Here’s the fourth part of our exclusive Pro-Line Pro-2 short course racing truck kit build and review! This step features the very cool Powerstroke shocks from Pro-Line. Just in case you missed them, check out the first article here, Part 2 here, and Part 3 here.
The Pro-Line Pro-2 short course racing truck has been out for a little while now, but this is the first and ONLY complete build guide you can find anywhere! Read on below to read how the assembly of the front end goes!
The Powerstroke shocks are Pro-Line’s go-to shocks for anyone looking to upgrade their short course truck, and even many rally-style cars (use fronts at both ends of the car).
The Powerstrokes aren’t as high-spec as the top level Pro-Spec shocks Pro-Line offer – the Pro-Spec shocks come with different pistons, Delrin parts and bleeder cap screws – but they’re great shocks all the same. The Powerstrokes have a 3.5mm shock shaft just like the Pro-Spec, and the bladder seal is just as easy as bleeder screws to properly bleed the shocks. The dual-rate springs are something even the Pro-Specs don’t have, too, and the aluminum shock bodies are fully threaded for infinite ride height adjustments.
The assembly is really simple, and Pro-Line make it even easier by completely assembling the shocks ahead of time. Pr0-Line include a huge bottle of 30wt shock oil in the Pro-2 kit, enough for several rebuilds!
Filling the shocks is the easy part – waiting for the bubbles to get to the top and pop is the annoying bit!
What I did was extend the shock shaft all the way and fill the shock body all the way with the supplied oil and wait a few minutes for the bubbles to rise to the top. Then I pushed the shock shaft about 1/3 to 1/2 the way up, waited a couple of minutes and then pulled the shock shaft all the way down again – inevitably, there’s some bubbles trapped under the shock piston that make an appearance!
The shock cap is a simple design, with space for a bladder and two bleed holes. This is cost-effective way to bleed the shocks, using less parts than the bleeder cap screw design of the Pro-Spec shocks. It’s pretty simple and easy to do though.
With the shocks filled all the way, I put the shock cap on and tightened it down partway – about 1/2 to 2/3 screwed on. At some point the oil inside will start to ooze out – use a paper towel wrapped around the cap to soak up the oil.
At this point you can decide how much rebound you want your shocks to have. Some racers like to have ‘a bit’ of rebound, and others prefer to have none. A ‘bit’ of rebound can be about 1cm or more, and that’s about what I like to run on my off-road vehicles. To accomplish this, I push the shock shaft up about halfway or maybe a little more while screwing the shock cap on on the way.
Closing off the bleeder holes prevents any more oil from seeping out, and makes the shock shaft ‘bounce’ or rebound back out when pushed in all the way. If you want no rebound, or even negative rebound (the shock shaft is ‘sucked up’ into the shock body when fully extended) you would push the shock shaft all the way in as you seal the shock cap in place. Experiment with setting rebound – you’ve got four shocks to build, after all!
Just make sure your rebound is roughly equal for each pair of shocks. You want the settings of the truck (ride height, rebound, etc.) as equal as possible left to right.
The next step is pretty easy – installing the shocks you’ve just built!
The front and rear shocks pop onto the top bolts and use long machine screws to hold the bottom end in place. The front shocks have a captured bottom end – a great feature for racing.
The rear shocks don’t have a captured bottom end, but use a long screw to hold them in place.
So that’s it for the shocks! Quick and easy. Next up: the electronics and tires!
Here’s the video showing how the shocks went together, including an example of bleeding the Powerstroke shocks:
We’d like to thank everyone at Pro-Line for sending us this review kit – we really have been wanting to check out this truck in person for quite some time, and we’re so happy Pro-Line graciously sent us the Pro-2 to review and share with all you RC Racing TV fans!
There’s more to come – check back on RC Racing TV real soon for more of the Pro-Line Pro-2 kit build and review!
