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No-Cost Hop-Ups: Shock Wrap
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Reference -> Tips/Tech Articles
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Protect your shocks for about two bucks per racing season |
- Administrator |
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Even with a new rebuild, the shock oil clinging to the shaft
is enough to attract a fine dust that deposits itself around the seals with
each jump and bump, leaving us with shock absorber dingleberries. Gross.
A low cost solution to shock dirt, one that will extend the time between rebuilds
and keep your shock shafts clean,
is found in an unlikely place: your local Co-op, or wherever animal feed or veterinary
supplies are sold. Co-Flex cohesive bandage is used for minor immobilization of joints
in humans but has been known by horse owners for years as "horse wrap," used to wrap a
horse's ankles. It's a thin, stretchy cloth embedded with a light-tack adhesive that makes a perfect filter
for your shocks and won't inhibit their action. And it's cheap, a 5 yard roll, enough for
20 or 30 sets of shock wrap, will set you back about two and a half bucks.
The light tack in the adhesive further protects the shocks, attracting dirt before
it can get to the shafts.
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Co-Flex is lighweight and transparent, and the light tack of it's adhesive makes it perfect for trapping dust.
Plus it comes in a variety of cool colors.
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All you need is scissors. Use only Co-Flex; other brands of wrap bandage don't
have the tack properties of Co-Flex and are too thick, inhibiting your shock action. |
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Cut a 3-4" strip for each shock. You only want to wrap 1-1/2 times around the shock.
Trim one end as shown so that the height of the strip goes from the bottom of the spring
to the top when the spring is fully extended. From the scrap, cut two strips about 3/16" wide.
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Wrap the strip around the shock wih only a slight tension, just enough to hold it snug. Too tight
and it will pull itself off. |
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Roll the shock brisky a few times and the cloth will grip to itself quite tightly.
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Now take the two scraps and wrap them tightly around the bottom and top of your wrap,
keeping them only on the very edge to insure a good tight filter. Roll the ends down
snugly.
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| Remount the shock and you're good to go. The horse wrap will barely affect
your suspension at all. When it gets dirty, just peel the old wrap off and cut a new set.
We rarely have to rebuild our shocks more than once or twice a year using Co-Flex.
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Other Uses
Save your scraps. You can use them to wrap anything that can benefit from less dust and dirt, such as receivers, failsafes, receiver packs, other electronic equipment or even offroad electric motors. Use it one time on your motor, see how the dust collects around the endbell vents, and you'll never go without it. For temporary tie-downs that won't cut through servo wires, a strip of Co-Flex wrapped around is a great solution.
Co-Flex appears pretty resistant to heat and holds up to almost any RC application.
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Using Co-Flex for
an ESC, near a nitro engine, or near a nitro exhaust is probably not a good idea.
If allowed to sit for periods of two months or more, the adhesive in Co-Flex begins to oxidize, soften and break down.
Although this is not harmful in any way, if it begins to get too gooey, the residue can be removed with alcohol
or any solvent.
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- Administrator
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Footnotes |
| Co-Flex is a registered trademark of Andover Coated Products, www.andovercoated.com, 9 Fanaras Drive, Salisbury, MA 01952 USA, 1-800-432-6686. |
Created 11/10/2004 · Last Modified 12/03/2004
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