Szczerba's 2012.2 Secret Agent'd 3.5 Bodiless Berg

[JeremyH]

Originally Posted by ROLANDROCKSHOP

ARCC COMP #4 2.2 PRO CLASS COURSE 3 SZCZERBA - YouTube

Ashton, your beard is getting fawking long man!

Oh yeah, nice driving to the man in the big yellow hat....

[chad30w]

Shoot.....you guys outta see me drive one of Shane's rigs....lol

[jado6006]

Good stuff! Those shocks look more like xr10 units than scx. I run the same on my berg.

[Szczerba]

Originally Posted by JeremyH

Ashton, your beard is getting fawking long man!

Oh yeah, nice driving to the man in the big yellow hat....

Maybe it's cause he has lost some weight. Beard is the same size.
You know the saying, you trim the bushes and the sidewalk gets bigger.

Originally Posted by chad30w

Shoot.....you guys outta see me drive one of Shane's rigs....lol

This is correct. Chad drove the 4.0 setup better than me last month.

Originally Posted by jado6006

Good stuff! Those shocks look more like xr10 units than scx. I run the same on my berg.

Probably cause the preload spacers wrenched all the way down? I am running the aluminum bodies as well. The SCX's work great for me.

[Szczerba]

Just saw a few more ECC videos of mine post up, so here are a few of the courses. Thanks to RolandRockShop for the video. And my spotters!
Truck worked good but my decisions could improve. Wasn't really feeling it the first 2 courses. In some sort of funk. I dunno. Anywho, ended up 31st for the day. Going to make some foam adjustments and I have a set of Boss Claws in my possession now.

2012 ECC 2.2 PRO COURSE 2 SZCZERBA - YouTube


2012 ECC 2.2 PRO COURSE 5 SZCZERBA - YouTube


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUZjLmTeOHc

Edit. Attached the wrong link in one.

...

[Szczerba]

Swapped out to aluminum hardware on the chassis where I could and on the axles. Pulled the Medium outer tuning rings out of the rear tires.


Was 4lbs 14.8oz


Now 4lbs 13.4oz

Did some tire weighing too.

Rovers sidewalls shaved and siped = 2.9oz
Boss Claws untouched = 3.6oz
Khaos Rovers, Internally sanded, sidewalls sanded, no lugs cut = 4.2oz

[EverettY]

Just watched one of your vids. What was wrong with your antenna on your TX? Good driving BTW

[Szczerba]

Originally Posted by EverettY

Just watched one of your vids. What was wrong with your antenna on your TX? Good driving BTW

Ha. The plastic elbow joint broke last year so I put a paper clip piece to act as the pivot point. Hit it again just before ECC and it broke all the way. Just too lazy to buy a new flex joint or fix it.

Thanks. The truck works great. I just need to keep working at tuning it for me and picking better lines.

I am going to try some 5.25" foams in the khaos this week hopefully. Going to see how the truck reacts versus the 5.5" setup. And I will try to get some Boss Claws tested as well.

I have swapped to Zero Ackerman knuckles since ECC.

[Harvo]

Originally Posted by Szczerba

I have swapped to Zero Ackerman knuckles since ECC.

Why? Just curious.

[ittybitty]

...and 8* will come back next

I'm curious what you find with the different foam setup and then when you switch to the Boss Claws. I won't be switching back to them, but I'm interested to see what you have to say about them after running the Khaos tires for so long.

Tire weights...my current front tires are Khaos Rovers that have been narrowed and sanded internally only along with a pattern cut. They weigh in at 90g or 3.17oz...



I built a set of narrowed Block-Rovers for a customer before ECC and with moderate internal sanding and NO pattern cut they came out to 95g or 3.35oz

[Harvo]

Originally Posted by ittybitty

...and 8* will come back next

I'm curious what you find with the different foam setup and then when you switch to the Boss Claws. I won't be switching back to them, but I'm interested to see what you have to say about them after running the Khaos tires for so long.

Tire weights...my current front tires are Khaos Rovers that have been narrowed and sanded internally only along with a pattern cut. They weigh in at 90g or 3.17oz...



I built a set of narrowed Block-Rovers for a customer before ECC and with moderate internal sanding and NO pattern cut they came out to 95g or 3.35oz

And they rock (my favorite big tire) They don't seem to have the odd sidehilling quirks that the Khaos have. (for me anyway)

[Szczerba]

Originally Posted by Harvo

Why? Just curious.

I've had the zero ackerman knuckles for a while. Just didnt have a steering link for them. Ashton made me one out of 1/4" hex right quick when we got back to his house from ECC. Just wanted to see how the zero ackerman was without the 8* again. Jury is still out on if I still like it versus the ackerman knuckles. I was used to the outer tire turning harder, good and bad traits.. Now they both turn the same. Good and bad traits.

Originally Posted by ittybitty

...and 8* will come back next

I'm curious what you find with the different foam setup and then when you switch to the Boss Claws. I won't be switching back to them, but I'm interested to see what you have to say about them after running the Khaos tires for so long.

Tire weights...

Could be. If I keep dropping weight from the truck the 8* might be another option for me. Always testing and tuning. But I have sold that 8* setup.

Good to know on the weights. I like the look of the narrowed Khaos but just too lazy to cut mine apart.

And I'm just waiting on my foam guy to send me the 5.25" setups.

Originally Posted by Harvo

And they rock (my favorite big tire) They don't seem to have the odd sidehilling quirks that the Khaos have. (for me anyway)

Which big tire you referring to?
The Khaos do act up sometimes due to the firmer sidwalls with the joint. I have just learned to deal with it . I am really looking forward to trying the 5.25" foam setup in them.

[Tgreer]

I think you will like the boss claws. I made the switch after running the khaos up front and block in rear, and they just seem to work better. More predictable and seem to have a little better bite. I think I will still us my 5.5 setup for spots that have riprap or gaps for floating over better.

[DeadlySwan]

Originally Posted by Szczerba

I am really looking forward to trying the 5.25" foam setup in them.

Just curious what foam combination your going to use. Since I've switch to the berg I've been unable to tune the khaos tires with the light setup.

[Szczerba]

Originally Posted by Tgreer

I think you will like the boss claws. I made the switch after running the khaos up front and block in rear, and they just seem to work better. More predictable and seem to have a little better bite. I think I will still us my 5.5 setup for spots that have riprap or gaps for floating over better.

Time will tell.

Originally Posted by DeadlySwan

Just curious what foam combination your going to use. Since I've switch to the berg I've been unable to tune the khaos tires with the light setup.

Right now it's 4lbs 13.4oz.
Front - Closed cell inners with soft outers
Rear - Closed cell inners with medium outers

Just remember, my tires are super worn from almost 2 years of comps.
I was running a medium tuning ring out back but pulled it out yesterday. That setup worked good at ECC. The rears were a little firm with the tuning rings but I left them in there for the height.

Also, I usually switch to memory foam outer in the warmer months. Might give those a test before the comp this weekend. It's still 50's in the morning and mid 80s in the afternoon. Might have to wait another month for my liking with memory outers.

Shipping out the new Khaos tires I made to Ryan at EastCoast R/C to narrow them up for me. Going to give those a try too.

[Szczerba]

Drove the truck yesterday and spent last night and tonight trying to tune what removing 1.2oz of weight did.

For some reason the rear of the truck was really loose and flippy now. Waving the crowd. So I started firming up the rear springs. No luck switching from MRC silvers to blacks. So I jumped the shock oil up to 70wt out back. Still flippy and acting weird overall. So, I stood the rear shocks up one hole. No luck.
Then I switched the front springs from MRC silvers to MRC blacks. Helped tone down the weirdness a bit. Had to phone a friend.

Then I saw the RC4WD dual rate spring separators on my work bench. They fit snug against the bottom of the SCX shock and don't go further than pictured. Added a orange mini-t spring and voila! Truck is settled and acting right.

So after two nights of scratching my head.
Black MRC's up front and Orange Mini T's out back.
40wt up front and 70wt out back.
Rear oil will get changed to 55wt tomorrow. That Iswhat I was running before.

...

[Harvo]

That seems odd. Those are the firmest short MiniT's.

Whenever I have trouble with that rear waving to the crowd issue, I up the preload on the spring instead of increasing the spring rate. Mine had the issue when switching between the Blitz wheels and heavier wheels.

I just made a preload collar out of the same thing you are using (the spring seperator) and trimmed off the lip for looks.

[Szczerba]

Originally Posted by Harvo

That seems odd. Those are the firmest short MiniT's.

Whenever I have trouble with that rear waving to the crowd issue, I up the preload on the spring instead of increasing the spring rate. Mine had the issue when switching between the Blitz wheels and heavier wheels.

I just made a preload collar out of the same thing you are using (the spring seperator) and trimmed off the lip for looks.

It started waving the front inside tire on some extreme sidehills up hill turns and then the rear would flip over on some extreme off camber downhills. I have a section of "gappy" rocks on my test pile. It was flopping all over that area. At first I was cussing the zero ackerman setup but started thinking about preload and spring rates.
I think the lighter the truck gets, running these heavier Khaos, the more leverage the tires have hanging out there on the ends of the axle.

My SCX preload was all the way down. Didn't have many options for more preload until I saw the RC4WD spring guides.

I knew the rear springs needed to be firmed up cause the front end lift. and the fronts could use firmer springs as well do to the rear doing some odd things.

Kinda odd that removing ~1.5oz of chassis weight (screws) would do all this. I am about to reduce the weight by swapping tires. As well as changing the battery location. Stay tuned

....

[Almighty Malach]

I noticed a lot more stability in my 4.0 when I dropped from 6lbs to 5lbs even with no changes in spring rates. It felt like a "stiffer" spring made for a more stable car in every situation. Have you ran any lines similar to that off camber gate at ECC to compare the rear settling?

[Szczerba]

Originally Posted by Almighty Malach

I noticed a lot more stability in my 4.0 when I dropped from 6lbs to 5lbs even with no changes in spring rates. It felt like a "stiffer" spring made for a more stable car in every situation. Have you ran any lines similar to that off camber gate at ECC to compare the rear settling?

That is what I found out after dropping the 1.25oz the other day. Truck got really tipsy and floppy. There were hints of it at ECC but I was too slow to realize it. It feels alot more stable now with a touch firmer springs up front and firmer springs out back.
Been practicing getting the front tires and rear tires in holes, sidehill-off-camber. Much better now.

Got in some Boss Claws. Lightly sanded sidelugs and pins to knock the new off and cut skipped 2 rows cut one (stole the cut pattern from Almighty Malach).
Set them up with some Crawler Innovations 5.25T Double Deuce Inner Foam Pair (2)

Softs up front and medium out back.

Erik D-Lux Carbon Fiber wheels @ .~0.78" wide DLUX 2.2 AND 1.9 wheels

The just taller than my khaos right now. Khaos have 5.5" foams and boss claws have the 5.25". But BC's and 5.25" are new. Probably not a good comparison since the BC and foams are new and the Khaos tires and foam setup are ultra worn.

Ran a pack on the BC's and they lack the forward bite compared to the Khaos. I know they are new. I did lightly sand the pins down a bit. The BC's do work awesome on my shafty right now. Going to stay on that truck for now.

Berg was 4lbs 10zs with BC's.