Originally Posted by
Fixerupper
Ive been searching through threads and I find mostly info about the rustler (I see they're extremely similar). I haven't quite found an easily explained post detailing what I can do to give my sport a bit more stability and also reduce how easily it rolls through turns. I have the largest set of spacers on the shocks that came with it and have heard of the tubing in the shock body to limit travel (somewhat confused on that) but are there any other easy fixes?
also I notice it tends to skew left or right even after steering is trimmed. Is that just a better servo issue?
The problem with the nitro sport in regard to the steering is mostly due to its direct steering. As in - the steering is driven directly off the servo and not a set of bell cranks as the Rustler and Jato is setup. What this means is you need a good servo, good servo saver, and tight linkages to have good steering, quick/accurate response, and less bump steer. Bell crank steering is a much cleaner/tighter/faster setup and is why the Rustler is often favored.
My Nitro Sport story made brief...
I had a Nitro Sport for several years. It was my very first RC car. It was an okay-driving truck albeit a bit uncontrollable with too much power. Mine came with the original sport .15 (silver head), I quickly changed to a Pro .15 (blue head) for more power and better carb. After I got tired of the low power Pro .15, I put a 2.5R into it. Stronger engine - made the truck more fun; but it's high speed stability was still crap. So I converted the chassis/steering to Nitro Rustler stuff. Basically I replaced the chassis and steering. All suspension, driveline, etc. all bolts right on. Much better truck; more responsive, and more stable at high(er) speeds it was capable of. Added a 3.3 Traxxas engine for more fun... The 3.3 sure made it faster, but it also got more squirrelly at high speed. So to cure that, I put Jato suspension arms/axle carriers onto it. Now it's ultra stable and can actually be run WOT for more than 2 seconds.
Morale of all of this - if you want to make it more stable and responsive, put Jato suspension on it. I believe all you need is arms, turnbuckles (longer), and axle stubs/carriers. You would probably need to switch to 2.8" wheels too - at least I had to with the Rustler. I suspect you will too if you do this mod. I think it's worth doing though - it made my Rustler a completely new truck - no BS.. I am willing to try making a 24t clutch/54t Spur work and see how fast a Rustler can go. I think that's the tallest gearing you can get stock for it.