***Paystin go Smash***

[paystin]

It's been a long time coming but I am finally getting around to switching over chassis' from the Zero to the Smash. This chassis has been out for a little while now but quite honestly, the Zero was working well for me and my comp season winded down in April so there was no real "need" to switch chassis' until now. I wanted to get this up and running before heading out to Nats in a month so I've got a little time to mess with it before then. Thanks to Marc and Nick from Chaotic Crawlers for their continued support and making great products for us to enjoy.

The first thing I am excited about with the new Smash chassis is the extra ground clearance I am getting. I'm sure that the few things I was getting up on with the Zero will now be a cake walk with the extra room underneath. I'm at 3" front and 3 1/8" rear clearance with a pretty soft preload on the shocks. I could barely get 2 3/4" all around with the Zero and that was with as much preload as I could do.




The second thing I am excited to see is how well one of these lighter (yes, I know there are much lighter rigs out there than this) will do for me. I was very surprised to see it come in at 3.8 lbs (1734 grams for the Euro conversion) when my Zero was at almost 4.3 lbs. I did change out the Aluminum SCX shocks for plastic, VP tranny cases for plastic and I went from VP SLW drilled out rims to Carbon Fiber glue ons. I still have "heavy" motors in there and a lot of extra wiring that could go away but that will wait for another day.



I am basically going with the same setup that I had on my Zero. I figured I know what that could and couldn't do so it gives me a basic starting point to jump off from. I did replace the rear, VP axle mount with the stock plastic one for two reasons. First, it was in the same location as where I was running the VP mount and second, I stripped out the VP mount and they are tough to come by at this point.



Along with changing out the Aluminum SCX shocks for plastic ones, I also put in the axial machined pistons to see how they did. So far the bench test feels great with them. Very smooth and free flowing. I'm still running Losi Mint T silvers up front and Losi MRC silvers in back. The shocks are not limited internally as of yet. I do have a 4mm spacer in the rears (externally).



I am running the exact same knuckle weight I was with the Zero but I can add a bit more if needed. Currently at .70 oz per side.




I've held off the whole Carbon Fiber wheel thingy for long enough. I had so much invested in SLW wheels that it sucked to give them up. Our club president posted these for sale and I decided to give them a try. I'm not sure who makes them but I liked the design enough and the price was right so I pulled the trigger. My CA glue was open a bit to much so it got a little sloppy but it is what it is. I did lose about an Oz and a quarter per wheel which was very surprising.



Mike from Wicked Monkey Designs is making me a new set of skins but like a dumbass, I deleted the pictures from my email. I went with an understated, carbon fiber theme with just a few logos to keep it simple. Feel free to post them up Mike, if you get a chance. I can't say enough how great Mike is to deal with and how he nails the designs with just a few emails back and forth. I highly recommend getting in touch with him if you are in the market for some new skins.

I do need to wait for HiTec to send me back my servo before I can start testing things out. Hopefully next week sometime that will happen and I can update things then. I'm more than confident that I will be very happy with how the Smash performs leading into Nationals.

[slowride1]

looks killer cupcake

you will love it

[HARDKNOCKZ]

I didnt know it snowed in Orange County. That or you pulled out the Christmas tree blanket to pose yer rig on.

Bout time you built this thing. Im sure you'll like it but you need wider hubs in the rear

Bye Niller Goriller.

[winnerone23]

Looks great paystin, those wheels are killer!
Ur setup is dam near spot on of mine. One hole forward with the front shocks is the only diff.

Can't wait to see what you think of it.. 3lbs 13oz wasn't for me, just didn't have the same feel..

Oh that poor servo!

[slowride1]

lol on the servo. kinda looks like mine

hey there is a guy who makes cf servo savers on here an hell I no 2 guys who could use them

[Hittman]

Bout damn time! Looking good man. Can't wait to see it in AZ

[boosted4lyf]

Oooohhh she can out nice sweet thang. See ya in AZ.

[winnerone23]

Originally Posted by slowride1

lol on the servo. kinda looks like mine

hey there is a guy who makes cf servo savers on here an hell I no 2 guys who could use them

One of them guys broke theirs! Maybe he will give some insight to that...
I hear servo guards are in stock. Them two guys don't have to wait in line either..

[paystin]

Originally Posted by slowride1

looks killer cupcake

you will love it

Thanks sweet cheeks! Glad to see you're back at it again.

Originally Posted by HARDKNOCKZ

I didnt know it snowed in Orange County. That or you pulled out the Christmas tree blanket to pose yer rig on.

Bout time you built this thing. Im sure you'll like it but you need wider hubs in the rear

Bye Niller Goriller.

I just threw down what your wife gave me.....she's so accommodating like that. I will put wider hubs on when the pony express gets it's ass in gear from the great territory of Tehachapi.

Originally Posted by winnerone23

Looks great paystin, those wheels are killer!
Ur setup is dam near spot on of mine. One hole forward with the front shocks is the only diff.

Can't wait to see what you think of it.. 3lbs 13oz wasn't for me, just didn't have the same feel..

Oh that poor servo!

Thank you! I didn't realize how much lighter the CF wheels were over the SLW's or I might have done it sooner. I do like the looks of these though but we'll see how they hold up.

Marc said the same thing about it being so light but I want to try it where it's at first and then add as needed. That servo has seen it's fair share of cemented in river rock so it takes a beating. If I only knew someone that made a nice cover for it.....

Originally Posted by Hittman

Bout damn time! Looking good man. Can't wait to see it in AZ

Thanks man! I'm excited to see what it will do vs. the Zero. I'm sure I won't be disappointed at all.

Originally Posted by boosted4lyf

Oooohhh she can out nice sweet thang. See ya in AZ.

I'm assuming you meant "came out nice" you bearded wonder. Looking forward to hanging out in AZ with all the riff raff.

Originally Posted by winnerone23

One of them guys broke theirs! Maybe he will give some insight to that...
I hear servo guards are in stock. Them two guys don't have to wait in line either..

I wonder who that could be???

[boosted4lyf]

Assume all you want,
That truck can out nice

[paystin]

Originally Posted by boosted4lyf

Assume all you want,
That truck can out nice

You's funny!

[paystin]

Mike sent me this image of the skins. Like I said, simple but just what I wanted. Thanks Mike!

[winnerone23]

I know a guy....

That if only you could get chaotic stickers for real CF panels to go with a CF servo guard..... they look bad ass Mike!

What size hubs do you have now?

I know with my Dlux wheels, I use a 1/4" delrin spacer to get the same offset as slws with the same size hubs. Or snatch up some shift hubs from Bc-brian.. :thumbup:

[paystin]

I know, I know!

I'm running 450 hubs up front and 725's in back. J.D is sending me my 850 hubs that I will more than likely stick with. I might try those shift hubs that you speak of though and see what that does.

[HARDKNOCKZ]

Mike...STOP THE PRESSES!!! Dude...you GOTTA put that Vanilla Gorilla smash logo on those skins. That is so DOPE with the knuckle draggin Paystin for the "A". Genius I tell ya...pure genius!

BTW What are these hubs you speak of? Perplexed am I Jabba.

J Dizzle Fo Rizzle

[winnerone23]

Fo rizzle!?!? You haven't seen the shift hubs yet! Oh J. dizzle, where have you benizzle!?



Pin drive, come with spacers for Any offset you want And, 12 holes.. 6x 4-40 an 6x that take a 3mm tap like a champ! Not to mention lighter an cheaper then VP..come ano'd in ur color of choice or just black or raw. :thumbup:

[Curcal]

They work really well too!

[paystin]

Originally Posted by HARDKNOCKZ

Mike...STOP THE PRESSES!!! Dude...you GOTTA put that Vanilla Gorilla smash logo on those skins. That is so DOPE with the knuckle draggin Paystin for the "A". Genius I tell ya...pure genius!

BTW What are these hubs you speak of? Perplexed am I Jabba.

J Dizzle Fo Rizzle

Totally agree. That Smash logo with the big gorilla in it is awesome!

I'll trade you a couple of plastic scale rifles for the TTC you silly bastard.

Originally Posted by winnerone23

Fo rizzle!?!? You haven't seen the shift hubs yet! Oh J. dizzle, where have you benizzle!?

Attachment 249287

Pin drive, come with spacers for Any offset you want And, 12 holes.. 6x 4-40 an 6x that take a 3mm tap like a champ! Not to mention lighter an cheaper then VP..come ano'd in ur color of choice or just black or raw. :thumbup:

He was talking about the 850 hubs he's sending me, not the shift hubs. I just looked at them in the vendor thread and I'll probably get a set next week. Thanks for the heads up.

[chevotafun]

Looking good
can't wait to hear your thoughts on this chassis.
I think i'll be ordering one soon as well after seeing my brothers in action, I really like the added belly clearance.

[Chaotic Crawlers]

Looks bad ass man.

I really like the skins as is, but I do think you should embrace the vanilla gorilla logo at this point.


I am patiently waiting to hear how it drives for you.