What Shock oil for what weight?

[jpedersm]

Is there some type of graph to use for truck weight and recommended shock weight to use?

 

[Xx Losungen xX]

Weight of the truck has nothing to do with shock oil weight.

Shock oil weight tunes the rate at which the spring compresses or decompresses.

Lower weight oil = less dampening.

Higher weight oil = more dampening.

Are you wanting to tune your ride height? If so, springs and/pre load are what you want to change for that.

 

[jpedersm]

I totally heard RC review in one of his videos for this heavy of a truck I would suggest this weight shock oil.

 

[Inspector86]

I totally heard RC review in one of his videos for this heavy of a truck I would suggest this weight shock oil.

The key in that statement is "I would suggest". There is no such thing as one best setup. There are far too many variables involved. How you drive, your terrain, your tires, spring rates, vehicle weight, all these factors and more effect what will work best for you. To your original question, pick a shock oil weight and go out and drive. Then try a heavier or lighter oil and see if your truck works better or worse. I run 20wt shock oil in the summer and 10wt in the winter in my 10+# TRX4 but what works for me may or may not work for you.

 

[Xx Losungen xX]

I totally heard RC review in one of his videos for this heavy of a truck I would suggest this weight shock oil.

Unfortunately not all information provided on YouTube is accurate or complete.

By his logic I should be adjusting my shock oil in my 1:1 pickup based on passengers, box weight, towing etc.

There is certainly some argument made for starting with a weight of oil, for a specific shock on a specific chassis(geometry) but ultimately, it's use would determine rebound and dampening, not the hardware itself, or its weight.

 

[HumboldtEF]

Which shocks? The shocks and their pistons play a huge role.

There's a huge spectrum for what folks like, some like thick some like thin. I suggest starting somewhere in the middle, feel it out and work from there.

10-35wt is probably the most common range, I've taken it all the way up to 90wt on some builds though, its really all over the place. I tried some thick oil in TRX4 shocks and they did not work well at all, i had to back it down 3-4 time until I ended up at 10wt which was much lower than I had expected but this was due to the piston not allowing much fluid to pass through.

 

[Timmahh]

Consider Shocks almost like a Nitro Motor. Sure they may run, but if you tune them right, and spend a bit of time, they'll run like a raped ape. lol

Weight of rig is one of many factors when tuning your shocks.

 

[TITANIUM94010]

Is there some type of graph to use for truck weight and recommended shock weight to use?

Springs would affect the body roll/flex when crawling much more because flexing is a much slower process compared to torque twist.

A thicker oil would cause the shocks to move slower, which reduces the effects of torque twist when accelerating because the thicker oil stops the shocks form articulating so much during that short period of time.

I did hear Rc Review say thicker oil will help in his SCX10 II UMG video, but I think that's because the heavier body causes more added torque twist to the already semi-twisty SCX10 II chassis.

 

[MOguy]

Is there some type of graph to use for truck weight and recommended shock weight to use?

What do you want your RC to do different? I am somewhat new to this but like everything else there is no perfect answer, just trade offs.

I have the shocks that came with my TRX4 and whatever oil they put in it.

I have been doing some experiments climbing and I found that one of the biggest changes was angling my rear shock forward and putting less load on he shocks. Now it seems like I have more in control over the RC instead of me reacting to what my suspension is doing.