My latest SW3 build........Good-bye Bug, Hello Grappler

[BENDER]

Originally Posted by Tanis

Brad, my daughter won a set of those axle "C"s at one of our comps for taking 2nd place. I noticed that hers are machined without any offset top to bottom, they are symmetrical. As the knuckles have one kingpin post that is taller than the other, I had issues with the knuckle binding when steering. Have you noticed this, or are yours machined with the knuckle offset in mind?

Truck looks.........killer!

Thanks man.

I did have to machine the knuckles to work with these axle C's.

[Tanis]

Ah, I see. I will try to adjust my knuckles to work, as these C's are nice, and such a waste to just sit in the toolbox.

[jeff jenkins]

hey bender.. how much clearance do you have under the skid and what is the length of your shocks fully extended and what oil are you running.?. i wanna do a setup on my sw3 where the stance is sitting low but where it still get full suspension travel with out having to go with a droop setup if you know what i mean? also on the sw3 which do you like better 50/50 or 60/40?

[BENDER]

Originally Posted by jeff jenkins

hey bender.. how much clearance do you have under the skid and what is the length of your shocks fully extended and what oil are you running.?. i wanna do a setup on my sw3 where the stance is sitting low but where it still get full suspension travel with out having to go with a droop setup if you know what i mean? also on the sw3 which do you like better 50/50 or 60/40?

I'm running just over 3" of belly clearance at full droop of the suspension. The shocks are 4" long, like most Maxx shocks. I'm running 10wt oil up front with Losi white buggy springs. In the right rear shock I run 20wt oil with another Losi white spring. I run 35wt oil in the left rear shock with a stock Stampede front spring at that corner. I personally like a 50/50 set-up better then 60/40.

[STEW<CO>]

Hey Brad, glad to hear your going to ditch the tamiya plugs I think brushless is fadeing a bit now, I know I have wanted it out since the comp before last in my 2.2. Except for the new crawlmaster system by Novak I think the brushed motors are better, I just can't find a 45t integy any where.
Your ride always impresses me with it's simplicity, just goes to show, the driver is most important. Looks like I'm poop out a luck!
Nice of you to do a write up and photo shoot for everyone, always willing to help, that's what makes you da man.

[Wrecker]

The rig looks great Brad. Thanks to you I now have a mamba max in the mail and a brushed motor. It will be sooo nice to have the low end throttle control back and no reverse delay.

Originally Posted by Tanis

Brad, my daughter won a set of those axle "C"s at one of our comps for taking 2nd place. I noticed that hers are machined without any offset top to bottom, they are symmetrical. As the knuckles have one kingpin post that is taller than the other, I had issues with the knuckle binding when steering. Have you noticed this, or are yours machined with the knuckle offset in mind?

Truck looks.........killer!

I've been running these c's for a couple of months now also. Mine do not have a offset either, symmetric top to bottom. I just put my knuckles in upside down and they have zero binding with out any shimming trimming or anything, just flipped over. Now I know this doesn't make any logical sense since the knuckles are still offset and the c's still are not, but it works for some reason. There's a couple of other CO guys that are running these also without trimming or shimming. Something you might want to try before you go hacking away at your knuckles. Also, I'm running JP's alum knuckles, but it worked with the stock plastic knuckles too.

[difflocker]

I just recently got a set of TLT axles from Kaetwo with those C's and the rear lockouts. THEY ARE BEEFY!!! Have you run into and problems with "slop" on the C's?

Originally Posted by BENDER

Thanks for the compliments. Let me know if you need any help with the build when the time comes.



Thanks boss.

The C's are actually from a company in Thailand, as are the rear lockouts. I've been helping them with R&D on their products.

I do run a slipper on the Pede.

The front suspension is partial droop now. I ziptie the springs to the cups to keep them in place. I'll probably end up gluing them there if I stick with that set-up.

Tamiya connectors for life!! Actually they may be getting ditched shortly.

[Tanis]

Originally Posted by wrecker

The rig looks great Brad. Thanks to you I now have a mamba max in the mail and a brushed motor. It will be sooo nice to have the low end throttle control back and no reverse delay.



I've been running these c's for a couple of months now also. Mine do not have a offset either, symmetric top to bottom. I just put my knuckles in upside down and they have zero binding with out any shimming trimming or anything, just flipped over. Now I know this doesn't make any logical sense since the knuckles are still offset and the c's still are not, but it works for some reason. There's a couple of other CO guys that are running these also without trimming or shimming. Something you might want to try before you go hacking away at your knuckles. Also, I'm running JP's alum knuckles, but it worked with the stock plastic knuckles too.

Thanks Wrecker, I am going to give that a try, as I also run the aluminum knuckles. I assume you run CVD's

[difflocker]

By the way....your SW3 chassis is awsome! I appreciate the CRAFTSMANSHIP!!!!! THe whole package is sooo fluid over the rocks.

[BENDER]

Originally Posted by wrecker

The rig looks great Brad. Thanks to you I now have a mamba max in the mail and a brushed motor. It will be sooo nice to have the low end throttle control back and no reverse delay.

Thanks man. The low speed throttle resolution and instant reverse are sweet with the MM and a lathe motor. I noticed Tim went the same route at Sunday's comp too. You guys can thank Kris. After driving his rig for about 30 seconds a couple weeks ago, I decided to go back to a brushed motor.

Originally Posted by difflocker

I just recently got a set of TLT axles from Kaetwo with those C's and the rear lockouts. THEY ARE BEEFY!!! Have you run into and problems with "slop" on the C's?

They are both nice products. I don't have any slop in my C's. I use a drop of oil on each kingpin screw, to help eliminate binding and smooth out the steering as much as possible.

Thanks for the compliments on the chassis too.

[Wrecker]

Originally Posted by Tanis

Thanks Wrecker, I am going to give that a try, as I also run the aluminum knuckles. I assume you run CVD's

Yup, I run cvd's in the front.
One thing to note, if you run cvd's with these c's or lockouts you might have to space them out. The king pin hole is about 1mm to far out, so with cvd's they will bind really bad. To fix this I had to take all the e-clips off of the axles and place a traxxas teflon washer on each side of the diff and a standard metal washer (one that fits over the cvd stub) behind the cross pin for the hex. This pulls the cvd out about 1mm lining it up properly with the c so you have no more binding. I've been running this for several months now and have not had any problems not running any of the e-clips or having th axle pulled out slightly. The same thing goes for the rear straight axle adapters.

Sorry for polluting your thread Brad.

[BENDER]

Originally Posted by wrecker

Yup, I run cvd's in the front.
One thing to note, if you run cvd's with these c's or lockouts you might have to space them out. The king pin hole is about 1mm to far out, so with cvd's they will bind really bad. To fix this I had to take all the e-clips off of the axles and place a traxxas teflon washer on each side of the diff and a standard metal washer (one that fits over the cvd stub) behind the cross pin for the hex. This pulls the cvd out about 1mm lining it up properly with the c so you have no more binding. I've been running this for several months now and have not had any problems not running any of the e-clips or having th axle pulled out slightly. The same thing goes for the rear straight axle adapters.

Sorry for polluting your thread Brad.

No problem man, tech is tech.

[brushlessnut]

have you seen a great performance gain with the new suspension mods?

[BENDER]

Originally Posted by brushlessnut

have you seen a great performance gain with the new suspension mods?

I wouldn't say it made a big difference. But, on steep climbs my front axle flexes better with the partial droop set-up.

[Racer4Life]

Originally Posted by BENDER

Custom machined and welded RC4WD knuckles

Any pics of these? Sounds interesting!

I love the new wheels. The beveled edges look killer!

[brushlessnut]

i see..but does it hurt the side hill or down hill abilty?

Originally Posted by BENDER

I wouldn't say it made a big difference. But, on steep climbs my front axle flexes better with the partial droop set-up.

[jeff jenkins]

by partial droop do you mean shorter springs and no internal springs?

[BENDER]

Originally Posted by Racer4Life

Any pics of these? Sounds interesting!

I love the new wheels. The beveled edges look killer!

Thanks, here are a couple older pics of the modded knuckles. The arm usually has 2 screws holding it on. But, I couldn't get full steer out of the CVD's with them stock. So I had them welded up, removed the inner screw on the arm and machined the knuckles out until I had full steer.

Originally Posted by brushlessnut

i see..but does it hurt the side hill or down hill abilty?

Not that I've noticed, but more testing will tell for sure.

Originally Posted by jeff jenkins

by partial droop do you mean shorter springs and no internal springs?

Correct. I basically backed my preload spacers way off, so the shocks now sit half compressed under the weight of the rig.

[slugzracing]

Tamiya connectors for life!! Actually they may be getting ditched shortly.

Say it isn't so! I have another crap load to give you!

Do you want to borrow a quark33 and revolver black for a while? I am going to play with a mamba max in mine to see how it stacks up.

[BENDER]

Originally Posted by slugzracing

Say it isn't so! I have another crap load to give you!

Do you want to borrow a quark33 and revolver black for a while? I am going to play with a mamba max in mine to see how it stacks up.

LMAO!!

I have a black revolver here, I may give that Quark a try at some point.