Best oil for shocks

[Batone76]

What is the best shock oil and weight for bashing on dirt?

 

[i_r_beej]

How heavy is your car? (Or truck?) As a really rough guess, you'd want to start with 30 or 40 weight shock oil.

 

[Batone76]

How heavy is your car? (Or truck?) As a really rough guess, you'd want to start with 30 or 40 weight shock oil.

I have a ruckus monster truck 2wd and a short course 4wd

 

[xlDooM]

There's no real answer for your question. It depends on the application (bashing? dirt racing?) and the car. On the 2wd for example, some people take a heavier weight oil in the back.

Also, the "30 weight" is not a proper unit, it is brand specific (one brand's 30 is another brand's 35 etc.). Cst rating is the consistent unit. So it's best to stick with one brand of oil so you don't surprise yourself by buying a heavier weight which turns out to be thinner...

I haven't found the perfect weight for my Amps. 350cst is too light for the back when I want to jump it. For the front it's about right. But the stock shocks aren't very smooth anyway so I'll hold off on proper suspension tuning until I have something else on it.

 

[i_r_beej]

Generally speaking, the thinner the oil the more responsive the shock will be. Responsive is good over really rough terrain since the tires will stay in better contact with the terrain. However, the car will tend to bottom out more easily since the thinner oil is providing less resistance to the piston moving in the shock body. A thicker oil will be less responsive--making your car bounce around on the terrain more--but will absorb the energy from big jumps. No matter what you do it's going to be a compromise. So for bashing it would be good to aim for the middle to start with, and then experiment with different weights/viscosities. (30wt=350cst and 40wt=500cst... approximately)