More TXT Wheelbase without chopping the chassis?
 

Hello,

I'm new around here and I'm in the final stages of putting my TXT together. I was looking at widening the wheelbase without chopping the chassis. I'm guessing the only way to do this is by using longer 4-links? What would you guys recommend for length?

Would any of these work well?

http://rc4wd.com/shop/product_info.p...roducts_id=133
(Is 3 cm's going to make a difference?)


http://www.inetrc.com/shopping/html/...inueSubCatID=0
(I'm not sure if 8 links the same length would work? the stock ones seem to be 2 different sizes..)

Any other options? Does someone make custom sized ones? I seen in another thread someone made some out of carbon fiber arrows, which wouldn't be too hard I don't think.. What would be a good length for these to be?

I am looking to use Revo driveshafts so I don't want to extend the wheel base some crazy amount, just enough to give it more stability and I also want to use the cantilever shocks for now.

Thanks for any help.

-Psyire

Welcome to the board Psyire.

First off I have to say that cutting the chassis is a KEY mod. If you're not going to cut the chassis, you will need new links to extend the wheelbase. 16 to 17 inches is a good wheelbase IMO. That may be a little long for your belly clearence though.

3cm isn't going to affect performance much, I don't think those links will be worth it personally. The arrows will work for your links. Just set your axles at the wheelbase you want with correct caster and figure link length from that. It's hard to give you an actual set dimension on link length.

The Revo driveshafts will work for a wide variety of wheelbases.

Welcome Psyire! These guys will scoff at me for this, but it is good to see someone else here who is willing to work with cantilevers! I love mine, even though everybody says to ditch them.

About the links, I'd definetly reccomend making your own with whatever you can: cf arrows, aluminum rod, whatever. If possible, try to keep the links an inch or maybe 2 longer than stock and move around your link mounting points (on the axle) to set your wheelbase. Almost the entire board will reccomend a wheelbase of about 16 inches with tires that are in the 6-3/4 inch range (LSTs, BFTs, Moabs...)

As for cutting the chassis: It certainly is one of the most important mods that you can make on a TXT. Most guys chop off the bottom portion, but I reccomend removing the top part and relocating the cantilever mounting points down lower/out further. Removing the top of the frame will let you keep your stock link mounts in the chassis and removes the heaviest part of the chassis.

Whatever you decide to do, take a good look around and evaluate all the different mods that you will see here and pick what you like best!

chassis cutting
 

i have a custom chassis i used that i machined . its kinda hard to cut the now discontinued factory side plates. so if anyone might be interested shoot me an email
rtbarlow@cox.net for mor info and pics, looking at 40 dollars plus shipping. everything is a straight bolt on affair.

Thanks for the replys! I'm taking another serious look at chopping my chassis. I'm wondering what the biggest advantage to this is? Lower CG? More clearance? Longer Wheelbase? Obviously the longer wheelbase is a good thing, but do you really gain any ground clearance? Especially if you mount your lower links to the top of the axles? Would this not be a lower CG with close to stock ground clearance? I'm having a hard time visualizing this and why it's a 'must do' mod. Thanks again.

Psyire, removing the bottom part really isn't necessary in my opinion. I prefer to leave it and cut the top. The stock chassis will be seriously too tall once you have everything snuggled in, way down low where it belongs. You'll wind up with atleast an inch or maybe 2 of totally unused chassis sticking out above the rest of the truck. ANYTHING that is unused on a crawler is just plain dead wieght that works against your truck's climbing/crawling ability.

The biggest advantage is less wieght and a lower CoG. You are going to want your links to be reasonably close to parallel with the ground, no matter where you mount them on the chassis. Mounting the axle ends of the links above the axle is basically a must (for ground clearance).

So, parallel links (mounted above the axle) should give you somewhere in the area of 4 inches of ground clearance. Probably not far from stock, as you were thinking. You could leave the chassis stock, but it wouldn't do you any good or serve any functional purpose.

[QUOTE=fullmodtxt]Psyire, removing the bottom part really isn't necessary in my opinion. I prefer to leave it and cut the top. The stock chassis will be seriously too tall once you have everything snuggled in, way down low where it belongs. You'll wind up with atleast an inch or maybe 2 of totally unused chassis sticking out above the rest of the truck. ANYTHING that is unused on a crawler is just plain dead wieght that works against your truck's climbing/crawling ability.

i would have to disagree with the part of fullmod saying you will have at least 1-2 inches of unused material at the top of the chassis, i machined my own chassis with the top unchanged and took off 1 1/8 inches of lower chassis off and gained 1 1/8 amount of clearance on the break over angle. i cant post pics or i would show you. . my motors set pretty much level with the top of the chassis. i have my batts straddling the sides of the chassis and the top of the chassis is at the mid point of the battery so in reality my batts set just a little higher than the top of the chassis.
just my pinion

Wherever you cut the chassis is just personal preference. The attached pic of my TXT shows exactly how much unused space can be eliminated from the TXT chassis. I removed 1-1/4 inches from the top of my chassis, and everything is below the top of the frame (aside from the cantilvers/shocks). If the shocks were mounted to the axles, there would not be anything at all above the top of the chopped chassis. My Rooster is now mounted differently, below the frame.

http://www.nercc.net/images/AtRich3.jpg

mrmaxx, you basically didn't say anything different that I did! Your batt pack is all that is above your shortened frame, and it is because it stands straight up.... You took the material off the bottom and gained clearance, so your CoG probably went up as well.

Fullmod, thats a pretty sweet TXT. I'd like to see how it climbs with the canti's. I guess you could try and figure out a way to use the canti's. I went thru quite a few different set ups using the cantis. I ended up cutting the chassis on the bottom and have had great luck with it.