Driving techniques

[willyrocket]

Everyones always lookin to better there rig. Nothing wrong with that. I think there should be some emphasis on technique. How about it, lets hear what you got to stay about different situations.

I know that just barely squeezing the throttle will get you through alot of stuff, and trying to keep a little momentum with it...........

 

[Jeckler]

As some of the NorCal crowd can attest, my style is heavy on the throttle, and who cares what breaks. Right now I'm down while waiting for some parts (hint, hint) and we'll see if my changes make me more careful.

Nice name.

 

[firstumustcrawl]

what i do i turn my current limiter all the way down so it goes really slow and i get amazing battery luife and stays cool and i prefer going the harder root and call me crazy but i hate reverse i will not use it untill i master forward only i think i will hold a greater respect for reverse if i only use my forward now

 

[EeePee]

I wish Mudcow's videos were available. (Fortunately for me I saved them)
I learned a lot about techniques watching those over and over.
I've also learned a lot from watching the videos in this site's video forum.

That's my advice, watch videos, and go out and try it. Over and over again.
Practice...over and over again.

 

[Clod_Master]

If you are in a position on the rocks where traction is flaky, go easy on the throttle. Try not to make any sudden jerks. The exact opposite of that can be better in some circumstances though. Just hammer it and bounce over.

Steering in the direction you want to go isn't always what you want to do. Look at your tire position and figure out which way to turn the wheels to get the maximum amount of traction. If you absolutely need to go a certain direction, sometimes you have no choice.

While decending, don't forget you have brakes. You can slowly creep down a rock instead of dropping down it by applying your brakes. Also when crawling down a steep rock or ledge, angle your truck , preferrably, so one tire drops at a time.

Most importantly IMO, when you're in technicle spots, get down near your truck. That way you can monitor exactly what's going on on all sides of your truck.

Some of these are common sense, and some are not always true in all situations. Just go out, drive, and figure it out for yourself. Try to crawl up things that will be challenging, things you thought may not be possible to scale. You might be surprised when you find a line, and make it over.

 

[sambmx]

you can still see mudcow videos at http://www.orp.com.au/rc_madness.htm

I deffenantly agree with the get gown near you truck, it helps alot you see where your tires are and what is going to hit and you can correct before you get there.Practice is key, you can have the best truck but if you cant drive it dosent matter. I think one of the most important is go slow and plan you line well, sort of picture your truck driving it ahead of where you are so you dont end up in a place your going to get in trouble.

 

[Highmark]

Heh I drive on mostly sand rock/slick river rock (yeah I know weird combo eh?) with a LIGHT tlt axled rig-fenese? My ass


Nagh really, I like to work the rear stear alot to get the tires grabing, throtal kind of depends on the situation. My biggest issue is on ledges and the really steep stuff because my wheelbase is so much shorter then alot of rigs so I typicaly drive up slowly and if it starts to tip I back out and try it with some momentum.

On side angles I try to crab across as often as possible to keep things stable although it can handle most side hills without alot of effort.

Welp that's all I can really say, I dont really pay attention to any one "style" of driving-just whatever works

 

[DUDE]

Everyones always lookin to better there rig. Nothing wrong with that. I think there should be some emphasis on technique. How about it, lets hear what you got to stay about different situations.

I know that just barely squeezing the throttle will get you through alot of stuff, and trying to keep a little momentum with it...........

Driving is everthing of course. I have never relied on a rig only. It is too easy to get caught up in the "he's got that thing game". The only advise I ever give is stay on the high point's and see ahead to were you want to be and make it happen. Thats half the battle, and the rest is personal style. Some are smooth and somme are hammer down, then there is OMG!!! he did that!!!

Learning your your rig is important too.

 

[extreme]

i use the two step technique to getting over an obstical

1: slow and steady and technical ..... think before you act
if step one should not work move on to step two


2: hit the go juice as hard as you can and steer wildly in the direction you feel like going :twisted: :twisted:

 

[MUD4FUN]

This is an interesting topic.

As it happens a group of us went to a local meeting over the weekend and I had taken with me a load of obstacles which were designed to test crawlers/monster trucks including a see-saw, axle twister, 45 degree knife edge etc. I could only manage some of them with my thunderfoot which is geared very low for slow speed crawling (65:1).

I happen to like going slow for several reasons, generally you'll get further if you take your time and read the terrain, it causes little or no damage when you do roll or lose your footings, it looks more 'to scale' going slow.

However, a couple of my friends and my daughter tackled the obstacles with their 4wd buggies and by using massive speed and momentum they managed to climb steeper slopes and even clear axle twisters etc which they had no hope of doing at crawler speeds. Their argument was that why have a crawler when a fast buggy can do the same thing........I had to disagree and if we were climbing rocks then they'd have no chance as the lack of clearance and articulation would render them grounded in no time.

I guess the truth is though that in some circumstances it does pay to go quick and use momentum although in my case that is impossible with a max speed of about 1mph!


I got my own back on them though in a tug-of-war, thunderfoot on one end of a rope and 3x4WD buggies on the other.....thunderfoot won hands down and dragged all 3 of them a long way while their wheels were spinning away!! :lol:

 

[Reflection]

When in doubt...........GAS IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[CSR]

When I'm behind the wheel of my 1:1 crawler I try to 'tip-toe' thru the rocks with finesse, rarely shifting out of double low first gear. After a few attempts if I see that the obstacle can't be crawled, I'll shift to 2nd gear and try a little momentum. I try to not get too crazy with the skinny pedal. That's how rollovers and breakage happens.

My R/C crawling style? Make it or Break it! Point the truck at the obstacle and nail the throttle! :twisted:

 

[Reflection]

Yeah,I agree. I go kinda easy on my Toyota. The 1:1 stuff is to dang expensive to keep replacing parts. The RC stuff though can,most of the time,be fixed with your lunch money. I get pretty aggresive with my RC

 

[JasonInAugusta]

I drive like old folks have sex....very seldom and when I do, I swear it's going to kill me.