Originally Posted by
J_Bone
What drives me nuts is the plastic shock caps and shock ends. They wear out fast! I'm on my 3rd set this year. I've noticed most people just drive with them sloppy. So I'm going to do that as well and see. :
I'm guessing you are talking about using the blue FT hardware that comes with the truck? The aluminum eats away at the plastic as it wears doubling the slop in the shock.
I got some great advice from the co owner of our local track. 26+ years in rc and a big AE guy. He is also fast to point out AE short comings. When I bought my new FT he told me this parts list to make shock mounts stay tight for a long time. In your case you will need the following.
FT shock end #1777
Shock end GT #7660 you will need (2)
Shock bushings #6473
New shock caps #6443
Take the GT steel swivel balls and put them in the FT plastic shock ends. You could just use the GT end but the plastic is softer and the FT ends have extra material around where the swivel goes. Use plastic shock bushings and new bleeder caps and you will have a pretty tight shock mount. Since I use BB springs I have to use additional washers/nuts to get proper spacing.
My truck is a little over 3 months old now, I race a minimum of once a week. I swear the setup is damn near as tight as the day I put it together. The FT blingy blue hardware is pretty to look at, but does not last long at all. The dusty and messy track conditions will make it wear even faster than a nice clay track setup.