***Paystin go Smash***

[paystin]

Looking good
can't wait to hear your thoughts on this chassis.
I think i'll be ordering one soon as well after seeing my brothers in action, I really like the added belly clearance.

Thank you sir! I'm excited to get this thing running and enjoy the xtra belly clearance as well."thumbsup"

Looks bad ass man.

I really like the skins as is, but I do think you should embrace the vanilla gorilla logo at this point. "thumbsup"


I am patiently waiting to hear how it drives for you. :twisted:

Skin change is already in the works and I agree, I is what I is. :ror:

I'm itching to get it on the rocks as well. One more week and I should be up and running.:evil:

 

[paystin]

Ok, couldn't take looking at the Smash just sitting there so I robbed the 7950 from my sporty. Here's my initial reactions to the first run.

Loved the extra clearance that I have which made getting over a few of the obstacles I struggled with before very easy to bypass.

The suspension setup felt a bit "loose" to me meaning there was a bit of flopping around in certain situations. I'm going to bump up the shock oil weight from 40 to 50 and see what that does and also move the front shock setting one hole forward. I might try putting the Losi mini t silver spring in the rear as well instead of the silver MRC spring. I will also had another 4mm external limiter to the rear for a total of 8mm and probably a 3-4 mm limiter to the front.

Link placement seems ok for now but I want to try the suspension changes first before I mess with the links.

Good news is its not far off at all. The lightness of it will take some getting used to but I want to make the other changes first before I add any weight to it. The one thing I won't do though is fight the light weight just to say it weighs X number. I want the best performing rig no matter how much it weighs.

 

[winnerone23]

Sounds like a good first impression. I'm the one hole forward in the front(where ur moving to) running 40wt an agree with 50wt in the rear. I could stand some 55-60wt myself buy like the rear loose.

 

[Chaotic Crawlers]

I wonder if the "loose" feeling is because your springs are t as tensioned as before?

Didn't you say you have less preload on them now?

 

[paystin]

Sounds like a good first impression. I'm the one hole forward in the front(where ur moving to) running 40wt an agree with 50wt in the rear. I could stand some 55-60wt myself buy like the rear loose.

I definitely liked the free flowing feeling of it but there is such thing as to much of a good thing. Just need to dial it out a bit.

I wonder if the "loose" feeling is because your springs are t as tensioned as before?

Didn't you say you have less preload on them now?

That was part of it I think. I did turn the spring collars down a few turns after I was done so we'll see how that affects it with the changes I mentioned above.

 

[paystin]

Made some changes and ran another few packs through it and things were much better this time around. Reduced some of the "looseness" I was getting and it climbed better with the front shocks moved forward a hole.

I think I am going to limit the shocks internally by a few MM's to bring the overall CG down a bit. I also need the wider hubs in the back which will help the overall stability as well. Link positions will stay the same for now.

Couple pics from this morning.

 

[Frankenwheely]

Looking sexy."thumbsup" We need to get you out on some "nice" rocks before Nats. Show me why Chaotic is king.:ror:

 

[donzx12]

Looking good. Can't say enough about Chaotic chassis me and spencer both switched over and are loving them. looks like there will be alot of them at nats.

 

[Illeagle]

The rig is looking sick Chris. You'll like not having that extra weight on squirt ups if you can get er dialed that light. Can't wait to comp with you and see how the new smash works.

 

[paystin]

Looking sexy."thumbsup" We need to get you out on some "nice" rocks before Nats. Show me why Chaotic is king.:ror:

It's funny you say that because I deliberately went to one of the more "natural" looking rocks out there to take the pic. I could just hear Joel yelling at me for driving in a creek bed.:ror:
There might be a day trip to the desert for some testing here soon.:twisted:

Looking good. Can't say enough about Chaotic chassis me and spencer both switched over and are loving them. looks like there will be alot of them at nats.

Thanks Don! As long as Spencer gets his steering going the right direction, I'm sure you guys will do well at Nats.;-) Maybe a Chaotic Crawlers group pic is in order at some point."thumbsup"

The rig is looking sick Chris. You'll like not having that extra weight on squirt ups if you can get er dialed that light. Can't wait to comp with you and see how the new smash works.

Thanks Jim. So far it is different driving an almost 10 oz. lighter rig but I can see where it would come in handy on some spots. A few more tuning sessions should get me really close to my comfy zone. "thumbsup"

 

[donzx12]

LOL that was his falt told him to ck it. :ror:

 

[paystin]

LOL that was his falt told him to ck it. :ror:

You definitely didn't give him any slack while running the course either. He still did a fine job even with the hiccup.:shock:

 

[paystin]

Well that was easy.8) Made a few small adjustments and tested again.....Now I am REALLY happy with how it's working.:mrgreen:
It climbed everything my Zero did with ease and now the break overs are WAY better. Side hills great, climbs great and is very stable with lowering it just a touch.
Final setup that probably will not change before Nats.

Front axle links- Middle hole VP mount
Front chassis links- second hole from the bottom
Rear axle links- stock axial mount
Rear chassis links- second hole from the bottom

Suspension- Axial machined pistons all around (white)
Front- 40 wt oil- Losi mini T silver springs- 3mm internal limiter/ 3mm external limiter
Rear- 50 wt oil- Losi mini T silver springs- 3mm internal limiter/ 4mm external limiter

I just need to adjust the rod ends slightly to fix my front caster, add the 850 hubs to the rear wheels and I will clean up the motors before Nationals. That should be it with a bit of drive time in between.;-)

Side Link View-


Front shock view-


Rear shock view-


3" ground clearance at normal ride height- 3 1/4" droop height.

 

[winnerone23]

The SMASH looks sick ridin low! I think I'm 2.5" at ride height.. no preload in the rear an half of what you got in the front.
Could be the mini-t springs compared to the mrc springs?

what's ur max ground clearance with limiters?

 

[paystin]

I agree that it looks better riding a bit lower but I don't want it to low. The one thing that has always gotten me on courses was a big break over that I just couldn't get. Not saying it was all chassis by any means, clearly my technique sucks with that type of thing but I really did want the Smash for the extra ground clearance.

The MRC springs are longer (and stiffer) so you can use less preload with those for sure. Putting the mini T silvers on the rear really brought this one to life though. Very planted and stable with a little softer spring. I can get just over 3 1/4" max height with the shocks limited like they are. More than enough in almost every situation.

 

[winnerone23]

Good info on the springs.. I was thinking it was the mini-t springs that were a little stiffer..
I have a little more GC at max break over. Just shy of 4" with BC's on. I'm also a little over 6" of flex, but like it..

 

[HARDKNOCKZ]

Damn! Whenever I was building courses & wanted to throw a wrench in yer game...a nice little bump up ledge was all it took. Guess its back to unpluggin yer motor wires now :shock:

Yer hubs are on the way direct from VP brutha. I scooted outta town Monday to deal with moms new nursing home & then to the coast for my death....err...wedding anniversary. So instead of makin you wait til I came home...I ordered em & changed the ship to address to yo casa. That was Tues so you should see em anyday now. Yer welcome button nuts.

J.D.

 

[paystin]

Good info on the springs.. I was thinking it was the mini-t springs that were a little stiffer..
I have a little more GC at max break over. Just shy of 4" with BC's on. I'm also a little over 6" of flex, but like it..

That's about where I was originally but it was just a little more than I would have liked. The control just wasn't there for me that I like to see. I can still get a mounted Sedona under mine with a little room to spare so that's plenty of flex for me. "thumbsup"

Damn! Whenever I was building courses & wanted to throw a wrench in yer game...a nice little bump up ledge was all it took. Guess its back to unpluggin yer motor wires now :shock:

Yer hubs are on the way direct from VP brutha. I scooted outta town Monday to deal with moms new nursing home & then to the coast for my death....err...wedding anniversary. So instead of makin you wait til I came home...I ordered em & changed the ship to address to yo casa. That was Tues so you should see em anyday now. Yer welcome button nuts.

J.D.

I figured something was up seeing you've been quite on text the last few days. Enjoy the "celebration" there sucker!

Thanks for getting the hubs out. That's about all I want to change at this point.

 

[creeping_death]

definitely a sexy rig! as a noob, I really appreciate all the information you guys post in your build threads, it really does help a lot! "thumbsup"

 

[paystin]

definitely a sexy rig! as a noob, I really appreciate all the information you guys post in your build threads, it really does help a lot! "thumbsup"

No worries man, glad to help. Feel free to ask any questions you might have."thumbsup"