Yellow stims
Posted: Sun Apr 05, 2009 3:52 am
To clarify; 'soft' yellow stims ought to be softer by 3-4 durometer points than 'soft' greens, so we're looking at 79A for yellow 'softs', and 82-83A for 'soft' greens. Now, where things get odd is that somewhere along the line, color-coding got biffed, and the greens and yellows got mixed up with the 'hard' blue-green [88A to 90A] stims (at the supplier's end, I believe) . Note that the 'ocean blue' stims were the harder ones, coming in at 90A to 94A, again without any particular warning on the label.
With the green 'medium' labeled bushings, there's a tinge of yellow-ish coloring, or on occassion, a slight blue-ish swirl, and these are usually around 86A, though they can vary by a few A-shore points. The yellows that got mixed up (and sometimes mis-labeled, too) often have a slight orange tinge or a 'glazed' look to the bushing, and they run from 84A up to 91A, but can be 'bite tested' (not by Cannucks! and, no Sauce, please!!) readily enough to prove they're not 'soft'.
The oddest thing to me, by far, is that Tracker Aggro trucks (which were, in the day,T.Hawk's truck-of-choice) didn't seem to have bushing quality issues, but it was the 'aftermarket' replacement parts that had the variations in durometer and pouring quality. Tracker's descision not to re-issue Stims is telling in itself; I don't think they had full confidence the urethane supplier. Moreover, I believe the original molds are 'lost' in time, as are likely the formulas to make them. Luckily, despite my original '96 gaff of mentioning Stims online as the 'best' bushing for speed/slalom/luging, other have picked up the bouncing ball (or bushing?) and run with it. Radikal, Jim-Z (Very nicely done,btw!), and Venom have filled a niche that Tracker itself left vacant (until the "Stim III"), and I'd guess that others (Chaput, dude, where are ya?) will follow.
With the green 'medium' labeled bushings, there's a tinge of yellow-ish coloring, or on occassion, a slight blue-ish swirl, and these are usually around 86A, though they can vary by a few A-shore points. The yellows that got mixed up (and sometimes mis-labeled, too) often have a slight orange tinge or a 'glazed' look to the bushing, and they run from 84A up to 91A, but can be 'bite tested' (not by Cannucks! and, no Sauce, please!!) readily enough to prove they're not 'soft'.
The oddest thing to me, by far, is that Tracker Aggro trucks (which were, in the day,T.Hawk's truck-of-choice) didn't seem to have bushing quality issues, but it was the 'aftermarket' replacement parts that had the variations in durometer and pouring quality. Tracker's descision not to re-issue Stims is telling in itself; I don't think they had full confidence the urethane supplier. Moreover, I believe the original molds are 'lost' in time, as are likely the formulas to make them. Luckily, despite my original '96 gaff of mentioning Stims online as the 'best' bushing for speed/slalom/luging, other have picked up the bouncing ball (or bushing?) and run with it. Radikal, Jim-Z (Very nicely done,btw!), and Venom have filled a niche that Tracker itself left vacant (until the "Stim III"), and I'd guess that others (Chaput, dude, where are ya?) will follow.
