carbon front tower

[Mr X]

i broke my plastic front shock tower on the lazer and i was either thinking of getting the carbon tower or get the plastic one again and bolt/glue a piece of aluminium to the back to reinforce it. i was wondering if the carbon tower is that much stronger and is it worth getting it?

[jim76]

everyone in the uk tends to get the atomic carbon fibre front shock mount and place this behind a standard kit one. Once doubled up the front end is rock solid.
I'm not sure how the new graphite composite compares to the original plastic, maybe slightly stronger. But if you can double it up with a plate beind that will definitely help.

[Mr X]

im just wondering about one thing, the regular kyosho tower has the screw heads go inside the tower. if i put a reinforcement on the back it wont be countersunk anymore. would this cause a problem since the screw will be pushing on this reinforcement plate and there will be nothing behind it to support it. would this cause unneccessary stress and cause problems?

[jim76]

i'm not quite sure what you mean as i can't remember how the shock tower originally went on, it's been a while!

i have the alloy front mount, and use normal round head screws, from the back of the shock towers, into the alloy mount through the graphite tower then the kit tower. I've had some pretty heavy crashes and it's been fine. Just check the screws don't vibrate loose every now and then.

[Mr X]

would you be able to post a picture of your set up? i searched the whole kyosho forum and couldnt find one.

[KyoshoK]

personally i run the aluminium tower mount but run standard shock towers. i prefer to break a shock tower than the shock mount. when you crack the shock tower, the good thing is that it still allows you to finish the heat.

i just keep a few front shock towers on hand, there real cheap anyway like $5

[Mr X]

do you prefer the plastic ones over the carbon ones? alot of people now told me to double up the shock tower and my car will be bulletproof. i already have front and rear aluminum shock mounts.

[KyoshoK]

i've tried both the regular and carbon composite, and found no strenght increase in the composite.

save your $$$ and just buy the regular.

regulars are like $5 and carbon comp is like $9

[jim76]

Originally Posted by Mr X

would you be able to post a picture of your set up? i searched the whole kyosho forum and couldnt find one.

sorry, forgot to take a picture last night. i'll try and sort one out for you later. As i've said, i've had my fair share of impacts and no sign of damage to the alloy mount.

[niggs98]

hope this works. attached should be a pic of my old zx5 with the tower mods that jim is talking about. only got a front view but i just used normal cap head screws and never pulled one through in a year of racing

[jim76]

that looks pretty clear, ta Niggs. Mine is the same, with the screws coming through from the rear into the alloy mount.

If anyone needs a close up i can probably sort one out later

[Mr X]

thanks for all the infoevery one. i will be cutting the reinforcement out of aluminum since i cando it fast. i will post some pictures when im done.

[Mr X]

ok i made my reinforcement, it took me like 30 minutes to make it with a hacksaw and a file so noone laugh. i ran it all day today and got ranover by a moster truck and it was fine so i guess it works.

[KyoshoK]

what about issues of drag. i thought it would slow down car a little

[Mr X]

that could be fixed with a faster motor, also im at no where near the level where milliseconds count. i didnt notice any difference after i put it on except that its super strong now.

[jim76]

Originally Posted by KyoshoK

what about issues of drag. i thought it would slow down car a little

drag? have you not removed the material from the middle then? Even though, at our scale and speed i doubt it will make a huge noticable difference.

[BenG]

Cutting it out would also make it lighter.

With a dremel it would take 2 minutes.

[JCJC]

After breaking a carbon fiber mount after a years use, I am thinking of mounting two carbon fiber's back to back.

[omen1975]

Hi guys,

I use carbon works towers and never had any trouble with breakage (highly recommend), complimented it with good alloy tower mounts for a strong front and rear tower setup. Im not sure if you can get the carbon works towers anymore, I bought mine from A Main Hobbies bout 6 months ago.

Hope this helps,
omen1975

[Mr X]

one of the reasons for this is that there will be a trophy race in a couple of days and i dont know who would deliver in like 1 day without charging me alot. and cost was another factor, do i really want to spend like 40 dollars on a shock tower? why would i when i can get it for free and have it do the same job. it might not be pretty but it works, besides looks dont do good in races cars that dont break do good in races.