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Comparing Shock Oil Viscosity Between Brands

Comparing Shock Oil Viscosity Between Brands

Old 05-20-2004, 10:16 AM
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Default Comparing Shock Oil Viscosity Between Brands

This question has poped up in different threads. I came across the following and thought I'd share:

http://www.twf8.ws/new/tech/tip/shock.html
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Old 05-20-2004, 11:49 AM
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Its hard to say if this is valuable info. Anyone that has raced any period of time seriously knows this already....and generally we don't care. Unless its a National or a Worlds and your in the run for the A-Final. Even then most of the factory drivers I know don't worry about this unless there is a huge temperture shift. This is just too much for a regular guy to worry about.

1. I'd say stick to one brand of oil.

2. Set your car up for the track. If you car is doing something you don't like and you want to change the oil...by all means do so.

2. Sure there are variances in lots of oil but temperature variances at you local track on an hourly basis (Morning to Noon, Noon to Evening, Overcast to Sunny) will cause greater viscosity variances. Some guys pit in A/C trailers (70degF) then sit their cars on a 140degF track. What if they raced right way after calling a minute's grace vs. having their cars sit on the track for 4 minutes if they were ready early?

Going to your local track and spending the day turning laps on the clock will do a lot more for your win record than this.

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Old 05-20-2004, 12:00 PM
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that is a great article.

i actually have access to a $20K brookfield rheometer on a daily basis and have thought of doing the same type of tests, but in more detail in an effort to get true rheological data, and not just viscosity. we assume the oil to be silicone and a newtonian fluid, but any type of blending could change that some.

i would be curious to see if there have been any track testing, full scale or otherwise, that was done with shear thinning or thickening fluids used for dampening. ie: it gets thicker or thinner with increasing piston velocity. any thoughts?

i wish trinity was tested. it is like 20% lighter than associated given the same value on the package. not a big deal as long as it is repeatable.

very nice find.

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Old 05-20-2004, 12:05 PM
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adrian, i agree that the small variances are negligeable on the track. a good cross reference could be useful if, for some reason, you were forced to switch brands of oil in a hurry. not very likely to happen, but possible just the same.

bottom line - stick to one brand when moving up and down the viscosity range to ensure fairly equal steps.
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Old 05-20-2004, 04:48 PM
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The most interesting thing to me was that the increase in viscosity was not linear as you go up in weight.
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Old 05-20-2004, 08:26 PM
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Thanks seaball.....I will add that word to my list....newtonian fluid....don't know what it is but it sounds cool!

I thought that maybe this fluid is what is making you fast so I started the search for Newtonian fluid and I cant find any.

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Old 05-20-2004, 10:30 PM
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i thought the whole idea of silicone shock oil was so it didn't change viscosity when the temperature changes.

to see what the viscosity difference between 2 brands is, use a losi shock matching guage. Make sure the shocks are the same (like one o-ring might have more drag than the other) then put the oil in them and see what happens
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Old 05-21-2004, 07:19 AM
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You can do that because if there are any differences in seal drag, side loading of the shaft or internal shock pressure you will get false results.

Silicone oil is much more stable than Dinosaur oil but it still changes.
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