Tamiya DT-03 & DT-02 MS Shocks: Playing with Tamiya Damper Oil!

Can't say Tamiya doesn't ad some color to life and the hobby! Here's an introduction to Tamiya's line-up of different shock oil - or damper oil - for your RC Car. Simply messing around with some oil, some different methods of bleeding and getting rid of air bubbles and and testing the effect on a pair of Tamiya DT-02 MS Shocks on a Tamiya DT-03 Racing Fighter.

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Please understand, this is not an instructional video. Just some clips from a quiet afternoon in the hobby room, with me trying to tune up my shocks and testing some tips with my limited knowledge. But here you can see what happens to a pair of shocks if you do like I do - and then decide for yourself. All helpful comments, tips and tricks are welcome in the comment section!

For those who are unfamiliar with Tamiya Oil, the colors can be very helpful when opening up some shocks to see what type of oil was applied - if you, like me, is just a hobbyist and collector (not a racer) who doesn't type up the set-up for each car in the collection. Well, of course, my problem in this video was opening up some old shocks, detecting clear oil, and then having no idea if I used Tamiya 900 clear oil or a different brand with no colors. But when absolutely sure Tamiya oil was used, the colors can be really helpful later on.

For a quick overview of some of the other content in the video:

Even though oil was the subject of this video, oil is not the only option for tuning your shocks: Length, springs and pistons can also be altered to your choice.

The numbers Tamiya use for the different oils is based on the viscosity of the liquid. Water viscosity is 1. The hardest oil from the standard Tamiya oil line-up is the red 200 and ending with the light blue 1000.

This is the second time I've tried out the "under-the-piston'-method. And it simply doesn't work for me. Maybe it works for you. I don't think the main problem of getting rid of air bubbles is all due to bubbles being trapped under the piston when pouring oil from the top, above the piston. Many of the bubbles come from an 'uneven pouring' (if that makes sense). From the oil itself. I also find that the angle and awkwardness of trying to pour oil underneath the piston is causing more bubbles in the oil.

I always find it essential to let the shocks with the new oil sit for a while. Occasionally moving the piston up and down. And then letting them sit again. For me, when patient, this method has proven the most effective, and when done right there are NO bubbles (visible) in the oil in the final result. I don't see any way around this method, unless you got some magic up your sleeve or you skip inspecting the oil thoroughly for bubbles. To detect them it requires the best lighting and patience. Best way, of course, would be to get a semi-professional Oil Air Remover tool. Tamiya and other brands have them available.

Maybe the end result in this particular video wasn't the best, but it takes a long time, waiting for the bubbles to disappear, so in the end, time ran out for me on this particular afternoon. But it certainly helped a lot with some harder oil - especially with reducing the rebounce. Maybe #1000 would have been better. And maybe testing a two-hole piston in the rear with the right type of oil could have proven the best best result. But fine tuning wasn't really the goal anyway - since the shocks will be sitting on another car.

I am still experimenting with the correct type of bleeding and position of the piston when closing/sealing the shock body. In this video positioning the piston in the middle produced the best result in my humble opinion. But it also produces some weird rebounce effects. According to the official Tamiya manual the piston should be placed at the bottom. According to comments in the last video, the piston should be placed at the top. Let me know what you think?

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#NordicRCVisions Statement:
This video features homemade footage of my own #RcCar #TamiyaRCCar #TamiyaDT03 #TamiyaDT02 from my personal #RC collection. All rights reserved.

All #RcCars and RC parts in this video are hobby-grade and intended for adults and ages +14 years.