Shock pistons

[frogger]

Does anybody know where I can have my own shock pistons made? What are they usually made from? Can they be made out of carbon fibre or is there a reason not to

[_sleigh_]

I would suspect cutting a piece that small from CF would be difficult to get accurate each time.

One option is to take the standard piston for the make of shock you're using, and then seal the original holes over with a hot soldering iron. You can then re-drill new holes to suit your needs.

[Chris Doughty]

I believe they are could be made of either nylon or delrin, not quite sure how though...

[Ferret]

I guess you can machine a derlin rod into a tube of the desired diameter and shock shaft diameter. Then cut it into disks of the the desired thickness and drill oil passage holes.

but unless you fabricated shock bodies of a non standard diameter, it would be cheaper and easier to modify off the shelf shock pistons to your needs.

I believe CF shock pistones might rapidly wear the shock bodies.
If you want to go that path, then look for a company that will CNC cut a CF sheet to your drawings.

[frogger]

So after a day's worth of research I have come to the following conclusions:

1. Carbon will be too abrasive inside an alloy shock body and will also absorb oil
2. Nylon 6, Nylon 65 and Nylon 66 also absorb oil and do not machine cleanly

The magic material is Acetal! Acetal provides high strength and stiffness coupled with enhanced dimensional stability and ease of machining. As a semi-crystalline material, acetal is also characterised by a low coefficient of friction and good wear properties, especially in wet environments.

New pistons here we come!

[Lee]

I had this done when i ran the aero

[Gaz_Stanton]

You can't drill accurate round holes in carbon so not good for pistons.

Rayspeed do blank pistons that you can drill out yourself. Don't have a link but well worth investigating before going to the hassle of making your own.

[OldTimer]

Part number for the Rayspeed pistons with no holes is RS11, and microtech show them in stock

Acetal is a very nice material to machine, as used on the S2 gearbox casings.

[frogger]

I am making new pistons for the 18th scale LRP Shark as there are none available.

[Smartalec]

Carl, will there be a variety of hole combinations? ..... personally i'd like to run two very small holes so I can use lighter oil all round

[Lee]

So you want more pack?

[Smartalec]

Yep, more pack for me please

[Smartalec]

..... also going to try the same with the CAT SX pistons

[Lee]

just araldite the holes up and drill some more

[Smartalec]

Yep, that's pretty much what I was going to do. I've already managed to dial out the excessive steering on the CAT, just need to fine tune it with the suspension now and it should be dialled.