What next for performance?

[Ssteve]

Picked up my first crawler a couple weeks ago, a rtr jk. So far I have installed all metal links and steering, waterproofed electronics, moved the battery forward, the esc and receiver rearward,. Also put a bronco body on as well as a rc4wd winch. I'd like to get some more articulation out of it as I feel it tips over a bit too easy, but I'm not sure where to start. Two shocks are already leaking, not to mention I feel like they are garbage for crawling in the first place. Would I benefit more from shocks or possibly from tires with a bit wider offset wheels? I plan to run the proline 1.9 swampers tsl's(not the xl).

[im gunna crawl]

Those tires are the best that I have tested so far( here in ohio). They work well in most all conditions. They don't work real well in sand, but my rig doesn't have killer wheel speed. They look great too! They also keep ride height lower to lower the center of gravity. Major bonus.
Get some green slime from the hobby shop and take your shocks apart and reassemble them.
Do not overfill them. When you get them right ( filled correctly they will not rebound much when you push them down). Then get you some axial lighter spring sets super soft for the fronts and soft for the rears.
Move your electronics to the front but as low as it goes. Trim the posts so the battery tray is lower. Ditch the spare!

[Ssteve]

I have the battery going sideways where the electronics were so the electronics can't go up front but they are butted up to the back of the trans so they are fairly centered. I would really rather ditch the stock shocks than spend time messing with them as I'd rather have something that looks a bit better and has a bit more travel. Possibly powerstrokes?

[itr1994]

have you taken the black spacers/bump stops off the shocks also might want to try associated green rear truck springs in the front and black in the back

[Ssteve]

Yeah I pulled the spacers. Not going to throw money at these shocks. They don't look good and I'm sure there's things out there that perform better without much effort.

[Norton]

Might want to get a Jevne battery plate, the battery sits lower and also has a spot for a CMS and servo winch or get your electronics up front also.

All the of these give you different options.

Jevne Racing CMS Brick SCX10 Battery Plate

Jevne Racing Ultra SCX10 Battery Plate

Jevne Racing Recon Brick SCX10 Battery Plate

[Ssteve]

I have my battery setup where they put there's and the electronics are fairly centered so I don't see enough advantage in moving the two to the front really.

[itr1994]

do you have any weight in the tires at all and to much articulation can also hurt you

[Ssteve]

No weights yet. I figured I would wait for new tires and beadlocks instead of hacking open the stock glued setup. With that said I think that's where I'll go with the next mod. 1.9 swampers on some rc4wd wagon wheels. Recommendations on how much weight in each wheel?

[Ohioskills]

Originally Posted by im gunna crawl

Those tires are the best that I have tested so far( here in ohio). They work well in most all conditions. They don't work real well in sand, but my rig doesn't have killer wheel speed. They look great too! They also keep ride height lower to lower the center of gravity. Major bonus.
Get some green slime from the hobby shop and take your shocks apart and reassemble them.
Do not overfill them. When you get them right ( filled correctly they will not rebound much when you push them down). Then get you some axial lighter spring sets super soft for the fronts and soft for the rears.
Move your electronics to the front but as low as it goes. Trim the posts so the battery tray is lower. Ditch the spare!

what part ohio im by cedar point

[6sharky9]

A great battery option also is to use saddle pack batteries or more than one in smaller Mah rating wired together and mount them on the sliders for the lowest Center of gravity possible.

If you need more weight on the front you can add that to the top of the axle mounted servo with simple wheel weights to help your climbing ability...But COG is very important for performance in certain situations.

Anything more than 90mm shocks will raise your COG but then needing to buy some lowering brackets to bring your truck back to stock ride height (unless you want the truck higher)...Some like the larger tires and the lifted look which is fine but its not going to be a very good performer on side hills and some crawling situations.

You can go with maybe 92mm and set your sag so its back to stock height or go longer and need brackets (an added expense).

Its very simple to limit the more common 100mm shocks..you simply can add some cheap nitro fuel line on the shock shaft internally to limit them to whatever length you wish to meet your needs...So you can have a much better shock and not go overboard travel wise.

If you can avoid adding weights inside your wheels I recommend it...Not that it doesn't work and its very popular but its not the best choice for adding weight as it puts more strain on your drivetrain and can lower your run times..The less weight in the wheels the better...Im currently adding weight in the form of upgrades I personally wouldn't otherwise need so I can get rid of more and more weight in my wheels.

The weight is going in the axles in the form of beef tubes and HD lockers and HD axles/gears to add the weight...Yes some of that is adding rotational mass but less than what you would typically find inside of a wheel for added weight.

Another alternative but a very expensive one are the knuckle weight systems.

Its not going to hurt anything to add some weight in the wheels for now but just know its not the best method to gain traction and crawling ability without drawbacks.

As far as how much to add; youll get many different answers to this...Add as little as possible to meet your goal..Try 1 oz first (evenly spacing them around the wheel)..then maybe 1.5oz and so on...Typically just add the weight to the front wheels to improve climbing ability/traction...Regular 1:1 stick on car weight in 1/4oz squares works pretty good and wrap some tape around them to make sure thay stay in place...just 2 maybe 3 wraps around tightly.

[Ssteve]

Awesome thanks for the insight. I'll start off with getting wheels and tires and then start adding weight and see what I like. Also kicking around possibly going with a droop setup.

[6sharky9]

If you get the taller than stock tires you will need to raise the body some so you don't actually lose travel or raise the chassis using brackets...but you will raise your COG a little.

Consider the best tire you can get that's going to be closest to your stock diameter..Check out the Pitbull rockbeast tires also..not super tall yet very popular all around the globe performance wise.

[Satheddal]

Originally Posted by Ssteve

No weights yet. I figured I would wait for new tires and beadlocks instead of hacking open the stock glued setup. With that said I think that's where I'll go with the next mod. 1.9 swampers on some rc4wd wagon wheels. Recommendations on how much weight in each wheel?

just wanted to say :: thumbsup:: on the swampers I plan on running some with a Toyota fj40 land cruiser body.

[itr1994]

thats probably one of the biggest issues is no weight in the tires im running my bronco probably identicle to you and am not having issues