Weight and Weight Distribution

[justadork]

When setting up a crawler, what is your thoughts on Weight and Weight Distribution?

I have watched rigs with all the weight over the front end have a hard time descending as well as going through climbs off camber etc.

Also, I notice a lot of people set up their rigs with large amounts of weight on the vehicle. Since we are fighting gravity, woudnt it be more beneficial to have a lighter rig? I haven't ever added weight to my TXT to see if it changes its capabilities, but thought I'd ask.

[One-eyed Jack]

Originally Posted by justadork

When setting up a crawler, what is your thoughts on Weight and Weight Distribution?

I have watched rigs with all the weight over the front end have a hard time descending as well as going through climbs off camber etc.

Also, I notice a lot of people set up their rigs with large amounts of weight on the vehicle. Since we are fighting gravity, woudnt it be more beneficial to have a lighter rig? I haven't ever added weight to my TXT to see if it changes its capabilities, but thought I'd ask.

The weight thing will get as many answers as there are posters. I personally run my front about 8 ounces heavier than the rear. The more weight you run in the wheels the more strain on the drivetrain. I am seeing "ALL" the guys at the local comps with heavy weight go BL because they did not have enough power to pull the 6-8 lb trucks. Then they started breaking everything. A balanced truck performs better all around. A light truck is easy on driveline parts. I have been running the plastic drive shafts for a year with one failure. A heavy throttle finger and BL will tear up everthing on a heavy truck.

[Culetto]

Its all personal preference. Try some stick on weights on the axles to figure out what you like then move them inside the tires.

Personally the weight isnt as important as the balance, I like my center balance point where the front lower link mounts at the chassis so if its a steep obstacle you can wiggle over it without ending up high centered and stuck.

[mulepic]

While we're talking about it, I'll tell you what I'm experiencing. Right now I have a berg that weighs 6.25lbs and an axial that weighs 4.5lbs. Eventhough the berg is MOA the CG is higher on the berg than the axail. The axial will climb better and actually perform better when dig is out of the equation. The major advantage the berg has is the flawless dig functionality that makes up for its disadvantage of extra heft. Right now I'm working on redistributing the weight on the berg to get its CG lower. I believe once I accomplish that it will totally outperform the axial b/c of the torque twist of a shafty. But now that axial came out w/ lower axle gears it may make it climb even better. To sum it up, lighter is better for my driving style.