Shock ReBuild

Shiny and new. Lets check how to renew your yokomo shocks.

Here is how they started. leaking and sad. Dark alloy and spongy with unknown oil.

 So I took them apart ready for new oil and o-rings and maybe bladders.

My favourite tool. Every modeller should have one of these.

Because look at the results.... metal polish these and they shine beautifully.  Clean every thread!

I use the BD5 twin o-ring and short guide. The black guide and blue o-ring has a lot of play. Without going to the overdose high precision kit. I think this is a little better for keeping the oil inside.

I also protect my pliers for the next step.

When screwing on the ball end, try not to grip on the shaft. If you have to, use a soft grip as the shaft slides through the o-rings and guide any damage can stop the smoothness of your shock.

I take some measurements to make sure the sizes are the same.

You don't want one longer than the other. If you can replace the lower ball caps if loose.

ready to fill up. make sure all your oil is free of bubbles. make sure the piston is pushed up and down many times slowly to get all the air out of the oil. top up to overflowing.

One bladder was damaged, so I replaced that as it had gotten caught in the thread on last assembly.

When the cap is going on of course the excess oil will be pushed out. just clean it up.

Then test the dampers a few times. If the speed the dampers extend is not the same, try re-assembly. It could be a pocket of air in there or something misaligned when putting on the cap.

Measure your springs and keep left and right the same heights while setting the ride height. Just like a real car with corner weights (it would be nice to have 4 small scales), if your chassis is totally one-side heavy then this would be the only real time you should need to run different left to right.

After this it's drive time for final setting. you shouldn't have to move them too much.

If you find you are compressing your springs a lot, maybe it's time to try a different tension.