2012 Comp Rig build done XR/Mantis

[mgauger]

Hey All,,,,,thought i would finally post some pics of my 2012 rig!!! I ran the XR, stock chassis, for all of 2011 and decided to go bodiless for 2012.

I have seen all the build threads and after tons of mulling it over I settled on the Mantis chassis. I'm not a seasoned veteran so thought the learning curve would be easier for me with this new style chassis. I have combed over and over again all the Mantis builds, heard all the good things about it,,,,,,,,then saw pretty much every build up for sale in the classified section!!!!!!! WTF
Needless to say I was quite discouraged by all this and almost decided to give up before I even gave it a try!!! Then reality hit me like a ton of bricks,,,,,how in the world could any of these guys have even given this chassis a chance??? They couldn't have,,,in my opinion,,,so I vowed to give this chassis a chance and I will work with it through the 2012 season, at a minimum,,,so I'm sure I give this chassis the chance it deserves!!!! Because after all,,,,,,this has to be about the baddest looking chassis I have ever seen!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, with that off my mind here are the pics of my rig. When I bought this rig at in Jan 2011, I went ahead and bought the upgrades everyone said was needed right away, basically the RC4WD gear set, motor plate and gear case and other then the Chaotic Crawler links for stock chassis, that was pretty much it. Ran the whole season without a failure anywhere, until our last GTG about a month ago,,,,heard the proverbial POP and sheered one tooth off the rear drive gear and blew the bearing!! So parts ordered and then after a host of VP stuff, I have the following!!!
Sorry for all the venting but had to get it off my chest!!!!

[DRCrawlGood]

The mantis is a great chassis and Don has great customer support. If I had the extra cash I would build a mantis to test myself.

[mgauger]

Appreciate it and yes,,,,,I pretty much like just about everything BWD puts out!!!! Can't wait to get this on the rocks!!!

[Robbob]

I will say Im not a fan of torsion chassis's but have to agree with ya, doesnt seem like enough people gave it time before jumping ship.

Don has some great ideas up in his head and puts out some good stuff. Hope you get it figured out and it does good for ya.

[mgauger]

Thanks Robbob,,,,,appreciate it,,,,,I hope it works out also!!!

[Kratos]

looking good. hopefully you guys can come show off your rigs at one of our comps this winter

[billet works]

Don't fret my friend...there are many more Mantis' out there with drivers who love them than folks realize (MANY MORE )

The Mantis gets critized a lot due to how different it is from conventional 4 link setups...some guys love having the "out there" setup, and others are discrouaged by that. It is a very different animal, but it is also a very capable one. All chassis' end up in the for sale section as some point or another That said, I get a lot of feedback from guys who are having great success and love it as much as I do.

Ennis is only about an hour from the BWD shop...make sure you get ahold of me when you are down this way in March and swing by if ya can.

Don

[Omega-Tron]

I don't know why so many of these end up in the classifieds. It takes some adjust (and possibly readjustment after 10 hours or so of run time...especially the chassis braces) but the belly clearance is well worth it to me. I really enjoy being able to effortlessly go up and over big ledges that my BJV4 can't or at least struggles with.

[mgauger]

Chris,,,,you will defiantly see us this winter!!! The end of Feb comp is the one where we should have a good IaROCK showing!!! Can't wait to see the "THING" chassis in action!!

Mr. Don,,,you are correct,,,I'm sure there are a ton of these chassis out there and I'm whining about the few that actually posted threads,,,,I'm sure there are way more out there then that!!!! I will defiantly give a shout out when I come down in Mar.!!! Would absolutely love to see the BWD facility!!!

Appreciate the reply Omega-Tron,,,,,,glad to hear from they guys running the Mantis!!!!!!

[mgauger]

OK,,,,I just had to post this up,,,,,I ran over to the Shack and ran my XR on the modular course we run in our club,,,,it's outdoors but it was in the low 50's today,,,,which is almost unheard of for Iowa in Dec.!!!

I ran every line that I or anyone ever had issues with on this course,,,,and this thing complete ATE IT UP!!!!!! OMG,,,,this thing was incredible!!! I mean it absolutely just walked over EVERYTHING!!!

Mind you,,,this was with no tuning and also running all chassis braces!!! It was a bit stiff and I plan on removing just one of the braces to try and loosen it up just a bit,,,,,but I am SO HAPPY with the way it ran!!!! I was running new tires as well,,,,I was running a Block tread cut and shut in the front and Kahos's in the rear, both sets trimmed with the inside sanded!! They worked great,,,the biggest difference I found with these tire were the fact that you don't need wheel speed, I ran slow,,even when I started spinning I just kept it at a controlled slower spin and with the a little left and right turn the rig would just crawl right up the obstacle!!! I was amazed how predictable the tires were,,,,this is the first time I have ran any kind of pin tire and I have to say,,,,,liking it!!!

Don,,,BWD,,,GREAT PRODUCT!!!!!! To think I was ready to give up on this chassis before I even tried it!!!!! What a shame that would have been!!!!!!

Thnaks

Mike

[Highlucks]

Great to hear you are loving it dude. I still love mine and will continue to for a long time. Don is a wizard when it comes to designing things that are considered out side of the box.

Keep at it cause this thing only gets better with age.

[mgauger]

Appreciate it highlucks,,,,,Can not wait to hit a comp this winter!!!

[Nabil]

i have ran every mantis prior to the latest version (including the prototypes that were cut by hand by H3RESQ before giving the design to don). one thing that ALOT of people havent figured out is that by spacing out the rear links from the chassis alot of flex is freed up. the more you go the more the back will flex. the big problem with removing cross braces is the rear axle tends to cock over in certain situations

[mgauger]

Hey Nabil,,,,,,thanks for the reply!!!! I'm curious,,,,when you say spacing out the rear links from the chassis,,,,can you explain a little more? Do you mean running a longer screw and putting some kind of spacer between the link and the chassis?
Right now I have all the chassis braces in and figured I would leave them in for a bit to see if a few more runs loosen things up a bit. But I will defiantly give the link spacers a try!!! Let me know if I am reading that correctly and thanks again for the reply!!!

Mike

Happy Holidays!!

[Nabil]

Yes, start small with the spacer at first then go bigger. 3mm is a good starting point

[mgauger]

That is good to know!!! Out of all the build threads I have gone over,,,this is the first I have heard of putting spacers between the rear link and chassis!!!!

I REALLY appreciate the tips,,,,and,,,,if your feeling generous and have any other tips for me,,,,feel free to share!!!

Because lord knows I need all the help I can get!!!!

Happy Holidays to you and yours!!!!

Thanks

Mike

[waltgpierce]

I'm still unclear on what you mean by spacing the rear links from the chassis.

Do you mean to secure them to the outside of the mounting points on the rear axle (effectively spacing the rear links)?

Secondly, what is the weight distribution that everyone is running with their Mantis? Heavy front/light rear; light front/light rear; heavy rear/lighter front.

Any help would be appreciated. I just can't seem to get my Mantis dialed in properly.

[mgauger]

I took it to mean a spacer between the link and where it attaches to the chassis,,,,not where the link is connected on the axle but now you got me wondering as well!!!

As far as weight goes mine is defiantly heavier in the front!! I have only ran mine once so far and it's a good starting point,,,I will try and run a few comps with it this winter and go from there.

Total weight of my rig is right around 6 lb. This is with my Mayhem Evo wheels, front 1 1/4 oz weight added to the rim and VP knuckle weights with 2 rings on each end,,,,the 1/8 think rings.

On the rear I have 3/4 weight on the wheel and I have a shaft collar on each hub. The following link is the thread where I got this idea,,,,the link shows 2 shaft collars, one over the top of the other and it's about 5.5 oz,,,,I only have the one collar on there right now,,,I will have to play around with it a bit.

Hopefully Nabil will confirm the space at the chassis end of the rear link!! Good luck with the setup!!

Thanks

Mike

[Kratos]

yep. put spacers between the upper link and the chassis is what he is refering too.

[Nabil]

Between the chassis and the rear lower link