Upgrades for better crawling.

[Drm31078]

Best first upgrades for better crawling? I am having issues with traction on what I would call moderate sloped rocks. Both tire traction and keeping the front tires down are the main issues. How would you prioritize these and what else am I missing?

Wheels/tires?
Beef tubes for weight?
Wheel weights?
Motor?
Shocks?

[Mega Fattie]

Sway bar, knuckle weights, wheels/tires, stainless links

[SCREAMER]

I'd say knuckle weights and underdriven (43/13) gears in the rear will give you the biggest gains in climbing performance.

[Drm31078]

I currently have a sway bar and I am underdriven in the rear. Those are about the only upgrades so far. Will have to look into the knuckle weights. However, will I need to upgrade the knuckles?

[Mega Fattie]

Im under driven rear, over driven front. Forgot about those upgrades.

[SCREAMER]

Depending on which knuckle weight system you choose, you may need to change your knuckles. I know of Blue Monkey RC, RCBros (which I run and love their system), and DLux Fab. With RCBros system you need to run VP stage 1 type knuckles. DLux Fab system replaces the entire knuckle with a weighted knuckle. I'm not too familiar with how BMRC setup works, you'd have to check out his website for info.

[84yoda]

Blue monkey still uses regular vp knuckle too. I got rc bros weights and its an awesome setup. If your going to upgrade knuckles, get the vp scale chubs (clamping) and regular zero ackerman knuckles and you can run knuckle weights.

[WHITE-TRASH]

You're on the right track with gearing and needing to move weight.

For a dedicated crawler I'd suggest dlux brass knuckles for sure but if you're aiming for more crawling ability in a rig you're still going to be jumping I'd steer you away from them to avoid the lawn dart effect. They are rather heavy! I have these knuckles on my crawler and the difference between with and without the knuckles is dramatic to say the least.

Dlux does carry Vp knuckles and C hubs and the knuckles not obly accept most aftermarket weight systems and run a larger and much stronger bearing set but they are also priced comparably to non modified knuckles from other vendors. I'd also highly recommend his front truss to move the servo weight down even with the bottom of tge axle housing and improve the geometry on the front suspension.

Beef tubes are great as not only a strength upgrade but that little bit of weight helps too. I have genuine steel beef tubes in my bouncer and the weight is too much to cause handling issues while airborne. It crawls better with them too.

Extending the rear axle back s bit will help transfer weight forward too. I'd look at Supershafty.com stainless trailing arms since they're running a revo end that can easily be swapped for a jato end to kick the wheelbase back about 3/4". This would require new upper links too of course.

[rngrchad]

The #1 thing that helped my bomber was a full set of 1/4" stainless links. The added weight of those now has me pulling some nasty rock hill climbs and getting up steep slabs that I was never capable of before the couple those with some beef tubes in the axles and a swaybar and bam, you should be set imo.

If money's not much issue; lowering your rig a little will help too. Maybe try some slash front proline shocks?

[Drm31078]

Originally Posted by WHITE-TRASH

You're on the right track with gearing and needing to move weight.

For a dedicated crawler I'd suggest dlux brass knuckles for sure but if you're aiming for more crawling ability in a rig you're still going to be jumping I'd steer you away from them to avoid the lawn dart effect. They are rather heavy! I have these knuckles on my crawler and the difference between with and without the knuckles is dramatic to say the least.

Dlux does carry Vp knuckles and C hubs and the knuckles not obly accept most aftermarket weight systems and run a larger and much stronger bearing set but they are also priced comparably to non modified knuckles from other vendors. I'd also highly recommend his front truss to move the servo weight down even with the bottom of tge axle housing and improve the geometry on the front suspension.

Beef tubes are great as not only a strength upgrade but that little bit of weight helps too. I have genuine steel beef tubes in my bouncer and the weight is too much to cause handling issues while airborne. It crawls better with them too.

Extending the rear axle back s bit will help transfer weight forward too. I'd look at Supershafty.com stainless trailing arms since they're running a revo end that can easily be swapped for a jato end to kick the wheelbase back about 3/4". This would require new upper links too of course.

Good stuff here. Thank you.

I am thinking about the brass beef tubes as they wont rust. Also like the rc bros knuckle weights, but may not be top on my list since I will also need stage 1 (or DLux modded ones) = $$$. I think I will also get those incision stainless links too.

I do have a question on extending the length. I have the vanquish yeti trailing arms (forgot to mention that upgrade) but I also have a set of the DLux twin hammer length that I have yet to install (need some shorter upper links). I would have thought that the shorter trailing arm would be better than longer for crawling?

[SCREAMER]

For me, TH length TAs were a major improvement for crawling. You steer a much tighter circle and get high centered much less. I also noticed no loss in climbing ability whatsoever.

For example, the first time I took mine out with the new shorter arms, my friends both had their Bombers out too. We found a very steep wide hillclimb section that was a mixture of rock and hardpack. The tires were getting plenty of traction so just ripping full throttle to try an ascent would have resulted in looping out everytime. Neither of my friends longer wheelbase Bombers gave them any kind of advantage over my shorter wheelbase and they had to use just as much finesse on the trigger to make it to the top as I did.

The only time I've experienced an increase in performance from having longer arms on this truck is in high speed or bashing type driving. In this scenario, the Bomber was a bit more calm and less prone to oversteer.

[Mega Fattie]

I went shorter in the rear with wraith length trailing arms. I dont think adding length will be an overall good thing as far as a well balanced setup goes. Sure it may make some obstacles easier, but i think the cons may outweigh the pros.

I need to order the incision ss wraith upper and lower links.

[Deckard]

Like Screamer, I swapped out the stock lowers to Twin Hammers lowers. Just the stock $12 Twin Hammers lowers to test. Sick kids and rain meant no real testing this weekend. I did test it on some rocks in the front yard it feels pretty damn good and feels like a successful swap. I didn't bottom out on rocks that it would hang up on with the stock TAs. Adding more weight upfront with Beeftubes was also a huge help to crawl better. With the stock dog bones, it turns like a Mack truck on the rocks. Axial Universals make it much more agile. The Bomber tranny makes it have a such high center of gravity due to the motor placement. Can't wait to get a Wraith tranny in it.

I thought the shorter Twin Hammers lowers would cause issue at speed, but I didn't notice much other than it wanted to get up on 2 wheels a bit more. Not a huge deal, but I may lower it just a bit. Not for speed, but to chill it out on the side rolling.

The best way to make it a better crawler is to put in on some rocks. Which I didn't get to do enough this weekend.

[luckster]

I read about Screamers shorter TA's and got some from Dlux Fab. I also have the 2 speed with the HH BLE and HH puller pro stubby 3500kv on 3s lipo. dual shocks in the rear and 45 weight in the left shock' none in the right shock. No anti sway bars. And it is a Billy Goat on the rocks with Pit bull rock beast or the stock tires and wheels. I have tried it with knuckle weights and it is better. But SORRCA rules say no knuckle weights. And it still does great. But Beef patties are in the works for another upgrade. Mounting the Axial BFG Kr2's for the weekend. I love this car.