1. Can I use regular suspension fluid or fork fluid as a shock fluid, for example, used in my rear shock? 

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A common suspension or fork fluid, whether or not it is full synthetic, usually has relatively low viscosity index (VI) value, ranging from 150 to 250. The shock fluid application conditions are more severe, which usually requires VI value over 300, preferably over 350. Therefore, if you are using suspension or fork fluid as shock fluid, it is better to make sure that the VI of your fluid is higher than 350. There are only very few suspension fluid or shock fluid in the market has such a high VI.

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By integrating the advanced aircraft landing shock absorbing technology,  Lube-V Suspension Fluid is specially designed to be used as both a great suspension flud and also a shock fluid, with VI value of 365, which is usually over 100 higher than regular synthetic suspension fluid.  

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2. Why does Lube-V Suspension Fluid have such a good shock absorbing/damping performance?

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Compared with other market brands, Lube-V Suspension Fluid not only uses the finest and carefully selected and synthesized base fluids to provide the shock absorbing, but, more importantly, Lube-V Suspension Fluid also combines the most advanced technology commonly used in the aircraft landing gear and shock fluid for enhanced performance. In other words, Lube-V Suspension Fluid integrates the same or similar chemistry of shock absorbing ingredient(s) commonly used in some well-known market brand aviation shock absorbing fluids (e.g. Shell brand AeroShell SSF Shock Strut Hydraulic Fluid).

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Therefore, Lube-V proprietary folk fluid formula combined with the advanced shock absorbing ingredient(s) gives outstanding shock absorbing/damping performance, which is equivalent or even better than some synthetic fluids, making Lube-V Suspension Fluid perfect to be used in all suspension systems. 

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3. Is Lube-V Suspension Fluid a synthetic fluid? 

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Lube-V Suspension Fluid is a synthetic blend oil, which is a mixture of both synthetic and highest refined base fluids. Lube-V Suspension Fluid on purpose uses synthetic blends over synthetic oil because:

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1) Price v.s. Performance. By integrating most advanced aviation shock absorbing ingredients into Lube-V proprietary formula as well as its extremely high VI (even higher than most synthetic fluids), the performance of Lube-V Suspension Fluid has already exceeded manufacturer’s performance requirements, and even better than some market brand synthetic suspension/fork fluids. So there is no need to use synthetic fluid to make it too pricy for consumers. Synthetic Performance, Non-synthetic Price is always our goal to deliver to our customers.

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2) Sealing issue. There are some past reports that synthetic fluids have leaked out of some old systems because of the incompatibility with some cheap seal materials. Therefore, we specially designed Lube-V Suspension Fluid to be synthetic blend and carefully adjust the composition to make sure Lube-V Suspension Fluid can be compatible with all the seal materials to avoid any potential leakage issue.

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3) Reputation. Over 10 years ago, ExxonMobil lost a lawsuit against BP Castrol, which allowed BP and so other companies to claim highly refined petroleum fluid (Group III oil) as “synthetic”. (Simply google “Mobil 1 Castrol synthetic lawsuit” for more details.) However, Lube-V still holds the belief that all Lube-V synthetic fluids should be TRUE synthetics and do NOT contain any Group II petroleum fluids. Therefore, even though Lube-V Suspension Fluid uses some highly refined petroleum base fluids that could be classified as synthetics, we still classify our Lube-V Suspension Fluid as synthetic blend. That is also the reason that Lube-V has even higher VI and better performance compared with many other so-called synthetic fluids.

 

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4. Can Lube-V Suspension Fluid be used in all climate conditions? 

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Yes. One of the great advantages of Lube-V Suspension Fluid is that it is not only suitable for use in all climate conditions, but also can be used for large temperature fluctuations during the day. This property is important when traveling in some areas like high mountains and desert where there is a big difference between highest and lowest temperature of the day.  

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Right viscosity is very important for the suspension fluid and fork fluid to perform the proper function. However, viscosity of any fluid including suspension/fork fluid will change with the temperature. It will damage your system if viscosity becomes too high (when temperature is low) or too low (when temperature is high).Viscosity Index (VI) is a good measure of this viscosity change with temperature. The higher VI, the less viscosity change with temperature, the better the fluid is.

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Lube-V Suspension Fluid is specially formulated to greatly minimize the extent of viscosity change during temperature fluctuation. In more technical words, Lube-V Suspension Fluid has a very high VI. For example, the VI value of Lube-V Suspension Fluid is over 100 higher than Rockshox suspension fluid and Castrol synthetic fork fluids/suspension oils, indicating that Lube-V Suspension Fluid has excellent resistance of fluid viscosity to temperature fluctuations.