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Golden

Hornet - rear tyre tip, but front “shock” problem...

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Just finished-ish building the above, as I’d always wanted one as a back garden basher.

I spent over an hour wrestling with the rear tyres (and I hurt my finger, and everything....). I’d done my research on this too and saw how tough they were to do - so how on earth do 12 year old kids do this?!

 

In the end, after finding a thread on here where someone used two soup ladles (I only had one.....) I used the door handle on the kitchen door and it was done in about 10 seconds. That’s my top tip. No grease, alcohol hand gel (I use this on car bushes, as it evaporates....) or soap. Dead easy. 
 

My question however..... I’m struggling a bit with the front “shocks”. They seem to jam and get stuck? I set them to “hard” by using the slightly larger spacer out of the two options - and they’re definitely binding and jamming in the compressed position.  
 

Can anyone suggest how to resolve this (I’ll try the smaller spacer and see if that helps). 
 

Many thanks and seasons greetings!

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Mine did the same until I used a little bit of dry lubricant on the metal shafts where they pass through the plastic shock towers.

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I have used grease - but I’ll give them a little squirt of gt85 and see how it goes. Might fractionally widen the plastic upright with a small cylindrical file as well now I think of it. 
 

Thanks for the reply.

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It could be that the bolts on your lower shock mounting points are too tight, and the shock ends can't pivot freely.

Hornet tires are not that bad, basically you just have to install the inner rim sideways, then once it's inside the tire you can turn it to align with the bead. If you do it sideways, you don't have to struggle to get the bead over the whole circumference of the rim, and since the wheels are deeply dished, it's easier to get your fingers in the front and back to pull the bead past the apex of the rim. Do the reverse to remove the rim.

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I’ll have another look at the lower shock mounts - thanks. 
 

And those tyres are staying on until the apocalypse my friend. 
 

(although my door handle method was extremely easy and quick. I might patent it....)

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Had a look. Lower shock bolts were tight - but the bottom can freely pivot. It was actually the two black o-rings (see pictures below - going into part D7) which the manual instructs should be installed in the top part of the shock unit. They prevent free movement and would cause the shock to jam. Have removed them and it moves freely now. Not sure on their purpose as they don’t serve as spacers - and there’s obviously no fluid to retain...
 

 

image.jpg

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32 minutes ago, Golden said:

Had a look. Lower shock bolts were tight - but the bottom can freely pivot. It was actually the two black o-rings (see pictures below - going into part D7) which the manual instructs should be installed in the top part of the shock unit. They prevent free movement and would cause the shock to jam. Have removed them and it moves freely now. Not sure on their purpose as they don’t serve as spacers - and there’s obviously no fluid to retain...
 

 

image.jpg

Ah yes, that's the "friction damping" part, and it is intended to slow down the bouncing action of the springs. One O-ring in each shock for the "soft" setting and two for the "hard" setting (more friction = less movement). That's what Tamiya tells you to do though, however I'm like you: I prefer to allow the suspension to move freely, even if that results in no damping whatsoever.

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Yes I was thinking about this a bit more (re “friction” from the o rings... I have not actually run the car yet as it’s so wet outside. Might experiment - but the “shock towers” (BC4 screws) definitely don’t like being screwed and unscrewed in the soft plastic so might just leave it alone!

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Did you try to run the O-rings dry? If so, then they'll bind up. Put a tiny dab of grease in the middle of each one, or dip them in shock oil. That removes much of the "friction," but still leaves some "damping."

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I did use grease - but might try shock oil - as there’s obviously no damping at all with just the springs. Interesting to see how it fares. 

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Hi Golden

Having two kids driving Hornets and driven a Hornethoppersparepartscar myself I tend to be in favor of the 'old Grasshopper Way' front suspension without those spacers and O-rings, or upgrade tot the Grashopper Super G way with mini oil filled shocks.

Actually we also prefer the plastic flange nuts (A5 plastic parts) above the metal one to mount the shocks on the front arms (stage 17 in the manual), as we lost all for metal nuts while bashing.

As for the rear tyres, see our video: 

 

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You must have hands of steel! I was trying that for over an hour. I shall do a video of my door handle method - mostly for comedy value - but it takes about 5 seconds! 
 

You do kind of catch your fingers in the process - so there’s also the thrill of self-harm to savour...

I reinserted the o rings and lubricated with damper oil, but they still bound on the shock shaft, so I’ve removed them and will go with pogo sticks for a while. 
 

How do you use the A5 parts for the shocks? And could you recommend a front damper? I’d love to use something retro/similar in appearance to the rears if I could. 
 

Many thanks!

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