Hi all ,
for those who service their shocks what oil are you using ? Redline , QA1 , motorcycle fork oil ? Here in Aus I can buy Redline or will use Motul fork oil or equivilent
what rates ? 5W or 10W ?
How much oil ?
I have QA1 fronts Viking rear and after years of street strip use think changing out the oil might be neccassary as I now have erratic sixties event to event . 3790lb Satellite on radials .

Thanks

Tex

Might be worth contacting someone in Oz that rebuilds shocks? Gazzard Bros or Pluckas Racecraft?

Alan ,talked to Pluckas no issue there but I can save a heck of $ doing this my self . I am not revavlving . I can get Redline from Rocket , some have said use mc fork oil but looking at tech side seems though same 5W actual viscosity and resistance to temperature is is a lot less . Price isnt much different . Might talk to Gazzards

Tex

i'm absolutely NO "genius" on motor cycles, [if i straddled one, it would fall over, and i couldn't get out from under it. ] but if you contacted a place that does off road or race bikes, i'm pretty sure they could fix you up with different weights of shock oil.
just basing my statement on the one bike shop i used to visit years ago.
i don't know if that will work in OZ though.

using thicker oil will change the valving

thanks guys .
Will go Redline 5W in fronts and see how it goes .
CSK yes for sure . I wondered with age of shocks whether to go the 10W . It definatelly is Secret Sam land but with little info I will baseline it .

Tex

Get a stopwatch and a funnel with the smallest outlet you can find.
Fill this funnel with oil with your finger blocking the outlet.
Start the stopwatch at the same time you release your finger letting oil flow.
Stop the stopwatch when oil level drops to the bottom of the “V” of the funnel.

Compare oil viscosity this way.

Experiment with both room temperature and warmer oil.

Three things I don't DIY. Converters, driveshafts and shocks.

Shock dynos are expensive. Servicing shocks is more than just changing oil. There are some consumables in there. Servicing by someone with experience, and the right tools, is not that expensive if the thing isn't broken or needs to be revalved.

I did something similar just recently on a set of struts, The Mfg'r wouldn't share the oil info with me and all I was doing was resealing and oil replacement they "preferred I send them in for service" .I used a plastic H20 with a pin hole in the cap. Filled the bottle with 4oz of a known visc. straight wgt. oil then timed how many drips/min. I then compared it to the same amount of used shock oil, from there I was able to derive what wht shock oil I need (there are quite a few)
BTW you cant become an expert without trying....

many failures until that one successful outcome, makes one learn things he might not be able to otherwise. my life is filled with failures.

Got a bit more info , QA1 list in their service guide that they use a 5W oil . Their own brand .
I see little to lose and at least I am learning . Even wztching QA1 online video doesnt seem too hard for what I want to do

Tex

With a shock dyno? Working on the shocks trying different things? Great. Running the car up and down the track? Cheaper to pay Mans or someone to give you a set that is dead nuts already so you can concentrate on tuning.

When I searched online 5W was all that came up. Keep us posted on how you go. Changing oil in these things shouldn't be rocket science, so long and you keep note of how the shims etc are placed. I know a few people that have done it themselves.

Alan ,
Will do . Will do fronts first this week . Pulled them today still seem good adjust very quick from full loose to where i cant pull them at #4 from loose . This goes back to how car towed on trailer last week will not tow full loose . Plymouth was floating like shipp in heavy sea .
These shocks must havev70000klm at least on them
Got to finish Riley powered Austin Healey exhaust first . Now this is a daft manifold set up .

Tex

It is a good idea to read up on “Viscosity Index” too

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viscosity_index

sample quote

The VI scale was set up by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE).
The temperatures chosen arbitrarily for reference are 100 and 210 °F (38 and 99 °C).
The scale was originally interpolated between 0 for a naphthenic Texas Gulf crude and 100 for a paraffinic Pennsylvania crude.
Since the inception of the scale better oils have also been produced, leading to VIs greater than 100 (see below).[3]

VI improving additives and higher quality base oils are widely used nowadays which increase the VIs attainable beyond the value of 100.
The Viscosity Index of synthetic oils ranges from 80 to over 400.

Are you looking to change the characteristics or go back to factory spec?

If it's not obviously leaking there prolly fine

FastmOp , its a service situation . I have battled traction off the tbrake for 12 months and this is an item not touched . No they are not leaking by hand they are similar and adjust per dial .BUt as I noted these have been on for 12 years or there abouts so that would be 70'000 kilometres driving or more . So I am trying to remove varianbles , it cant help for a little effort

Tex

Obviously there is more to shocks than oil. Without a shock dyno it's next to impossible to know if they are functioning as designed. Or functioning to the manner in which suits your car. Oil doesn't wear out. If its contaminated those particles came from somewhere.
Doug

Oil i"m sure will break down . Even if only through heat cycling . A strip only trailer car less obvious . A street strip car car more noticable .
As i said these are at least 70'000 klm usage
Oil out of shocks , new Redline oil

Tex