Review: Yeah Racing Aluminum Damper Set

Shocks, or dampers, are probably the most overlooked part when tuning any RC vehicle. Other than changing 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 of dampers 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 unique V-hole piston design. We’ll get to that in a bit.

The Facts
Manufacturer: Yeah Racing
Product: Aluminum Damper Set
Part Numer: DSG-0055BU
Price: $24.90
Designed For: Touring Cars

What’s In The Box
In addition to the aluminum, threaded shock bodies, adjusting nut and upper and lower caps, the box contains 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-hole and 4-hole) as well as Yeah Racing’s unique V-taper Rebound Core System pistons. The holes in these pistons are tapered down as are drilled, allowing the oil to flow faster through them in one direction but slower in the other. This V-taper system changes the rebound of the shock for different conditions. As an added bonus, the box also includes mounting hardware for Tamiya owners.

Damper Assembly
The shocks build like most other high-end units, however Yeah Racing has included a few surprises. First off, these shocks use a single o-ring in the bottom cartridge that ‘sits’ in a slightly recessed anti-leak spacer. This system creates a more conformed o-ring seat as opposed to the standard flat spacer, helping to prevent leaks.

Secondly, the tolerance between the piston and e-clips is extremely tight. It was a little difficult getting the top e-clips to snap into place, but this also means that there is no piston ‘float’…the piston should stay flat as it moves up and down within the shock body.

Finally, Yeah Racing has included a urethane ‘rebound’ bushing that sits on top of the bladder. This is an optional piece (most racing shocks don’t include this), but it does help keep the bladder from collapsing under heavy loads (like high-speed corners on carpet or other high-traction surfaces). For the initial test I installed the standard #3 pistons, blue springs, urethane bushing and the oil included with the kit.

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

Performance
The test session was held on an outdoor asphalt track that was relatively smooth with pretty good grip. The shocks worked well, but the Benz seemed to have a bit of excessive body roll. I came back in and swapped out the springs to the Yellow set (Medium) and this helped quite a bit. I cruised around the track, getting a feel for the car without pushing it (I didn’t want to crash and scratch up my cool F1 Pace Car body).

After 2 packs I pulled the shocks off and replaced the pistons with the #3 V-taper ones. For consistency, I didn’t make any other changes; same oil, same springs, 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 Benz seemed to roll through the corners with less effort which, in a racing situation, could potentially mean faster lap times. Of course, a car set up for racing with a good set of rubber would benefit more than my Pace Car, but the fact is that there was a pretty major difference from just changing to the V-taper pistons.

Final Thoughts
If you’re looking to upgrade your shocks, the Yeah Racing Aluminum Dampers are the way to go. You get a lot for your $25…aluminum threaded shocks, 5 spring sets and custom tuning pistons! It’s a pretty amazing value even if you weren’t getting the high-tech V-taper pistons. The quality is great and I have yet to 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!

Links
RC Mart, www.rcmart.com
Yeah Racing, www.yeahracing.com

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