Stick-on weight vs. BB's

[Diablo_Montana]

Got an Axial due here tomorrow, and in the planning stages now. I tried the search, and possibly I'm not wording it right, but I couldn't find the advantages, disadvantages of stick-on weights and BB's. I like the idea of BB's due to the fact that they will always be at the absolute lowest C.G. but I see alot of people using stick-on. What am I missing?

 

[theonek]

i really dont know but i do use bb's my self... always at the botttom"thumbsup"

 

[Diablo_Montana]

My thoughts exactly. Got lots of theories going through my head, but wondering the opinion of seasoned crawlers. been in rc for 10+ yrs, but new to crawling.

 

[Swiss]

Sorry but I have to ask. What are "bb's"?

 

[Rocksmith Eng.]

BB's are little steel balls or plastic, shot from a childs air rifle.

But you have to remember that when you go vertical and the tires are rotating forward your installed bb's are actually no where near the rock and may change your cog. Where as the stick on wheel weights will not change cog no matter what the position of the vehicle.....

Just my .02

 

[SlinkySam]

Just my recent experience. I have run lead shot and stick on weights. The nice theory for me on the lead shot was that it would move around in the tire and stay at the bottom making it even lower in CG. Also, it would plant the tread directly and not the rim through tire sidewalls to the tread like weights would do.

That was nice in theory.

However, what I noticed was inconsistency. The lead wouldn't always move to the bottom of the tire or when it did, it wasn't fast enough. It would make spinning up the tires a lot harder and I couldn't get those awesome wheel spin burps. If I drove on a side hill, the weight had an easier time riding up the walls of the tires actually raising my COG higher.

So I switched to lead stick on weights around the rim and the predictability of the rig has gone up, but I have noticed that it isn't as low in gravity as when the shot was nice and settled at the bottom of the tire.

Ultimately, as of today, I prefer the stick on weights for predictability in driving. I know I won't have to deal with the weight moving around potentially knocking me off my line. Unfortunately I don't have B.B. experience, but thought I would give my words on the small pellets of lead.

-Sam

 

[punkafi888]

the bb's have more down sides than the stick on weights. the bb's shift. and the stick on's dont. say your coming up on a side wall and your bb's dont shift as fast as you had assumed. there you go its a rolling car.

 

[NinJato]

... and lets not forget how much noise BB’s make. The body seems to “echo” the sound and make them even louder.

 

[TwistedCreations]

It is all driver preference. I will personally never run stick on weights.

I had built a truck for a buddy and I left the stick on weights. The truck is almost identical to my setup. My truck could climb things that his did not. He tried several times, but the rotating mass of the weights would flip him over. We then came back in and cut all of the weights off. I shortened his foams down(height wise) so that the BB's would roll freely in his tires between the foams and tires. He went back out and straight up every obstacle he could not make before.

Keep in mind, all BB's are not the same either. I have the bronze colored BB's in mine and my buddys truck. I recently went with a zinc type BB and they do not weigh as much, so you would need to fill up the tire more to achieve the same weight.

But it all boils down to driver preference, terrain and your truck setup.

 

[4X4 JEFF]

I personally like stick-on weights......just because I dont like the sound of the bb's rolling around

...........but thats just me:lol:

 

[xgerstandtx]

Stick on weights do seem to be more predictable. dont forget about the sound... like a baby rattle everywhere you go

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

I'd think that the BBs would also help the tires conform to the rocks better. That said, I run stick ons as I don't want to listen to them, so what do I know?

 

[freetimecrawler]

I'd think that the BBs would also help the tires conform to the rocks better. That said, I run stick ons as I don't want to listen to them, so what do I know?

How much foam, and how you have your foams cut has more to do with how your tires conform to the rocks then BB's.
I like the stick on weights myself. Like everyone else has said, more predictable, and no noise.

 

[RedBullRockIt]

In our 1:1, we run anywhere from 200 lbs to as high as 750 lbs of steel shot (BB's) in our front tires. The shot acts as a dead blow for the big drops and can help tremendously, especially with CG. There are positives and negatives to running shot and I look forward to trying both shot and sticky weight on my Scorpion.

FYI, I just picked up a small batch of tungsten shot...heavier than lead for it's size. I plan on testing it with only a few ounces. I figure 4 ounces of shot in the tire is as good as 7 ounces of sticky weight on the wheel when it comes to CG. Overall, less weight so the rolling resistance of the shot in the tire is balanced out. I still get the deadblow effect. I get more contact pressure right at the tire's surface. My GUESS is the shot will work better. There's one more thing about shot that really makes it trick when you are belly hung. Rapid throttle on/off/on/off throws the lead to the front of the tire, over and over and over, inching you forward. Dunno how often that'll help in R/C, but it is an advantage.

But that's all theory. It works out right in 1:1 but that doesn't mean it will in R/C scale.

 

[gasshead]

i like the BBs my self because i hate the added rotational mass to the axles....i hate the noise but i can get over that.


side note what do you gys like better, metal or plastic bbs

 

[RedBullRockIt]

FYI, there is far more rotational resistance with the BB's than with the stick-on weight. The BB's are tougher on axles.

 

[TRA3905]

i agree with redbullrockit, i feel like my ax is going to twist apart turning the bb filled tires ( filled tires half way with airsoft .20g bbs ). I am going to get some losi rock claws with red kreepy Krawler foams and the delrin biohazard rock rings. I will see from there how much more weight i need and will probably get a few oz of stick on weights and add them as needed.

Here's a good question, if we want more weight on the wheels, why aluminum rock rings, why not something heavier. inside and out, should be able to add significant weight with rings alone.

 

[crash]

FYI, there is far more rotational resistance with the BB's than with the stick-on weight. The BB's are tougher on axles.

Yes but we are not talking 1:1 here--that therory can be tossed out the window in these lil rigs.....

I have ran both ways and I prefer stick on weights...

 

[Diablo_Montana]

1:1 or 10:1 it would be the same. you are not only dealing with rolling resistance (getting a heavier object into motion) but also, bb's would be considered a "live" load vs. a "static" load, therefore there would be friction(resistance) between the bb's.
just my 2 cents...

 

[Abednego]

in my opinion if not already said, stick ons just make the truck heavier, not saying thats a bad thing. however bbs are most of the time on the ground with a greater advantage. all in all i would say use bbs. or if your looking at the pros and cons for both, which is the purpose of the thread, use both! if you think about it, it owuld seem totally logic to use both. sorry im repeating what was said i didnt read