Review: Yeah Racing Aluminum Damper Set

Review: Yeah Racing Aluminum Damper Setcompetitionx.com /review-rc-products/review-yeah-racing-aluminum-damper-set/

Shocks, or dampers, are probably the most overlooked part when tuning any RC vehicle. Other thanchanging the oils and springs, it’s a rare case that people experiment with any of the other shocks options.For those of you that make that extra effort to fine-tune your ride, you’ll want to check out this new set ofdampers from Yeah Racing. This set of shocks feature some race-level components such as CNC-machined aluminum parts, titanium-coated shafts, a unique anti-leak o-ring system and an equally uniqueV-hole piston design. We’ll get to that in a bit.

What’s In The BoxIn addition to the aluminum, threaded shock bodies, adjusting nut and upper and lower caps, the boxcontains a whole slew of tuning options. Five sets of springs are included; Red (Super Soft), Blue (Soft),Yellow (Medium), White (Hard) and Black (Super Hard). There are also 3 sets of pistons (2-hole, 3-holeand 4-hole) as well as Yeah Racing’s unique V-taper Rebound Core System pistons. The holes in thesepistons are tapered down as are drilled, allowing the oil to flow faster through them in one direction butslower in the other. This V-taper system changes the rebound of the shock for different conditions. As anadded bonus, the box also includes mounting hardware for Tamiya owners.

The FactsManufacturer: Yeah RacingProduct: Aluminum Damper SetPart Numer: DSG-0055BUPrice: $24.90Designed For: Touring Cars

Damper AssemblyThe shocks build like most other high-end units, however Yeah Racing has included a few surprises. Firstoff, these shocks use a single o-ring in the bottom cartridge that ‘sits’ in a slightly recessed anti-leakspacer. This system creates a more conformed o-ring seat as opposed to the standard flat spacer, helpingto prevent leaks. Secondly, the tolerance between the piston and e-clips is extremely tight. It was a littledifficult getting the top e-clips to snap into place, but this also means that there is no piston ‘float’…the

Review: Yeah Racing Aluminum Damper Set

Review: Yeah Racing Aluminum Damper Set

piston should stay flat as it moves up anddown within the shock body. Finally, YeahRacing has included a urethane ‘rebound’bushing that sits on top of the bladder.This is an optional piece (most racingshocks don’t include this), but it does helpkeep the bladder from collapsing underheavy loads (like high-speed corners oncarpet or other high-traction surfaces). Forthe initial test I installed the standard #3pistons, blue springs, urethane bushingand the oil included with the kit.

InstallationI decided to install these dampers on aproject car I’m currently working on. I haveone of Tamiya’s Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 TT01E Petronas race cars that I’ve turned into a SLSAMG Formula 1 Pace Car. Though this car won’t be seeing much duty on the racing circuit other thanthrowing down a few laps before any of the UF1 races, I knew that it would be run on everything fromcarpet to asphalt to slick concrete, so the optional pistons (and springs) will certainly come in handy. Tomount these on your Tamiya, it’s as simple as removing the current shocks and popping these on. If you’reusing the older-style shocks that have a screw-and-sleeve, you can replace those with the includedballstuds I mentioned earlier. This will most likely be the same option should you be mounting these on adifferent manufacturer’s TC.

PerformanceThe test session was held on an outdoorasphalt track that was relatively smoothwith pretty good grip. The shocks workedwell, but the Benz seemed to have a bit ofexcessive body roll. I came back in andswapped out the springs to the Yellow set(Medium) and this helped quite a bit. Icruised around the track, getting a feel forthe car without pushing it (I didn’t want tocrash and scratch up my cool F1 Pace Carbody). After 2 packs I pulled the shocks offand replaced the pistons with the #3 V-taper ones. For consistency, I didn’t makeany other changes; same oil, samesprings, same droop. I popped the shocks back on the Benz, threw in a fresh pack and made another run.Immediately I felt a bit more responsiveness from the car as well as more initial steering. The Benzseemed to roll through the corners with less effort which, in a racing situation, could potentially meanfaster lap times. Of course, a car set up for racing with a good set of rubber would benefit more than myPace Car, but the fact is that there was a pretty major difference from just changing to the V-taper pistons.

Final ThoughtsIf you’re looking to upgrade your shocks, the Yeah Racing Aluminum Dampers are the way to go. You get alot for your $25…aluminum threaded shocks, 5 spring sets and custom tuning pistons! It’s a prettyamazing value even if you weren’t getting the high-tech V-taper pistons. The quality is great and I have yetto see any oil leaking out of the unique anti-leak seals. I just might have to test them out on one of my race

cars and see how they work!

LinksRC Mart, www.rcmart.comYeah Racing, www.yeahracing.com