On my first outing to the track with my new Losi TEN SCTE, I was involved in several wrecks. In one such wreck, I bent the rear shock tower. I was able to bend it back enough to finish the race, but it was still bent when I removed it today. I’ll be replacing it with a SNR Carbon Fiber shock tower. Carbon fiber is much stronger than the stock steel tower. I didn’t weigh it on a scale, but I was not able to tell a difference in weight just holding them in my hand. They were pretty close. The carbon fiber tower should be a few grams lighter.

Here are the basic steps involved in swapping  out the rear shock tower. Take a note before you begin which holes the shocks are mounted in, as well as which hole the upper camber link attaches to the shock tower.

Remove the rear body mount. There are 4 screws that are accessed from the rear of the truck

Next remove the bumper. You’ll see I’ve also disconnected the first shock.

Disconnect the top Camber link from the shocktower.

Now disconnect the tops of the shocks. Also remove the screws from the shocktower, as you’ll need them in the new tower.

You are now ready to remove the final 4 screws holding the shock tower to the rear differential housing.

Next install the new tower using the 4 screws you just removed. There is a specific orientation you have to follow. The contours on the bottom of the tower are shaped to fit over the differential housing.

Next reattach the upper camber links. Pay attention to the dogbone as you do this, and make sure it goes back in the outdrives.

Note: There are two holes in the shock tower for the upper camber link. If you use the higher hole, it will add positive camber.

Reattach the screws for the upper shock mounts in the same holes you removed them from. Slide the screw through the tower, then tighten a nut onto it. There is a small black spacer that slides over the screw first, then the shock slides onto the screw. Fasten with another locknut.

Now its time to reattach the bumper.

Finally its time to reattach the body mount to the shock tower.

So as you can see its a fairly straightforward process. I’ll post my initial impressions after this weekend’s race. Stay tuned!