Ridgecrest problems

[Racer01c]

My son got a Ridgecrest to get started in crawling. We went to a comp yesterday and it was a big FAIL. His truck is too big, too top heavy, and too fast. In the Sportsman class it wouldn't get through the first gate. What should we do? Sell it? Throw a ton of money at it and not be legal for Sportsman? I'm really at a loss on what to do to make this thing competitive. He's already spent an additional 100 or so bucks on upgrades and relocated some weight to the front, but it was nowhere close to being able to run the course. Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[Solitaire]

If you check the AX10 section on here and read up on the Sporty builds, you'll see the time and effort these guys put into their trucks to make them competition ready.

Even the best of drivers will encounter some issues driving a stock Ridgecrest in a competition. It is a platform that can be modded, but it will take some time and money plus a whole lot of tuning.

[road_rascal]

Check out the Ridgecrest blogs on Axial's website- plenty of info.

[BCSteel]

On the axial site there are several blog posts on turning the crest into a better crawler. At the end of Benders stage 3 blog there is a run down of all the parts that he swapped in, most of them axial parts. You could give that a read and see where you want to go with it. That's where I'm starting as well.

[Trubble]

Originally Posted by Racer01c

I'm really at a loss on what to do to make this thing competitive.

Honestly? Practice.

I completely understand how disheartening it is to drive two hours to a comp just to get blown out. I showed up at my first comp with a nearly box-stock Scorpion and got my fanny handed to me. It wasn't until darn near then end of the season that I finally completed my first course!

But, when comps would finish and everyone headed over to Perkins for some dinner, I stayed on the course for a couple more hours to learn control. Sounds like Junior could stand to put some time and effort into doing the same.

[Curcal]

The more he drive the more he'll learn about what his truck needs, you can throw a bunch of money at the problem but that wont solve it. Still gotta drive and figure it out. Don't get too discouraged everyone has to start somewhere. Gate 1 of that course is probably no where near what they would've set when crawling started. Just keep in mind this challenges all of us.

[ik632]

I've been to a lot of comps where some of the gates are only accomplished by the most experienced drivers. If he's going to keep comping, I'd say to check out the links everyone else posted and get to tweaking the truck. I've adjusted my comp rig a bunch and it's much better now. I still have a hard time and honestly it's too frustrating to go and drive 2 hours to not finish a single run. I tend to do more trail driving now with the Wraith and will probably put my comp rig in the classifieds.

[C*H*U*D]

The Ridgecrest can be made to perform better and even be competitive. One thing you probably didn't see is the amount of time all the other guys put into their trucks to get them to the level they are at.

Like others have said, practice and drive time is where you're going to get the biggest improvements, and to help get the Ridge up snuff, check out the Ridgecrest section. There is a lot of info there on how to get your son's Ridge working a bit better:

RCCrawler Brand Specific Tech - Axial Ridgecrest at RCCrawler.com

[mud_life_19]

next time u attend a comp measure the gate from flag to flag and make sure it matches the "legal" width. but the Ridgecrest has alot of potential ive seen one that went everywhere we wanted it to go. good luck

[wraithfreak]

This is just a thought but put some rocks, firewood, chunks of concrete or whatever you can find in your backyard or on the side of your house with some gates as I did for my granddaughter. She loves my Wraith and is getting better at maneuvering it. Maybe even gear it down (you said it was to fast) or set the controller to slow it down until he get's the hang of it. I'm currently looking for a used scx10 for her but just can't afford a new one for her. Good luck and don't give up!!!