I stripped the CEN down for a clean and all round check up and when I put it back together I noticed a strange movement whilst checking the brake setup. The throttle opens up fully no problem but when the brake is applied the whole back end and the engine appear to move! Its as if the truck is trying to fold itself in half!! I have loosened the brake spring so there is play before contact and none of the rear end screws are loose so what is the problem? Anyone got any ideas?

this is common with the reg mt2 chassis but not supposed to happen with the jt chassis... did you forget to tighten something on the bottom or the brace that holds the brake seat in place?... that is the best place to start.... there is a certain amount of flex in the chassis but not enough to be really loose...

Just gone over everything again and it is all tightened and threadlocked! I dont understand it at all.

how much movement are we talking about here.... if you have too much throw in the brakes or carb it will move the engine a bit which will be very noticable in the spur gear area.... like I said before, mine moves a bit but not enough to damage the gear mesh... be careful with the carb however, especially if you have the one with the plastic spacer... it will break the plastic and ruin the carb...

I have stripped everything down and rebuilt it one bit at a time, checking to see if the movement occurs with each part replaced. It seems as though I had the throttle servo working the carb too tightly and it was making the engine and rear diff/ shock tower move with the braking action of the servo. Wierd one though, never had it happen before. Thanks for the help cenracer.

no problem... thats what we are here for....

I find that by adding a full length brace between the shock towers almost all unwanted movement in the diff/brake area is eliminated. All I did was add an 3/16" aluminum rod that was drilled/taped on both ends to receive a 3mm screw which in turn attaches to the two shock towers. Seems to work well so far for overall chassis stiffening and a nice carrying handle/roll bar.

a t-maxx engine on the cen...almost a crime... just kidding I own one myself... how does it run, any faster?... I like the brace idea.. how long have you run it this way? can it take alot of abuse? This seems like one of the easier chassis fixes i've seen....

digout,
You have posted pics of your truck with the OFNA tank using a front fuel pickup location. Have you had a chance to run this setup and does fuel pickup location give any problems. I have this tank and was wondering if I needed to reverse the tank.
I have seen the upgraded receiver/battery box that you mounted on another thread but don't remember who makes it. Do you have the manufacture's name, item number or a link for this.
Thanks for any information you have.

bolegs,
I have run the ofna 1/8 scale (125cc) tank with no problems since it has plenty of internal baffeling. It can be mounted opposite direction with some minor changes. I tried it just to have longer run times. I plan on using the smaller 1/10 scale ofna pirate 10 (90cc) tank next as it is more suited for the MT2 chassis.

The receiver/battery box is from an Ofna Pirate 10. Using this box allowed more linkage clearance from when using a slide type carburetor.

Later I will be trying out a set up with a rear mounted Cen battery box and a small GT receiver box in conjunction with the Ofna P10 fuel tank. I am just trying to find the best balanced layout.

Thanks for the info digout.
I'm also doing a little experimenting, cutting my own chassis and shock towers, etc. Keep us posted on your different setups. I have been using info from everyone else's setups so I won't have to change my setup to much.
It will be awhile before I get my truck back together as I don't have too much time to work on it. I will post picks of the build and finished product when completed.
Thanks again.

The JT chassis will flex quite a bit if you are still using the plastic brake seat. The best cure is to use the aluminum brake seat and a cross brace to tie the front and back of the chassis together.



rolland

I am running the aluminum brake seat but the roll cage from New Era that also toughened up the chassis will not fit the slightly longer JT chassis. I think my problem was I had not set up the linkages properly and it was making the rear end move about. Perhaps CEN would consider making a roll bar similar to the New Era model in standard and extended as a hop up option? I did have a bash at it myself using steel roundbar but the weight of the thing put me off using it in the end. Looking forward to the CEN website consumerz rides page to see all the different variations of roll bar that people have come up with.

I am in the process of making my own mod to strenghten the chassis flex... Instead of using aluminum stock, I will be using short tie rods and ends mounted to the servo housing and the brake seat... the ends will act as adjusters to set the proper gear mesh (angle)... I will post pics when finished... Most likely by sunday... I was going to make an aluminum one, but its too involved and I think this should work just as well....