Jump to content
Juls1

The Buggy Damper Thread.

Recommended Posts

53125 Sleeved Damper short (taken from re release Dyna storm).

The now rare and and somewhat mystical sleeved dampers where originally released in november 1992, just 2 weeks before they appeared on the Dyna storm. The Dyna storm being the only kit they where supplied as standard. A mini version of the damper was never released so if you wanted to use them on a Super Astute you needed a Dyna storm front tower. 

BB852C0D-83C7-4BD4-AB2E-DD37FE3E342B.jpg

There isn’t really a lot too these shocks while they are pretty straight forward they actually share surprisingly few parts with other Tamiya products. 
CB4CE334-BED3-40BF-B039-16AEFB9F858E.jpg

These 2 entire parts sprues to the best of my knowledge are exclusive to the sleeved damper kit/Dynastorm. 
6D897489-32FD-438D-8B01-04E24CEA04A7.jpg

The alloy body is actually a little rough and ready in my re release Dyna storm sample. I’m uncertain if the original dampers where any different. 
05ADCE87-16D4-4A99-9B0F-AE36BC2F3212.jpg

The anodizing is on par with the original Hi Cap dampers. The body is exclusive, it’s strangely 1mm narrower than the hi cap body, and that’s before you add the sleeve. 

2BCD46E5-76A7-4C01-91BA-BE4461FC1CE7.jpg

The lower seal cap screws into the body, remembering the hi caps of the day had a c clip retention system.
A0866872-EA13-4DF0-8CA3-64602F858466.jpg

The sleeve itself is made of a nice slippery feeling nylon. 
40E85270-09B8-4E4F-85AC-DA2969625A21.jpg

The inside diameter of the nylon insert is 10mm making the bore a full 2mm smaller than the Hi Cap Damper.
9B526AAA-89E6-40E4-A3F5-A4F65308E1F9.jpg

The sleeve simply slides in, apart from the top cap nothing really holds it in place.
8D209A3F-D3EF-4691-8D22-B99837DF2633.jpg

With the cap inserted it really is a total departure from the Hi Cap Damper it theoretically replaces
D864B6F9-276B-42B5-824C-0EB74EF22BE2.jpg

The seal stack is pretty straight forward, a long nylon tube of similar material to the insert guides the shaft, the usual orange O rings make a dual appearance, interestingly a sort of crush washer seals the alloy lower cap to the body instead of the usual rubber option. 
73B9668D-DAE4-4365-9F32-9B4E754C1E43.jpg

The top cap is completely sealed and does not use a bladder. Yes this is an Aeration Damper. 
80774E7A-3EF4-4398-BD01-46E535D10763.jpg

The cap design is similar to the hi Cap Damper but not cross compatible. It uses the same or similar fixings however. 

1A0E62B6-99AC-4827-9B44-A2788428F08F.jpg

interestingly the Damper pistons are made of thick black plastic and beautifully smoothed and rounded. Unlike the hicap dampers square edges.
78AAE881-C867-4A8C-849B-FA452792D699.jpg

The piston slides silkerly into the sleeve and the obvious cap seal sits out in the wild world to hopefully keep the oil in the shock.
B8BDAD4D-2A47-4C48-BB1A-ADF567B1D5D4.jpg

The one thing that struck me as odd was the lower eyelet just looks like what we are used to using on tie rods in the steering, I thought it was odd until I noticed that the spring cap is in fact moulded to only accept that particular rod end. A fairly standard steel ball is included to hold it secure.
135C0CB5-007F-4F02-97B8-D87F1558307D.jpg

And that’s it, the mystical sleeved damper is assembled, It’s oddity’s leave it feeling like a failed vintage part but it’s construction feels quality. While assembled it’s probably the smoothest feeling shock in my collection. I have no intention of ever using them in the real world so I can’t comment on their reliability.

I find it interesting that we see small parts of this design ported over to the big bore damper. However there is a some of the unusual elements that we’ve never seen ever again. 

  • Like 8
  • Thanks 3

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Thank you for bringing these dampers back to our minds, didn´t remember, that the plastic parts were unique to them!

When I built my Dyna Storm back in 1992, I was somehow disappointed, that the shocks didn´t have a Piston rod volume compensation and being Aeration ones. So I cutted the upper edge of the nylon sleeves and put C.V.A. bladders in them. (have to check, if I also drilled a vent hole) Nowadays, I´d like to test them in original style more intense, too. Anyway, 1993 I jumped into my first real race in 2WD with my Dyna storm, which was big fun and got me hooked into racing my Tamiyas. With some good jumps, one of my rear dampers was leaking heavily after the heats, and I had to refill it for the finals. The bladder had a little rip, probably because I was reusing some older ones. The other 3 remained o.k.. A tip super glue on the bladder helped to solve the problem... 

I also have them in mind very smooth, because of the very snooth sleeve contacting the rounded pistons. Especially with high side loads the friction remained very low. 

  • Thanks 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I can see that making a bladder work would have been a pain. These days most company’s shocks are built aeration style or a variation of it. 

Hopefully some people are finding this threads information useful.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
On 2/27/2019 at 10:11 AM, Juls1 said:

Hopefully some people are finding this threads information useful.

Excellent thread, very informative and well documented. I've been wondering which were best and why. Has made my mind up to get some DF-03 dampers instead of the Aeration ones for my Dual Ridge. 

  • Thanks 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

This is very awesome!! You wouldn't happen to have any Avante shocks to compare would you?

I stole a set off my brothers Avante when I was kid and used them on my Astute.

  • Thanks 1
  • Haha 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I have them on my rejuvenated Too Force, they are AMAZING.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
11 hours ago, GTodd said:

This is very awesome!! You wouldn't happen to have any Avante shocks to compare would you?

I stole a set off my brothers Avante when I was kid and used them on my Astute.

I don’t I’d probably need to pickup an avante to be able to do that. I’d love to do many more Tamiya shocks but where would I draw the line? Is there a line?

i have a fair number of touring shocks as well.. I’m just making work for myself though! 

  • Haha 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
On 2/21/2019 at 10:56 PM, Juls1 said:

You’ve pretty much confirmed everything I found. I’m glad that some people are finding the thread helpful as it’s been a lot more effort than I initially thought it would be.

I am just restoring Hicap V1 and found your topic. This is close to a scientific work, big up! Great pics, all details, a lot of information. Would wish to find more of this topics.

 

  • Thanks 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Okay, since now I know the blue diaphragma from V1 Hicaps are not available. The one I have are somehow okay but they are a bit squeesed at the "sealing surface" (?) / edges.

Is there any clue how to refresh the rubber? Its still flexible but could be better. Also two of the rubbers does have the bubble to the other side, lets say concave. Sorry for my english :)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
5 hours ago, Collin said:

Okay, since now I know the blue diaphragma from V1 Hicaps are not available. The one I have are somehow okay but they are a bit squeesed at the "sealing surface" (?) / edges.

Is there any clue how to refresh the rubber? Its still flexible but could be better. Also two of the rubbers does have the bubble to the other side, lets say concave. Sorry for my english :)

You could try rubber softening compounds but these will probably just destroy them. 
 

tamiya 9805486 fits ok, not great, but it’ll get the shocks going. They are readily available Tamiya parts. 

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Great thread, thanks.

Since all the shafts are 3mm, could the gold ones be retro fitted to the V2 highcaps to further improve their responsiveness whilst also making them look more 'factory racing'? Guessing a few spacers would be required at the piston end as the distance between e clips looks longer, but possible?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

@Juls1 this thread is awesome. Thanks for taking the time in doing this. 
 

so here is a question for you. Do you know what the spring diameters are for these shocks and what are other brands that can be used with them? I’m mostly referring to the df03 threaded, aeration, and big bore. 
 

The issue with Tamiya is that they really only make a soft medium hard. Other companies would have many different rates. 
 

anyways thanks again for this amazing thread. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
3 hours ago, Hashiriya said:

@Juls1 this thread is awesome. Thanks for taking the time in doing this. 
 

so here is a question for you. Do you know what the spring diameters are for these shocks and what are other brands that can be used with them? I’m mostly referring to the df03 threaded, aeration, and big bore. 
 

The issue with Tamiya is that they really only make a soft medium hard. Other companies would have many different rates. 
 

anyways thanks again for this amazing thread. 

Springs for trf501x will be softest you can fit on DF03 damper, the trf201 set is slightly firmer again, while the actual DF03 setting spring sets are the firmest. The springs included on the aeration buggy dampers fit straight on too. 
 

as for the big bores, they take a much wider spring, and generally the sets available are quite soft.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
5 hours ago, Juls1 said:

Springs for trf501x will be softest you can fit on DF03 damper, the trf201 set is slightly firmer again, while the actual DF03 setting spring sets are the firmest. The springs included on the aeration buggy dampers fit straight on too. 
 

as for the big bores, they take a much wider spring, and generally the sets available are quite soft.

are there other brand springs that might fit these dampers, I heard losi springs might fit the DF03 shocks. 

The springs seem to be about 14mm ID. 

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Just wanted to show my appreciation for this thread, I bought a beaten up Fox recently that just happened to come with 3 Dyna storm hi caps, I was troubled by the lack of bladder oil seal but this thread served as a fantastic reference and eased all my worries.........

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Since this is the very best damper thread, maybe I find some help.

I have a set of Dyna Storm Sleeved Damper but no more springs. Inner diameter 15.2mm and lengh 59mm for both front and rear. One have 9 windings, othe 11. If anyone just drop an alternativ I am more than happy. I dont care which colour they have, they just should fit perfect and work well.

Thanks : )

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
9 hours ago, Collin said:

Since this is the very best damper thread, maybe I find some help.

I have a set of Dyna Storm Sleeved Damper but no more springs. Inner diameter 15.2mm and lengh 59mm for both front and rear. One have 9 windings, othe 11. If anyone just drop an alternativ I am more than happy. I dont care which colour they have, they just should fit perfect and work well.

Thanks : )

 

Not sure how you would work out spring rates, but any rear shock big bore springs will fit. The Tamiya set is 54508, but any brand should work. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Spring rate, best with a kitchen scales and a post drill : )

You press the spring until a certain point (with use of the adjustable stop) between the drill chucks and the scales. Then you read the weight on the scales. This is the best way to compare different springs. But it does not show you the effectiv  spring rates.

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Thank you so much @Juls1 for this incredible insight into the secret World of Shocks!!! 👍👍  I've had basic knowledge of some of them, others I was completely clueless! 

Almost a shame that Sleeved Dampers aren't at all cost effective. They seem like they would be the smoothest. More importantly, WHEN the Bores get worn or scored, you simply replace the SLEEVE!!  Basically a forever Shock. Maybe that was it - poor long-term Plan, economically.... 

The uncoated Aeration Shocks just don't seem like a good solution, even at a lower price. The coated version, if I got back into Racing, I'd consider those. 😉

Surprisingly, the DF-03 Shocks seem like the best overall deal, for those just wanting a quality Shock without the high price!! 

The specs you gave are invaluable!! I'm keeping them for reference.

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Coming from a new to Tamiya products guy this write-up is much appreciated.  

Will the 54504 & 54505 Big Bore buggy aeration damper sets fit on the DT-02 series cars like the Holiday buggy? 

If so is the best place to get them right now from ebay or straight from Japan?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Great and informative posts here.

I was pleasantly surprised to find out that there is now the new and supposedly improved version of 53926 available titled as 54993 TT-02B/Df-03 Alu Damper Set. Even better, it is priced lower than the previous version in some shops.

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

×
×
  • Create New...