a little question about weight?

[firstumustcrawl]

hey guys i finally got my truck together and and its lookin good id post pics but dog pissed on my digital so its not working now i was wondering bout weight i was afraid itts too heavy. can it be too heavy? it can be to light alsoo to right? p.s. tahnx for all the other help with all the advice on makin it.

[toyofast]

Originally Posted by firstumustcrawl

hey guys i finally got my truck together and and its lookin good id post pics but dog pissed on my digital so its not working now i was wondering bout weight i was afraid itts too heavy. can it be too heavy? it can be to light alsoo to right? p.s. tahnx for all the other help with all the advice on makin it.

Sooo... umm, yeah.... how heavy is your rig?



My Juggy in this form weighs about 10.5lbs:





Though like this, with Kongs I'm closer to 17lbs!:




I'm bettin' that most crawlers are around the 8-11lbs range, depending on how their made.

I hope to loose a couple pounds by summer.

[MaxxZilla]

Well, it all depends a bunch of weight up high is a bad thing but a bunch of weight low isn't bad at all I don't think. I would bet my truck (with batts) weighs close to 13 pounds maybe more.

[jason]

It also depends if your front tires are full of BB's

[MaxxZilla]

Well, not that I know of but that would suck to drive around with.

[jason]

It sure would suck, if you ever tried to go fast. But if you're just gonna crawl, your car can do things never possible.

[firstumustcrawl]

well the hole dog thing tahts a whole nother story lol... but my car weighs approx. 12.5 pounds. is this to light to heavy and its all located as low as possible on the chassis because i have all micro radio gear for my m8 with 2 quantum ro reverses for the esc's and my batts im runin 7 cells and a airtronics(not sure the numbers) its the hightorque one with stock cutdown rims and tires. is there anything missing that i should know about like i see people mounting there servos in different spot like by the axles what is the ges of that amd what is the disadvantages of the stock??
thanx-first

[DirkDigler]

I dig the light weight trucks. My TXT tight squeez is very light. I can run it at about 8 lbs. Seems to work great, especially since I moved everything up front.

[jmirsberger]

what kind of truck do you have and what kind of configeratoin is the servo in now

[Highmark]

It all depends on how much power you have; and how much you need. If you have plenty of 'umph' heavyer is better seeing that the more wieght that is on you're tires the more traction it will get. But if you're truck doesn't have enough power light wieght is the way to go.

[firstumustcrawl]

well i do have mine on the tranny housing but i see alot of different stuff like in front of the bumper tahn theres taht thunder tech thing and idk i was cunfused lol

[MaxxZilla]

I set my truck on the scale today, it weighed in at 10.5 pounds. Not as bad as I had thought.

[Slowpony]

Originally Posted by Highmark

It all depends on how much power you have; and how much you need. If you have plenty of 'umph' heavyer is better seeing that the more wieght that is on you're tires the more traction it will get. But if you're truck doesn't have enough power light wieght is the way to go.

I'm not sure I agree with that. Lighter rigs tend to do better in almost all types of motor sports. Lighter rigs will be more nimble. Balance of the weight you have is way more important.

Correct me if I'm wrong Jason, but you guys want your comp rigs as light as possible. Any weight you can loss without sacrificing strength is a bonus.

[Mikey007]

If you guys ever go to tire shops and see the stick on weights they use on the expensive aluminums rims, you'll see that you can stick it on the center of your rims on the inside of the tires. Kinda like BB's but with-out all the racket. It does throw the balance out unless you have a tire balancer! Don't do this unless you plan on dedicating your truck to crawling and slow speeds. You can also add or reduce weight as you see fit.

Heavy vs. light is always a compromise!! I think (My opinion as I race three different classes) that if your going to race keep it light and nimble, where speed and a vehicle that is nimble is important, where as in crawling the speeds are slow, controlled and more important a low cog keeps you upright! I say if your rig doesn't balance on its side, its top heavy, if it does like the majority of us, then you have a well balanced rig!

Anyone disagree/agree?????? Lots of good points in this thread, lets keep it up!!

Mike

[MaxxZilla]

If I ran one pack at a time I would get rid of a lot of weight, but I would have to come up with a whole way to mount my battery pack. Since I can't have all the weight to one side of the chassis.

[DirkDigler]

One of the biggest benefits of being light is this: Todays extreme crawling is not limited to only using the tires. There are many cases where you need to set the chasis or axle down on terra firma and use that to pivot the rig around. Sometimes it's not intentional, as we have all high centered or gotten some part of the truck lodged on a rock. Well.....the lighter the rig, the easier it is to get unstuck and to pivot the truck around in a tight spot to pick your next line.
Another biggie is down hill runs. When crawling down extreme angles, a heavier rig is going to accept gravity more than a light weight rig and will want to get to the bottom much quicker!! You have much more control of a lighter rig going down hill. Going up with a heavier rig also requires a little more throttle to get the weight up, which can lead to loss of control.
Heavy is good in some parts of the rig! It depends if it's sprung or unsprung weight. Where is the weight located? Hopefully down low, like in the tires, etc.
Lightweight usually equals less parts breakage!
Heavyweight works your electric motors, batteries and esc harder with less run time.
Hope all this helps in determining light vs. heavy.

[jason]

Where the weight is placed is the most important thing.

On our 1:1 buggy, we spent tons of money on the lightest weight parts, everything on it is superlight. Then we go and add 150lbs of water into the front tires, and 50lbs into the rear. Think about how low that just made our center of gravity!


Yesterday when Dirk Digler and I were crawling. I tried this one verticle ledge about 10 times, I could not make it up and over it. I went over to the playground and fill the front tires half full with pea gravel, came back and first try it was right over the top!

And someone who said use the stick on alum weights, yes that will work, but remember, we are trying to get the weight as low as possible. Inside the tire will put the weight on the ground, inside the rim, it will still be a couple of inches up.

[DirkDigler]

JASON,
Damn it! You just gave away the secret!

He's right though guys! The trick with putting weight in the tires was amazing. I'm going to get some lead shot to put in my tires today!

PS. Anyone have a couple of thousand Emaxx Slider Shafts you can donate?

[jason]

Originally Posted by DirkDigler

JASON,
PS. Anyone have a couple of thousand Emaxx Slider Shafts you can donate?

Very Funny

[DirkDigler]

Haha! Check your email dude! I sent you a pic of that axle shaft I was telling you about yesterday.