Doubling up carbon shock towers ?

[Jonathan]

I was going to ask this in the Yokomo section but decided to put it out to a wider audience.

What are peoples opinion of this practice.

My concern is that if I hit the car hard I will just end up breaking two parts instead of one, or shift the damage to other more costly parts of the car.

[sosidge]

I think that is the call you have to make. However most of the time people that double things up only keep doing it if they end up with less breakages overall.

[super__dan]

Firstly for a racer it's about finishing runs (to finish first etc...........).

On the XXX4 the fibregalss towers broke so easily it was standard practice to run either a pair of std towers back to back or carbon ones (which some nice chap had made up). Neither of these was stronger than the chassis mount so there was virtually no risk.

I run an X5 which is the xx4 front tower but with a carbon fibre strengthening plate behind it, works really well but again no chassis damage likely.

If you are more concerned about breaking a chassis than finishing runs then don't do it. But if you're not finishing runs becasue the towers break and the chassis mount is strong then go for it!

[josh_smaxx]

It may be worth getting one made by fibre-lyte, in the stock thickness it will be alot stronger as hansells carbon is second to none, it doesnt even need sealing with CA, it just doesnt de-laminate. Having them make a thicker version then it will be almost un-breakable. The stock B44 one is 3mm and i have a fibre-lyte 5mm on now, if it breaks then its gonna be more than a crash that does it.

[Chequered Flag Racing]

Originally Posted by josh_smaxx

It may be worth getting one made by fibre-lyte, in the stock thickness it will be alot stronger as hansells carbon is second to none

It's weaker believe it or not

Carbon towers etc from the States contain more carbon so have strength but are more brittle in a crash. Try to drill or cut it, it's hard stuff.

Fibre-Lyte's carbon has more resin in it's make up so gives a bit more in a crash = flexible. Try to drill or cut it, it's a lot easier than the Yanks/Jap stuff.

[josh_smaxx]

So from what you have just said Glenn, fibre-;ytes stuff is better in a crash and is easy to modify if needs be

I put my broken B44 one in acetone for a few days and it just fell apart not advised but looks cool, probably dangerous as well.

[Jonathan]

I actually have some 3mm ones on the way from Fibre-lyte. Im contempating doubling these up with my Yokomo ones.

So far I have broken two front and two rear, but they always stayed in one piece and got me to the end of the race.

A broken chasis would pay for a lot of towers !

[JohnM]

Jonathan, what Yokomo do you have?, if its a BX, get some shock mounts from DC Racing, I've only managed to crack 1 front one in a year and a half, still not managed to do in a rear one yet

[Jonathan]

Yes for a BX. Sound like the DC ones are worth the extra cost then.

[JohnM]

I'd say they are well worth the money, quite a bit thicker then the std ones.

The front one has an extra row of camber link holes, the rear one is a bit taller then std, lets you run B4 rear shock shafts which are a bit longer, helps alot over bumps.