Identifying Duratrax vs Kyosho Gold Shocks

[HKS_TRD]

I have a collection of Kyosho shocks and parts here, some I want to get custom anodised and some I want to sell

I am 99.9% sure they are Kyosho, I know the medium length ones must be for sure as Duratrax didn't make that size, but how can I be certain which type the others are

Most are in bits or I can strip if that helps ID them

[GoMachV]

The colors are different, duratrax are more orange. They also just have one oring and the diaphragm is very shallow.

If they hold oil they are probably kyosho

[Coelacanth]

As Jeff said, Kyosho gold is a champagne color, Duratrax gold is more orangey. Also, the Duratrax shocks I have are more shiny; Kyosho Golds are noticeably more satiny. And of course, Duratrax shocks lack the extra O-rings and were called "Duraleaks" for this reason.

[Jay Dub]

Also the shafts are of lesser quality and rust. The spring collars are slightly diferent, and the perches are quite different as well. -Jeff

[GoMachV]

It's actually kind of funny how they appear so close but just about every aspect info them is different

Thank god duratrax never tried to make a platinum! Lol!

[HKS_TRD]

Thanks for the responses guys

All the ones I have looked at so far had two seals so must be Kyosho gold shocks
I am guessing the Duratrax body is different in the seal area and there is no way they could accept two seals

LOL about the platinums, the Kyosho ones have a bad enough time sealing, I have a brand new pair of fronts whick leak, I mean seriously WTF. Good thing they are only on a shelfer

[rccars4sal]

Seems like nothing ever matched the quality of the original gold shocks. I have a set of newer shocks from ultima RB Im guessing about 2007 ish date wise. They leak.

[HKS_TRD]

I'd have to agree

I had an old set of golds anodised blue after I stripped and polished them.

I put them together with new seals but no special treatment to the shafts or anything, they are silky smooth and while they have only been on a shelf queen they don't leak and I don't thing they would either.

Testament to the quality of these shocks is often you can pick up an old beat up shock and its still full to the brim with oil when you pull it apart. Kyosho dropped the platinums and went back to the gold shocks before bringing out other shocks later on

The platinums leaked just sitting on the shelf and they were new!

[Coelacanth]

What HKS said is exactly right. When I restored my Optima that had sat in a box for close to 3 decades, the oil in the gold shocks was still clean and they were still almost full. I've disassembled many parts cars that had gold shocks and nearly all of them still had most of their oil inside. Pretty amazing, actually.

[RichieRich]

The easiest way to tell without disassembly is to wiggle the shaft. The Kyoshos have double seals and won't wiggle as much as the Duratrax with one seal. Also, don't go by color. I have several sets of Duratrax shocks that are nearly identical in color to the Kyoshos. There's actually a few threads here with pictures.

[Coelacanth]

You can't go by wiggle amount either, because unless you have both kinds to compare, it's subjective. You're right about the color; I've seen pictures on the web that show Duratrax shocks to have almost the same color as Golds, but there again, you can't rely on accurate color from your computer screen, and a bunch of other factors relating to camera settings, image settings, etc. But perhaps the one way to tell the difference is that Duratrax shock aluminum is clearly more highly polished than Kyosho's aluminum before the anodizing process. You don't need to rely on color. I should take some comparison pics tonight, convert the pics to greyscale, and show the difference...maybe I'll do that tonight.

[kink]

The fakes (duratrax) are obvious on ebay as they are a sickly gold colour rather than champagne, as said.

[Coelacanth]

The fakes (duratrax) are obvious on ebay as they are a sickly gold colour rather than champagne, as said.

That's true, but the problem is, you can't trust the color of something from an eBay ad, because so many factors affect the color integrity; the person's camera that took the picture, as well as your own computer screen. Computers and cameras often don't show the true, actual color. I've seen lots of eBay ads with Duratrax shocks that look just like Kyosho Golds, but unless you had both kinds in your hands, you might be hard-pressed to tell the difference based on color. Too many factors affect how a color appears on someone's screen.

[HKS_TRD]

Also looking at all the Kyosho golds I have, including NIP Pairs its obvious the color varies between anodising batches so not all Kyosho golds look the same and I am sure the same rings true for the Duratrax

Are any of the parts interchangeable between the Duratrax and Kyosho shocks, such as the top caps?

[Coelacanth]

Are any of the parts interchangeable between the Duratrax and Kyosho shocks, such as the top caps?

Some parts are; the caps physically thread onto Kyosho Gold bodies just fine, but I'm not sure if there's the correct amount of space inside for the Kyosho rubber diaphram to work properly. I also wouldn't consider swapping Duratrax shock bodies for the Golds, even if things fit, because they're meant to use only 1 O-ring and the spacing of the parts will be different. I guess I'd just say that it's probably not a great idea to mix 'n' match inferior parts with your Kyosho Gold shocks.