Dirty_Vinylpusher

Ok so we've been talking a bit about this in a couple of threads.
I know some of you have made your own already, so if you like, could you put some info down in this thread on the topic?

Personally, I'm looking at trying to convert some gas struts to oil filled shocks.
I'm still reading up a bit on how they work, but I gather that I could use the piston and "washer" from the original strut, and fill the chamber with oil?

What I was thinking was to drill some holes in the washer to let some oil pass through when compressing, and then the spring would return the piston back to its original position.
Getting the right combination of oil and spring strength will be the trick I suppose.

Dirty_Vinylpusher

Any input from "those in the know" about how full scale shocks work will also be valuable.

da mad maori

yeah man itll work a treat
there is a washer in there that moves up and down alittle.. like a valve it shuts the holes when it goes one direction and opens going the other...
i just welded the washer so it doesnt move then grind a few slots on the edge to let oil though.. but it work beautifully with oil dampening

they arent great pics but here's the ones i did

















ill have to build them again with a screw on top of some sort... the welds are leaking oil lol or maybe put some solder around them to seal it

splcrazy

i made a thread on this subject eons ago , damned if i can find it lol , but yeah ive thought about using gas struts instead of the stupid weak shocks i have on the 5b , and actually people have been using gas struts as shocks on their homemade large scales with good results , but never heard of filling them with oil, but what you can do is get all sorts of different strength gas struts , OR get them re gassed with a lower pressure that will mimick an oil filled shock .

Bob-Stormer

What about using the gas struts, "as is"? I've seen them in all sorts of configurations and lengths. a 40 pound gas strut might work pretty slick. The only downside I can imagine is the rebound is very well dampend and the compression usually has little or none. But that's how passenger car shocks work, most dampen 70/30. 70% on rebound and 30% on compression. Typically about the opposite of what you'd want for an offroad racer, BUT there is potential there. And CHEAP! with a lot of stroke, and their compact and lightweight. Over spring the car by 50% and it would take some decent jumps just on spring pressure and rebound back nice and smooth.

There's a place in the States that generally blows those out at a decent price. I've gotten a few for various projects from here: direct link.
https://www.surpluscenter.com/sort.a...c&keyword=XG11

Dirty_Vinylpusher

SPLCRAZY - when/if you find that thread, pop a link to it here.

BOB - Yeah I'm sure there are struts out there that would do the job "as is" but I'm not an internet shopper as such and prefer to use what I can find at my local scrapyards.
More of a "hands-on" kinda guy, you know?
I like to hold and feel (sometimes caress) the things before I buy them.

I have plenty of these struts to experiment with so I'll stick to this idea of shortening and oil filling them for now.
I got like 10 of them for $5 so can't go wrong really.

Mudgy

I once bodgied some shocks in a 1/10 car...the piston (disc) had 4 x small holes in it for resistance whilst pushing through the oil..
as per normal. I put a disc of plastic sheeting on top of the disc.
Gave me high resistance under compression, but was free when extending (kinda like a reed valve)
seemed to do the job OK
As for home made jobs...you'll lose me there. Got no Idea how to make one of those[sm=confused.gif]

Bob-Stormer

I kinda like it. It's like the next level of making your own car... Might as well make the shocks.

Did you cut it and have the gas "blow" out, or how's that handled... seems almost dangerous to the un-initiated, to cut a pressurized tube open.

Be neat to come up with a clever way to make an adjustable coil. I might copy your design this weekend and see if I can make a shock. Sounds like a fun project. Looking back, and based on your design. what would you change or do differently that would make it easier to do or turn out even better?

Dirty_Vinylpusher

If you go back a couple of pages in my build thread you'll see 2 videos I found when researching what will happen when puncturing a strut.
Based on the second vid, I secured the strut in the drillpress vice, tied a rope to the lever, and stood outside the shed with goggles on looking in through the window as I pulled the rope.

Bit of an anti-climax really as it only went "Pffffffft" and that was it.

[/quote]


I just realised that was probably directed at Da_Mad_Maori?


But that's what happened anyway.

da mad maori

thats a funny story LOL ill make it short;

i had the strut in a drill press outside behind a brick wall... i turn it on ,ran behind the wall and used a long stick with a string loop on the end to pull the drill bit down and put a hole in it...

lol it just went pfft.. so no real blow out at all i did the others with a grinder in the vice...

da mad maori

Beat me to it LOL

Dirty_Vinylpusher

Great minds think alike it seems................
















Or fools never differ......one or the other..........

da mad maori

only thing i would do different is to somehow make a screw on top so to fill it and maintain it easier and maybe some way to adjust spring tention... maybe a heap of spacers (thick washers)to insert one at a time till its right

but it will work well i believe

Dirty_Vinylpusher

Would it matter which way around they're mounted?
I see some RC cars have the reservoir at the top and in your pic with the home made ones you have it at the bottom.


Also, what is that pink car body under the table?

da mad maori

mmm dont know....... wouldnt think so

that was a dodge charger body plug i was making for a baja5b

Dirty_Vinylpusher

As for adjusting the springs, how about threading the rod and putting a nut under the washer holding the spring?
That would be easy enough to do.

lucian75

Hi.i want to rebuild my project and i'm interesting about this subject.i don't know what mean strut gas,but today i thinking for a solution to make a shock absorber..and..what u think about..i don't know very well english but i was thinking about bonnet damper..you know what i say?i want to use it to make a shock absorber,is small,about 20 cm..new is very hard so i need one used or to modify somehow to be more softly..what u think,can be done?and bonnet damper is capsulated..

Dirty_Vinylpusher

Yes bonnet damper is the same as gas strut.

It's what we've been talking about.
The pictures Da_Mad_Maori posted earlier in this thread shows how to do just that.

Also In my thread "New Project" I've cut up a couple of struts to start making shocks from them.

Bob-Stormer

Normally it has to do with unsprung weight. For our purposes quite a bit more interesting. In the scnario where the shock is inverted, the piston rides around at the bottom of the cylinder (now the top as it's inverted), likely not sitting in any oil. Where it's mounted more traditionally with shaft out the bottom, the shock piston is near the bottom of the cylinder, covered in oil, even if the shock isn't full, the piston starts in oil.

splcrazy

Here you go BRO http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_71...tm.htm#7111444

Dirty_Vinylpusher

Cheers.
Not much info there really but I see our friend BS-man put in his $0.02 haha.

da mad maori

forget the gas strut shocks just get a tone servo problem solved LOL

Mudgy

that WAS funny....he was like a RC Cancer...don't ask me, I'm LOSFER wheen it comes to these

Dirty_Vinylpusher

Oh he's still around Mudgy.
I've had a couple of recent runnings with him on various forums under different names.
Still posting the same pics of that budget buggy.

rangerfredbob

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something I just thought of, in V6 Ford Rangers, Bronco II's, and explorers on the drivers side frame rail going to the power steering pump there is a little shock for whatever reason. I think there's only about 3 inches of travel or less, but it's something...