Are Traxxas Big Bore Shocks Good?

If you have a Traxxas RC car or truck you have likely heard of their big bore shocks but of course just because Traxxas sells them doesn’t mean that you need them or that they are any good either. Knowing how good a product is is important before you decide whether to buy it or not. 

Traxxas big bore shocks are just what you need to get the perfect jump and bump control. The hard-anodized aluminum bodies can survive the pressures that come with massive jumps. The PTFE-coated shock bores and titanium-nitride coated shafts also ensure perfect durability as well as an almost frictionless performance offering smooth damping.

Traxxas big bore shocks also come with progressive rate springs to offer the best in suspension performance. These progressive rate springs offer softer initial travel to engulf slight surface imperfections and ensure that your tires are well planted to enable improved traction. With the increase of the speed, the rate gains firmness to prevent bottoming out when landing jumps. 

Progressive rate springs are just what you can trust to give you the best of both worlds. 

The springs included work excellently for 2WD Slash models, while the stock springs can be reused by other models with the big bore shocks. If you want a significant improvement in the performance of your RC car, you might want to get a big bore kit.

To see a video review of the Traxxas Big bore shocks you can watch the one below. 

Why should you upgrade your shocks? 

The Traxxas big bore kit gives you a substantial upgrade opportunity if you want to improve the performance of your RC truck or buggy. A big bore kit is designed to replace the stock shocks so that way you can land those massive jumps that you might not be able to with the standard shocks that came with your RC truck. 

If you want to increase the air that your RC truck can handle without bottoming out or tearing something up then upgrading to the big bore shocks (found here) is the best way to do it. It certainly beats tearing up other parts of your RC vehicle while you are using it! 

How do you install Traxxas big bore shocks?

If you decide that the Traxxas big bore shocks are what you want on your RC vehicle then knowing how to install these shocks is of course important. 

The first thing that you will want to do is remove your old stock shocks from your RC vehicle. You will do this by removing the top body and then removing the screws that hold the shocks in place. 

The screws are normally 2 or 2.5mm depending on which screws you are removing. 

There will be screws on the top of the shocks as well as on the bottom so be sure to remove both of them on each shock. You will also need to remove the eyelet spacer off of the standard shock so you can put it on the big bore set. 

Once you put the eyelet spacer on the big bore shock all you have to do is simply screw your new big bore shocks back into the holes that the shocks came out of. You can also adjust the shock performance by changing the mounting holes at this time if you prefer to do so. 

What kind of oil goes in Traxxas shocks?

If you need to put oil into your new Traxxas big bore shocks or if you simply are unsure which oil you are supposed to use with your stock shocks then this is for you! 

Traxxas shocks normally use a silicone based oil that is 30w. You can buy specific Traxxas shock oil that is designed for Traxxas shocks (found here) or you can use shock oil from another RC car that you have as almost all shock oil is interchangeable. 

Putting oil in the shocks is much more important that the exact brand of oil that you put into them. As long as you put some kind of shock oil in them then your RC car’s shocks should work great. 

How do you fill Traxxas big bore shocks with oil?

If you have Traxxas big bore shocks that didn’t come with oil in them and you are unsure of how to put oil in them this is an important part of the process. 

The first thing that you need to do is dissemble the shocks. You can do this by squeezing down the spring and removing the top plastic pieces to get the spring off the shock entirely. Once the spring is removed you can then just take and twist off the top part of the shock. 

Once you have the top part (cap) removed you can pour the oil inside the shock or if replacing the oil then dump out the old oil and put the new clean oil back inside the shock. 

You will then just screw the cap back on and reassemble the spring to the shock exactly how you took it apart. 

Can you use motor oil in RC shocks?

This is a common question that we hear at RaceNRCs and one that many people are unsure of. Many people seem to think that oil is oil so you can use virtually any oil inside of the shock but that actually isn’t true! 

You should never use motor oil inside of an RC car shock as shock oil is silicone based and motor oil is not. If you put motor oil in your shocks they will not work properly and will end up damaging the shocks and possibly hurting other parts of your RC car in the process. 

Purchasing silicone based RC shock oil is really inexpensive (as you can see here) so trying to take a shortcut and using oil that is not designed for RC shocks is a bad idea! You will rarely use much shock oil so the savings will be minimal and the possibility of destroying your new RC shocks is certainly not worth the risk. 

Some people have reported even using cooking oil without any issues in their RC shocks but again with prices being so low for the real deal why would you risk it? 

Simply order some RC shock oil and have it sitting with your RC car so you never have to try and use something else ever again! 

Conclusion

For most people the Traxxas big bore shocks are definitely worth the money and are a great way to upgrade your RC car or truck to take your races, or jumps to the next level. The materials that the big bore shocks are made of are much better than the standard shocks so the upgrade is a good idea. 

Upgrading your shocks isn’t something that you have to do but if you find yourself wanting to upgrade your RC car or to get better performance when you are using it then getting big bore shocks will certainly do that for you.