Shinook's SCX10 Pro build

[Col_Sanders]

Any more updates?


IMO the truck does work very well stock and even better with few mods. Its balanced and predictable. I think a lot of the other chassis fanboys are just butthurt because this is kind of like hitting the easy button. My mod list is fairly similar to yours. I added SSD knuckles and diff covers along with the Axial aluminum C Hubs and CF SOA mount. Five comps done with it so far. I've podiumed in all but one and that was my fault entirely. One dumb mistake that snowballed into several penalties.

Thinking about trying the Pacesetter chassis but not sure if I want to mess with it in the middle of the comp season.

ETA I agree with you on the brass diff covers. I stuck one on the front only and the rear would slide pretty bad on steep sidehills. Adding one to the rear helped noticeably.

 

[Shinook]

I haven't updated much since the last post but I did ditch the Pacesetter. I had ordered the Axial carbon rails back in February and they finally showed up, when I saw them, I immediately changed them out.

I have several issues with the Pacesetter. The fit and finish on the rails is sadly kinda mediocre, the way the holes line up is not 100% exact for the sliders. If you see some people running it, they have their sliders at this absurdly high angle because it's kinda tricky to put them level. It's either level or some extreme angle. It also stretches the rear drive shaft and I don't think the link geometry is the same as stock. The worst part is that the chassis rails hang below the skid slightly, so you have these notches on either side of the skid. The stock chassis is fully flush but the Pacesetter is not. You also have a dramatic change in link mount, shock mount, and body mount positions compared to stock, far fewer on the Brazin. It is easier to cover the shock towers though, thanks to silly 2023 SORRCA rules that no one wanted.

The skid angle is....interesting. I remember when the 10 Pro came out, people were railing on the fact it only had a 3.8 degree skid angle and writing it off based on that, but IMO it does fine. The 10 degree angle does help clear some things slightly better but it sorta shifts the links up more and you lose that steady transition from front to rear. I think this is a preference thing but after going back to the Axial rails, I don't see that much improvement. Also the Axial carbon rails are much more rigid.

I like Brazin and I'm not going to speak ill of them but IMO the stock chassis is superior. I also keep coming back to the fact Wyatt and Axial spent literal years testing and tuning the stock chassis, Brazin had what, a month? You can see him test driving a prototype in the 2021 scale nats and ofc all the 2022 footage. The stock chassis is also proven in competition and if you look at Wyatts scores, he's leaps and bounds beyond everyone else, which is because he's a great driver, but also because the platform works. I get why it doesn't work for every driving style and terrain, but IMO it's superior to the Brazin and the R&D that went into it I think gives me a little more confidence. If you are the type that drives in terrain where you are constantly dragging the rear of the skid, I could see value in the Brazin rails, otherwise I think the stock chassis is great

I also have since gotten a GSpeed v4 that is really nicely setup. Nice hardbody, Vanquish axles, all top shelf stuff and they are honestly neck and neck between the two trucks. The v4 has a minor advantage in some places with clearance since I'm using portals and the steering angle is better, but the Pro is more stable and predictable IMO. Just a minor tidbit there.

 

[Col_Sanders]

Good to know about the Pacesetter. As fast as those two chassis from Brazin were released, I had some reservations about them myself but havent really seen anyone say anything negative. Might just try the Axial CF rails. I'm having some issues on sidehills that I'm trying to get settled. It definitely does not do as well as it should, but I'm sure its something with how I'm set up. Got some 3d printed inserts for the Tusks on order and going to mess with the suspension a little.

The majority of the people I've been competing against are running portals. The terrain at some of our comp spots definitely favors them. Those diff grabber rocks have knocked me into a couple gates.