Szczerba's 2012 Secret Agent'd 4.0 Berg

[Szczerba]

Picked up a Secret Agent chassis from Y-Town Crawlers a couple weeks ago. I have been running the T1-E SS chassis for the past season. Nothing wrong with it, just wanna try something new.

I believe most will be setup with XR-10 axles. Guess I'll try some berg axles.

Couple pictures of the chassis. I know, you've seen it. Sweet carbon fiber.
I will try to do the build in steps.

[Szczerba]

Thanks to Y-Town Crawlers for the XR-10 Secret Agent build threads they are doing. I got alot of information there on the initial chassis setup/logic.

First up was link mock up. Don't think anyone has setup a Secret Agent with the berg yet, so here goes.

Used 8/32" all thread. I was sitting around thinking how I was going to get the measurements for the straight titanium link ordering. I had already bent up all the links. Then it hit me. Tape!

Put the tape on the links, cut it at the rod ends and laid it flat for measurements.

I used a mixture of Jato and Revo rod ends. Put Jato's where I knew I would want some adjustability.

Front Uppers:
Straight Links- 75mm (unthreaded distance) http://www.lunsfordracing.com/mm5/me...y_Code=GRINDER
Bent eye to eye: 109mm (Revo-Revo)

Front Lowers:
Straight Links- 75mm (unthreaded distance) http://www.lunsfordracing.com/mm5/me...y_Code=GRINDER
Bent eye to eye: 115mm (Jato-Revo)

Rear Uppers:
Straight Links- 105mm (unthreaded distance) http://www.lunsfordracing.com/mm5/me...y_Code=GRINDER
Bent eye to eye: 144mm (Jato-Revo)

Rear Lowers:
Straight Links- 115mm (unthreaded distance) http://www.lunsfordracing.com/mm5/me...y_Code=GRINDER
Bent eye to eye: 140mm (Revo-Revo)

[Harvo]

Nice start I'll be curious to see how you like it compared the the SS.

[JeremyH]

Very cool Shane! I like the tape trick!

[Almighty Malach]

After driving my xr-agent for a few days, I would recommend trying to get your lower links on the upper holes with the shocks outboarded. Having a flatter lower makes a big difference in how this chassis drives

[ROCKEDUP RICKY]

Originally Posted by JeremyH

Very cool Shane! I like the tape trick!

Arkie trick.


Great start on being lite, what does that chassis weigh.

[skinner09]

where did u get that

[Szczerba]

Originally Posted by Harvo

Nice start I'll be curious to see how you like it compared the the SS.

Time will tell...

Originally Posted by JeremyH

Very cool Shane! I like the tape trick!

The chassis is a cool little part. On the tape trick, I believe it was my first great idea of 2012

Originally Posted by Almighty Malach

After driving my xr-agent for a few days, I would recommend trying to get your lower links on the upper holes with the shocks outboarded. Having a flatter lower makes a big difference in how this chassis drives

Thanks for the tip. I might have to try that when I get down to testing.

Originally Posted by ROCKEDUP RICKY

Arkie trick.

Great start on being lite, what does that chassis weigh.

Not sure where the weight will end up but I have a hunch I'll be able to make it where I want it.

And I didn't weigh it before I built it up for the second time. I figured it was somewhere. Just searched quickly and didn't find the weight. It's light. Like way light!

Originally Posted by skinner09

where did u get that

http://www.rccrawler.com/forum/chass...ml#post3458123

[Szczerba]

Shocks (for now). Want to see how the longer full size springs work again.

XX Big Bores front and rear with Revo rod end mod.
JeepinDoug Spring cups.

Swapped out to some 3 hole pistons and 20wt oil. I ran 2 hole pistons and 20wt oil in the SS berg and liked the handling when I needed to make up some time on course.

Fronts are 104 mm in length.
--8mm inside limit and 5mm outside limit. I believe I will need to remove the 5mm outside limiter before too long.

Rears are 93mm in length.
--20mm inside limit and no outside limit. Bent axial rod ends.

Full size springs with a couple coils cut off each on the rears. Losi golds but will swap out the rear springs for something firmer before too long.

[Szczerba]

Ok. I have built this chassis up once, ran two packs on it and disassembled it to make final changes. I can't wait to post more pictures so here are some more.

As you can see it's not a 50/50 setup.
Green pen is 6.25".
With my homemade, hand bend, "tape" measured links, I got pretty darn close to 12.5" max wheelbase. That's measured at full compression.
The other pictures are measured at full droop.

With the shocks "laying" further down than I am used to, the chassis doesn't shrink and grow like a frightened turtle .
The rear shocks bottom out on the shock body and JeepinDoug spring cup.
The front shocks could use a touch more flex and I think I will do a little more testing and probably remove the 5mm outer limiters.
JeepinDoug 5mm big bore spacers, minus the 5mm part.

Normal comp berg axles.
CCD tubes with CCD steering, front 300 axle shafts, rear RC Axle Master axle shafts, drilled ligtened gears. I swapped back to stock lockers.
Holmes Hobbies TorqueMaster Pro Handwound 540 Brushed motor with 12 tooth pinions.
Vanquish 8 Degree Knuckle/Chubs, Helhedded fabbed up a steering link several months ago for me. Beefy servo.

[klabeaume]

Wow Shane that's looking great. Let me know how you like that chassis compared to the SS. I've been thinking of going back to a bodied rig myself. I've been wanting a chump RT but no luck getting one. That y-town may be looking like a good choice.

[Szczerba]

Originally Posted by klabeaume

Wow Shane that's looking great. Let me know how you like that chassis compared to the SS. I've been thinking of going back to a bodied rig myself. I've been wanting a chump RT but no luck getting one. That y-town may be looking like a good choice.

Thanks and will do. Not sure on the body that I will run just yet. I have some left over Carbon Fiber from the FF-SZ shafty build, so I might give a cab a go, probably not.

I have already gotten 2 packs through this rig. Then I tore it down to what you see now. The first 20 seconds I could tell it was different. This setup feels alot lower to the ground, even though it may not be. I could tell it will do things differently than the SS setup. And I didn't even have the shocks setup with oils like I wanted them.

I know I will be able to remove weight from the knuckle weights. The old SS was at 5.6lbs. I think I can get lower than that and easily have good forward bias.

[krawlfreak]

Shane,

It looks like you hit the links dead on.
I really think you should be able to hit a lower weight and still have a higher forward bias.

Looking forward to hearing how it performs for you.

[helhedded]

It looks like a great setup man! Nice job on the links.

[TC09mini]

Awesome build Shane! Cool to see you are returning to the bodied arena also! Now I think we have every major designer represented in our club! T1E, Y-town, BWD, CDW, and CC.

[binaryterror]

Nice, was waiting to see a Secret Agent build on Bergs. Definitely subscribed to watch you input and review.

[Krawler Kev]

Why did you go back to the stock lockers?

[Tgreer]

Great lookIng rig Shane, I'm interested to see the differences in your new chassis compared to my old bjv4. I also have just finished rebuilding my berg with all new delux tubes, wheels, and other dlux goodies, so I'm interested to see how they compair in weight as well. You really crank out some excellent builds and this one will be top notch for sure.

[Szczerba]

Originally Posted by krawlfreak

Shane,

It looks like you hit the links dead on.
I really think you should be able to hit a lower weight and still have a higher forward bias.

Looking forward to hearing how it performs for you.

Thanks. Been checking out the other Secret Agent build threads and taking notes. I did bend the links by hand in a vise but found the sliding door rollers you talked about. Should be easy to make a good bending jig with those.
I pulled all the knuckle weights off and I know I will not have to as many back. The balance point is to be determined right now but its probably going to be just behind the front lower link mounts, like the XR's but maybe 1/4" back. Deciding on putting the battery on the lower links or just making a front axle mount and get everything off the chassis. I'll make a axle case mount for the electronics or battery either way.

Originally Posted by helhedded

It looks like a great setup man! Nice job on the links.

The "tape" trick does work if you mock up the links correctly. Then just decide where you want to have adjustability and have a Jato link there. For me it was the one end of the front lowers and one end of the rear uppers.

Originally Posted by TC09mini

Awesome build Shane! Cool to see you are returning to the bodied arena also! Now I think we have every major designer represented in our club! T1E, Y-town, BWD, CDW, and CC.

Yes, sir. As soon as I saw the Y-Town thread on this chassis, I knew I wanted it. Just had to make it work for the berg axles.

Originally Posted by binaryterror

Nice, was waiting to see a Secret Agent build on Bergs. Definitely subscribed to watch you input and review.

Initial review is positive. I could tell right away some of the differences. See couple posts above.

Originally Posted by Krawler Kev

Why did you go back to the stock lockers?

I couldnt keep the RcBro's locker screws to stay tight. I would clean the screws and lockers all up, use thread locker and after 5-6 courses they would be loose. Got tired of tearing to axle down to check on them. Tired different screws and everything else I could think of to fix it. And I don't drive all crazy either. Usually a slow driver with the pin tires on.

Originally Posted by Tgreer

Great lookIng rig Shane, I'm interested to see the differences in your new chassis compared to my old bjv4. I also have just finished rebuilding my berg with all new delux tubes, wheels, and other dlux goodies, so I'm interested to see how they compair in weight as well. You really crank out some excellent builds and this one will be top notch for sure.

Thanks. This is my first build with the Y-Town setup. I know they are a proven chassis setup. I have been doing alot of studying on this chassis with the XR axles so we'll see if I can make it all work. The Y-Town build threads are really helpful and fully detailed.
Trying to make mine the same, so guys/gals can have a starting point with bergs and the Secret Agent setup.

[4xFord]

Wow that is came out great! Great job on the links for sure.