Silicone diff oil?

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Hunter90 HD

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15
Hi everyone,

I am playing around with the idea of using silicone shock oil in the differentials as apposed to grease.

Has anyone used silicone diff oil before?
Can anyone recommend a silicone shock oil?

I have been looking at the fastrax cml racing pure diff oil which looks food, has anyone used this before?

cheers
 
I run 50K in the front/rear diffs. Seems to work well for bashing, doesn't leak much, if at all. I end up with mild positraction, so if I have 2 wheels off the ground, hung up on something, power still makes it to the wheels that touch. I run 100k in my 6S outcast f/r diffs.
 
Well the question was that has anyone used silicone SHOCKOIL in their DIFFERENTIALS. I'm still wondering why would you wanna do that. For bashing it doesnt matter what you use, grease keeps the diffs more open and they last longer. Shock and diff oil both same price so why would you wanna do that?
 
SHOCK and DIFF oil are usually the same thing, silicone based oil. The only real difference is shock oil is typically a lot lower viscosity.
 
So if you go to store, you can buy what ever viscosity shock oil and what ever viscosity diff oil, why would you buy shock oil for diff?
 
If you wanted really light diff action I guess. 80wt shock oil is 1000cst which is getting into diff oil territory. They just call the lighter stuff shock oil and 2000CST+ diff oil, but when it's diff oil, it's typically referred to in "cst" vs "wt". Both are silicone based oils. My arrma truck uses 1000cst shock oil in the shocks, which is kind of annoying. Would have been nice if they used pistons with a bit smaller hole so you could actually adjust the shocks without having to mix it with 2k/3k diff oil to make it a bit heavier.

Either way, I was just assuming the OP was asking about using oil in the diff instead of grease (which makes it almost an open diff), so I was giving him an example of the cst of oil I use in mine.
 
Ok. I imagine savage diff wont hold so light oil in very long.
Hi Jabbo,

Apologies that was ment to say silicone or grease in differentials not shock oil!

I recently purchased red and tacky grease some came on the market recently, wicked stuff!
 
If you wanted really light diff action I guess. 80wt shock oil is 1000cst which is getting into diff oil territory. They just call the lighter stuff shock oil and 2000CST+ diff oil, but when it's diff oil, it's typically referred to in "cst" vs "wt". Both are silicone based oils. My arrma truck uses 1000cst shock oil in the shocks, which is kind of annoying. Would have been nice if they used pistons with a bit smaller hole so you could actually adjust the shocks without having to mix it with 2k/3k diff oil to make it a bit heavier.

Either way, I was just assuming the OP was asking about using oil in the diff instead of grease (which makes it almost an open diff), so I was giving him an example of the cst of oil I use in mine.
Hi,

thank you for the example, and that’s for the information. I been searching for diff grease for some time now as I cannot get the HPI grease anymore.

I have been recommended a few different greases by other members on here but nothing I can get my hands on so easily. What is easily available is silicone oil but I have read it can degrade the diff especially if the casing is plastic.

could you please explain what you mean by an ‘open’diff?

cheers
 
Open diff usually refers to the lack of resistance when spinning one wheel while while the input gear is stationary and the other wheel spins in the opposite direction. Grease typically feels like an open diff. While lubricating to avoid wear, it usually gets a path cut through it as the gears move, so it doesn't slow down the diff action hardly at all. Similar to having nothing in the diff.

I have some red-n-tacky grease that seems far more sticky/viscous than grease I used for the past 20 years on my ring/pinion gears. It may actually slow the diff action some like silicone oil does.

Silicone oil is very "sticky" and doesn't remain stationary as the gears cut through it. It moves in/around the gears. The thicker the oil (higher weight), the harder it is for the oil to move around. This slows the diff action so that it requires more force to spin the wheel when the other wheel is held stationary. The heavier the weight, the more resistance it provides.
 

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