Aluminium skid plate or not

[tjohanne]

This is about my SCX10, but I guess it's relevant to all like rigs. I'm considering to change the plastic skid plate with an aluminium one. Simple question, is it a good idea? Heavier, stronger OK - but does it slide over rocks, or will I get stuck more often?

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[mewalsh100]

It won’t be considerably heavier, but it will not slide over rocks nearly as well as the plastic.

[tjohanne]

Originally Posted by mewalsh100

It won’t be considerably heavier, but it will not slide over rocks nearly as well as the plastic.

Would you say it's a stupid upgrade all in all?

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[JDM74]

Depends on what your goals are. It will no doubt be stronger but it will not slide on rock as good as plastic. I'm not sure I have ever heard of anyone complaining about how weak the stock skid is, mostly only about getting hung up on it. The decision is yours.

[lonleycreeper]

The stock skid is just fine, and a aluminum skid is a waste of money imo...

[altd896]

If it were a decent grade of aluminium that is actually fairly hard & was anodised (adds surface hardness) & was machined so it was smooth underneath it Might be worth doing.

But most are the softest, cheapest, easiest machining cheesium they can find & to bling them up they pocket mill all sorts of nice catch points out of the underside.
Things like this for any extra strength or mass they have will just hang up so much as to be more irritating than benefit




Something in smooth easy sliding Delrin would be much nicer (assuming you can find anything in stock anywhere that is)



https://www.amainhobbies.com/vader-p...rscx10/p698753

https://thescaleshop.webs.com/chassis.htm

[mewalsh100]

Yes, I would say it is not an upgrade. I would put that money towards something that enhances performance. Say, some good tire foams if you have not done that yet.

[Howlkat]

You could consider using a trans skid that has a higher flush profile even with the chassis rails. One made out of Delrin which would offer less friction then plastic or alum.


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[JatoTheRipper]

People make all kids of claims about the sliding ability of plastic vs aluminum and I've never found a noticeable difference. The most important thing is that it's smooth on the bottom and doesn't have any spots to hangup like on that Integy skid above. Avoid that thing - too many snagging spots.

[mewalsh100]

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

People make all kids of claims about the sliding ability of plastic vs aluminum and I've never found a noticeable difference. The most important thing is that it's smooth on the bottom and doesn't have any spots to hangup like on that Integy skid above. Avoid that thing - too many snagging spots.

I would agree with your statement when crawling smooth, rounded rocks Jato. However, when crawling in more geometric, sharp edged stuff, there is indeed a noticeable difference. I’ve had plastic and aluminum skids on my old AX-10 and my Wraith. The aluminum skids were both smooth with none of the hanging and snag points like the one pictured above. They definitely hang more in the sharp edged stuff. To me, it just comes down to the fact that an aluminum skid yields no benefit, and potentially limits ability to slide n glide over rocks in certain environments. Bottom line for me, there are much better places to spend the $30-$45. Just my .02 cents.

[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by mewalsh100

I would agree with your statement when crawling smooth, rounded rocks Jato. However, when crawling in more geometric, sharp edged stuff, there is indeed a noticeable difference. I’ve had plastic and aluminum skids on my old AX-10 and my Wraith. The aluminum skids were both smooth with none of the hanging and snag points like the one pictured above. They definitely hang more in the sharp edged stuff. To me, it just comes down to the fact that an aluminum skid yields no benefit, and potentially limits ability to slide n glide over rocks in certain environments. Bottom line for me, there are much better places to spend the $30-$45. Just my .02 cents.

I'll continue to disagree.

[tjohanne]

Originally Posted by altd896

If it were a decent grade of aluminium that is actually fairly hard & was anodised (adds surface hardness) & was machined so it was smooth underneath it Might be worth doing.

But most are the softest, cheapest, easiest machining cheesium they can find & to bling them up they pocket mill all sorts of nice catch points out of the underside.
Things like this for any extra strength or mass they have will just hang up so much as to be more irritating than benefit




Something in smooth easy sliding Delrin would be much nicer (assuming you can find anything in stock anywhere that is)



https://www.amainhobbies.com/vader-p...rscx10/p698753

https://thescaleshop.webs.com/chassis.htm

Thanks I have already installed one of them on another rig, but has yet to try it!

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[tjohanne]

Thanks for all the input, guys! I see all your points. I already got a delrin one mentioned above and look forward to try it. I have some aluminium axles on a rig and noticed that they will both slide over rocks, and also suddenly hang up completely on certain rocks (an upside to that is they look very cool when they are worn over time )

One of the reasons I considered an aluminium skid plate is that my old Axial one looks horrible and I don't know if it will suddenly crack in half one day, and maybe aluminium would also provide a more stable base for the transmission case.


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[mewalsh100]

Originally Posted by tjohanne

Thanks for all the input, guys! I see all your points. I already got a delrin one mentioned above and look forward to try it. I have some aluminium axles on a rig and noticed that they will both slide over rocks, and also suddenly hang up completely on certain rocks (an upside to that is they look very cool when they are worn over time )

One of the reasons I considered an aluminium skid plate is that my old Axial one looks horrible and I don't know if it will suddenly crack in half one day, and maybe aluminium would also provide a more stable base for the transmission case.


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Aluminum axles definitely look the part, and I agree they begin to look cool with "battle scars". I also agree about how they can hang on certain rocks - primarily the sharper edged stuff I mentioned earlier - not unlike aluminum versus plastic skid in my experience on 2 different rigs. I do run aluminum axles on all of my rigs, primarily for the durability. I got sick and tired of knuckles and lock-outs constantly loosening up, and the holes in the axle housings for them stripping out. Plus, aluminum axles definitely bring the scale factor up.

Having said all that, I'm not a Comp guy, but there's a reason 90+ percent of them run plastic, and it's not because they enjoy constantly tightening things and dealing with stripped out holes. It slides over rocks better and is typically a good bit lighter than the aluminum equivalent.