For giggles: What's the "hot setup" for our rocks?

[dreadshawn]

Hey guys,

I am in the middle of (and I suspect you are all, as well!) the usual winter buildups of your crawlers, and as I was specc'ing out my own, I though it might be fun to trade info with the others in this area as to what the hot setups seem to be..

Personally, I am on a J2-TT chassis TLT crawler with 1.4 springs, 50/80wt oil front/rear, and (currently) unweighted / stock foams in my tires: cut soft compound Moabs (for high speed and loose soil) or uncut white compound Rovers (technical crawling, I think). Even though I haven't comp'd yet, I have found this setup to be really beneficial for my general approaches: local rockpiles in Bozeman, the "M" trail, basically a lot of loose dirt mixed with high-traction rock (kinda like at the Norris spot).

Also just for fun, I am currently adding in a DNA dig setup and I may look into weighting options using my Axial wheels.. I heard of a company that makes a set of weights called something like "war Pig," or "fat pig," or something like that.. They may be a good way to go.

So how about you guys? What's your idea of the hot setup for here in Montana?

[montana.matt]

I don't think there is one "perfect" set up. Everybody sets their rigs up based on personal preference more than anything else I think. You just need to go with what works best for you and you'll probably find that it will work just about anywhere
As for wheel weights, I just go with the stick on lead weights like you can get at your local tire dealer or lead leader rope that you would use for fishing...

[TruckerBrad]

Personal preferance and driving style will determine your set-up. What works for me might not work for you. I think anything would work at Norris when you're driving on sandpaper.

[montana.matt]

Originally Posted by TruckerBrad

I think anything would work at Norris when you're driving on sandpaper.

Even Tamiya BFG's?

[dreadshawn]

Yeah, Norris is crazy grippy, from what I saw... at least that means you could drive some crazy-looking lines that wouldn't be possible on other locations..

This thread was mostly intended for what sort of non-supertechnical setup stuff: what tires work better at what locations, popular weight distributions, etc., etc., etc... I suppose you could say that I was mostly channeling "hot setup" terms from events such as a ROAR racing track: where although most vehicles have very private data setups, you can find out what common elements exist between the vehicles. Things such as tighter/smaller pin tires for the blue-grooves, heavier oil/ springs for bigger jumps at another track, that sort of thing.

Mostly, I don't really intend to make shortcuts for a better-performing rig without any real time investment (that takes out most of the fun for me!), it was more of a "just for fun" thing..

Case in point: due to the sandpaper rocks out at Norris, the rigs with dig setups definitely ruled the day, allowing them to scrub around the tighter corners with greater ease...

[TruckerBrad]

Originally Posted by montana.matt

Even Tamiya BFG's?

Yeah, I think so.

This thread was mostly intended for what sort of non-supertechnical setup stuff: what tires work better at what locations, popular weight distributions, etc., etc., etc...

I had pretty good luck at most places with Losi Rock Claws. I've seen Panthers be a little too grippy at Helena a couple times. Right now I'm running soft Rovers with Nova foams and really like them. My ground clearance is right at 2.5". Wheels weights including everything (hardware, tires, foams and wheels) are 14oz front and 10oz rear. I'm running 40wt shock oil front and rear with Losi gray springs in the front and pink on the back.