Fitting 35’s with minimal trimming NOW ADDING LONG TRAVEL AND 934 CV’s

This low rider wheels harder than most in here

 

So quick question for anybody who can give me a solid answer. What is considered hot for a shock? Debating with myself over doing 2.5 or 3” in the rear SUA. Currently my 2.5 smoothies do occasionally get hot enough that it’s uncomfortable to hold your hand on them. When do you know when it’s time to step up to the 3”?

 

I can’t give you a temperature, but my 2.5’s get too hot to touch for more than a second or two. At that temp I have not melted any internal parts or seals but have noticed some shock fade. For me, I’d like to jump to 3.0’s and tune to work like my 2.5’s just to keep the oil cooler snd from fading on longer more aggressive drives

 

I guess maybe I should take my temp gun next time I go out. Just not sure where that line is drawn to step into the 3”.

 

if they get hotter than the oil is rated for more often than it's worth draining, filling and charging shocks...

 

Obviously. But what’s that number?

Everybody uses words like cool, warm and hot. But each and every one of us likely has a different definition of each. It would just be nice to know an actual point where you’re pushing the limit.

 

Me with 2.0s:

 

This might help

 

Well, I’m already breaking the rules with king oil when I drive the truck in -30 weather.

 

I'm sure there's massive spec tables and endless discussion over on bobistheoilguy forums.

 

If you can touch the shock and keep your hand on for more than a few seconds at its hottest I’d say you’re fine. And at minus 30* just stick with the standard seals and not the vitton. I want vitton but get too cold out here as well. Haven’t melted a seal yet, just deal with minor shock fade after a long hard ride.

But by all means take temps and report back for scientific data

 

it varies per manufacture but the article referenced gives a good guideline.

You can buy temperature stickies that you stick on the shock body and give you a good idea of the body temp. Very common to see used for this purpose.

Shock fade is bad. If you feel your shocks fade then they are either too small or need new oil.

 

Wonder how ADS stacks up.

EDIT: Shot them an email out of curiosity.

 

What brand shocks do you have? I heard Fox are quietest because something inside is angled? That's what I bought for mine. I actually pulled the

$15 COM10 Aurora Bearing Spherical Bearing, COM Series, 0.625 in ID, 1.187 in OD, 0.625 in Thick, Steel, Each

COM10 bearings out of the top of all my shocks and installed Energy Suspension bushings lol. I can't hear my front coilovers AT ALL anymore. After caging it I could hear the coils rubbing everything but not anymore with those bushings. Hoping it has the same effect with the bypass shocks.

 

Did a good bit of reading last night, it sounds like with the standard seals you want to be in the low to mid 200* range. Anything over and viton is needed. Viton unfortunately isn’t an option for me with the cold weather. Will give the truck a thrashing this weekend and report back with some numbers. Though, external temps won’t be super accurate it’s my only way of checking.

So essentially my line of thinking is this. Since viton isn’t an option, if my 2.5’s get close to 200* external temps internal is likely close to that mid 200 mark. At that point it’s likely justified to jump into the 3” for extra cooling. Especially considering I will likely push the truck harder with the SUA and LT, which will only add to it.

@81Trekker opinion on this thinking?

 

Was that oil temp or were they talking shock body temp? They may not of had an "accurate" way of checking other than shock body and went off that. I don't see how they could accurately check shock oil temps.

 

These were guys actually data logging temps with internal probes. Allegedly some TT’s see upwards of 550* at times.

 

I mean we ran an oil cooler on the rear diff on our circle track cars because the temps were extreme. I'd believe it. Those are some fancy shocks to have internal probes. I'm sure some liquid dynamics engineer could pop in here and give us some sort of formula to guestimate the oil temp

I think you'll be fine checking the body temp. I'd see if you can't find some people who have done such and collected some info to reference.

 

The world of shocks is so lucrative sometimes lol. Seemingly, nobody ever wants to discuss anything. So what little bit of info you do find, you have to wonder how accurate it is.

 

I must admit. Pretty freaking Flexes more than mine.