I race 17.5, but you probably wouldn't notice this as much with 21.5/black carpet. I can't remember how much weight it added however, if you look at tom's posts he actually weighed them and compared them. It does add some weight but it was worth it considering the quality of life benefits it provided. As for keeping the heat down, that is a huge thing for racing where I race... Ripon CA.

I feel like I need to make a video on how to build the SSBB dampers. I have no problems with them and I can get zero rebound virtually every attempt at rebuilding.

I really think those dampers are terrible, a lot off play in the piston,no wonder its a pain to get them leak free and without air. I run black Xray dampers on my trf419x because of this.
Those dampers are leak free I( maintance free,almost!) with zero rebound and no play at all in the piston. Why can't tamiya design new Dampers like those. I have now 2 sets off these SSBB,but I will sell them because and cant seem tho get them leak free and without air in it.

I love tamiya and they definitely got some great dampers,but these SSBB are just a waste,for me at least.

The biggest issue is the blue oring that comes with the dampers. Simply changing over to one is the traditional clear oring solves most of the leaking issues.

But also adds a ton of friction compared to the blue oring

In order for the oil to not leak the o-ring has to seal against the shaft. That by itself will cause friction plain and simple. The clear o-ring is the best balance of both. The blue ones are simply too soft.

Tamiya has released TRF aluminium rear uprights.
They are available in 2 and 3 degrees.

What is the sense of setting toe in via upright?

But then it alters also the wheelbase. It's not a simple either or decision how to set rear toe...

From my experience, inboard toe has different effect than outboard toe... Aside the fact that the rear arms are working differently, it makes a difference in corners. Outboard toe make the car pivote, it could be helpful on small pac-man carpet tracks

It's called arm sweep and it has the effect of creating friction in the hinges as more weight shifts to the outside of the car in the turn.

If theres one thing that could be pinned at the top of this forum, its use the clear orings lmao. I learned my lesson 😅 and I took a trip to the forum pages from 2017 and its all about people complaining about the blue ones, and being suggested the clear orings. Even the big bore dampers I got for my FF03 (comes with blue orings) and have been built very carefully with air pumps and very nice muchmore shock grease have started to leak even before a race day.

Don't get the blue orings, don't get the x orings, just listen and get the clear ones for godsake.

Another bonus tip that people might overlook, is tap the bottom of the adjuster (looks like 54489) properly. Dunno if this has been talked before, but I've accidently tapped one slightly crookedly and it made the piston shaft scrape the rod guide on one side and started leaking way more.

I use x-rings with 0,2-0,3mm shim in all my dampers, no leaks, no air in the dampers.

To prevent scratches in piston rods, Tamiya has this nice tool:

Tamiya #42276

Although the clear Tamiya orings are leak free, they cause a lot of drag on the shafts, especially initial sticktion.

Personally I have switched all my Tamiya dampers to using the Yokomo blue orings YS7-HG. They maintain smoothness while allowing only minimal leakage compared to the others I've tried. They're a bit larger than the TRF blue, and are softer than the clears.