Skaldiddog's "Progress"

[bigjeff1313]

After lookin at all the pics. I gar-on-told-ya sompthin... I don't thank the stearing link will break. You got a hell of a build there. Looks like it'll crawl like Spider-man. Looks pertty cool bossman.

[Nabil]

More goop? I'm disappointed...

[SkaldidDog]

Originally Posted by Erik D_lux

Are you just trying to bring it back to a more "normal" degree or did you experience some drawbacks?

After watching yours in St. George, I pushed mine to 30* now. I am liking it so far.

Only drawback is like on the spots like the one that burned me in St. George. Kinda like a twisting climb that forces the rig to when vertical to reach backwards and to the side at full twist. You have to approach these particular obstacles a little differently but other than that I greatly prefer more caster than less. Decreasing caster also lifted my battery tray up a little but I had to move my front upper rear mounts up one hole to prevent binding at full twist.

[SkaldidDog]

Originally Posted by e-hills4x4

More goop? I'm disappointed...

I don't want to lose my Goop sponsorship so I have to use it somewhere on my rig.

For you weightmongers out there...here's a snack.

J

Setup	RTR lbs
Full rig w Sedonas	5.96
Full rig w Rovers	5.66
Full rig Sedonas no weights	5.08
Full rig Rovers no weights	4.77

[Frankenwheely]

Originally Posted by e-hills4x4

More goop? I'm disappointed...

F" the Goop.
Team Tweety can be started...again. Not a thread jack, but I am finally up and running after the servo blow up at Utah. Thanks for the sticker Joel-o, and once again your rig is still killing it. We could have rep'ed at the OC comp ths weekend.

[SkaldidDog]

The bird is the word. Glad you're back in action. I'm still making changes and my rig is improving with each one. I think my Sedonas are going to get stuck between my lathe and a belt sander this week. I can't stand how stiff and heavy they are vs Rovers but I have to have a comp ready set at all times in case we're on rock that favors them. Pics later.

[SkaldidDog]

I finally got around to replacing my crappy V1 Ti rear lowers. I made a bending jig out of some scrap I had lying around. It breaks over much better now...no longer even scrubs on spots that used to seriously hang it up. Shoulda done this a long time ago.

[JeremyH]

Damn, those are cool!

[SkaldidDog]

I love the pliability of Rovers and their light weight but they could use more forward bite, a wider footprint, a less round profile and longer wear life. All of these shortcomings were solved by Sedonas but at the expense of weight, stiffness and that dang "Sedona Hop".

Sedona meet lathe, lathe meet Sedona. After some select scissor work and a couple of minutes each with a 60 grit belt sanding pad held by hand, I transformed my Sedonas into very soft and incredibly grippy tires without the hop. I even flattened out the contact patch/band a little bit. Note the sidewalls...no logo. One of these super clapped tires weighs only about 2-3g more ea than a brand new Rover. The only thing making them heavier than a Rover now is the larger foam I run in them. I need to weigh the rig with them on to see the gross weight change but my guess is I've shaved 3oz of rubber off of the set. This takes a big bite out of the 5.3oz combined weight difference between my Rovers and the pre-clapped Sedona. I very well may have a new favorite tire. After two packs they lost all of the Klingons and will undoubtedly get better over time. They almost look like Leopards with the smooth sidewalls.

J

[DonCrawla]

Originally Posted by SkaldidDog

I finally got around to replacing my crappy V1 Ti rear lowers. I made a bending jig out of some scrap I had lying around. It breaks over much better now...no longer even scrubs on spots that used to seriously hang it up. Shoulda done this a long time ago.

hey that bend looks familiar

[Hulksta]

Nice work there! Several of the mods I've done to my moa so was great seeing someone thinking the same, I like making stuff too and thinking outside the box lol


Cheers
Dan

[SkaldidDog]

Originally Posted by DonCrawla

hey that bend looks familiar

I noticed Sat that you have the same general bend. Like Hulksta says, great minds think alike.

I beat on my my roverized sedonas more yesterday and these "Clappy 'Donas" as I call them are well worth the effort.

[4xFord]

Nice. I did the same to my inner front sidewall on my sedonas. But still find myself wanting a little of a side lug for hanging tires on ledges, etc.

[SkaldidDog]

I agree entirely. Good observation. I'm working on a v2 set that retains the outermost tread bed lugs without the sidewall lugs. This should be a nice compromise. I took them off of the pictured set unintentionally but they still ape hang as good as my Rovers. With some trial and error these tires will be my favorite. The slow part I'm working on is making another set of my custom beadlock rims. Huge pain in the arse but the SLWv2s will look cool. I'm interested to see how Clappy Donas work as the lugs wear to the carcass and the carcass starts to roughen/soften up.

Originally Posted by 4xFord

Nice. I did the same to my inner front sidewall on my sedonas. But still find myself wanting a little of a side lug for hanging tires on ledges, etc.

[DonCrawla]

Originally Posted by SkaldidDog

I love the pliability of Rovers and their light weight but they could use more forward bite, a wider footprint, a less round profile and longer wear life. All of these shortcomings were solved by Sedonas but at the expense of weight, stiffness and that dang "Sedona Hop".

Sedona meet lathe, lathe meet Sedona. After some select scissor work and a couple of minutes each with a 60 grit belt sanding pad held by hand, I transformed my Sedonas into very soft and incredibly grippy tires without the hop. I even flattened out the contact patch/band a little bit. Note the sidewalls...no logo. One of these super clapped tires weighs only about 2-3g more ea than a brand new Rover. The only thing making them heavier than a Rover now is the larger foam I run in them. I need to weigh the rig with them on to see the gross weight change but my guess is I've shaved 3oz of rubber off of the set. This takes a big bite out of the 5.3oz combined weight difference between my Rovers and the pre-clapped Sedona. I very well may have a new favorite tire. After two packs they lost all of the Klingons and will undoubtedly get better over time. They almost look like Leopards with the smooth sidewalls.

J

Did the same thing Joel. Very impressive. It made the tires so soft ill have to run A little firmer foams I'll be using these tires in az June

[RCHuffer]

Originally Posted by SkaldidDog

I love the pliability of Rovers and their light weight but they could use more forward bite, a wider footprint, a less round profile and longer wear life. All of these shortcomings were solved by Sedonas but at the expense of weight, stiffness and that dang "Sedona Hop".

Sedona meet lathe, lathe meet Sedona. After some select scissor work and a couple of minutes each with a 60 grit belt sanding pad held by hand, I transformed my Sedonas into very soft and incredibly grippy tires without the hop. I even flattened out the contact patch/band a little bit. Note the sidewalls...no logo. One of these super clapped tires weighs only about 2-3g more ea than a brand new Rover. The only thing making them heavier than a Rover now is the larger foam I run in them. I need to weigh the rig with them on to see the gross weight change but my guess is I've shaved 3oz of rubber off of the set. This takes a big bite out of the 5.3oz combined weight difference between my Rovers and the pre-clapped Sedona. I very well may have a new favorite tire. After two packs they lost all of the Klingons and will undoubtedly get better over time. They almost look like Leopards with the smooth sidewalls.

J

Joel, By sanding down the side walls of the Sodona's, does this prevent the Sodona Hop that you mentioned?

example = So instead of a side knobby catching the surface and pushing the tire up and away from your intended direction? Does the smooth face stay planted to the rock surface more?

Or was this done just to reduce weight? -Glenn

[4xFord]

The smooth sidewalls will help prevent the sidewalls grabbing and spitting the truck backwards. I think the broken in tread lugs are what keep the bounce under control. New sedonas hop worse than very worn in ones.

[DonCrawla]

Hit it on the nose brotha I get a very smooth slip. Plus the shaved sidewall gives a better wad up and lightens the tire in the process

[SkaldidDog]

Originally Posted by RCHuffer

Joel, By sanding down the side walls of the Sodona's, does this prevent the Sodona Hop that you mentioned?

example = So instead of a side knobby catching the surface and pushing the tire up and away from your intended direction? Does the smooth face stay planted to the rock surface more?

Or was this done just to reduce weight? -Glenn

Like Don and 4X said and then some. The thinner walls allow the side lugs to buckle individually and with less effort. I've noticed rotational wrinkles in the side wall (dragster tire effect) form easier and closer together than on stockers. This allows the tire to buckle incrementally at each lug but not completely wad up a big hunk of tire then unload all at once. Foam setup helps here too. The side walls however smooth have a lot of predictable grip. Very deceiving. My first set were too warn in and I'm breaking in another set. I'll break in these set and park them for comps. On Sat I ran a set of siped Rovers with the side walls lathed smooth. They worked better than my stock Rovers too. Even with the mods, Clappy Donas are still ~1oz heavier than stock new Rovers.

[rob_b]

At first I thought you were crazy for lathing your tires but after seeing the different tires that Don and Nabil showed up to AZ with I'll defiantly going to be following suit.