mrc pro to CHAOTIC CRAWLERS PRO swap

[bikerj08]

Alright I have been running my mrc pro for the last year and it has been a blast. I took a lot of set up info. from del monte's, and rubba's builds and I have been blown away at it's performance time and time again. Just when I think I have reached it's limits it pulls a line that has me scratching my head asking "How the hell did it do that?" I'm sure some of it has had to do with becoming a more experienced driver as well. Anyways here are the specs.

Castle mamba micro
Losi insane w/ robinson racing 12t pinion, 60t spur
Losi mrx 3000 rx
Spektrum dx3c tx
Hites 5685 hv servo wired straight to batt.
Losi cube lipo
traxxas overdrive mod
gmade wheel wideners in front (had to unfortunately, I won't move battery from where it sits next to servo)
clocked axle mod for more caster
Losi alum chubs and knuckles
custom tie rod and drag link (1/8 steel rod, 3mm threads cut, sleeved in alum. mini revo ends)
I was running custom delrin 1/4 lowers but they did not work out on the cc pro so back to stock mrcp links for now.
clapped out Losi rock claws with small center knobs clipped
stock plastic wheels, replaced black plastic ring for bead locks to clamp to with 2'' galvinized pipe, I don't have a scale so I'm not sure what it weighs.


Here is how it sat before the swap.

[bikerj08]

And here are some shots of the swap

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[bikerj08]

Anyways, I was a little nervous about the swap because my mrcp has been working so well. I put the cc pro on my Christmas list to see what would happen and sure enough my awesome wife hooked it up. Needless to say there has been non stop tinkering since Christmas. My first couple packs with the new chassis were a little rough, snapped a drive shaft first pack, (MIP's are on the list), and second pack I stripped the trans gears. So there was a little bit of down time waiting for parts. Put it back together the other day and I was able to get a better feel for the new rig. Something was not quite right though. I took some measurements and apparently my bent delrin rears were too long. I contacted Chaotic Crawlers because I had a few other questions too. This chassis is designed to have the servo sitting parallel with the ground. The set up I had with the mrcp had the servo tilted forward. When I swapped I ended up with mega caster and the lower link mounts at the axles were rotated down lower so my burly 1/4 delrin links were getting hung up everywhere. My solution for the time being was to throw the stock mrcp lower links on and adjust my front upper links to a longer length (stock links are turnbuckles). This rolled my axle forward getting rid of the mega caster, raised my lower link mounts, raised my pinion angle so the driveshaft is higher and gave me room to push my battery back a little bit. So yeah I'm a happy camper. I also decased the rx, shrink wrapped it and hid it under the side panel. I am happy to report that with very little work this truck is killin it, It is definitely outperforming my mrcp. It walked a few lines that I could never do before. This is also with straight links I think the Chaotic bent ti lowers will really help. Here are a couple more shots from today. I'm going to try and get some video up as well.

[smfabricator753]

That is one of the cleanist minis ive ever seen!

[Nik6189]

Sweet I want
Nik

[bikerj08]

thanks guys

[Chaotic Crawlers]

Rig looks good!

I'm glad you got your link issue figured out.

It's always good to hear that people are happy with our products. It makes all the time we put into this hobby worth it.

Let me know if and when your ready for lower links. We have them in 1/8" and 3/16"

[bikerj08]

Originally Posted by Chaotic Crawlers

Rig looks good!

I'm glad you got your link issue figured out.

It's always good to hear that people are happy with our products. It makes all the time we put into this hobby worth it.

Let me know if and when your ready for lower links. We have them in 1/8" and 3/16"

Thanks man, I love this new chassis, Oh I know about the ti links, they look awesome I need new links for my mini and my xr10 and I'm trying to recover from Christmas so it will be a little bit.

[bikerj08]

Heres a few updates, unfortunately last pack the Hitec 5685 gears let loose so it will be a few days waiting for parts before I get to see how the links improve the truck. The mini has been a pit lately. I have gotten some more drive time with the new chassis and I'm still pretty impressed. Roll over recovery is better, thing is cat like, ends up back on it's tires most of the time. Externally limited front shocks about 6mm also. There have been a couple near vertical climbs the old chassis could make and the cc is struggling. I will be playing around with link and shock geometry to see what I can improve upon. Seems to be catching to much rear traction and flipping backwards, I'm going to make some lighter panels as well and leave them clear to shed some weight up high. I don't think anything touches the mrcp carbon chassis as far as weight goes. Lunsford turnbuckles (upper links) are on the list as well. Here are some pics of the new parts.

[Chaotic Crawlers]

Are they flat vertical climbs your having an issue with or climbs that require some articulation?

[bikerj08]

Originally Posted by Chaotic Crawlers

Are they flat vertical climbs your having an issue with or climbs that require some articulation?

flat vertical, I'm thinking I need to raise my front uppers one hole and drop my rear uppers one, my servo gears are coming tomorrow but I will probably not be able to get to my crawl spot till this weekend . So far the vertical climbs with articulation have been great

[bikerj08]

Few updates, got some 2 L bottle panels made up, left them clear, new shocks, the old ones were leaking bad and sloppy, 30wt. front and rear, 1 hole pistons in rear and 3 hole in front. Raised front uppers 1 hole and dropped rear lowers one hole. I made the near vertical climb once with the new setup so we are going in the right direction, ti lowers, lighter panels, changes to the shocks and link geometry. Everything else this truck does better then the mrcp, I will have to get some pics of this climb, its retarded, I will try taking some weight out of the rear tires, I'm sure ti uppers will help as well but short course fever has struck again and I will be building a new truck soon

[billj]

Man, that chassis is killer Truck looks great

[Nik6189]

Still drooling over that chassis I was set to buy one but bought 2 more pros instead...so I,l have to save again.
Nik

[martoediefroets]

OMG....I love your build and the CC chassis.
I ordered my CCbodiless 1.9 and it takes so long to get here. Waiting for 3 weeks now and i can't wait anymore seeing your pics.
X2

[bikerj08]

Thanks a lot guys, I appreciate the kind words. It has been fun tweaking this truck to get it to perform the way I want. Small changes really make a big differance. The other day I was experimenting with front shock locations at the chassis, laid them down more, did not work as well, stood them up one more hole than they were at, didn't work as well, I confirmed the location was correct for my setup. Driving my work truck today I thought of something else I can do to improve near vert climb, this is not my idea my any means, I will probably try running some nitro fuel tubing under the piston in the front shocks so they cannot extend as far, keeping the front sucked down a little more. I will try to get out this weekend for some more testing, it supposed to rain so we will see

[Hardline]

On their site, CC says this is basically a dupe of the Losi Pro but bodiless. Uses same links and geometry.

If that's true, why would one be capable of out-performing the other? I don't believe the bodiless cab weighs any less than the body, so the difference shouldn't be the bodiless part. So what differences would account for better performance?

Are you sure any improvements aren't a result of ongoing tuning which you could have done on the Pro as well?

Not dumping on the product -- I like the look. In fact, I have one. Just haven't built it up yet. Kinda waiting for my CF to fail.

[bikerj08]

Originally Posted by Hardline

On their site, CC says this is basically a dupe of the Losi Pro but bodiless. Uses same links and geometry.

If that's true, why would one be capable of out-performing the other? I don't believe the bodiless cab weighs any less than the body, so the difference shouldn't be the bodiless part. So what differences would account for better performance?

Are you sure any improvements aren't a result of ongoing tuning which you could have done on the Pro as well?

Not dumping on the product -- I like the look. In fact, I have one. Just haven't built it up yet. Kinda waiting for my CF to fail.

I don't have a scale but I promise the mrcp chassis is lighter, even with a painted body. And I don't think the cc pro is an exact knock off, one advantage is the skid is drilled off center so the motor/transmission is inboard giving the rig a more planted feel. The motor does not hang off to one side as far. Roll over recovery is better on the cc too, Like I stated in a previous post, this thing finds its way back to rubber side down much better than the mrcp. Both chassis work so good it's not even funny. If I were to swap back to the mrcp chassis and put the bent ti lowers on it would prob. work even better than it did before. I also like the clearance I get out of not having a body, this alone could account for making some lines that it could not before.

[martoediefroets]

I am building my CC bodiless but have no clue on how to bend the panels!!!
How did you do that?

[Nik6189]

Ive ordered mine and Im busting to get it, my ax10 is bodiless too so hurry up postman!!
Nik