wolfendoom3d

Hello members,

After much thought, I bought the Redcat Rockslide Supercrawler 1\8th. Hey, it ain't Axial, but it SURE is better than that Exceed Madtorque. It sure is sloww, but it is an awesome crawler. It really gets people's attention, too. OK.. Here are my questions.
1) What's the deal with wheel weights? Should I buy them? And what's the easiest kit to buy that will work for my crawler? How much weight for each set of wheels?
2) I'm assuming my wheels have those foam inserts. So, should I invest inthe star inserts instead? Install them on all four wheels or just the front?
3) Lipo on a rock crawler seems pointless and silly. I am using a 5000mah battery from Tenergy, as I hear Venom makes crap products.Using thesame truck, what are someother hop ups that are cheapbut needed?
4) THANKS!

t9dragon

My Feedback: (11)

Does it have beadlocks? What makes you think Venom is crap and Axial is over-rated?

wolfendoom3d

Goodquestion. Yes, it has beadlocks. Axial seems overrated to me because everybody reccomends it crazily, even though it has been out for years now. When I meant Venom, I was really referring to their RC batteries. I also don't like Venom because most of their Crawlers come in kits. I was drawn to the Rockslide because of its size and rear steering, which Axial doesn't have. So, is there any reccomendation for Tire weights that would fit the 1\8th crawler? Please respond. Thank you. Also mention which Crawler(s)you own, too.

1320Fastback

Easy cheap way to weigh the tires is to use thick plumbing solder and simply wrap it around the rim with the tire off.
Unroll the roll and cut into equal parts for both front tires.

You can star cut your stock foam while the tires are off for the weight install.
All you need is a straight edge and a marksAlot pen. You don't have to be super accurate with the cuts.

Google search for "star cut foam" to find pics of how to mark it to cut.

K_B

1)Wheel weights lower your center of gravity. I've used the lead fishing "noodles" that come in 5 lb bundles or whatever, but the plumbing solder would probably allow you to put more winds around the rim and add more weight. Might cost a bit more though. The other option is regular stick on weights like those for fullsize car rims or pine derby racers. But you don't wanna go crazy or you'll end up with essentially two heavy barbells and that will put some serious stress on the knuckles.

2)Memory foams might be your best bet, but the cheap solution is to cut 'em, like was said. Personally, I cut a V-shape down the center line rather than the star pattern. That helps soften up the foam and it conforms to the rocks a little better.

3)Running small lipos is a good thing because they can be mounted on the axle, which is lower than the chassis, whereas running a big heavy stick pack up in the chassis raises your CG and effectively negates alot of the benefit of running wheel weights. But, if you're just fiddling around in the yard, no big deal. I've run Venom batteries with good results, but the quality control on any of the budget batteries is poor, so I think it's a flip of the coin.

I do find it odd that you bad-mouth Axial products when you have zero knowledge of crawling; much less that of Axial products. And you don't like Venom because they make kits? How much pride do you think the underpaid and overworked Taiwanese kid had in putting your Rockslide together?

nitrosportsandrunner

remove the stock foams and cut them to a star pattern.

Wheel weights help alot with 1/10 crawlers.....espescially shaft driven(center trans) crawlers.

But the rockslide is a heavy machine, with motor on axles. also, the tires are a good deal heavier than the chassis(compared to 1/10's)

what im saying there is that wheel weights are not really nessesary. adding the amount of weight one would normally add (few oz) wont make much of a difference with the rockslide.

if you do decide to add a bit of weight, i would do so only over the front axle. you can buy stick on lead weights, or use solder around the wheel as mentioned before.

stock, the rockslide is indeed slow. but you can run upto 14.4v with that esc. you can either make an adapter to run 2 nimh batts, or better yet run 1 3s 11.1v lipo. this will add some top speed as well as increase torque.

wolfendoom3d

Hey,

The 1 3s 11.1v Lipo battery sounds like a good idea. Will it still be able to crawl? (I'm assuming it would.) After reading the other posts, Since my crawler is a bit on the heavy sound (1\8th) I'm not going to worry about adding weight to the wheels. (My twin motors will thank me.)However, the star inserts sounds cool. So, should I cut the front tires only, or should I also include the rear tires, too?And regarding the lipo, I recently bought a Tenergy 5000battery NIhm. (?whatever) It hasn't increased speed at all, but run time. If I buy the lipo, will the Traxxas Peak charger be able to handle a 11.1v battery? Please reccomend a charger. Thank you very much.

1320Fastback

Cut all 4 tires foams. You want all the tires as soft and pliable as possible.
Can even take some wire cutters and cut the tread at every block. I think I had about 100 cuts in each of my tires before I got HB Rovers.