A couple months ago we took a quick look at the 90mm Desert Lizard internally sprung shocks from Yeah Racing. We saw a lot of things we liked but how would they perform the real world? Well thats is exactly here to talk about. I’ve had a while now to throw these on my rig and punish them a bit to see just how these will hold and and more importantly perform. Before we get into that lets go over some important details about these shocks.
Price: $19.90 a pair
From: Yeah Racing
Whats included:
- Yeah Racing 90mm Desert Lizard Two Stage Internal Spring Damper (2 pcs)
- Springs (16 pcs)
- Pistons (8 pcs)
- Mounting Hardware (1 pack)
Assembly: B
The Desert Lizards come fully assembled, but you must add oil and tune your spring setup before you can use them. The included instructions state that in stock form the shocks are sprung for a heavy setup and they aren’t kidding. If you have a heavy rig fear not, these shocks have a spring that will keep your rig off of the bumps stops. So first order of operations is to find a spring weight that matches my truck. I ended up going with the medium spring because the sprung weight on my SCX10 is nearly stock. I left the droop spring in place as I usually run some sag in my setups anyway. Contrary to popular belief having insane flex does not equal a superior handling rig. With my springs selected I filled my shocks with some 30wt and bled them per the instructions. Bleeding shocks is usually a very tedious task, but another design innovation here makes it quite easy. The shock caps have channels milled into the threads that allow you to fill the shock, tighten the cap partially, compress the shock fully allowing all of the excess oil to escape through the channel and then tighten the shock cap in place with the included shock wrench. Very slick!
Quality: A
The combination of a machined Delron piston and titanium nitride coated shock shaft make the action of these shocks extremely smooth. Triple o-ring shock cartridges keep the oil where it belongs without binding up things up and the anodized shock bodies come in many colors to suit your taste. An attractive Desert Lizard logo is laser etched on both sides of the shock body to give these a very premium feel. The overall fit and finish on these shocks is extremely good and the machining is very high quality. I’m very impressed with the build quality of these shocks.
Installation: A
Mounting the shocks was also a breeze. The included aluminum bushings were a perfect match to fit Axial axles without the need for shimming or washers. Direct bolt parts are always great. No Problems to list here.
Durability: A+
I had no major problems during testing with these shocks. Everything about these shocks is beefed up so I would estimate that they will have a long service life. The shock shafts are larger than normal as well as the shock caps are aluminum as opposed to easy to pull out plastic units used on most shocks. Everything about theses shocks is beefy which is good for durability but affect scale appearance as described below.
Adjustability: B
The Lizards come with tons of spring options which is very handy. You can run a semi droop setup or fully sprung, whichever you like. Several spring weights and 2 different spring types are are included so you can mix and match to your hearts delight. Unfortunately there is no preload adjustment which is a convenience I am very accustomed to having. I found this frustrating when trying to find a stance I liked on my truck and literally spent hours swapping springs until I found something I was happy with. Multiple piston sizes are also included to further tune your dampening action. All in all this is a fully tunable setup, it just takes a little longer than a coilover setup.
Performance: B
This is where the Desert Lizards really shine. The extra emulsion in the oversize shock bodies insure the dampening will remain consistent over long treks on the trail. Oversize shock shafts an all aluminum construction ensure slop free operation and a long service life. I brutally hammered my SCX10 over fallen trees, and rocks and even jumped the truck many times to give the dampers a good flogging. No signs of structural distress at all. What was more important to me was how well they worked when finessing the truck through tough section of the trail. I felt like I was a little held back by my droop spring choice. I think the stiff spring inhibited flex just a little too much. A little more compliance in this area would be preferred. My suggestion for an SCX10 setup would be medium springs on both sides of the piston on all four corners. Making this change on the trail of course isn’t an option being that it is an internal spring shock.
Scale Appearance: C
This is quite possibly where the the only spot where these shocks loose a few points. While the extra shock volume will certainly help performance I feel it takes away from their scale appearance somewhat. If you’re going to forgo external springs for scale appearance why not go whole hog and make the shock diameter scale as well. Even with the larger diameter shock body these are still a very attractive shock, they are just not as scale realistic they could have been.
Overall: B
Overall I really like these shocks. There are many features that I would consider very high quality and well thought out. While these perform extremely well once setup it does take a bit to get them the way you like. (at least it did for me). Setup concerns aside these are by far the nicest shocks I have seen in this price range. If you are in the market for an internally sprung shock the Desert Lizards should be on your short list.
If you would like to find out more about these shocks you can check out Yeah Racings website right here.
If you would like to pick up a couple of sets for your 1.9 scaler you can grab them from rcMart right here.
Thanks for stopping by gang,
-Evol
