Bgredjeep vrd carbon

[bgredjeep]

It's been a while for an update on this rig. I'll start by saying, it'll never work, but I wanted to try anyway.

I got the idea to see if I could run the servo bta without the stubby setup. Figured if I could stretch the wheelbase a bit it could happen, but didn't want to go nuts to the point the rig wouldn't work. I ended up right about 1/2" longer than stock. At this wheelbase I had to remove the gear cover, and rotate the front axle a few degrees forward from stock. It has like 20° caster or more to start so I wasn't concerned about that. At full bump, the servo mount clears the spur by about a paper thickness. Lol

 

[indybama]

Talk about 'by the skin of your teeth' lol. Looks like there might be enough meat on the servo mount, to shave off just a touch, for a lil more clearance. Lookin good though

Sent from my SM-A516V using Tapatalk

 

[bgredjeep]

It's tight, but if it touches its just barely, and only at full bump which will rarely ever happen on a crawler.

I'm still undecided if I'll keep it this way. I went out last weekend to run some lines with my buddy. He brought his decked out vrd that he's been running in the comp series at Stone Mountain (stubby, bta, heavy brass front, ccw battle axe chassis).

My wheelbase is only about .5" longer, but the impact on breakovers angle felt significant. It's all give and take. There were spots where having the front axle pushed out really helped, and others where the breakover hurt. I felt like I needed to raise the suspension a bit more to compensate, but that will sacrifice on the cog. For the moment I'm going to keep it this way. It'll really come down to what the course looks like as to this being better or worse. Based on what the guys winning the comp series currently, I suspect it would struggle (they are on forward skid super high clearance rear link setups).

 

[Col_Sanders]

I compete with an Exo Half Dome on F10 portals, but after the comps are over I usually run the Carbon on the courses just to see how it would do. Some courses that extra breakover of the Exo did not matter too much, but on others it makes a world of difference.

 

[bgredjeep]

Small update on this rig. I swapped back to the standard servo mount and pulled the wheelbase back. The terrain I have around here doesn't involve a lot of big climbs, and does have a lot of breakovers. I needed to run the suspension taller to get some breakover which offset any potential improvement from the bta servo mounting.

 

[bgredjeep]

I'm still planning to try and run some of the comps a group is putting on monthly at Stone Mountain. The first one of the season is coming up in 2 weeks so I'm getting things ready in case I'm able to make it.

First, after reading @Col_Sanders comments on tires in the Aztec thread I decided to give the tusks a try. I was slightly worried the vxt2s would fail their tech (5" max tire diameter) so I wanted at least 1 set that would pass for sure. The local shop only had 1 pair of the tires (the other pair of tusks they had were the c1 version). I think someone else didn't pay attention and bought a mismatch set. Lol. I ordered another pair from amain and I'll have them in a couple days.

While I had the wheels off, I swapped to the narrowest hub adapters I have (I think 6mm?) to help with gate clearance. When I reinstalled the wheels I found it was hitting the top screws for the portal covers. Made a quick trip to hobbytown for m2.5x10mm button head screws to replace the cap head screws at the top of all 4 portal covers. Clears fine now and should be ready to comp.

 

[Col_Sanders]

You get it to about 9.5" wide?

I run in comps in AR, TX, and OK. Tusks are the most common tire i see by a wide margin. Megalithics are getting more common. Still see a few Krawlers out there too. What inserts are you running?

 

[bgredjeep]

You get it to about 9.5" wide?

I run in comps in AR, TX, and OK. Tusks are the most common tire i see by a wide margin. Megalithics are getting more common. Still see a few Krawlers out there too. What inserts are you running?

I'm just under 10" wide now. These wheels are near 0 offset so I can't get any narrower on this set.

Inserts are crawler innovation. Soft wide fronts and narrow mediums in rear. Same ones I had in the vxt tires. The wide foams are adding a bit to the width up front for sure.

 

[bgredjeep]

Your post reminded me that I had a set of standard width ci soft foams in the toolbox. I originally had these in the old tires, but the vxt2s were so big the foams were swimming in the tires. They fit these much better. Brought the width to 9-5/8.

Wide foams

Standard foams

 

[Col_Sanders]

Guessing the 4.75 CIs? I like a little more squish and used to run the 4.5s in my Tusks. Tons of traction but they'd fold over on sidehill pretty bad, especially once they'd been used a lot. I have a set of the 4.65 VP foams sitting here and I'm going to give them a try.

 

[JatoTheRipper]

The more I look at this rig the more I love it. And Tusks are the coolest looking tire out there right now. Do they offer a cab-only Zuul?

 

[bgredjeep]

The more I look at this rig the more I love it. And Tusks are the coolest looking tire out there right now. Do they offer a cab-only Zuul?

I don't like the real tires the tusks are based on (mickey Thompson whatever they are called), but the narrower profile of the tusks makes them look much better. If they work as well as folks say I'll be happy.

I don't think I've seen a cab only, but the rear part of the body is very narrow and light. I'm very pleased with it, plus it's not a power wagon.

Got the other pair of tires from amain yesterday. Ready to go.

 

[JatoTheRipper]

I don't like the real tires the tusks are based on (mickey Thompson whatever they are called), but the narrower profile of the tusks makes them look much better. If they work as well as folks say I'll be happy.

I don't think I've seen a cab only, but the rear part of the body is very narrow and light. I'm very pleased with it, plus it's not a power wagon.

Got the other pair of tires from amain yesterday. Ready to go.

Agreed on the Mickey Thompson Baja X Pro tires. They are too chunky and look comical. I did see a set out on the trail on a 1/8th scale Redcat and they looked more appropriate at that scale. In 10th scale, they are fugly.

I like my Tusks after the first run out on the trails and rocks.

The more I look at your body, ahem the Zuul, the more I am getting convinced to trim the fenders off of my Fordcyce.

 

[bgredjeep]

The more I look at your body, ahem the Zuul, the more I am getting convinced to trim the fenders off of my Fordcyce.

I checked back in my Phoenix thread. The fenders on mine lasted just under 2 weeks before I trimmed them off.

 

[JatoTheRipper]

I checked back in my Phoenix thread. The fenders on mine lasted just under 2 weeks before I trimmed them off.

The front fender on my Fordyce cracked on the first trail run. So I have more incentive to remove it before the crack tears the body.