Twin Force 1st impressions....

[psn]

Having owned an E-Maxx and a TXT-1 in past, I wanted to try something different so I bought the TF. I ordered mine from Tower Hobbies and purchased other miscellaneous parts from other vendors/LHS. I built the truck last week and learned a few things that I could not find here, using the "search" feature.

These are some of the first things I noticed:
1. The axles/shafts/spindles are like TWICE the size of the TXT's. They can easily handle narrowed Kongs, if you wanted to run something that large.

2. The "plastic" material making up the axles and support plates is of higher quality than the TXt's

3. There is not near as much axle articulation on the TF as the TXT. It is about the same as the IS E-Maxx (to give you an idea)

3. If you want Maximizer beadlocks, buy the X-75 models because if you use the "flat-front" types with no offset, the tires will be be too close to the axles, look goofy, and:

a) the front tires will rub the stabilizer arms running from the chassis to the front axle at full steering.
b) You will be unable to mount the shocks in the outer positions by the wheels---you'll have to mount the shocks on the large axle "tabs" located directly below the shocks, limiting articulation ( X-75 face plate on order so I can't confirm this yet)

4. Speaking of tires, I am trying Hot Bodies Deathgrip tires. They seem to be much, much softer than the K-rocks. But on the downside, they dont have much of a sidewall.

5. With the optional "yellow" soft shock springs, the suspension is more eager to articulate

6. The stock pinion is an 18T and without modifying the motor plate holes, I dont think anything lower than a 16T will fit. There is't much room to install a larger spur gear either so here comes a GD600 or....?

7. I removed one motor (to save some weight and use a cheaper ESC (a Hi-tec EZX-R--- $40 @Tower) and it works fine. Still a little too fast but not that bad, considering the gear ratio is somewhere 21:1. For now, I run one battery on the opposite side of the motor to help offset the weight distribution.

8. I recommend buying the New Era chassis plates. They look great and, depending on which one you choose ( +1" to the rear, or +1" front and rear), they extend the wheelbase easily. I chose +1" to the rear because it was cheaper ( $59 vs $69 for the chassis and $25 for one titanium extended dogbone). To go to 1"+1", you'll have to buy another dogbone for the front. If anyone has cut those large torsion-type bars off and gone to alu links, please let me know.

9. An MG645 servo turns the tires on carpet no problem so I think it will be fine.

Overall, I think the TF is very tough and with just a few suspension mods and locked diffs it can be a very good crawler. Something different, too

[mike]

search in the x-factor/twinforce forum there are quite a few TF with a four link setup.

[SR5Dave]

This seems like some good simple info on the TF, I am going to move it to that section now

[skid]

As for gearing, I've put a 87 tooth spur from a rc10b4 with slipper pads. Drilled out the center to fit over the shaft. Countersunk a screw below the spur and can run a 16 tooth pinion(48 pitch). With a 550 motors on 6 cells this was decent gearing. I'm now running a novak hv motor with gd600(4.5:1) on 6 cells. This also seems to be a happy setup.

With the Maximizer x75 's you can mount the shock on the ears next to the wheels.

For shock position, laying the shocks closer to horizontal helps alot.

[psn]

skid: thanks for the info....I have a GD-600 and the optional 12T on order. I abandoned the Deathgrip tires and am in the process of narrowing a set of LST's. The x-75's are nice. I do see a lot rigs here with the shocks mounted on the large inner ears so I will try that too. The new era chassis plates have a lot of pre-drilled holes for even more easily-tested combinations also. It seems as if the stock shocks are limiting....
What I thought would be one of the cheaper crawlers to build is not really turning out to be so. The $$ list keeps growing but man, this stuff is fun.
I skimped on the esc (a $40 Hi-tec) and I think I am going to have to get another one, capable of flowing more electricity (like a rooster or better). With the stock gearing it just stalls and shuts down. I am interested to see what happens once it is geared down.
If I can keep the total cost below $700 (everything is new from Tower or a LHS) I would be happy. I know LHS's aren't the cheapest route by any means, but I think it is important to help keep them around.

[skid]

Upteen mods ago, I had the best luck mounting the stock shocks on the torsion arm. The upper shock mount was around a 1/2" below the original hole on the stock chassis closest to the battery. I played with swapping torsion arms side to side but don't remember which way worked. Mounting the shocks near the wheels could limit articulation but make things drive more stable.