WHERE does the shock oil go to?

[Leet TC3]

Ok, I am venting into a vacuum, not sure if anyone knows the answer to one of mankind's greatest riddles:

Where does that shock oil go to?

Every week before a race, I break down my suspension system and have to add a few drops of shock oil. I have never noticed any signs of leakage, and yet every week some of it seems to disappear.

Now, I am no physicist, but I do remember one thing: Matter can neither be created nor destroyed.

So, given that, where does this stuff go to every week?

Or was Einstein wrong? :) :D :) :D

[Jason C]

I think this is one of those "Murphy's Laws" kind of deals - where something just seems to defy the laws of the physical world.

I seem to have a similar problem with my car. Every time I tear it down for a rebuild, I either find a leftover screw or two or some of the screws dissappear even though I carefully place them in a tray to avoid losing them. Weird...

[IR]

It's FM

[HowieStern]

i gotta go with Idaho on this one..... definately FM....

peace out... :)

[Leet TC3]

FM? What's FM?

[IR]

well the M is Magic...
The F is something I'm not posting....

[HowieStern]

freak'n magic.... LMAO....

peace out.... :)

[Obi112]

I think it evaporates. Feel the shock shaft after you compress it. It's got oil on it.

[KIWIRCGUY]

Also gotta remember that shock oil has air in it. As the shocks compress and rebound the air particles are broken down even smaller, hence the gap. Or it could just be a way for the companies to make alot more money :D

[jeepinator]

In the NAVY we called it PFM.

What happens (total guess, BTW) is this:
A teensy itsy bitsy amount of the shock fluid comes out on the shock shaft, when it extends each time.
Since the shaft is going in and out a whole lot while you are driving it around, a noticeable amount is missing when you check.

This is one of the main reasons for getting those cool hard coated shock shafts (Like AE's "unobtanium" or Losi's titanium nitride). They are super smooth so no fluid can "hide" in the scratches and grooves and then be set free after the shock shaft exetnds.

Hehe, or it is something completely different :p

[FilthyPierre]

Even though you don't notice the leakage, there probably is some. I've noticed that no matter how many times I change the perfectly good seals with new ones, that the shock oil is dirty when I change it, and there's gooped-up dirt around the bottom of the shock shafts after every meet. It's not that big a problem though, that I have to top my shocks up every race day.....