TOPIC:

One for Edou I think

Looking at Tamiya's 53443 "Silicone Damper Oil Hard Set", 53444 "medium" set, and 53445 "hard" set, am I right in thinking that the colour codes/weights are:

Soft - Red - 200
Soft - Orange - 300
Soft - Yellow - 400
Medium - Green - 500
Medium - Blue - 600
Medium - Purple - 700
Hard - Pink - 800
Hard - White - 900
Hard - Pale Blue - 1000

?

What's prompting this is me rebuilding a lot of dampers, and finally running out of all the leftovers from various builds ... so would I be right in thinking that the generic yellow stuff that comes with just about any Tamiya kit is 400?

Tamiya oil values are not weight (W/WT which is non standard) but rated in Centi Stokes 'CTS' (official oil value)

but you do have the correct colours and values

here is some nice reading on the subject

waterbok wrote:

Tamiya oil values are not weight (W/WT which is non standard) but rated in Centi Stokes 'CTS' (official oil value)

but you do have the correct colours and values

here is some nice reading on the subject

Thanks

I noticed a while back that Tamiya divided the categories a bit differently in earlier times...
This is from the Manta Ray manual :


Although the colours and numbers are the same, the general criterium for hardness seems to have shifted.

Edou wrote:

...the general criterium for hardness seems to have shifted.

Insert your own joke about Viagra here

It's all about hardness and choosing the right lubrication.

Aint that just great, if you want to get rid of the Friction (dampers) on your Willy you can use Tamiya oil (dampers) and even can adjust the hardness.

Slightly off topic, but....
The dampers on my TRX3 are set up waaaay too stiff, so much so that the tyres skip about all over the place on rough surfaces and the suspension does not rise fully when you press it down.
This seems odd as the rest of the car seems quite well set up (apparently it was a racer).
Is it possible for damper oil to become thicker with age, or do racers just like it like this?

Seeing as a rebuild will be on the cards, where is a good place to start with damper oil (both type/viscosity and purchasing source)? I will probably want to set it up quite soft for back garden bashing.

Interesting case... but many factors could be of influence here.
The damper oil itself shouldn't really change over time but it could get contaminated with dirt or moisture.
It could be of course that a type of oil was used that's just too thick...
First thing I'd do, is take off one (or all) of the shocks and feel how it behaves separately.

Banzai Hobby is my favourite shop for spares - the price is always low and shipment cost as well :

Damper oils and such

I'd choose this one and use #500 or 600.



Edit - I removed the last sentence. I did a switcheroo there.
If the shocks tend to leak, it's best to use some thicker oil (higher number)...

What edou said, + ...

I've seen shocks filled with grease as they wouldn't hold oil There's also the possibility it might not be the shocks - it could be the suspension pivots if they've gummed or rusted up. I'm not familiar with those shocks, but even some older Tamiya shocks have diaphragms over the holes in the pistons, making a one way valve for different compression/rebound characteristics -if your shocks have something like that it could have stiffened up over the years & become useless ... I think you're going to have to take them off & investigate