The Evader Coalition ~ T.E.C.
11-11-2008, 10:08 AM
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RE: The Evader Coalition ~ T.E.C.
I thought changing the shock was going to be real tough, getting the air out, but not really.
Make sure to do it over a sink, or outside.... IT can get stick obviously.
Anyways, push the shaft all the way down, and then fill it all the way, slowly push the shaft back up, and push back down, refill, go to half shaft, and fill, then cap.
Cap halfway, then push shaft all the way.
That should do.
Make sure to do it over a sink, or outside.... IT can get stick obviously.
Anyways, push the shaft all the way down, and then fill it all the way, slowly push the shaft back up, and push back down, refill, go to half shaft, and fill, then cap.
Cap halfway, then push shaft all the way.
That should do.
11-11-2008, 01:00 PM
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RE: The Evader Coalition ~ T.E.C.
Thanks for the info on that. I'm going to try some 35wt this weekend.
I got another question. This might of been ask before butm what are these holes in the front for? Check the picture....
I got another question. This might of been ask before butm what are these holes in the front for? Check the picture....
11-11-2008, 03:10 PM
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RE: The Evader Coalition ~ T.E.C.
Do any of you guys race the evaders? how do they do?? I was thinking about geting one because they are the old XXT design and thought they would handle decently. I already have a B4 and i wanted a cheap way to race in the truck class too.
Thanks
Thanks
11-11-2008, 05:04 PM
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RE: The Evader Coalition ~ T.E.C.
ORIGINAL: DrewDads
Thanks for the info on that. I'm going to try some 35wt this weekend.
I got another question. This might of been ask before butm what are these holes in the front for? Check the picture....
Thanks for the info on that. I'm going to try some 35wt this weekend.
I got another question. This might of been ask before butm what are these holes in the front for? Check the picture....
the lug
11-11-2008, 06:17 PM
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RE: The Evader Coalition ~ T.E.C.
explane this:
a little while back i blew my esc and got a streak, this is the first problem i had......
so i called duratrax and they sent me a brand new one, i didn't even have to send the old one in!
today it arrived and i hooked it up and charged my batt. (7.4 hyperion lipo, basically brand new)
just know (maybe 2 mins ago) i took it outside to do a test drive to make sure it worked.
guess what! after about 1 min of driving it all of a sudden stops (sound familar?) i go over to it push it to see if the brushess are hung up or something. no, nothing. in fact after the first one craped out i got a new motor (17x2) and put in a traxxas TQ system so it is definatly the ESC.
please tell me why in the world it is doing this. according to tower this ESC can handle down to 12 turns and up to 12v so this should have been a walk in the park for this ESC. I'm really starting to get frustrated. The ESC isn't even warm, it just stopped.
a little while back i blew my esc and got a streak, this is the first problem i had......
ok so i'm having some trouble, i am using a 7.4V lipo on a brand new duratrax Streak with a team orion sv2 15x2 motor and all of a sudden it stops running. i figure o great there goes orion engineering again (1 of 100s of problems i've had with the motor) so i decided to test it with a multi meter. i give a little throttle and it shows voltage going through, as soon a I plug the motor in it showd no voltage. i even tried a different motor and it doesn't trun over, it supplies power to the reciever and the steering servo works fine but i just can't get the motor to turn. any ideas?
today it arrived and i hooked it up and charged my batt. (7.4 hyperion lipo, basically brand new)
just know (maybe 2 mins ago) i took it outside to do a test drive to make sure it worked.
guess what! after about 1 min of driving it all of a sudden stops (sound familar?) i go over to it push it to see if the brushess are hung up or something. no, nothing. in fact after the first one craped out i got a new motor (17x2) and put in a traxxas TQ system so it is definatly the ESC.
please tell me why in the world it is doing this. according to tower this ESC can handle down to 12 turns and up to 12v so this should have been a walk in the park for this ESC. I'm really starting to get frustrated. The ESC isn't even warm, it just stopped.
11-11-2008, 06:29 PM
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RE: The Evader Coalition ~ T.E.C.
ORIGINAL: w98seeng
I am sure this has been covered before, but I am not checking out 500+ pages to search for it, so here it goes.
I bought a Venom Fireball motor for my Evader and it's dead after running it for about 12 batteries. I am going to return it and I want to know what is a good 17T motor to get in the $30 range.
How do you tell what is good from the little descriptions? Here is an example of different motors in the same price range, how to know? By the way, I use the truck on road and in the grass, all over. I don't race, just having fun.
Associated LRP GT3 Turbo Motor 17T
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXLRD9&P=7
Reedy Flash Modified
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXJZN4&P=7
Associated LRP V10 Spec.4 17T
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXLRE6&P=7
Associated Reedy Radon 17T
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXMUN9&P=7
Epic Intense Modified Motor 16T
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXJNG5&P=7
Team Orion 17 Turn Double Formula SV2 Pro
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXJAK3&P=7
Any other suggestions are welcome.
By the way, I am using the stock ESC, is it possible that has something to do with the motor dying, or is it that the motor is a piece of sh*t?
Many Thanks,
Ian
I am sure this has been covered before, but I am not checking out 500+ pages to search for it, so here it goes.
I bought a Venom Fireball motor for my Evader and it's dead after running it for about 12 batteries. I am going to return it and I want to know what is a good 17T motor to get in the $30 range.
How do you tell what is good from the little descriptions? Here is an example of different motors in the same price range, how to know? By the way, I use the truck on road and in the grass, all over. I don't race, just having fun.
Associated LRP GT3 Turbo Motor 17T
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXLRD9&P=7
Reedy Flash Modified
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXJZN4&P=7
Associated LRP V10 Spec.4 17T
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXLRE6&P=7
Associated Reedy Radon 17T
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXMUN9&P=7
Epic Intense Modified Motor 16T
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXJNG5&P=7
Team Orion 17 Turn Double Formula SV2 Pro
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXJAK3&P=7
Any other suggestions are welcome.
By the way, I am using the stock ESC, is it possible that has something to do with the motor dying, or is it that the motor is a piece of sh*t?
Many Thanks,
Ian
Though honestly you might be better off getting another motor. But I wouldn't go with anything lower than a 19T for the Sprint ESC. This motor: http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXTSG9&P=0 doesn't look like much since Tower doesn't give much of a description. It would easily blow away any of the others you listed, but it will also require more frequent maintenance because of the advanced endbell timing.
I personally run this motor http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXMDY7&P=0 in my Evader and it has so much torque it chewed up the gears in my transmission on the first run. (had to loosen the slipper WAY up) I ran a 19T Fireball before that and it would hardly spin the wheels.
11-11-2008, 06:37 PM
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RE: The Evader Coalition ~ T.E.C.
Duratrax says the streak is rated for up to 10 cells and 300 amps continuous current. Sounds like another faulty ESC to me. I'd call them back.
11-11-2008, 06:47 PM
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RE: The Evader Coalition ~ T.E.C.
ORIGINAL: FairTax4me
Duratrax says the streak is rated for up to 10 cells and 300 amps continuous current. Sounds like another faulty ESC to me. I'd call them back.
Duratrax says the streak is rated for up to 10 cells and 300 amps continuous current. Sounds like another faulty ESC to me. I'd call them back.
the lug
11-11-2008, 07:29 PM
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RE: The Evader Coalition ~ T.E.C.
Yeah but will the motor pull that much? The battery only discharges what the motor pulls out of it. Now, if your motor is pulling 300a, you might want to consider a better ESC. 
11-11-2008, 07:37 PM
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RE: The Evader Coalition ~ T.E.C.
well, it is 4270mah and it's a 18c discharge so it's about 76 amps. the streak has a maximum current of 300A, so i think i would be more worried about damaging the lipo and not the esc. also shouldn't it have gotten hot if it fried itself. and also it still works just not with the motor connected. if i test it with my multi meter it shows there is voltage going to the motor (less voltage the more i squezze the trigger)
but when i connect the motor it shows nothing going to the motor. and it still turns the servo so.....it's just got an internal malfuction.
thats what i thought the first time the esc did this so when my new one got here and i broke i became very dumbstruck.
but when i connect the motor it shows nothing going to the motor. and it still turns the servo so.....it's just got an internal malfuction.
Sounds like another faulty ESC to me. I'd call them back.
11-11-2008, 07:40 PM
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RE: The Evader Coalition ~ T.E.C.
later i plan on getting a summit and some 8000mah with a 10C (80ish constant amps) rate so if duratrax decides to send me a different esc what should i ask for that will be able to handle a 15t motor?
11-11-2008, 08:27 PM
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RE: The Evader Coalition ~ T.E.C.
Ask for an Intellispeed 8t with reverse. Only problem I've had with mine is the button stopped working, so I just opened it up (long out of warranty) and replaced the contact with one I took out of an old Cd player.
I wouldn't use any battery under 20C for a car/truck. Try one of these: http://h1072868.hobbyshopnow.com/pro...prod=SUM5224LD 5200 mah + 24C = ~125 amps. Plus those are darn good batteries.
Only problem I've had with mine is the button stopped working, so I just opened it up (long out of warranty) and replaced the contact with one I took out of an old Cd player. I wouldn't use any battery under 20C for a car/truck. Try one of these: http://h1072868.hobbyshopnow.com/pro...prod=SUM5224LD 5200 mah + 24C = ~125 amps. Plus those are darn good batteries.
11-12-2008, 09:46 AM
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RE: The Evader Coalition ~ T.E.C.
I friend of mine and myself found some info about setting up a rc car/buggy/truggy/truck for racing. It's pretty generic so, so most of the info should work for the evader. It's 16 pages long though. Should I post it?
11-12-2008, 01:37 PM
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RE: The Evader Coalition ~ T.E.C.
ORIGINAL: FairTax4me
A link would be great.
A link would be great.
11-12-2008, 02:19 PM
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RE: The Evader Coalition ~ T.E.C.
hey found a great site for evader hop up bulkhead and rear arm braces,,, to improve the strength in the front and rear arms incase of a crash,,., check this out..
[link]http://www.geocities.com/jep_rc/products.html[/link]
edit: this site no longer does business,,, sorry guys
[link]http://www.geocities.com/jep_rc/products.html[/link]
edit: this site no longer does business,,, sorry guys
11-12-2008, 02:36 PM
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RE: The Evader Coalition ~ T.E.C.
to make up for this FOUL up i did find some good useful information for those interested in racing there evaders... notice my name is in there , lol
[link]http://www.t3t4webservice.com/Dur1.html[/link]
[link]http://www.t3t4webservice.com/Dur1.html[/link]
11-12-2008, 02:42 PM
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RE: The Evader Coalition ~ T.E.C.
Ok. Here is the info that my buddy and I came across. It's kind of long but full of good info...
Anti-squat refers to the angle of the lower rear control arms when looking at your chassis from the side.
Even more exactly the angle of the rear hinge pins.
If they are angled rearward, that is if the front of the hinge pin is higher than the rear, this is anti-squat.
If your hinge pin is angled frontward, the rear of the hinge pin is higher than the front, this is pro-squat.
The amount of anti or pro-squat you are running is measured in degrees. Starting with zero degrees when your lower control arm or rear hinge pin is parallel with the ground.
Understanding anti squat and what it does can be a little confusing at first, but once you have it figured out it is an easy concept.
The basic idea behind anti squat is to artificially lower your center of gravity. With all mass of your rc vehicle setting on top of your chassis this causes the center of gravity to be above the tires.
With the center of gravity almost always being above the tires your rc vehicle is going to want to pitch, front to back, on acceleration and braking and roll, side to side, in the corners.
If the center of gravity was equal to the same height as the tires anti squat would not be needed, since there would be no pitch or roll.
Now let us look at how anti-squat artificially lowers your center of gravity.
To start off draw an imaginary line from your center of gravity to the ground. This line is called your level arm. The longer your level arm is the more pitch and roll you are going experience.
Now draw an imaginary line through your rear hinge pin towards the front of your rc vehicle.
Where this line intersects your level arm is the pivot point of your rc vehicle.
To see how your pivot point changes, first draw that imaginary line through your rear hinge pin at zero degrees of ant-squat, hinge pin being parallel with the ground.
Now add 2° of anti-squat. Draw another imaginary line through your hinge pin. This now causes the line from the hinge pin to intersect your level arm higher.
The causes your pivot point to rise, thus artificially lowering your center of gravity.
The function of anti-squat, like its name, is to reduce or increase the amount of weight transfer to the rear wheels under acceleration.
Also, it can help some with weight transfer to the front wheels under braking, but this can be controlled with changes to the angle of the front hinge pins.
The angle of the front hinge pins is referred to as anti-dive or kick-up. Anti-dive and kick-up help with weight transfer under braking and on and off-power cornering.
Anti-squat's major function to help with forward traction under acceleration and on and off-power rear traction.
As you increase the angle of anti-squat, this has an effect on the action of your rear suspension.
With your anti-squat set to zero degrees your rear suspension swings in an arc the is straight up and down.
When you increase the degree of anti-squat the plane that your rear suspension swings on also increases. Now instead of swinging straight up and down your rear suspension swings up and back. This causes your shocks to bind up and be less effective.
As you increase anti-squat angle the rearward movement of the rear suspension arm during compression places a bending force on your shock shaft. This makes your rear suspension feel stiffer or tighter.
Lowering anti-squat angle will make your rear suspension feel softer or looser.
The best way to compensate for this bending effect of the shock shaft as you increase anti-squat angle is to reduce shock oil viscosity or increasing hole size of your shock pistons.
Also, as you reduce anti-squat angles and thus reduce the bending effect on the shock shaft you would want to increase shock oil viscosity or reduce hole size of your shock pistons.
The Effect of Anti Squat Angle Changes
Increasing Anti-squat Angle
1. Increases rear traction during acceleration.
2. Reduces off-power traction.
3. Best used on smooth and/or slippery tracks.
Reducing Anti-Squat Angle
1. Reduces on-power traction.
2. Increases off-power traction.
3. Best used on rough and/or bumpy tracks.
A few other subtle effects of anti squat, especially with on-road cars are:
1. On corner entry the rear suspension will resist lifting.
2. If you use a stiffer front spring and have little rear droop may result in less off-power steering.
3. The maximum roll point of the rear suspension is reached faster.
4. Off-power steering mid-corner will be reduced until power is applied.
5. On corner exist the rear suspension resists squatting.
6. With reduced rear weight transfer on-power steering increases as throttle is applied.
7. Reduces rear grip on corner exit.
8. The rear suspension has a better ability to handle large or successive bumps.
Now let us look at the opposite of anti squat that being pro squat.
With the rear hinge pin angled frontward. This rc suspension tuning function is mainly used on an on-road car.
If you try running pro-squat on off-road vehicles can has disastrous results.
With off-road vehicles using long travel suspension arms a pro-squat setting will cause the rear suspension arms to travel in an arc that is up and forward, not good.
This will cause your rear suspension to lock-up sending your off-road vehicle bouncing all over the place.
But, pro-squat has a definite use and advantage when used on an on-road car. With on-road cars using shorter control arms and having less suspension arm travel, pro-squat is a tuning option.
How Pro-Squat can affect your on-road handling.
1. With transferring less weight rearward and more weight forward off-power steering improves.
2. Off-power steering increases mid-corner until throttle input is added.
3. With more weight being transferred rearward increases rear grip, but reduces on-power steering upon acceleration.
4. The rear suspension has little or no ability to handle large or successive bumps.
5. Best used on rubber tire setups.
6. Best used on low-bite smooth tracks.
If you are needing just a little more forward bite out of a corner try reducing the degree of anti-squat. Do you need just a little more on-power steering try adding a little more anti-squat.
Changing anti-squat angles is one of the quickest and easiest rc suspension changes you can make.
Plus, it can give you that little extra you are looking for.
************************************************** ***********************************
Toe in or out refers to the horizontal angle of your tires. If leading edge of your rc tires are pointing in, when you look down at them from above, this is toe in.
If they happen to be pointing out this is toe out. Toe most generally affects both your turn-in ability on corners and straight line driving.
If you have the toe angle set properly straight line driving and cornering will be much easier. Learning how to set the toe angle on your rc car or truck will help you get the most out of your suspension.
You must have the toe set the same on both sides of your rc vehicle or your handling will be very unpredictable.
If you do have the toe angles set differently it can cause your car or truck to veer off unexpectedly, it will be difficult to get it to corner with any kind of rhythm, plus it will be impossible to drive it in a straight line.
So, understanding toe angles and how to set the toe angle on your car or truck is very important.
What toe in or toe out should your car or truck be set at?
On-road and off-road vehicles react differently to toe angle, plus track conditions also play a big part to what toe angle is the best.
Front toe in will generally result in increased stability on the straight aways, but it will increase drag.
Toe out on the front improves cornering ability, but can make your vehicle twitchy on the straights.
On the rear the only vehicles that use or consider toe-out are rock crawlers, this helps the crawler's rear end swing around corners and turns.
Rear toe in on all other vehicles helps to counteract over steer, improve off power steering and increase traction.
As a general rule of thumb, one to two degrees of toe in or toe out is all that you will want.
To adjust the toe angle on the front of your car or truck will either be done by adjusting the turnbuckles or tie rod ends.
Adjusting rear toe angle is a little more complicated, because most all are fixed. With the rear being fixed it will require you change wheel hub carriers or bulk heads.
There are always a few exceptions, a few vehicles do use turnbuckles in the rear to adjust toe angle.
I am sure you are now wondering how do I check or measure the toe angle on my vehicle.
There are many different tools available to you to accomplish this task. Hudy and Team Integy both build setup stations for many different size vehicles that will make measuring and setting toe easy.
These setup stations and gauges can be expensive, so if you are on a tight budget there is away to build your own toe angle gauge.
To build your own toe angle gauge, you will need a piece of construction paper that is bigger than your rc truck or car. Plus you will need a ruler, pencil and protractor. I do hope that you remember a little from your Geometry class.
To start off place your rc truck or car on the construction paper, as straight as possible. Now you will need to draw a line that is perpendicular (right angle or 90°) to the leading edge of your paper along side your tires the length of the vehicle. Do this on both sides of your car or truck.
This may take practice and patience.
It is very important that these lines be both perpendicular to the leading edge of you paper and that they are parallel. Also, these lines need to be at the same distance to the tire. Now line up your protractor with a tire and read the angle relative to your straight line. That angle is your toe angle, either in or out. Now work your way around your car or truck checking each tire.
It is essential that your fronts and rears be at the same angle from side to side.
Once you have you toe angles set, this is one part of your vehicle's setup that crucial for better handling.
Once you master this way of checking and setting toe angle it will become easier, so you can check your toe on a regular basis.
Every once in a while check your toe angles to make sure nothing has been knocked out of whack or dent.
************************************************** ***********************************
Getting the camber adjusted or tuned correctly is one of the first and easiest adjustments you can make to your rc vehicle.
What is camber? Camber is the vertical angle of your tires. When you look at the front or rear of your car or truck are the top tires leaning towards or away from the chassis.
If the top of a tire is leaning towards the chassis this is negative camber and if it is leaning away it is positive camber.
What does camber do to your handling? To start off let us look at what incorrect camber angles will do to your handling. It affects overall traction, cornering ability, and handling.
With camber angles not adjusted to both track conditions and your driving style, it can make driving or racing your car or truck very frustrating.
Now let us look at why camber angles are so important. When you enter a corner your car or truck will want to lean, because of the force of gravity.
The faster or harder you enter a corner the more lean you will have. This flex of the suspension will cause the inside tires to want to lift off the surface and the outer tires to lean away from the chassis.
This changes the contact patch of the tires, the area of the tire in contact with the surface. If camber angle is incorrectly set the contact patch lessens causing the loose of traction.
On the other hand, with camber angles set correctly the contact patch remains flat, lessening chassis roll then increasing traction.
Now let us look at how to adjust camber. Almost all rc vehicles use turnbuckles to adjust camber. These turnbuckles, in most cases, are threaded in opposite directions with hex nuts mounted in the center of the turnbuckle.
When installing camber turnbuckles make certain that they are all installed the same way. This will make adjusting camber much easier and faster if all turnbuckles turn in the same direction to shorten or lengthen.
=========================
To make installing or adjusting new turnbuckles easier put a little white grease on the threaded ends of the turnbuckle. If you are putting together a kit, just add the grease before installing the turnbuckles the first time. If your new vehicle is a RTR or ARR just unthread the turnbuckles and add grease to the threads and reinstall. This will make installing and future adjustments much easier and less frustrating.
==========================
The tools needed for adjusting camber. A camber gauge by RPM Products works great or a setup station by either Hudy or Team Integy also work great.
Plus, these setup stations help with many other setup options. Also needed is a turnbuckle wrench or pliers.
At what camber angle should my rc vehicle be set at? Camber angles for on-road and off-road serve different purposes, but there is some common ground between them.
Let us first look at rear camber, it is a little more straight forward. As a general rule rear camber will be set somewhere between -2° to -5° will be more than enough to counteract chassis roll.
When it comes to the front camber settings can get a little more complicated. When setting camber on the front caster also comes into play.
Caster is the angle of the kingpins or steering blocks when you are looking at it from the side. Generally when high degrees of caster are used less camber angle is needed and the when less caster is used more camber angle is needed.
Refer to your owners manual to help determine what camber angles are the best for your rc car or truck.
Also check race setup sheets for different conditions to help find what camber angle best suits your conditions or driving style.
One other item comes into play when adjusting camber angle and that is the angle of the camber link. Almost all rc vehicles have the option of changing the angle of the camber link.
This angle is changed by moving the camber links to different mounting holes on the shock towers.
Again refer to your manual to see how your rc truck or car reacts to changing the camber angle. Plus this is a very easy adjustment so it is easy to play around with.
Change the angle of the camber link and see how it affects your car or truck's handling.
As a general rule the higher the camber link is mounted the more on-power steering you will have. Plus the car or truck will respond slower to your input. This works better on smooth, high grip tracks with long fast corners.
When you mount the camber link in the lower mounting position will result in less on-power steering. Plus, it will respond quicker to your input. Best to use on tracks that have quick fast direction changes.
Again refer to your owners manual to see how your rc car or truck is designed to handle camber link angle changes.
The last thing to keep in mind is the length of the camber link. On many rc vehicles you have the option of mounting the camber link in either a short or long length.
In most cases the shorter camber link length will give you more camber gain, slightly more traction and less steering and stability.
While longer camber link length will result in less camber gain, more stability and it will respond to input slower.
Again refer to your owners manual to see just how your vehicle reacts to changing the length of the camber link.
In my opinion the most important thing about doing any tuning on your suspension is keeping notes as to what you have changed.
Plus, until you fully understand how you rc truck or car reacts to each different tuning option, just change one thing at a time, then run your rc vehicle to see just how it reacts and make note of the change.
Doing your suspension tuning in a slow step by step process and before you know it you will turn into a suspension tuning guru.
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In many instances caster is one of the more over looked suspension tuning options on many rc vehicles. But having the correct caster angle can greatly improve your handling performance.
So, what is caster? Caster is the angle of your kingpins or steering blocks when viewed from the side of your car or truck.
If the top of the steering block or kingpin is leaning to towards the rear of your car or truck this is positive caster and if it is leaning forward it is negative caster.
Zero caster is when the kingpins or steering blocks are perpendicular to the ground.
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Now do not get confused if you have done any reading about caster, there seems to be no uniform distinction as to what is negative or positive caster. For this page and any other reference that is make about caster will be uniform.
Positive caster will always refer to the kingpin or steering block leaning back, the top of the kingpin or steering block will be farther towards the rear of your car or truck than the bottom.
This will make negative caster just the opposite the top will lean more towards the front of your car or truck.
Just remember that caster is always determined by viewing your rc vehicle from the side.
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Now for what caster does. Increasing positive caster has many different effects, it slows down steering, increases stability in the corner and improves self-centering.
While negative caster does just the opposite. If you learn anything about caster at all it should be, never bother with any negative caster angles. Negative caster will make your rc vehicle very difficult to drive in a straight line and terrible in the corners.
Let us look closer at how positive caster can affect your rc car or truck's handling.
Less positive caster will give you more off-power steering into the corner, with less on-power steering out of and in a corner. Plus less caster will result in lower straight line stability.
While more positive caster will give you less off-power steering into the corner and more on-power steering in and out of a corner. Also, it will give you more straight line stability.
Now let us look at how to adjust caster. This is getting more complicated all the time. Manufacturers keep refining and adding many more options to adjust caster angles.
On some models it is very easy to accomplish just add or remove shims from the upper or lower suspension arms. Now remember if you move both the bottom and top forward you just changing your wheelbase, making it longer or moving both towards the rear is shortening the wheelbase. If you want more caster either move the top farther towards the rear or the bottom farther forward.
Adding or removing shims as needed. Now remember to adjust both sides the same if you have one side at one setting and the other side at a different setting your car or truck will be almost impossible to drive.
Another way to adjust caster angle on some models is by changing the front hub carriers or steering block. Some models have front hub carriers or steering blocks that have different degrees of caster build into them.
Refer to your owners manual to see which front hub carriers or steering blocks are installed on your rc vehicle and if there are different front hub carriers or steering blocks included with your rc vehicle.
For an added twist to adjusting caster angles is the new adjustable C-hub from Team Xrayâ„¢. This new style of front hub is going to make adjusting caster much easier. For now Team Xrayâ„¢ has a patent on this design and are the only ones to offer it. I do feel that in the near future you will see this options on many others models also.
There is one added twist to adding more positive caster to your front tires. This has to do with your outside tire in a turn.
As you increase steering input in a corner this will increase the negative camber on that tire. To take advantage of this all you need to do is lessen the static negative camber on you front wheels.
To see if you have set your caster/camber relationship correctly is to look at your front tire wear. If the inside of your front tires are showing more wear than the outside you need more camber and if the outside is wearing more you need less camber.
For maximum traction you want your front tires to wear evenly.
When is it time to change your caster settings? Is your rc car or truck feeling a little twitchy or a little too aggressive on turn-in in a corner?
Adding more caster will slow down how quick your car or truck turns. This may cause you to have to add more steering input with your radio to get your car or truck to turn the same as before.
On the other hand if your car or truck feels sluggish in corners lees caster is needed to give you a snappier feel.
Do remember when you make any changes to caster that it is going to make big changes in the handling and performance of your car or truck. This change could be for the better or worse.
With almost all caster adjustments being either 2° or 3° of change, only use caster adjustments when big changes are needed in the handling of your rc vehicle.
Also, remember that any time you change caster you will need to fine tune many other aspects of your suspension.
If you do change your caster keep good notes on what you did, just in case it does not work, so you can go back to your old settings and then try something different.
Keeping notes or setup sheets on all your suspension changes is a very important part of getting your rc car or truck's handling dialed-in.
The last thing to remember about caster is the only way to measure the degree of caster accurately is with a setup station. But, do not worry if you do not have or do not want to get a setup station, almost all caster settings and changes are done in either 2 or 3 degree increments.
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Doing any rc suspension tuning by using ride height is very specific to the type of rc vehicle you have.
Ride height on a on-road car is very different to the needs on a off-road vehicle. For on-road applications be it asphalt or carpet you are going to what your ride height as low as possible to balance downforce equally on all four corners.
Your objective with an on-road vehicle is to reduce chassis roll for very fast cornering.
But, get in the dirt everything changes and ride height changes are needed for the many different surfaces and conditions you have to race on. So for this page all the pointers on ride height will deal with off-road conditions.
What is ride height? Ride height is the distance between the bottom of your chassis and the ground when your rc vehicle is setting still.
So, besides the obvious reason for changing ride height, that being ground clearance what does ride height do.
Changing ride height alters how your rc vehicle transfers weight in the corners and how your rc off-road vehicle handles the bumps, jumps and ruts on the race track.
Increasing ride height will increase chassis roll, while lowering ride height decreases chassis roll.
How do you change ride height? On almost all off-road rc vehicles you have many options when it comes to changing ride height.
You can change the shock mounting position, change the spring pre-load or change springs either stiffer or softer, to arrive at the desired height.
How ride height affects handling and performance. With ride height being one of the easiest adjustments you can make, it can often turn out to be one of the most used.
So, understanding how it can affect handling is important. One of the major reasons for changing ride height is the amount of traction a surface has to offer.
On a low-bite track you are going to want more traction with increased weight transfer, so you are going to want a higher ride height.
Then for a high-bite track you will require less traction with less weight transfer, so a lower ride height is needed.
Do remember than any changes to ride height can and does affect droop, the travel above ride height. This also goes for any change you make on your suspension, one change will affect something else.
So it is very important to find a balance and try to keep your rc vehicle in balance.
Another thing to keep in mind about ride height is that you do not need to run the same height on the front and rear.
Having the front lower or higher than the rear and vice versa can greatly improve your handling.
If you are having problems with the rear tires spinning and causing your vehicle to want to spin out, try raising the rear higher than the front. This helps the rear tires get more traction than the front helping your rc vehicle settle down.
If you are running on a track that has high traction and your vehicle does not want to turn. Try raising the front higher than the rear. This can be done by either raising the front or lowering the rear. This will add more traction to the front tires making it easier to turn.
If you are having handling problems try changing ride height first to see if that improves handling and performance.
With it being so easy and quick to do, changing ride height can sometimes be the only chassis and suspension adjustment that you will need to improve handling.
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There are two components of shock damping, shock pistons and shock oil.
Like all other aspects of rc suspension tuning any changes to the shocks is going to have an effect on all other aspects of how your suspension works, it could have subtle or an extreme effect on handling and performance.
Do you have your rc vehicle handling good, but are you looking to get just a little more performance? Changing your shock damping, by either changing shock pistons or oil could give you that little edge.
To understand shock damping you first need to understand just how a shock works. The basic purpose of your shocks is to take the bounce out of your springs. This is accomplished by the size of holes in your shock pistons and the viscosity (weight) of your shock oil.
Let first take a look at the shock pistons and exactly what they do. The shock piston is attached to the end of your shock shaft inside your shock body. The shock piston is a flat round disk with holes in it.
The entire outer edge of the shock piston comes in contact with the inside edge of the shock body. The piston is a restrictor or dam that only lets the shock oil to past through it at a certain rate depending on the size of the holes or the viscosity of the oil.
The smaller the holes, the more restriction. The larger the holes, the less restriction. This restriction happens on both compression and decompression of your rc suspension.
Compression being when your rc vehicle hits a dump or landing after a jump. Decompression is when your springs want to return your rc vehicle to ride height after the bump or jump.
Shock damping is the speed at which this happens, small piston holes will be slower and large piston holes will be faster.
As the shock piston moves inside your shock body oil passes through the piston. When the shock piston reaches a certain speed oil will start to backup behind the piston, this is called "packing up". As the shock packs up it acts like it is locked up. This is what keeps you from bottoming out after the big jump.
If your track has a lot of jumps or a big jump with a small landing area try using smaller holed pistons. This will keep your rc vehicle from bottoming out after the jump. Also it will keep your suspension working will over the small stuff, but your shocks will pack up on the big stuff. Using smaller holed pistons is also helpful on low-bite tracks, it is going to be helpful through the rough stuff, helping to maintain maximum traction.
If you are running on a high-bite track you may want to use a bigger holed piston. This will allow your rc vehicle to bottom out after that big jump to scrub off some speed to get into that corner that is directly ahead.
One last thing to keep in mind about shock pistons is the type of hole. There are two different types of holes in shock pistons, straight and tapered.
A straight holed piston is going to allow for the same damping on both compression and decompression or rebound.
A piston with a tapered hole is going to compress and rebound differently. With the taper up your shock is going to have less damping on compression, with more damping on rebound. Just the opposite is going to take place with the taper pointing down, more damping on compression and less damping on rebound.
How a tapered shock piston performs or when and where to use them is up to your driving style. This is one area of rc suspension tuning that depends on your driving style and the performance you want out of your rc vehicle.
For an example, if you want your shocks to pack up quickly, so you will not bottom out after that big jump, but return to ride height a fast as possible. You may want a tapered piston, with the large part of the taper pointing down. This will make your shock act like it has heavier oil on compression and lighter oil on rebound.
Using shock pistons to control when your shock packs up; you can use shock oil to control just how fast your shock is going to move.
A lighter viscosity oil is going to let your shock move faster, while a heavier viscosity oil is going to slow down your shock movement.
If your track is smooth, with lots of traction, big sweeping corners, with no or one big jump you may want to consider shocks with big holed pistons and heavy oil. This will allow you to blast into the corners letting your rc vehicle just take a set. Your shocks will react slowly transferring weight slowly through the corner.
On the other hand, if your track is bumpy with little or no traction, tight corners and a load of jumps and dumps.
You may consider a smaller holed piston with lighter oil. This allows your shocks to react quickly, to transfer weight when needed and maximize traction.
Finding the right combination of shock damping can be tricky and it depends a lot on your driving style. So, finding the combination of shock piston and oil weight to achieve the shock damping you want takes patience and practice.
Keep notes and or setup sheets so you will know how each combination works for you.
The net effect of shock piston hole size and oil viscosity on shock damping:
Shock oil:
1. Lighter is the same as larger piston holes.
2. Heavier is the same as smaller piston holes.
Shock piston hole size:
Smaller:
1. Stiffer damping.
2. Slower weight transfer.
3. Vehicle reacts slower to input.
4. Reduced chance of bottoming out, when combined with heavier weight oil.
5. Less chassis roll, when used with heavier oil.
6. Use with lighter weight oil on a rough track.
Bigger:
1. Softer damping.
2. Increased traction.
3. Faster weight transfer.
4. Vehicle reacts faster to input.
5. An increased chance of bottoming out, when used with lighter weight oil.
6. More chassis roll, when used with lighter oil.
7. Use with heavier oil on smooth tracks.
When you do any shock damping changes, shock rebuilding or spring changes you are going to want to have your shocks matched.
So both sides of your rc suspension react the same you are going to want your front and rear shocks to be the same length, compress and decompress at the same rate. Team Losiâ„¢ makes a great shock matching tool.
With matching your shocks your rc vehicle is going to react the same in both left and right corners. With having your fronts matched and rears matched your reaction to bumps, ruts and jumps is going to be the same.
With your shock matched you could easily add that little advantage you are looking for.
One last thought about shock damping, as you are experimenting do not make wholesale changes.
Just change one thing at a time, piston hole size or oil viscosity and see how that changes your performance. Then if you feel that your shock damping is still not right and you are still looking for better performance then try the other.
Learning rc suspension tuning and how shock damping affects performance is not an easy task. It takes a lot of patience and practice. It can be one of the most enjoyable or hated parts of this hobby, depending on how you go at it.
Some of the changes you make are not going to be that "miracle cure", they could lead to your rc vehicle handling like so much "junk". If that happens at least you know what doesn't work.
Now you know what not to do and are closer to finding what does.
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The more inclined shock angle, moving the top closer to the chassis and/or moving the bottom closer to the tire:
1. Softer initial shock damping.
2. More progressive damping.
3. Improved lateral traction.
4. Handling will be more forgiving.
5. Good for high traction or bite tracks, will it making your rc car or truck more stable.
The less inclined shock angle, standing up the shock, moving the top closer to the tire and/or bottom closer to the chassis:
1. Stiffer initial shock damping.
2. Lowering lateral traction.
3. Makes your rc car or truck more responsive.
4. Can make your car or truck have a more direct feel.
5. Can be best suited for tight, technical tracks with many low speed corners.
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Understanding spring weight or stiffness and spring preload can be very confusing. For that matter any rc suspension tuning can get very confusing.
Because changing one thing alters many different aspects of your suspension and performance. Keeping it all straight is difficult.
I find it much easier if I assign specific function to each different suspension function.
For example I control chassis roll with ride height and chassis bottoming out to shock damping with either shock pistons or shock oil viscosity.
This leaves maximizing traction to the springs and spring preload.
You do not need to copy my system, just come up with one that suits you and your driving style.
The only thing to keep in mind is whatever system you use to control and adjust every aspect of your rc suspension is that you stay consistent.
That way if you want to change "X", you adjust "Y". "X" being chassis roll, bottoming out, pushing in the corner and etc... With "Y" being shock the angle, spring weight or spring preload, wheelbase and etc...
Coming up with your own system is going to take time and some trial and error. This is where setup sheets come in very handy.
It’s amazing just how much better th handling and performance can be just by assigning a function to each of the different aspects of rc suspension tuning.
Plus, it is much easier and faster to make a change when I know what to change.
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Now let us take a closer look at spring weight and spring preload to maximize traction.
You goal is to get the same about of down pressure on all tires or the same on both front tires and the same down pressure on both rear tires.
The best technique to balance down pressure is by the use of a scales. To get your rc vehicle balanced is to have the same weight on all four tires or depending on your setup the same weight on the two front tires and the same on the rear tires.
With using shock damping to maintain ride height, you are going to want to use the softest spring as possible and with adding preload (amount of spring compression) to your springs to maintain this static ride height.
Why not a stiffer spring? A stiffer spring will not compress any at static ride height. This will result in your spring having little or no effect on your suspension when it goes into droop.
Droop is the amount of down travel above ride height. A soft spring with a lot of preload will extend your suspension downward when you are going over ruts, bumps and jumps.
This will make your rc vehicle more stable when it is going through these sections.
Plus, with a lot of preload will help with the launch off of jumps, causing you to fly higher and farther, to clear that big triple.
Using softer springs will give your rc vehicle the ability to absorb those bumps, ruts and potholes while maintaining traction.
Your ultimate goal is to always maintain maximum traction.
Is your rc vehicle pushing or tight in a corner? Do you have under or over steer? Changing the spring or preload bias toward the front or rear can help correct these problems.
Soften the front spring or reduce preload will result in your front tires sticking better in the corner for an example.
The result to spring preload is:
1. Less preload your suspension will have less droop and down travel.
2. More preload will add more droop and suspension down travel.
How a softer spring affects handling:
1. Increases chassis roll.
2. Better traction.
3. Increase the chance of bottoming out on landing after jumps.
4. Better for bumpy tracks.
5. Better on large open tracks.
How stiffer springs affect handling:
1. Reduces chassis roll.
2. Reduces traction.
3. Reduces the chance of bottoming out after jumps.
4. Your car or truck will react faster to steering inputs.
5. Better on smooth tracks.
6. Better on tight smooth tracks.
How softer front springs affect handling:
1. It adds more steering mid corner and at corner exit.
2. Can result in under steer during braking.
How stiffer front springs affect handling:
1. Increases mid corner and corner exit under steer.
2. Reduces under steer during braking.
3. Increases your rc vehicle responsiveness, but will make it more "nervous".
How softer rear springs affect handling:
1. Increases forward traction.
2. Improves side traction mid corner.
3. Good through bumpy sections.
With the knowledge you are gaining, all you need to do is apply it.
Learn to read your track, is it blue grooved, loose and dusty, full of ruts and potholes, big jumps or tight and fast.
With a few test runs you will know what adjustments if any you a going to need to make. As your knowledge and experience grows you will be able to make many of these adjustments before you get on the track.
Always remember this hobby is about having FUN. Plus, remember to help the new guy, help to make this hobby fun for all involved.
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Measuring your wheelbase is done by measuring from the center of the front axle to center of the rear axle.
Wheelbase determines how the weight of your rc truck or car is distributed over the axle, both front and rear.
A short wheelbase will place more weight over the axles, while a long weight will place less weight over the axle.
In general terms a longer wheelbase is going to increase stability and reduce traction. While a shorter wheelbase, is going to increase steering response.
General handling characteristics of different wheelbases:
A shorter wheelbase will improve rearward weight transfer under acceleration, plus more on-power traction.
In the corners a shorter wheel base will result in quicker off-power steering, but can also result in a small tendency to push on the exit of a corner while under power.
A shorter wheelbase is better on tracks that have tight corners and that are more technical in design.
A longer wheelbase will lessen the amount of steering input needed into sharp corners. Overall handling on both straight a ways and in corners will be more stable.
A longer wheelbase can improve on-power steering at corner exits. With the added stability your rc truck or car will handle bumps and ruts better, it also can improve your vehicles jumping ability.
A long wheelbase is best suited for open tracks that high speed corners.
These wheelbase handling characteristics are just a general look; they have no specific make or model of rc vehicle in mind.
With the suspensions on all rc vehicles being highly sophisticated any wheelbase changes will be unique to your vehicle and driving style.
Again it is important to keep notes or setup sheets as to any wheelbase changes you make and how those changes affected your handling and performance.
As far as how to change your wheelbase again each and every make and model rc vehicle can be unique in how this is done.
So do refer to your manual or manufacturers web site to determine how to make any wheelbase changes to your specific rc vehicle.
In most cases changing wheelbase setting is very easy. All that is needed to be done is remove and add C-clips to the front or rear of either the front or rear uprights-hub carries.
Just keep in mind if you change wheelbase setting on one side make the same change to the opposite side or your handling is going to enter the world of the strange and unusual.
Sometimes wheelbase change will be so subtle that you will not be able to see or feel any performance change, but added to any changes of caster or camber could result in some very noticeable handling improvements.
Anti-squat refers to the angle of the lower rear control arms when looking at your chassis from the side.
Even more exactly the angle of the rear hinge pins.
If they are angled rearward, that is if the front of the hinge pin is higher than the rear, this is anti-squat.
If your hinge pin is angled frontward, the rear of the hinge pin is higher than the front, this is pro-squat.
The amount of anti or pro-squat you are running is measured in degrees. Starting with zero degrees when your lower control arm or rear hinge pin is parallel with the ground.
Understanding anti squat and what it does can be a little confusing at first, but once you have it figured out it is an easy concept.
The basic idea behind anti squat is to artificially lower your center of gravity. With all mass of your rc vehicle setting on top of your chassis this causes the center of gravity to be above the tires.
With the center of gravity almost always being above the tires your rc vehicle is going to want to pitch, front to back, on acceleration and braking and roll, side to side, in the corners.
If the center of gravity was equal to the same height as the tires anti squat would not be needed, since there would be no pitch or roll.
Now let us look at how anti-squat artificially lowers your center of gravity.
To start off draw an imaginary line from your center of gravity to the ground. This line is called your level arm. The longer your level arm is the more pitch and roll you are going experience.
Now draw an imaginary line through your rear hinge pin towards the front of your rc vehicle.
Where this line intersects your level arm is the pivot point of your rc vehicle.
To see how your pivot point changes, first draw that imaginary line through your rear hinge pin at zero degrees of ant-squat, hinge pin being parallel with the ground.
Now add 2° of anti-squat. Draw another imaginary line through your hinge pin. This now causes the line from the hinge pin to intersect your level arm higher.
The causes your pivot point to rise, thus artificially lowering your center of gravity.
The function of anti-squat, like its name, is to reduce or increase the amount of weight transfer to the rear wheels under acceleration.
Also, it can help some with weight transfer to the front wheels under braking, but this can be controlled with changes to the angle of the front hinge pins.
The angle of the front hinge pins is referred to as anti-dive or kick-up. Anti-dive and kick-up help with weight transfer under braking and on and off-power cornering.
Anti-squat's major function to help with forward traction under acceleration and on and off-power rear traction.
As you increase the angle of anti-squat, this has an effect on the action of your rear suspension.
With your anti-squat set to zero degrees your rear suspension swings in an arc the is straight up and down.
When you increase the degree of anti-squat the plane that your rear suspension swings on also increases. Now instead of swinging straight up and down your rear suspension swings up and back. This causes your shocks to bind up and be less effective.
As you increase anti-squat angle the rearward movement of the rear suspension arm during compression places a bending force on your shock shaft. This makes your rear suspension feel stiffer or tighter.
Lowering anti-squat angle will make your rear suspension feel softer or looser.
The best way to compensate for this bending effect of the shock shaft as you increase anti-squat angle is to reduce shock oil viscosity or increasing hole size of your shock pistons.
Also, as you reduce anti-squat angles and thus reduce the bending effect on the shock shaft you would want to increase shock oil viscosity or reduce hole size of your shock pistons.
The Effect of Anti Squat Angle Changes
Increasing Anti-squat Angle
1. Increases rear traction during acceleration.
2. Reduces off-power traction.
3. Best used on smooth and/or slippery tracks.
Reducing Anti-Squat Angle
1. Reduces on-power traction.
2. Increases off-power traction.
3. Best used on rough and/or bumpy tracks.
A few other subtle effects of anti squat, especially with on-road cars are:
1. On corner entry the rear suspension will resist lifting.
2. If you use a stiffer front spring and have little rear droop may result in less off-power steering.
3. The maximum roll point of the rear suspension is reached faster.
4. Off-power steering mid-corner will be reduced until power is applied.
5. On corner exist the rear suspension resists squatting.
6. With reduced rear weight transfer on-power steering increases as throttle is applied.
7. Reduces rear grip on corner exit.
8. The rear suspension has a better ability to handle large or successive bumps.
Now let us look at the opposite of anti squat that being pro squat.
With the rear hinge pin angled frontward. This rc suspension tuning function is mainly used on an on-road car.
If you try running pro-squat on off-road vehicles can has disastrous results.
With off-road vehicles using long travel suspension arms a pro-squat setting will cause the rear suspension arms to travel in an arc that is up and forward, not good.
This will cause your rear suspension to lock-up sending your off-road vehicle bouncing all over the place.
But, pro-squat has a definite use and advantage when used on an on-road car. With on-road cars using shorter control arms and having less suspension arm travel, pro-squat is a tuning option.
How Pro-Squat can affect your on-road handling.
1. With transferring less weight rearward and more weight forward off-power steering improves.
2. Off-power steering increases mid-corner until throttle input is added.
3. With more weight being transferred rearward increases rear grip, but reduces on-power steering upon acceleration.
4. The rear suspension has little or no ability to handle large or successive bumps.
5. Best used on rubber tire setups.
6. Best used on low-bite smooth tracks.
If you are needing just a little more forward bite out of a corner try reducing the degree of anti-squat. Do you need just a little more on-power steering try adding a little more anti-squat.
Changing anti-squat angles is one of the quickest and easiest rc suspension changes you can make.
Plus, it can give you that little extra you are looking for.
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Toe in or out refers to the horizontal angle of your tires. If leading edge of your rc tires are pointing in, when you look down at them from above, this is toe in.
If they happen to be pointing out this is toe out. Toe most generally affects both your turn-in ability on corners and straight line driving.
If you have the toe angle set properly straight line driving and cornering will be much easier. Learning how to set the toe angle on your rc car or truck will help you get the most out of your suspension.
You must have the toe set the same on both sides of your rc vehicle or your handling will be very unpredictable.
If you do have the toe angles set differently it can cause your car or truck to veer off unexpectedly, it will be difficult to get it to corner with any kind of rhythm, plus it will be impossible to drive it in a straight line.
So, understanding toe angles and how to set the toe angle on your car or truck is very important.
What toe in or toe out should your car or truck be set at?
On-road and off-road vehicles react differently to toe angle, plus track conditions also play a big part to what toe angle is the best.
Front toe in will generally result in increased stability on the straight aways, but it will increase drag.
Toe out on the front improves cornering ability, but can make your vehicle twitchy on the straights.
On the rear the only vehicles that use or consider toe-out are rock crawlers, this helps the crawler's rear end swing around corners and turns.
Rear toe in on all other vehicles helps to counteract over steer, improve off power steering and increase traction.
As a general rule of thumb, one to two degrees of toe in or toe out is all that you will want.
To adjust the toe angle on the front of your car or truck will either be done by adjusting the turnbuckles or tie rod ends.
Adjusting rear toe angle is a little more complicated, because most all are fixed. With the rear being fixed it will require you change wheel hub carriers or bulk heads.
There are always a few exceptions, a few vehicles do use turnbuckles in the rear to adjust toe angle.
I am sure you are now wondering how do I check or measure the toe angle on my vehicle.
There are many different tools available to you to accomplish this task. Hudy and Team Integy both build setup stations for many different size vehicles that will make measuring and setting toe easy.
These setup stations and gauges can be expensive, so if you are on a tight budget there is away to build your own toe angle gauge.
To build your own toe angle gauge, you will need a piece of construction paper that is bigger than your rc truck or car. Plus you will need a ruler, pencil and protractor. I do hope that you remember a little from your Geometry class.
To start off place your rc truck or car on the construction paper, as straight as possible. Now you will need to draw a line that is perpendicular (right angle or 90°) to the leading edge of your paper along side your tires the length of the vehicle. Do this on both sides of your car or truck.
This may take practice and patience.
It is very important that these lines be both perpendicular to the leading edge of you paper and that they are parallel. Also, these lines need to be at the same distance to the tire. Now line up your protractor with a tire and read the angle relative to your straight line. That angle is your toe angle, either in or out. Now work your way around your car or truck checking each tire.
It is essential that your fronts and rears be at the same angle from side to side.
Once you have you toe angles set, this is one part of your vehicle's setup that crucial for better handling.
Once you master this way of checking and setting toe angle it will become easier, so you can check your toe on a regular basis.
Every once in a while check your toe angles to make sure nothing has been knocked out of whack or dent.
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Getting the camber adjusted or tuned correctly is one of the first and easiest adjustments you can make to your rc vehicle.
What is camber? Camber is the vertical angle of your tires. When you look at the front or rear of your car or truck are the top tires leaning towards or away from the chassis.
If the top of a tire is leaning towards the chassis this is negative camber and if it is leaning away it is positive camber.
What does camber do to your handling? To start off let us look at what incorrect camber angles will do to your handling. It affects overall traction, cornering ability, and handling.
With camber angles not adjusted to both track conditions and your driving style, it can make driving or racing your car or truck very frustrating.
Now let us look at why camber angles are so important. When you enter a corner your car or truck will want to lean, because of the force of gravity.
The faster or harder you enter a corner the more lean you will have. This flex of the suspension will cause the inside tires to want to lift off the surface and the outer tires to lean away from the chassis.
This changes the contact patch of the tires, the area of the tire in contact with the surface. If camber angle is incorrectly set the contact patch lessens causing the loose of traction.
On the other hand, with camber angles set correctly the contact patch remains flat, lessening chassis roll then increasing traction.
Now let us look at how to adjust camber. Almost all rc vehicles use turnbuckles to adjust camber. These turnbuckles, in most cases, are threaded in opposite directions with hex nuts mounted in the center of the turnbuckle.
When installing camber turnbuckles make certain that they are all installed the same way. This will make adjusting camber much easier and faster if all turnbuckles turn in the same direction to shorten or lengthen.
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To make installing or adjusting new turnbuckles easier put a little white grease on the threaded ends of the turnbuckle. If you are putting together a kit, just add the grease before installing the turnbuckles the first time. If your new vehicle is a RTR or ARR just unthread the turnbuckles and add grease to the threads and reinstall. This will make installing and future adjustments much easier and less frustrating.
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The tools needed for adjusting camber. A camber gauge by RPM Products works great or a setup station by either Hudy or Team Integy also work great.
Plus, these setup stations help with many other setup options. Also needed is a turnbuckle wrench or pliers.
At what camber angle should my rc vehicle be set at? Camber angles for on-road and off-road serve different purposes, but there is some common ground between them.
Let us first look at rear camber, it is a little more straight forward. As a general rule rear camber will be set somewhere between -2° to -5° will be more than enough to counteract chassis roll.
When it comes to the front camber settings can get a little more complicated. When setting camber on the front caster also comes into play.
Caster is the angle of the kingpins or steering blocks when you are looking at it from the side. Generally when high degrees of caster are used less camber angle is needed and the when less caster is used more camber angle is needed.
Refer to your owners manual to help determine what camber angles are the best for your rc car or truck.
Also check race setup sheets for different conditions to help find what camber angle best suits your conditions or driving style.
One other item comes into play when adjusting camber angle and that is the angle of the camber link. Almost all rc vehicles have the option of changing the angle of the camber link.
This angle is changed by moving the camber links to different mounting holes on the shock towers.
Again refer to your manual to see how your rc truck or car reacts to changing the camber angle. Plus this is a very easy adjustment so it is easy to play around with.
Change the angle of the camber link and see how it affects your car or truck's handling.
As a general rule the higher the camber link is mounted the more on-power steering you will have. Plus the car or truck will respond slower to your input. This works better on smooth, high grip tracks with long fast corners.
When you mount the camber link in the lower mounting position will result in less on-power steering. Plus, it will respond quicker to your input. Best to use on tracks that have quick fast direction changes.
Again refer to your owners manual to see how your rc car or truck is designed to handle camber link angle changes.
The last thing to keep in mind is the length of the camber link. On many rc vehicles you have the option of mounting the camber link in either a short or long length.
In most cases the shorter camber link length will give you more camber gain, slightly more traction and less steering and stability.
While longer camber link length will result in less camber gain, more stability and it will respond to input slower.
Again refer to your owners manual to see just how your vehicle reacts to changing the length of the camber link.
In my opinion the most important thing about doing any tuning on your suspension is keeping notes as to what you have changed.
Plus, until you fully understand how you rc truck or car reacts to each different tuning option, just change one thing at a time, then run your rc vehicle to see just how it reacts and make note of the change.
Doing your suspension tuning in a slow step by step process and before you know it you will turn into a suspension tuning guru.
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In many instances caster is one of the more over looked suspension tuning options on many rc vehicles. But having the correct caster angle can greatly improve your handling performance.
So, what is caster? Caster is the angle of your kingpins or steering blocks when viewed from the side of your car or truck.
If the top of the steering block or kingpin is leaning to towards the rear of your car or truck this is positive caster and if it is leaning forward it is negative caster.
Zero caster is when the kingpins or steering blocks are perpendicular to the ground.
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Now do not get confused if you have done any reading about caster, there seems to be no uniform distinction as to what is negative or positive caster. For this page and any other reference that is make about caster will be uniform.
Positive caster will always refer to the kingpin or steering block leaning back, the top of the kingpin or steering block will be farther towards the rear of your car or truck than the bottom.
This will make negative caster just the opposite the top will lean more towards the front of your car or truck.
Just remember that caster is always determined by viewing your rc vehicle from the side.
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Now for what caster does. Increasing positive caster has many different effects, it slows down steering, increases stability in the corner and improves self-centering.
While negative caster does just the opposite. If you learn anything about caster at all it should be, never bother with any negative caster angles. Negative caster will make your rc vehicle very difficult to drive in a straight line and terrible in the corners.
Let us look closer at how positive caster can affect your rc car or truck's handling.
Less positive caster will give you more off-power steering into the corner, with less on-power steering out of and in a corner. Plus less caster will result in lower straight line stability.
While more positive caster will give you less off-power steering into the corner and more on-power steering in and out of a corner. Also, it will give you more straight line stability.
Now let us look at how to adjust caster. This is getting more complicated all the time. Manufacturers keep refining and adding many more options to adjust caster angles.
On some models it is very easy to accomplish just add or remove shims from the upper or lower suspension arms. Now remember if you move both the bottom and top forward you just changing your wheelbase, making it longer or moving both towards the rear is shortening the wheelbase. If you want more caster either move the top farther towards the rear or the bottom farther forward.
Adding or removing shims as needed. Now remember to adjust both sides the same if you have one side at one setting and the other side at a different setting your car or truck will be almost impossible to drive.
Another way to adjust caster angle on some models is by changing the front hub carriers or steering block. Some models have front hub carriers or steering blocks that have different degrees of caster build into them.
Refer to your owners manual to see which front hub carriers or steering blocks are installed on your rc vehicle and if there are different front hub carriers or steering blocks included with your rc vehicle.
For an added twist to adjusting caster angles is the new adjustable C-hub from Team Xrayâ„¢. This new style of front hub is going to make adjusting caster much easier. For now Team Xrayâ„¢ has a patent on this design and are the only ones to offer it. I do feel that in the near future you will see this options on many others models also.
There is one added twist to adding more positive caster to your front tires. This has to do with your outside tire in a turn.
As you increase steering input in a corner this will increase the negative camber on that tire. To take advantage of this all you need to do is lessen the static negative camber on you front wheels.
To see if you have set your caster/camber relationship correctly is to look at your front tire wear. If the inside of your front tires are showing more wear than the outside you need more camber and if the outside is wearing more you need less camber.
For maximum traction you want your front tires to wear evenly.
When is it time to change your caster settings? Is your rc car or truck feeling a little twitchy or a little too aggressive on turn-in in a corner?
Adding more caster will slow down how quick your car or truck turns. This may cause you to have to add more steering input with your radio to get your car or truck to turn the same as before.
On the other hand if your car or truck feels sluggish in corners lees caster is needed to give you a snappier feel.
Do remember when you make any changes to caster that it is going to make big changes in the handling and performance of your car or truck. This change could be for the better or worse.
With almost all caster adjustments being either 2° or 3° of change, only use caster adjustments when big changes are needed in the handling of your rc vehicle.
Also, remember that any time you change caster you will need to fine tune many other aspects of your suspension.
If you do change your caster keep good notes on what you did, just in case it does not work, so you can go back to your old settings and then try something different.
Keeping notes or setup sheets on all your suspension changes is a very important part of getting your rc car or truck's handling dialed-in.
The last thing to remember about caster is the only way to measure the degree of caster accurately is with a setup station. But, do not worry if you do not have or do not want to get a setup station, almost all caster settings and changes are done in either 2 or 3 degree increments.
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Doing any rc suspension tuning by using ride height is very specific to the type of rc vehicle you have.
Ride height on a on-road car is very different to the needs on a off-road vehicle. For on-road applications be it asphalt or carpet you are going to what your ride height as low as possible to balance downforce equally on all four corners.
Your objective with an on-road vehicle is to reduce chassis roll for very fast cornering.
But, get in the dirt everything changes and ride height changes are needed for the many different surfaces and conditions you have to race on. So for this page all the pointers on ride height will deal with off-road conditions.
What is ride height? Ride height is the distance between the bottom of your chassis and the ground when your rc vehicle is setting still.
So, besides the obvious reason for changing ride height, that being ground clearance what does ride height do.
Changing ride height alters how your rc vehicle transfers weight in the corners and how your rc off-road vehicle handles the bumps, jumps and ruts on the race track.
Increasing ride height will increase chassis roll, while lowering ride height decreases chassis roll.
How do you change ride height? On almost all off-road rc vehicles you have many options when it comes to changing ride height.
You can change the shock mounting position, change the spring pre-load or change springs either stiffer or softer, to arrive at the desired height.
How ride height affects handling and performance. With ride height being one of the easiest adjustments you can make, it can often turn out to be one of the most used.
So, understanding how it can affect handling is important. One of the major reasons for changing ride height is the amount of traction a surface has to offer.
On a low-bite track you are going to want more traction with increased weight transfer, so you are going to want a higher ride height.
Then for a high-bite track you will require less traction with less weight transfer, so a lower ride height is needed.
Do remember than any changes to ride height can and does affect droop, the travel above ride height. This also goes for any change you make on your suspension, one change will affect something else.
So it is very important to find a balance and try to keep your rc vehicle in balance.
Another thing to keep in mind about ride height is that you do not need to run the same height on the front and rear.
Having the front lower or higher than the rear and vice versa can greatly improve your handling.
If you are having problems with the rear tires spinning and causing your vehicle to want to spin out, try raising the rear higher than the front. This helps the rear tires get more traction than the front helping your rc vehicle settle down.
If you are running on a track that has high traction and your vehicle does not want to turn. Try raising the front higher than the rear. This can be done by either raising the front or lowering the rear. This will add more traction to the front tires making it easier to turn.
If you are having handling problems try changing ride height first to see if that improves handling and performance.
With it being so easy and quick to do, changing ride height can sometimes be the only chassis and suspension adjustment that you will need to improve handling.
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There are two components of shock damping, shock pistons and shock oil.
Like all other aspects of rc suspension tuning any changes to the shocks is going to have an effect on all other aspects of how your suspension works, it could have subtle or an extreme effect on handling and performance.
Do you have your rc vehicle handling good, but are you looking to get just a little more performance? Changing your shock damping, by either changing shock pistons or oil could give you that little edge.
To understand shock damping you first need to understand just how a shock works. The basic purpose of your shocks is to take the bounce out of your springs. This is accomplished by the size of holes in your shock pistons and the viscosity (weight) of your shock oil.
Let first take a look at the shock pistons and exactly what they do. The shock piston is attached to the end of your shock shaft inside your shock body. The shock piston is a flat round disk with holes in it.
The entire outer edge of the shock piston comes in contact with the inside edge of the shock body. The piston is a restrictor or dam that only lets the shock oil to past through it at a certain rate depending on the size of the holes or the viscosity of the oil.
The smaller the holes, the more restriction. The larger the holes, the less restriction. This restriction happens on both compression and decompression of your rc suspension.
Compression being when your rc vehicle hits a dump or landing after a jump. Decompression is when your springs want to return your rc vehicle to ride height after the bump or jump.
Shock damping is the speed at which this happens, small piston holes will be slower and large piston holes will be faster.
As the shock piston moves inside your shock body oil passes through the piston. When the shock piston reaches a certain speed oil will start to backup behind the piston, this is called "packing up". As the shock packs up it acts like it is locked up. This is what keeps you from bottoming out after the big jump.
If your track has a lot of jumps or a big jump with a small landing area try using smaller holed pistons. This will keep your rc vehicle from bottoming out after the jump. Also it will keep your suspension working will over the small stuff, but your shocks will pack up on the big stuff. Using smaller holed pistons is also helpful on low-bite tracks, it is going to be helpful through the rough stuff, helping to maintain maximum traction.
If you are running on a high-bite track you may want to use a bigger holed piston. This will allow your rc vehicle to bottom out after that big jump to scrub off some speed to get into that corner that is directly ahead.
One last thing to keep in mind about shock pistons is the type of hole. There are two different types of holes in shock pistons, straight and tapered.
A straight holed piston is going to allow for the same damping on both compression and decompression or rebound.
A piston with a tapered hole is going to compress and rebound differently. With the taper up your shock is going to have less damping on compression, with more damping on rebound. Just the opposite is going to take place with the taper pointing down, more damping on compression and less damping on rebound.
How a tapered shock piston performs or when and where to use them is up to your driving style. This is one area of rc suspension tuning that depends on your driving style and the performance you want out of your rc vehicle.
For an example, if you want your shocks to pack up quickly, so you will not bottom out after that big jump, but return to ride height a fast as possible. You may want a tapered piston, with the large part of the taper pointing down. This will make your shock act like it has heavier oil on compression and lighter oil on rebound.
Using shock pistons to control when your shock packs up; you can use shock oil to control just how fast your shock is going to move.
A lighter viscosity oil is going to let your shock move faster, while a heavier viscosity oil is going to slow down your shock movement.
If your track is smooth, with lots of traction, big sweeping corners, with no or one big jump you may want to consider shocks with big holed pistons and heavy oil. This will allow you to blast into the corners letting your rc vehicle just take a set. Your shocks will react slowly transferring weight slowly through the corner.
On the other hand, if your track is bumpy with little or no traction, tight corners and a load of jumps and dumps.
You may consider a smaller holed piston with lighter oil. This allows your shocks to react quickly, to transfer weight when needed and maximize traction.
Finding the right combination of shock damping can be tricky and it depends a lot on your driving style. So, finding the combination of shock piston and oil weight to achieve the shock damping you want takes patience and practice.
Keep notes and or setup sheets so you will know how each combination works for you.
The net effect of shock piston hole size and oil viscosity on shock damping:
Shock oil:
1. Lighter is the same as larger piston holes.
2. Heavier is the same as smaller piston holes.
Shock piston hole size:
Smaller:
1. Stiffer damping.
2. Slower weight transfer.
3. Vehicle reacts slower to input.
4. Reduced chance of bottoming out, when combined with heavier weight oil.
5. Less chassis roll, when used with heavier oil.
6. Use with lighter weight oil on a rough track.
Bigger:
1. Softer damping.
2. Increased traction.
3. Faster weight transfer.
4. Vehicle reacts faster to input.
5. An increased chance of bottoming out, when used with lighter weight oil.
6. More chassis roll, when used with lighter oil.
7. Use with heavier oil on smooth tracks.
When you do any shock damping changes, shock rebuilding or spring changes you are going to want to have your shocks matched.
So both sides of your rc suspension react the same you are going to want your front and rear shocks to be the same length, compress and decompress at the same rate. Team Losiâ„¢ makes a great shock matching tool.
With matching your shocks your rc vehicle is going to react the same in both left and right corners. With having your fronts matched and rears matched your reaction to bumps, ruts and jumps is going to be the same.
With your shock matched you could easily add that little advantage you are looking for.
One last thought about shock damping, as you are experimenting do not make wholesale changes.
Just change one thing at a time, piston hole size or oil viscosity and see how that changes your performance. Then if you feel that your shock damping is still not right and you are still looking for better performance then try the other.
Learning rc suspension tuning and how shock damping affects performance is not an easy task. It takes a lot of patience and practice. It can be one of the most enjoyable or hated parts of this hobby, depending on how you go at it.
Some of the changes you make are not going to be that "miracle cure", they could lead to your rc vehicle handling like so much "junk". If that happens at least you know what doesn't work.
Now you know what not to do and are closer to finding what does.
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The more inclined shock angle, moving the top closer to the chassis and/or moving the bottom closer to the tire:
1. Softer initial shock damping.
2. More progressive damping.
3. Improved lateral traction.
4. Handling will be more forgiving.
5. Good for high traction or bite tracks, will it making your rc car or truck more stable.
The less inclined shock angle, standing up the shock, moving the top closer to the tire and/or bottom closer to the chassis:
1. Stiffer initial shock damping.
2. Lowering lateral traction.
3. Makes your rc car or truck more responsive.
4. Can make your car or truck have a more direct feel.
5. Can be best suited for tight, technical tracks with many low speed corners.
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Understanding spring weight or stiffness and spring preload can be very confusing. For that matter any rc suspension tuning can get very confusing.
Because changing one thing alters many different aspects of your suspension and performance. Keeping it all straight is difficult.
I find it much easier if I assign specific function to each different suspension function.
For example I control chassis roll with ride height and chassis bottoming out to shock damping with either shock pistons or shock oil viscosity.
This leaves maximizing traction to the springs and spring preload.
You do not need to copy my system, just come up with one that suits you and your driving style.
The only thing to keep in mind is whatever system you use to control and adjust every aspect of your rc suspension is that you stay consistent.
That way if you want to change "X", you adjust "Y". "X" being chassis roll, bottoming out, pushing in the corner and etc... With "Y" being shock the angle, spring weight or spring preload, wheelbase and etc...
Coming up with your own system is going to take time and some trial and error. This is where setup sheets come in very handy.
It’s amazing just how much better th handling and performance can be just by assigning a function to each of the different aspects of rc suspension tuning.
Plus, it is much easier and faster to make a change when I know what to change.
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Now let us take a closer look at spring weight and spring preload to maximize traction.
You goal is to get the same about of down pressure on all tires or the same on both front tires and the same down pressure on both rear tires.
The best technique to balance down pressure is by the use of a scales. To get your rc vehicle balanced is to have the same weight on all four tires or depending on your setup the same weight on the two front tires and the same on the rear tires.
With using shock damping to maintain ride height, you are going to want to use the softest spring as possible and with adding preload (amount of spring compression) to your springs to maintain this static ride height.
Why not a stiffer spring? A stiffer spring will not compress any at static ride height. This will result in your spring having little or no effect on your suspension when it goes into droop.
Droop is the amount of down travel above ride height. A soft spring with a lot of preload will extend your suspension downward when you are going over ruts, bumps and jumps.
This will make your rc vehicle more stable when it is going through these sections.
Plus, with a lot of preload will help with the launch off of jumps, causing you to fly higher and farther, to clear that big triple.
Using softer springs will give your rc vehicle the ability to absorb those bumps, ruts and potholes while maintaining traction.
Your ultimate goal is to always maintain maximum traction.
Is your rc vehicle pushing or tight in a corner? Do you have under or over steer? Changing the spring or preload bias toward the front or rear can help correct these problems.
Soften the front spring or reduce preload will result in your front tires sticking better in the corner for an example.
The result to spring preload is:
1. Less preload your suspension will have less droop and down travel.
2. More preload will add more droop and suspension down travel.
How a softer spring affects handling:
1. Increases chassis roll.
2. Better traction.
3. Increase the chance of bottoming out on landing after jumps.
4. Better for bumpy tracks.
5. Better on large open tracks.
How stiffer springs affect handling:
1. Reduces chassis roll.
2. Reduces traction.
3. Reduces the chance of bottoming out after jumps.
4. Your car or truck will react faster to steering inputs.
5. Better on smooth tracks.
6. Better on tight smooth tracks.
How softer front springs affect handling:
1. It adds more steering mid corner and at corner exit.
2. Can result in under steer during braking.
How stiffer front springs affect handling:
1. Increases mid corner and corner exit under steer.
2. Reduces under steer during braking.
3. Increases your rc vehicle responsiveness, but will make it more "nervous".
How softer rear springs affect handling:
1. Increases forward traction.
2. Improves side traction mid corner.
3. Good through bumpy sections.
With the knowledge you are gaining, all you need to do is apply it.
Learn to read your track, is it blue grooved, loose and dusty, full of ruts and potholes, big jumps or tight and fast.
With a few test runs you will know what adjustments if any you a going to need to make. As your knowledge and experience grows you will be able to make many of these adjustments before you get on the track.
Always remember this hobby is about having FUN. Plus, remember to help the new guy, help to make this hobby fun for all involved.
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Measuring your wheelbase is done by measuring from the center of the front axle to center of the rear axle.
Wheelbase determines how the weight of your rc truck or car is distributed over the axle, both front and rear.
A short wheelbase will place more weight over the axles, while a long weight will place less weight over the axle.
In general terms a longer wheelbase is going to increase stability and reduce traction. While a shorter wheelbase, is going to increase steering response.
General handling characteristics of different wheelbases:
A shorter wheelbase will improve rearward weight transfer under acceleration, plus more on-power traction.
In the corners a shorter wheel base will result in quicker off-power steering, but can also result in a small tendency to push on the exit of a corner while under power.
A shorter wheelbase is better on tracks that have tight corners and that are more technical in design.
A longer wheelbase will lessen the amount of steering input needed into sharp corners. Overall handling on both straight a ways and in corners will be more stable.
A longer wheelbase can improve on-power steering at corner exits. With the added stability your rc truck or car will handle bumps and ruts better, it also can improve your vehicles jumping ability.
A long wheelbase is best suited for open tracks that high speed corners.
These wheelbase handling characteristics are just a general look; they have no specific make or model of rc vehicle in mind.
With the suspensions on all rc vehicles being highly sophisticated any wheelbase changes will be unique to your vehicle and driving style.
Again it is important to keep notes or setup sheets as to any wheelbase changes you make and how those changes affected your handling and performance.
As far as how to change your wheelbase again each and every make and model rc vehicle can be unique in how this is done.
So do refer to your manual or manufacturers web site to determine how to make any wheelbase changes to your specific rc vehicle.
In most cases changing wheelbase setting is very easy. All that is needed to be done is remove and add C-clips to the front or rear of either the front or rear uprights-hub carries.
Just keep in mind if you change wheelbase setting on one side make the same change to the opposite side or your handling is going to enter the world of the strange and unusual.
Sometimes wheelbase change will be so subtle that you will not be able to see or feel any performance change, but added to any changes of caster or camber could result in some very noticeable handling improvements.
11-12-2008, 02:42 PM
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RE: The Evader Coalition ~ T.E.C.
more evader racing tips,,,,, off of adam drakes basic set up sheet....
XXT spring setup
Front = Losi Pink >> A-5150 2.50" Spring 2.3 Rate (Pink)
Rear = Losi Yellow >> A-5148 2.75" Spring 2.0 Rate (Yellow)
XXXT spring setup
Front = Losi Orange >> A-5154 2.50" Spring 2.9 Rate (Orange)
Rear = Losi Red >> A-5152 2.50" Spring 2.6 Rate (Red)
XXT spring setup
Front = Losi Pink >> A-5150 2.50" Spring 2.3 Rate (Pink)
Rear = Losi Yellow >> A-5148 2.75" Spring 2.0 Rate (Yellow)
XXXT spring setup
Front = Losi Orange >> A-5154 2.50" Spring 2.9 Rate (Orange)
Rear = Losi Red >> A-5152 2.50" Spring 2.6 Rate (Red)
11-12-2008, 02:57 PM
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RE: The Evader Coalition ~ T.E.C.
ORIGINAL: deanR
Do any of you guys race the evaders? how do they do?? I was thinking about geting one because they are the old XXT design and thought they would handle decently. I already have a B4 and i wanted a cheap way to race in the truck class too.
Thanks
Do any of you guys race the evaders? how do they do?? I was thinking about geting one because they are the old XXT design and thought they would handle decently. I already have a B4 and i wanted a cheap way to race in the truck class too.
Thanks
At this point, it's all driver skill, and a little setup. Running it up and down a street is nothing compared to corning it and jumping it for speed in a race. It's fun!!
11-12-2008, 04:03 PM
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RE: The Evader Coalition ~ T.E.C.
lol, are you joking me. just called duratrax. great news. they are sending me a brnad new streak. i can't wait to either be amazed that this one works or to have to call them up and tell them i nicknamed my car the streak eater.
11-12-2008, 05:47 PM
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RE: The Evader Coalition ~ T.E.C.
to make up for this FOUL up i did find some good useful information for those interested in racing there evaders... notice my name is in there , lol
http://www.t3t4webservice.com/Dur1.html
http://www.t3t4webservice.com/Dur1.html
Wow DrewDads, that is alot of info, very intresting.