Build a Berg instead??

[Wants2Crawl]

Hello everyone,

I need some advice. I have been running a LNC in sporty this season and I am still pretty new to the hobby. But I love crawling and I am totally hooked. I am pretty limited on funds as I am able to save and spend about 80-90 dollars a month. I want to get into the pro side and my first thought was an XR10. I got a great deal on a stock chassis with upgraded links, alum knuckles, and alum high degree turn arm. No axles though. I have been putting together a shopping list to get a descent set of axles built (following build rec's from the forums) and the list is really expensive to build a good XR10 axle. It is also getting harder to find the parts.

I started thinking about running Berg axles on my stock XR chassis. I have read that the axles are pretty beefy and reliable in stock form, but can be a little heavy. As a beginner, I am not too worried about the weight and I like the idea that I don't have to upgrade almost everything on the axle to make it descent. (XR10 axles) I have seen 3 videos, all from the same guy, of a berg axle on the front of his XR and a stock XR axle on the rear. It looks like it did well but many of the threads in this category say "don't do it". They say the geometry is wrong and you will suffer.

1st question--Do you know if anyone has had luck with running Berg axles on a XR10 chassis?

2nd question--If I were to scrap the XR10, try to sell the chassis I bought, and go Berg instead, what axles to you recommend? I see Enroute berg V3 axles, V1 2.2 axles, etc...

3rd question--What chassis would you recommend for those Berg axles? The V3 axles have a option of coming with a "Tracer" chassis but I didn't like the look of it on the site. Wondering if anyone has run that chassis and had some comments on it.

Any information/advice is appreciated as I am still a newb to the hobby. Like I said before, I am pretty limited on funds so I want to make the right/best purchases I can. I feel like I may have made a mistake buying that stock XR10 chassis. I am hoping that if I can't use the berg axles with it that I can at least make my money back on it and move on with a Berg crawler. I am still in the beginning stages of getting this put together so I have yet to buy radio, electronics, motors, and all that jazz so I am not tied down by any of that.

Thanks in advance all!

[Nimyad]

1. No idea, I know that even aftermarket chassis are different for berg or xr10. I think this is manly the links themselves though?
2. V1 axles all the way, check out Dlux's website.
3. Since you're on a limited budget I'd suggest making your own chassis, it's more work for sure but it's cheaper and you'll get to find out what does and doesn't work first hand.

[helhedded]

Originally Posted by Wants2Crawl

Hello everyone,

I need some advice. I have been running a LNC in sporty this season and I am still pretty new to the hobby. But I love crawling and I am totally hooked. I am pretty limited on funds as I am able to save and spend about 80-90 dollars a month. I want to get into the pro side and my first thought was an XR10. I got a great deal on a stock chassis with upgraded links, alum knuckles, and alum high degree turn arm. No axles though. I have been putting together a shopping list to get a descent set of axles built (following build rec's from the forums) and the list is really expensive to build a good XR10 axle. It is also getting harder to find the parts.

I started thinking about running Berg axles on my stock XR chassis. I have read that the axles are pretty beefy and reliable in stock form, but can be a little heavy. As a beginner, I am not too worried about the weight and I like the idea that I don't have to upgrade almost everything on the axle to make it descent. (XR10 axles) I have seen 3 videos, all from the same guy, of a berg axle on the front of his XR and a stock XR axle on the rear. It looks like it did well but many of the threads in this category say "don't do it". They say the geometry is wrong and you will suffer.

1st question--Do you know if anyone has had luck with running Berg axles on a XR10 chassis?

2nd question--If I were to scrap the XR10, try to sell the chassis I bought, and go Berg instead, what axles to you recommend? I see Enroute berg V3 axles, V1 2.2 axles, etc...

3rd question--What chassis would you recommend for those Berg axles? The V3 axles have a option of coming with a "Tracer" chassis but I didn't like the look of it on the site. Wondering if anyone has run that chassis and had some comments on it.

Any information/advice is appreciated as I am still a newb to the hobby. Like I said before, I am pretty limited on funds so I want to make the right/best purchases I can. I feel like I may have made a mistake buying that stock XR10 chassis. I am hoping that if I can't use the berg axles with it that I can at least make my money back on it and move on with a Berg crawler. I am still in the beginning stages of getting this put together so I have yet to buy radio, electronics, motors, and all that jazz so I am not tied down by any of that.

Thanks in advance all!

1. no

2. V1

3. skim the for sale section to get a deal on a used chassis. There are lots of good options out there. I'd recommend one made out of delrin with a slanted skid design. If you come across a package with chassis and links that will save a little headache for someone such as yourself.

4. the forsale section is a baller-on-a-budget's best friend, just be careful on who you buy from. Check feedback

[Wants2Crawl]

Originally Posted by Nimyad

1. No idea, I know that even aftermarket chassis are different for berg or xr10. I think this is manly the links themselves though?
2. V1 axles all the way, check out Dlux's website.
3. Since you're on a limited budget I'd suggest making your own chassis, it's more work for sure but it's cheaper and you'll get to find out what does and doesn't work first hand.

I absolutely love Erik's stuff, but his new CF Berg axles are gonna be way out of my budget. Last I looked he was thinking around the 600 range for the axles, which they are certainly worth that, but it would be a couple years to make my pro rig if I went that route. I am gonna have to stay kind of basic in the beginning in an attempt to make next season with a pro rig. Then I can start to tinker and upgrade as I go.

[Wants2Crawl]

Originally Posted by helhedded

1. no

2. V1

3. skim the for sale section to get a deal on a used chassis. There are lots of good options out there. I'd recommend one made out of delrin with a slanted skid design. If you come across a package with chassis and links that will save a little headache for someone such as yourself.

4. the forsale section is a baller-on-a-budget's best friend, just be careful on who you buy from. Check feedback

Great advice Helhedded. I will watch the "for sale" like a hawk. I have been trying to get more XR gear, but I think I might be happier going the Berg route. Now to see if I can get someone to buy that chassis.

[RickM]

Not sure many XR guys are even still running the XR chassis.

Stock Berg stuff can get you pretty far, and digging around the for sale section should get you some possible parts. PM me and I might be able to contribute to your cause. You can then spend as much as you want to improve the rig. Stock however is pretty comp worthy right out of the box if you ask me.

I hate to say this as a berg guy, but at one point XR's were floating around the interweb for 129 bucks as a roller kit. Not sure that still is possible though.

[Erik D_lux]

What is your budget for a set of axles? Like said above, if youre trying to be super budget, I wouldnt skip past a full stock Berg with upgraded front shafts. I would guess you could get into that for $150ish used axles, $90 shafts and $10 or so if you did some work on your own knuckles.... $250 ish? Lots of room to grow there but that would be a great start.

1. XR chassis will be a bit different. Depending on the chassis, it may be better or worse. I know my chassis will work on both. Stock XR? Not sure. If you dont know any better, it might not be an issue? Meaning, if youre just learning how to tune or dont tune at all, will the potential of the chassis really matter?
2. V1, MT gear boxes or DLUX IMHO of course.
3. I would stick with the well known chassis that people use. T1E, Chaotic, or better yet, a UGC Stingray if youre looking for a Tracer style.

[Wants2Crawl]

Hey Erik,
Right now I have about 90 dollars saved and I am hoping to sell that stock XR chassis with the upgraded links and knucks for about 150. I hope I can get that out of it. I hope I did not offend as I love your stuff Erik, and all of it is worth what you charge and then some. I think after I sell that XR, fingers crossed, I could do that 250ish you're talking about. It is the stock XR chassis and the more I look at it I would rather go the Berg route. As I save and upgrade, it will have a lot of Dlux on it for sure. I have seen so many rigs with your products do what should have been impossible lol.

Rick,
I will be contacting you in PM shortly sir. As you see above, I will need to sell that XR before I can really make any kind of purchase.

Thanks all! Keep it coming, I am open to any/all advice.

[Erik D_lux]

No worries man, you dont offend me. I like to see people get into the hobby and have fun, even if they have nothing to do with my stuff.

[TSK]

Originally Posted by Erik D_lux

No worries man, you dont offend me. I like to see people get into the hobby and have fun, even if they have nothing to do with my stuff.

Yeah. The DLux stuff SUCKS...

my wallet dry

[Crawllife]

It's great to read on people getting hooked on our sport and being honest and humble. I really hope your search brings you to a set of berg axles. Just tougher, more reliable and you can slowly build them up to where you want to be. As far a chassis, I've been through a number of them and for me, none of them gave me what the dlux chassis does. Break over, stability and light weight. The lightest if I'm not mistaken. I'll be watchin for you and if I see any, I'll fire ya a pm

[Jeepkid]

Yeah, if your just getting into the pro class(MOA) V1 berg. Also the MT cases and gears are an option. See dlux's thread on those as well. You can build and rig that is reliable and cheap. Just gotta dig into the forsale section and other tricks and such. Ask Dlux and other vendors on the board. I also believe that berg axles are fun for the fact you can build them so many different ways. There's a wealth full of info and data in this here berg section. Have fun and happy building.

[Nimyad]

Honestly the cheapest but still good way to build a set of bergs is mt cases, used set of gears or rc4wd new berg gears with dlux adapters, stock tubes modified for mt cases or dlux tubes, stock shafts if you're not going for crazy steering or dlux berg/bully shafts, and a custom chassis and links. Then follow the classifieds for electronics, HH brxl's pop up all the time and they're great.

[Jeepkid]

^This guys knows what's up

[Erik D_lux]

Originally Posted by Nimyad

Honestly the cheapest but still good way to build a set of bergs is mt cases....

Yeah, I cant believe more people have not gone this route. I think as soon as there are a couple of builds, more people will do it.

Buying an Exceed 1/8 scale car wouldnt be a bad idea to start with either. $167 RTR right now. Its not going to be the best crawler by any means out of the box but, every single part can be upgraded to the same point a Berg can.

You might also be able to reach your goal if you bought just the MT cases and full metal gears.

$15 MT cases and gears
$75 Dlux front tubes
$40 AX10 chubs
$10 Bully knuckles
$40 Bully shafts
$20(?) for rear shafts, tubes, knuckles and lockouts

Thats $200 and a great start! I am taking some assumptions with the rear axle since I am yet to work on one.

[OTHGbronco82]

If you have $600-ish for the axles you could do a pretty decent berg. I have almost $800 into mine and the last $100-$200 were optional. Dlux berg tubes, SDS 300's & 3rd's, $150-ish for machine work, and the axles gets you pretty much right on the &600-ish mark and a pretty good set of berg axles. Keep in mind you will probably need 2 ESC's, 2 motors, TX/RX, and a steering servo. Electronics alone are probably about $500-$600 depending on what ones you choose.

It isn't cheap, but it's definitely fun for being a legal activity.

[Nimyad]

Originally Posted by Erik D_lux

$20(?) for rear shafts, tubes, knuckles and lockouts

Thats $200 and a great start! I am taking some assumptions with the rear axle since I am yet to work on one.

Building a 2.2 you could use the rear axle with no mods necessary other than changing the hubs to narrow the track width, since you can't have rear steer anyways. The only weak part is the plastic knuckles but they'd be fine for a 2.2 I imagine, I've broken 2 with my super though.

[Jeepkid]

I have no build thread, but I got Dlux tubes, berg case and gears front, mt cases and gears rear, bigbores, ti links, FXR, hayok dig, home brew chassis, narrowed wraith wheels, bossclaws, Minit springs, axle master rear shafts, highland crawler Xr uni berg shafts front, dx3e, Parma body, jr 8711, cc bec, and so on. 750 into it. Forsale section is the shit. And the total package weighs in at 3.7lbs rtr

[stubs179]

Originally Posted by Jeepkid

I have no build thread, but I got Dlux tubes, berg case and gears front, mt cases and gears rear, bigbores, ti links, FXR, hayok dig, home brew chassis, narrowed wraith wheels, bossclaws, Minit springs, axle master rear shafts, highland crawler Xr uni berg shafts front, dx3e, Parma body, jr 8711, cc bec, and so on. 750 into it. Forsale section is the shit. And the total package weighs in at 3.7lbs rtr

How much knuckle weight at 3.7lb RTR?

[Jeepkid]

Originally Posted by stubs179

How much knuckle weight at 3.7lb RTR?

An ounce a side. I'll probably have to post pics sometime soon. I've been trying to live in the dark this time around instead of going build thread crazy. Just too busy to do a thread these days.