HPI SAVAGE THREADED ALUMINUM SHOCKS REVIEW
First of all I would like to thank Mega for sending me this set of shocks ... THANKS JOHN !!!!
Hpi has had these shocks out on the market for awhile now. There are some mixed reviews of these shocks. A lot of people say aluminum shocks sucks because the shock body don't "give". and are more prone to bending the shaft. And if you are a serious basher (like myself) then stay away from aluminum shocks... This is what others claim is the problem with aluminum shocks.
So I have a chance to do a review on them and give you MY honest opinion . I will Bash these shocks hard and see how well they do hold up too bashing..
Price: $135.00
Part number: A712
PARTS LIST... Some people are probably asking themselves... "what if I break a part on these shocks" well I am posting replacement parts list on this review. have a look...
#86055 SHOCK SHAFT 3x86mm (SILVER/2pcs) .... $5.00 x 2
#86183 ALUMINUM BOTTOM SHOCK CAP ........$8.00 x 2
#6816 SILICONE O-RING S10.................................$ 2.00 x6
#86179 ALUMINUM THREADED SHOCK BODY $ 20.00 x 2
#86181 SHOCK CAP.................................................$12.00 x 2
#86182 SHOCK NUT ADJUSTER ............................$6.00 x 2
#85108 Rubber Boot ...................................................$4.00 x 2
.....................................................................................................................................................................................I would like to thank all the people that help me find these parts.. AGAIN THANK YOU . (found them on HPI's website)
These alloy shocks are a direct replacement for the stock Savage shocks, so they will fit on all Savage trucks. And comes pre-assembled, the only thing you must do is add shock oil .. 30 WT OIL is what hpi recommends . so thats what I am filling them with. There is also and extra set of pistons. so you can adjust to suit your style of driving. I will talk more about them later.. They also come with rubber boots to help protect the shock shaft..
Filling the shock with oil ...
1. slowly push the shock shaft all the way into the shock body..
2.Fill the shock with oil all the way to the top. Keeping the shock shafts all the way in.
3. slowly pull the shaft out all the way. Don't go to fast and oil will shoot out of the shock body.
4. watch for air bubbles rising to the top. if the are repeat step 3
5. fill the shock body with oil if necessary.
6. with the shaft all the way in the shock body put the cap on slowly allow time for the air to escape out from under the shock cap. These shocks are nice because they have a bleeder hole on the shock caps.. Makes it easier to bleed.
Take your time filling the shock making sure there is no air bubbles . The shock shaft should NOT rebound if the shock is filled right. If the shock rebounds then you have filled the shock to full of oil.. Also you can blow your shock if you have the too much oil in the shock.. SO TAKE YOUR TIME !!!!
TESTING !!!!
I have 1/4 gallon almost on these shocks. I have them adjusted for jumping, because that's what I do most..
I love how easy they are to adjust.. Twist the adjustment nut up to give it a softer feel. Or twist the nut down it stiffen the springs. Very nice and easy to get the Certain feel your looking for. The shocks soaked up everything I threw at them today. From Moguls style bumps to 15 foot air . I love how they keep all four tires planted. Really nice to have full control of your truck on sharp turns. My truck felt like a different truck . On Huge jumps the truck landed perfect, with the stock shocks I would get a nice "bounce" at the landing . Most of the time it would cause the truck to flip on it's side. But the alloy shocks are soaking the big jumps up. VERY NICE !!!
RACERS ..... I think these shocks will benefit racers allot like I have said, VERY easy to adjust and, they come with an extra set of pistons that are for on road use. I haven't tested them yet. I will when I get the chance.
I have noticed that the "bladders" (they cover and protect the shaft) they get bunched up at the bottom b/c they get filled with air and the air can't escape.. I put a few little pin holes at the top of that bladders and it help.. I only did that on the front shocks. I will see how it works..
MORE TESTING . Well I had some time yesterday to really beat on these shocks.. AND BEAT I DID, lol .... Anyway they took everything I threw at them. 20 foot air , to Crazy crashes, Hard Noise dives and 2 wheel landings. I adjusted the shocks. So that the springs had ALLOT of preload.. (not a good thing to do when your jumping 20 foot in the air.) just to see what kind of punishment they could take. THEY TOOK IT ALL !!!! No problems whatsoever .. Check for leaks .. found none .. check for bent shafts FOUND NONE!!!
So far so good with these shocks.. But I noticed the "bladders" (they cover and protect the shaft) they get bunched up at the bottom b/c they get filled with air and the air can't escape.. I put a few little pin holes at the top of that bladders and it help.. I only did that on the front shocks. I will see how it works..
COMPARISON.. How do they compare to the stocks shocks? Depending how you adjust the spring tension the shocks make the ride height about the same of the stock hpi shocks . You can't adjust they stock shocks like you can the threaded. They only thing you can do with the stock shock is change springs add spaces and change oil.. They leak like crazy and are prone to failure.. With the alloy shock you can "fine" tune your suspension. unlike the stockers. They are also really easy to bleed. The shock shafts are VERY well supported in the shock body. And More testing will tell if they hold up.
PROBLEMS...
Did some bashing today (only ran 3 tanks) because of the rain . The shock shaft snapped at the threaded part of the shaft.. It did bend a little but it pretty much made a clean break.. SO I tore the shock down and replaced it with a stock hpi savage shock shaft... They are exactly the same so it was a really easy fix .. Thank god because I didn't want to order new shafts.. This is good news b/c most people are going to have allot of replacement shafts laying around, from there original shocks..
A little video of shocks in action ..
Ok ... here is some bashing w/ the shocks. I lost my mid range needle and I replaced it... BUT if you know how hard it is to retune an engine When your mid range needle back out . you will understand why my truck sounds like crap .. Also it sounds like it's running lean at the end of the video b/c I was running out of fuel. Also on the back flip is where I bent the shock .. Hope You enjoy THANKS
VIDEO CLICK ME ~~!!!
Part 2
Written by: John Helton
We have read Jeremy's review and have seen the bent parts and the cost of these shocks. So to this I will just add some action shots and explanations to them.
First we will look at some shots where I was doing nose dives to break the shocks on purpose.
I did 20 plus off center landing trying to bend or break a shock. After all that lets talk about damage.
2 diff ring gears
2 diff pinion gears
2 rubber sealed bearings (pinion)
4 ceramic bearings ( diffs )
2 bent dog bones
1 broken dog bone
This is just some of the parts broken. Not a bit of damage to the shocks except for a nick on one of the caps. As far as I can see these shocks are a good upgrade for a truck if you can get over the price and the replacement costs. I would keep that in mind before investing in them. If your a basher that plays very hard the stock shocks might be the way to go do to the replacement costs.
Nice launch and the shocks are fully extended.
Now we will look at a clean landing.
If you look closely you can see even with 30 weight oil the shocks are using all there travel. This is a light jump from 5 feet in the air and landing 10 feet from the ramp. This is where I think the problem is. On really big jumps and you land off center there is no give and you snap parts. The shocks fully compressing off of a short jump and the truck doing belly slaps is not that good of a thing. The suspension has no more travel so the energy has to go somewhere. This is where the damage to the shocks and other components is coming from. I will change my spring and oil ratio to try and combat this.
First of all I would like to thank Mega for sending me this set of shocks ... THANKS JOHN !!!!
Hpi has had these shocks out on the market for awhile now. There are some mixed reviews of these shocks. A lot of people say aluminum shocks sucks because the shock body don't "give". and are more prone to bending the shaft. And if you are a serious basher (like myself) then stay away from aluminum shocks... This is what others claim is the problem with aluminum shocks.
So I have a chance to do a review on them and give you MY honest opinion . I will Bash these shocks hard and see how well they do hold up too bashing..
Price: $135.00
Part number: A712
PARTS LIST... Some people are probably asking themselves... "what if I break a part on these shocks" well I am posting replacement parts list on this review. have a look...
#86055 SHOCK SHAFT 3x86mm (SILVER/2pcs) .... $5.00 x 2
#86183 ALUMINUM BOTTOM SHOCK CAP ........$8.00 x 2
#6816 SILICONE O-RING S10.................................$ 2.00 x6
#86179 ALUMINUM THREADED SHOCK BODY $ 20.00 x 2
#86181 SHOCK CAP.................................................$12.00 x 2
#86182 SHOCK NUT ADJUSTER ............................$6.00 x 2
#85108 Rubber Boot ...................................................$4.00 x 2
.....................................................................................................................................................................................I would like to thank all the people that help me find these parts.. AGAIN THANK YOU . (found them on HPI's website)
These alloy shocks are a direct replacement for the stock Savage shocks, so they will fit on all Savage trucks. And comes pre-assembled, the only thing you must do is add shock oil .. 30 WT OIL is what hpi recommends . so thats what I am filling them with. There is also and extra set of pistons. so you can adjust to suit your style of driving. I will talk more about them later.. They also come with rubber boots to help protect the shock shaft..
Filling the shock with oil ...
1. slowly push the shock shaft all the way into the shock body..
2.Fill the shock with oil all the way to the top. Keeping the shock shafts all the way in.
3. slowly pull the shaft out all the way. Don't go to fast and oil will shoot out of the shock body.
4. watch for air bubbles rising to the top. if the are repeat step 3
5. fill the shock body with oil if necessary.
6. with the shaft all the way in the shock body put the cap on slowly allow time for the air to escape out from under the shock cap. These shocks are nice because they have a bleeder hole on the shock caps.. Makes it easier to bleed.
Take your time filling the shock making sure there is no air bubbles . The shock shaft should NOT rebound if the shock is filled right. If the shock rebounds then you have filled the shock to full of oil.. Also you can blow your shock if you have the too much oil in the shock.. SO TAKE YOUR TIME !!!!
TESTING !!!!
I have 1/4 gallon almost on these shocks. I have them adjusted for jumping, because that's what I do most..
I love how easy they are to adjust.. Twist the adjustment nut up to give it a softer feel. Or twist the nut down it stiffen the springs. Very nice and easy to get the Certain feel your looking for. The shocks soaked up everything I threw at them today. From Moguls style bumps to 15 foot air . I love how they keep all four tires planted. Really nice to have full control of your truck on sharp turns. My truck felt like a different truck . On Huge jumps the truck landed perfect, with the stock shocks I would get a nice "bounce" at the landing . Most of the time it would cause the truck to flip on it's side. But the alloy shocks are soaking the big jumps up. VERY NICE !!!
RACERS ..... I think these shocks will benefit racers allot like I have said, VERY easy to adjust and, they come with an extra set of pistons that are for on road use. I haven't tested them yet. I will when I get the chance.
I have noticed that the "bladders" (they cover and protect the shaft) they get bunched up at the bottom b/c they get filled with air and the air can't escape.. I put a few little pin holes at the top of that bladders and it help.. I only did that on the front shocks. I will see how it works..
MORE TESTING . Well I had some time yesterday to really beat on these shocks.. AND BEAT I DID, lol .... Anyway they took everything I threw at them. 20 foot air , to Crazy crashes, Hard Noise dives and 2 wheel landings. I adjusted the shocks. So that the springs had ALLOT of preload.. (not a good thing to do when your jumping 20 foot in the air.) just to see what kind of punishment they could take. THEY TOOK IT ALL !!!! No problems whatsoever .. Check for leaks .. found none .. check for bent shafts FOUND NONE!!!
So far so good with these shocks.. But I noticed the "bladders" (they cover and protect the shaft) they get bunched up at the bottom b/c they get filled with air and the air can't escape.. I put a few little pin holes at the top of that bladders and it help.. I only did that on the front shocks. I will see how it works..
COMPARISON.. How do they compare to the stocks shocks? Depending how you adjust the spring tension the shocks make the ride height about the same of the stock hpi shocks . You can't adjust they stock shocks like you can the threaded. They only thing you can do with the stock shock is change springs add spaces and change oil.. They leak like crazy and are prone to failure.. With the alloy shock you can "fine" tune your suspension. unlike the stockers. They are also really easy to bleed. The shock shafts are VERY well supported in the shock body. And More testing will tell if they hold up.
PROBLEMS...
Did some bashing today (only ran 3 tanks) because of the rain . The shock shaft snapped at the threaded part of the shaft.. It did bend a little but it pretty much made a clean break.. SO I tore the shock down and replaced it with a stock hpi savage shock shaft... They are exactly the same so it was a really easy fix .. Thank god because I didn't want to order new shafts.. This is good news b/c most people are going to have allot of replacement shafts laying around, from there original shocks..
A little video of shocks in action ..
Ok ... here is some bashing w/ the shocks. I lost my mid range needle and I replaced it... BUT if you know how hard it is to retune an engine When your mid range needle back out . you will understand why my truck sounds like crap .. Also it sounds like it's running lean at the end of the video b/c I was running out of fuel. Also on the back flip is where I bent the shock .. Hope You enjoy THANKS
VIDEO CLICK ME ~~!!!
Part 2
Written by: John Helton
We have read Jeremy's review and have seen the bent parts and the cost of these shocks. So to this I will just add some action shots and explanations to them.
First we will look at some shots where I was doing nose dives to break the shocks on purpose.
I did 20 plus off center landing trying to bend or break a shock. After all that lets talk about damage.
2 diff ring gears
2 diff pinion gears
2 rubber sealed bearings (pinion)
4 ceramic bearings ( diffs )
2 bent dog bones
1 broken dog bone
This is just some of the parts broken. Not a bit of damage to the shocks except for a nick on one of the caps. As far as I can see these shocks are a good upgrade for a truck if you can get over the price and the replacement costs. I would keep that in mind before investing in them. If your a basher that plays very hard the stock shocks might be the way to go do to the replacement costs.
Nice launch and the shocks are fully extended.
Now we will look at a clean landing.
If you look closely you can see even with 30 weight oil the shocks are using all there travel. This is a light jump from 5 feet in the air and landing 10 feet from the ramp. This is where I think the problem is. On really big jumps and you land off center there is no give and you snap parts. The shocks fully compressing off of a short jump and the truck doing belly slaps is not that good of a thing. The suspension has no more travel so the energy has to go somewhere. This is where the damage to the shocks and other components is coming from. I will change my spring and oil ratio to try and combat this.
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