. I'm planning on boiling my next set of arms.

rpm is releasing front arms for the b4. But yes, the b4 drives very well, but dont hit things, lol. It really does not like pipes at a decent clip. That being said, I smacked a few pipes last weekend and nothing broke...now that I said it, it will break next weekend for sure.

You focused on the wrong part of my post. To clarify, I did take my shocks fully apart to verify and rebuild everything. I have two-hole pistons, the only thing I was unable to do is measure those holes accurately. Maybe they're 1.5, maybe 1.6, I don't know. I decided to use them as is for now, as I'm not good enough to be able to tell the tiny difference.

My question still stands: what feels different between "pack vs low speed dampening vs plushness"? I'd be happy to read about it if anyone has a valuable link

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't the stock pistons labeled?

Stock pistons are marked.

They should be, it can be hard to see the numbers, find the marks, and run a sharpie over them.

No problems with the arms that I know of ..


Normal to break something if you hit hard , good news is you will break fewer parts as you gain experience ...

Ah, I did not know that, I'll look for the marks, thanks!

Hideeho
GOOD GOD I HOPE HE DOESN'T GAIN MORE EXPERIENCE!!!! He's already one of the fastest guys in the south east (look at the AMS 4.0 results for proof). This weekend will give you all the practice you need to get rid of those bad sc10 habbits w/o having to worry about braking anything except an idler gear (loosen the slipper, A BUNCH). I assume your coming to win some money in ebug & bringing the the b4, right?

A good tip is to mark or highlight the piston numbers that are molded in with a sharpie. Install the pistons with the numbers up so you what is installed. If you forget, the open the cap and and have a look see.

my latest b4.2 video:

+ YouTube Video

Everyone is talking about weights today, so I'll ask...What handling characteristic do weights modify? I've never tinkered with them and have always had my electronics in the typical locations for each of my cars.