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Mrowka

I gotta dumb question on shocks, aka "dampers"

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And the dumb question is as follows:

What is the difference between Kyosho rere red shocks (found stock on Optimas and Javelins) and Kyosho Gold shocks (an upgrade, and also stock on the Turbo Optima Gold Edition)?

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Not a dumb question at all.  I didn't know the answer until I looked at them first-hand and in the manuals.

The internal components are the same on both sets of shocks.  Both use 3mm shock shafts, 10mm pistons and two o-rings plus spacers and shaft guides with a screw-on end-cap on the bottom (no retaining ring clips like the original Gold 5001/5002).  Since they are the same, I would expect the performance to be the same in terms of damping and leakage.

The red Optima shocks have a smooth red anodized aluminum body and a pinch grip spring retainer on the top. The gold shocks have threading on the gold anodized aluminum body for a black anodized aluminum threaded spring retainer to screw on to in order to facilitate faster adjustments in the field.

Re-release Optima:

image.png.992e5091e9d8401456e38e3bcceb7e2d.pngimage.png.1c2ec635456acbdebfacf0b0e39626d9.png

 

Re-release Turbo Optima Gold Edition:

image.png.6d9837de7683101bff28a3cf480bf682.pngimage.png.4983ce819d223d51d24570e8836c261b.png

 

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On 9/2/2020 at 1:28 PM, Mrowka said:

And the dumb question is as follows:

What is the difference between Kyosho rere red shocks (found stock on Optimas and Javelins) and Kyosho Gold shocks (an upgrade, and also stock on the Turbo Optima Gold Edition)?

you mean, rere reds compared to original gold? or rere compared to rere?

 

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5 hours ago, Mrowka said:

Rere to rere.

the gold is just a scaled up red that adds a top cap. the greater volume and top diaphragm makes tuning more forgiving and proper pressurizing less tedious of a task.

the reds look slightly better to me. they're more scale if the anodizing is stripped off and a short spring is used on the rear. other than that, golds are far superior.

Edited by BardsDirge
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5 hours ago, BardsDirge said:

the gold is just a scaled up red that adds a top cap. the greater volume and top diaphragm makes tuning more forgiving and proper pressurizing less tedious of a task.

The re-re golds (OTW128/OTW129) have the same internal size and volume as the re-re reds (OT235R/OT236R).  All of the internal parts are the same and there are no bladders.  The top cap isn't removable.

image.thumb.png.bd898b55b518c58eb9a064e790c2b525.png

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12 hours ago, Champ85 said:

The re-re golds (OTW128/OTW129) have the same internal size and volume as the re-re reds (OT235R/OT236R).  All of the internal parts are the same and there are no bladders.  The top cap isn't removable.

Wow, so other than the threaded adjuster and the "cool" gold color, these offer no benefits over the standard red shocks. Thanks for the info. Saved me some money.

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10 hours ago, BardsDirge said:

the cap is fake?!

Yeah, heh.  The "cap" is machined to look like a cap but the cap and body is a solid piece of aluminum.  Given that there is no bladder and the bottom cartridge seal screws in, I think Kyosho decided not to make the cap removable in order to cut costs.

Here is an attempt to show the machining of the top cap in a NIB re-re Turbo Optima (I don't have any taken out of the package).  They did a good job of making it look like the cap is a separate piece by undercutting the lip.

IMG_4754_crop.thumb.JPG.aba5834e619498f16524ee06bc7bbbd7.JPG

47 minutes ago, Saito2 said:

Wow, so other than the threaded adjuster and the "cool" gold color, these offer no benefits over the standard red shocks. Thanks for the info. Saved me some money.

Yeah, it surprised me too. I originally thought the re-re Optima reds were the same as what Kyosho used in the re-re Tomahawk (SC222R/SC223R), but those are 10mm OD, 8mm ID so much smaller in size and oil volume.

The original Optima had the smaller red shocks, so I thought that the re-re Optima would too.  I'm glad Kyosho decided to go with the larger size in red for the re-re Optima.  Honestly, those smaller original shocks were never very good at damping and leaked easily.

For reference, here is the exploded diagram for the re-re Tomahawk shocks.  It's hard to tell, but these are 2mm smaller in diameter than the re-re Optima shocks and they are shorter too I think (I didn't measure).  Also note the use of only one o-ring for sealing the oil in.

image.thumb.png.5df2a08c5b535c89aeac488c71336434.png

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