"Old Style" valving vs "Deflected Disc" valving

[RacerX10]

I'm looking to get some shocks gone over and have been told that my afco's can be updated from the 'old style monroe' valving to the new style 'deflected disc' valving .. anybody happen to know what any of that means and why the newer is better ?

Thank you

[F22 RAPTOR]

I'm looking to get some shocks gone over and have been told that my afco's can be updated from the 'old style monroe' valving to the new style 'deflected disc' valving .. anybody happen to know what any of that means and why the newer is better ?

Thank you

I worked for Carrera Racing shocks for 6 years, we made both deflective disc shocks and other types of valved shocks. Every shock in the world has a type of valve, along with oil & some sort of nitrogen gas for rod displacement(Gas cell or floating piston). I'm guessing your model shocks are what is known as a dual tube design, because all mono-tubes use deflective disc valving. What valving type you have isn't nearly as important as what type, "curve" you have. Valving curves come in 3 types: Linear, Progressive & Digressive. You need the right curve type for your type track.

Linear is best suit for Rough surfaces.
Progressive is best for Wet, Heavy surfaces.
Digressive is best for Dry, Slick surfaces.

I could get more technical, but it wouldn't help you as much as just saying you need to determine what type tracks you run on and communicate to your shock builder what curves your looking for. The valve type is more of a function of the shock design and less the performance. Some companies like to taught deflective disc as "New" technology, but it was invented by a frenchman in the 20's or 30's. The valving design employed by PRO for example was designed in the 40's by a man at Gabriel shocks, so in reality that is a "Newer" design.

[RacerX10]

Not as simple as I was hoping !

So are you saying I shouldn't bother with the $70.00 "upgrade" to the "newer" style deflection disc ? The 2 shocks I'm sending in are ~ 10 year old twin-tube AFCO's, but they have very little "race" time on them. It's unlikely that I'll be changing shocks for dry / wet / etc conditions, so I need to shoot for middle of the road. They are 9" 4-valve shocks that I plan to put on the rear of a Shaw crate car and race locally.

Here's the info from their site, and thanks a bunch for your comments .. I appreciate it

[F22 RAPTOR]

What I'm reading is it's just a conversion to deflective disc they are offering... Just changing the type of valve won't, on it's own, do anything for you. I'm not knocking BSB, but they are in business to sell parts. Do you have a local builder you can contact who's familiar with tracks in your area? If not, I'd default to AFCO for upgraded valve curves, a lot has changed in the last 10 years. JMO

[Ghopper]

BSB is also a shock tuner and even have their own line of latemodel dampers.... If you call them they could revalve your shocks to follow their current philosophies.


Ghopper

[F22 RAPTOR]

BSB is also a shock tuner and even have their own line of latemodel dampers.... If you call them they could revalve your shocks to follow their current philosophies.


Ghopper

Cool, thats good. Maybe they can help get him going. A sharp builder can make any brand mimic another brands curves or do custom curves, depending on your needs, regardless of valving type. I'd recommend valving to your own needs rather than just copying someone else, but it can be done and is an option. To do shocks right you really need a nice dyno, hand stroking won't cut it. I know for instance QA1 sells some of there shocks as owner rebuildable and the kit comes with a drill bit, but in my experience this isn't as accurate or complete as what is needed. If you don't have the funds to buy a nice dyno, then relying on a competent builder is a fine alternative. This could be the factory or an independent builder with experience in the field.

[RacerX10]

Here's more info on their conversion. I just need to know if it's worth doing on a local casual-racer crate car, or if I should just opt to get them tested and repaired as is (less expensive).

[F22 RAPTOR]

Here's more info on their conversion. I just need to know if it's worth doing on a local casual-racer crate car, or if I should just opt to get them tested and repaired as is (less expensive).

Revalve Yes, Conversion No.
If you were gonna chase the FASTRAK/NeSmith points then I'd say upgrade your whole package to double adjustable. If you run one or two tracks the same every week, just get a revalve and run'em till you kill'em.

[RacerX10]

Revalve Yes, Conversion No.
If you were gonna chase the FASTRAK/NeSmith points then I'd say upgrade your whole package to double adjustable. If you run one or two tracks the same every week, just get a revalve and run'em till you kill'em.

Sounds good. Being that I could be in to either dry or heavy conditions, I guess the "linear" valve option is the way to go ? How do I request this setup ? The shocks are a 4/4 valve right now.

Do "linear" , "digressive" and "progressive" refer in any way to the compression and rebound numbers or are those independent values ?

If there are documents out here on the internet(s) that you want to point me at, I'd be happy to do some reading so I don't have to keep asking you so many questions .. thanks

[Renegade Cust Susp]

Valving Style

Actually other than the "bsb conversion", Afco as a company has started going to all deflective disc technology to help make all of there shocks more consistent builds out of the factory.

[sobe92]

to be fair this conversion was something that bsb has been doing since mid 2009 well before afco started to change over.

[RacerX10]

I got some suggested valving from Kevin Shaw so I'm going to go ahead and send these up to BSB and get the upgrade to deflective for $70.00 and revalve to his specifications.

I should win every race I enter now .... right ?

[bizkit]

DLD are u still on those 1994 pull offs? Then my answer is NO...haha...Good luck buddy, holla at me sometime. Not at same work place. Hit me in a PM for new contact info sometime!

[RacerX10]

DLD are u still on those 1994 pull offs? Then my answer is NO...haha...Good luck buddy, holla at me sometime. Not at same work place. Hit me in a PM for new contact info sometime!

Hey biz !

Yes, I still have STICKER tires from 1998 ! lol

PM sent.

[Go Vols]

Ok, im going to chime in here now! Sobe92 , you are WRONG about when Afco switched to deflective disc stuff. They made the change in 2006 & 2007, but, there stuff can be built to as good as any. For the person or persons trying to copy one curve from a manufacturer to another - you are MISSING THE BOAT!!! You must understand flow, # of ports in use and the affect that both have for tension to create the desired valving. Its funny to listen to some of you that "UNDERSTAND" all this shock stuff and you really don't. You guys make me laugh A LOT!