OleC

Pyramid,

You said the X-ray 30W oil is similar to TRI 50-60WT. So since I use the X-ray 30W oil I dont need to change it?

I removed the front swaybar yesterday and played around with the springs. With white rear and light blue in front it gave a pretty good balance between front and rear traction but it is on the edge of being too twitchy for me. I think my average laptimes will increase with this setup (no lap counting system up yet on this track).
I think I'll do some experimenting with the camber links the next time. Maybe I'll put on a 1mm front anti roll bar and see how that works.

JDXray

iTrader: (3)

I have noticed most setups just use the Xray 30w. I know i do all around but i run carpet not sure what it is on asphalt.

chach

Rob, is there any special secret to building these shocks that I need to know about.

F1Junkie

I have mounted Tamiya shocks on my FK. The tamiya shocks are a bit short, so I simply replaced the stock ball cups with some trimmed down 5 mm turnbuckle ball cups. So far they are working great.

I have not had good experience with the XRAY shocks. The first T1R shocks I never even built, b/c of that silly 1mm clearance that no one seems to be able to achieve, and the second set on my FK, I had one shock that always got an air bubble. After rebuilding it four times, after the first day of practice, voila! The air bubble came back. I gave them one chance, and they disappointed me. I had experience with the TRF shocks on my 415, so I know these shocks will perform flawlessly. Most of the XRay people say the XRay shocks leak, so why bother with all the hassle? That's the one weak point of the car, which is really a big deal, considering it involves the suspension. Hopefully XRay can improve the shock quality so we do not have to resort to having "mutt" cars in the future.

JDXray

iTrader: (3)

I have tried the TRF on the Xray as well and they were short so my ride height was HIGH so i put the xray ones back on and they are perfect fit.

I would just stay with the xray ones and build them right. Only reason they leak is because it wasnt built correctly. Not sure if the alum. body make a difference but i wouldnt think so. I havent had my shocks leak on me yet. Just my first pair leaked on me once so i rebuilt them.

Jon

Pyramid

Yes, I believe they are pretty close.. but then if you need to adjust your damping just a little bit from that point, you may find it difficult with the big jump in oil thickness range of choices from Xray/Serpent.

I hate that feeling as well.. especially when running outdoor, track temp varies from run to run which may sometimes the car react differently within 5 minutes run. But one thing I always keep in mind, there isn`t best setup, it always compromise between things. Ideally we want the car to go/match our fingers (driving style), but most of the time is the other way around

Pyramid

It should not rub at standard setups.. but I`m not sure if you mount the eccentric holder on its tightest point

JDXray

iTrader: (3)

Whats the pros/cons of adding a shim(s)? Is it good for carpet tracks?

any information would be great.

Jon

Pyramid

TRF damper is the smoothest and easiest to build. Bleeding it is a little tricky as it does not have bleeding hole like the one from Yok SD. As far as leaking, all TRF damper series (from 414 era to flourine coated) leaks both from bottom and top upon usages. If you dont mind keep changing all orings and all plastic caps with brand new one on every rebuilt, this would be the most forgiving damper you ever own.

Chach, here is some writing I did for building Serpent shocks (same case with Xray),

First thing is to assembly the top cap with its diagfram together (SER-909406+909402+6431). Then use `tapper` for M3 screws to pre threads the ball joints (SER-909403) deep enough so that you could have the piston rod (shock shaft) gets in and exposed maximum 0.5mm of its threads. Pay attention to its straightness when pre threading the ball joint. If the threads on piston shaft get too deep (shaft threads gets in beyond ball joint), you would be limited to have bigger droop (front is the most effected). Make sure all the piston-rod assy could slide easily to the shock housing without any bindings. Rule of thumb is to drop the piston-rod assy to the shock housing and it should drop completely straight (without the bottom cap installed). You could either use an acto/hobby knife to trim some of piston burrs remaining from the production process, or run the whole piston-rod assy with dremel and a fine grid sand paper to make them fit more freely in case needed.

Now it is the time to fill the oil and remove any air bubbles remaining by moving the piston-rods assy up and down several times. After all air bubbles cleared, do the following steps,

Close the top cap assy by threading it to the shock housing at about 1mm or so, then start pushing piston-rod assy up (to its maximum travel) to bleed some oil. While pushing the piston-rod assy up, you would also closing the top cap assy further down until you could not possible (WITHOUT FORCE) go any further. At this point, your top cap assy will NOT close totally firm to the shock housing and that is OK. Remember, this step is only meant to make sure no air inside the top part of your damper. This is not the actual bleeding process.
Next, turn counter clockwise and open bottom holder (where your o-ring reside) just enough so that o-ring is no longer being pressed by its holder. Again, push the piston-rod assy up to halfway only to bleed some oil from the bottom. Then close the bottom part while the piston-rod assy stays at the point you stopped before. Now try to close the top cap assy firmly to its housing again and you should be able to close it firmly. While doing that, your piston-rod assy will lengthen itself to the maximum again. Remember, this step is to bleed just enough oil out so that you could close the top cap assy firmly to the shock housing. Again, this is not the actual bleeding process.
Now this is the real bleeding process. Open the bottom cap again, push the piston-rod assy up to its maximum travel. While still holding the piston-rod assy at its peak, use the same fingers/hand to close the bottom cap. Rule of thumb, your piston should not rebound more than halfway of its total travel, 3-5mm is the common results. You are done !!!
PS: If you feel that rebound strength is not the same between L/R or F/R as preferred, you would need to do it again from the beginning. If you open the bottom cap one more time to bleed just a little oil as desired, the `progressive` rebound feeling will not be the same and there is a good change for air to get inside.
Furthermore, in order to do less rebuilding maintenance due to small oil leaking from the bottom cap on usage, you could put 0.2-0.3mm shims (4x6mm such as Tamiya TA53586 or KOSE K1637-Teflon Motor Shims 3.4x6mm which is the best) inside the bottom cap to press the o-ring further (shim goes first then the purple o-ring) on its place and within the shaft when mounted. Rule of thumb, you must be able to use all 4 shocks at least 4 hours without the sign of air bubble inside and still having the same rebound stroke/strength.

Pyramid

I found Xenon/Yokomo white spurs is the best choice for TRF, very true running like RW white spurs that fits our T1FK. Looks like you are staying in the wrong TRF area

Michal101

iTrader: (13)

Hey

I have a quick question on Josh's setup on CEFX's website that everybody keeps referring to and the question is that I see that he is using 50 wt oil in the front with all 4 holes closed and 30 wt in the rear with all of the holes open, but what else does it say in that setup box since I cannot read his writing?

Thanks in advance, Mike

litespeed-dom

iTrader: (4)

I'm having a hard time finding RW 64 pitch spur that has the appropriate 3 holes to fit our FK. Know anywhere I can get some? I use RW spurs on my 1/12th.

Dom

Korey Harbke

iTrader: (13)

I know RW 48 pitch gears work, but for some reason the 64 pitch gears dont. PRS gears do work though. I have a 130T PRS gear on my car. It's awesome!!!

-Korey

litespeed-dom

iTrader: (4)

Korey-

Well, I can find 48 pitch RW but they only have 2 holes in them....

130T?? Damn that's big! I was thinking about 124.... is your motor sitting low? I'm assuming Deb carries them? We have no PRS down here.

Dom

Hondaguy

You can order direct from PRS. I just ordered 130,132, and 134 tooth spurs for my X-Ray.

Precision Racing Systems