old leaky serpent shocks
 

Ive been trying to revive an old impact spec '99, so far everything has been a breeze, but i have a shock that is acting up.

I put new fluid in the rear shocks, one of the shocks seems to operate fine, and dampen well, with a bit of rebound.

when full of shock oil, the other side will hydro-lock when the piston moves up and down.

I thought that maybe the o-ring on the piston is worn/ out of spec and dragging on the inside of the shock body or something,

i put extra light shock oil in it to see if it would stop hydro-locking and it did to a certain extent.

it would seem that the shock needs replacement o-rings at the very least, but how would i go about getting them? they are an unusual size with a thin cross-section. it would seem that sourcing them would be difficult. and i doubt serpent still supports these old style shocks.

The dome shaped bladder/ seal also leaks, and i find shock oil all over the outside of the shock. is it an acceptable practice to use teflon tape to stop shock oil from leaking out?

also after reading the set up manual it appears that these old shocks have adjustable dampening. how does it work? the illustration is very vague.

I hope to revive these original shocks.

Hydro lock is caused by bad bladders or too much oil.
If the shocks are adjustable they should have a pioston made up of two parts. One part should be able to rotate thus opening more or less holes in the piston. The adjustment is done by fully extending the shock and rotating the shaft. The piston will fall in a notch and you'll notice a click everytime a different setting is made.

Call Robert at Ashford Hobby. He probably still has parts for the old serpent shocks. Get o-rings and bladders for all of them.

http://ashfordhobby.com/

Thanks, great explanation!


I'll give him a try, thanks guys!