gabor szilagyi

iTrader: (12)

I saw a few local pro guys they don't use shock boots.I am remember the first issues of the Xray 808 didn't come with boots neither.IMO negatives of the boots :-could bind and limit ,,,-if the boot has a hole actually its keep the dirt arond the shock shaft.(i had many times my boots was looking good and there was no visable hole but under the boots it was messy with dirt ) ..Positive about boots :-if its in good shape protecting well your shocks..........I removed the boots and the buggy feels different than when the boots instaled.Feels like the shock working smoother in full capacity..I wondering if i gonna have extensive wear or not?Have u guys tryed yet? What is your opinion?

Trevor Williams

iTrader: (207)

Im no pro, but I dont use them unless the track is really wet.....then it might not be a bad idea to throw them on. The Losi ones always seem to tear near the bottom anyways so I have always taken them off my cars. I inspect and clean/rebuild my shocks quite often and I keep an eye on the ti-nitride shaft coating to see how it's looking....If I see wear, I replace them to keep things as smooth as possible.

ganymede

iTrader: (2)

Play safe boys! Always wear protections to protect your shaft, shock shaft that is...

morgoth

A set of O rings costs as much as 4 shockboots. I use balloons and shockboots and there's not much debris under them.

vwduud

iTrader: (48)

When I ran 1/10th scale 2WD offroad years ago, shock boots weren't available (not sure if they're an option today).

I can remember building the 1/10th scale shocks with a determined amount of rebound. It didn't take much dirt getting in the o-rings to affect the rebound and overall smoothness of the shock. Wasn't a huge deal, just something I can look back on now that I run 1/8th with boots.

I can build an 1/8th scale shock, set its rebound, wrap it in a boot, run it for 3 Q's and main event and still have the same rebound it started with.

I can't say that I wouldn't have the same rebound without the boots on the 1/8th scale shocks. Just speculating that they might have the same issue as mentioned above for 1/10th scale. Haven't tried running with no boots though.

During my learning curve of tuning this chassis, I've made adjustments slowly only as I seen reason for change. For example - running a heavy car until seeing a need to lighten it rather than just doing what every else is doing.

I have seen on a few setup sheets where a D8 team driver removed the front boots from his front shocks.

I'll try that eventually.

Down side is as mentioned above and possibly more maintenance required on the shocks which means more $$ spent for parts and shock oil (at a savings of no boots of course). Also means I have to dedicate more time for maintenance. It's a trade off.

Should this have a performance benefit, I'll consider it.

Performance costs - both time and money. Sometimes. Just don't like doing things just because someone else did it.

blktransam

iTrader: (59)

I do not run boots....but I do make sure they are clean between every run, and do reg. rebuilds on my shocks

vwduud

iTrader: (48)

Can you sumnmarize the gains in performance not running boots?

shanem121

iTrader: (10)

I do run with boots. Its just a little less maintainence. I am not sure of the advantages or dissadvantages of running with or without shock boots.

mgtmadness2007

iTrader: (4)

Yes I run boots.
I would prefer to run boots and NON- Threaded Alum. Big Bores on my RC8 series of vehicles.
That should be an option AE should have.

dragracechief

iTrader: (1)

I run boots too, but why would you want non threaded big bores? Makes adjusting a breeze.

jwm2

iTrader: (5)

Threaded shock bodies make fine tuning easier, but its actually quicker and more accurate to use inserts instead. That way you have the exact same preload on left and right shocks.

omarwashington

iTrader: (2)

I use shock boots, outdoor dusty tracks are killer on shock o-rings and shock oil.

blktransam

iTrader: (59)

a set of 15.00 digital calipers works wounders

on the HB vehicles the boots seem to "bunch" up and limits up travel I have ran no boots for over a year now with no ill effects.

inferno13

iTrader: (202)

wish i could have found digital calipers localy for 15 bucks, went to home depot and bought one for 43.00, but is a pretty cool one!!! lol

jwm2

iTrader: (5)

Yeah i have a set of digital calipers i use all the time (mostly for setting shock length). I use the threaded bodies as well, i used to have a much older vehicle that had the inserts, so i can see how some folks would rather use them instead.