Skeeter36

iTrader: (32)

Yeah I wasn't positive on the height thanks for clearing that up.

Mason

Socket, everyone is different, and every track is different, thus I give out my setups freely because no 2 people are going to drive the same. It's exactly why I look at other setups/tracks to see what they are trying to accomplish instead of running that specific setup. If those arms work for you, awesome. I experienced the same issue Wildcat has. It seemed like it would screw the front end into the ground and yank the rear right around. The rear would dog track out as I applied power because the front end was still buried. I recovered most steering/consistency going to the outer link on the castor block. I still have my gullwings, just haven't gone back to them yet. Maybe they'll work for me in the future with the tires i'm now running.

I spent all of sunday with the battery forward in my car trying to improve my times/consistency because my rear end is so locked in (32.5wt, 1.7's, white springs, 1BB up with 1mm shim inside and 2B shock mount.. I think same or similar to what dbowen is running) I'm searching for more low to mid speed on power steering and consistency in that steering. I ended up at 2 thin foams in the rear, 2.5 total toe x 2 anti-squat, up to gray springs in the rear. I futzed with roll centers and ended back at .75mm up front and 1mm rear again. About the only thing left to do either total caster of 25 or go back to the gullwings. Or *argh* cut open my fronts and soften the insert as I'm trying to make my inserts last longer so there's some skunkworks r&d going on (just some old school knowledge I'm applying). I've been at the track nearly every day over the holidays working on a way for *me* to drive with a battery forward or near inline in an oem kit way just to prove to all the guys that they don't need to spend the 200 bucks on everything in the sun or cut up stuff to make their car faster. Just by changing oils, front arms, link locations, and roll centers I'm already up to 1s faster per lap than all the local stock fan boys and I'm weighing in at 1592 without the body on. i think it was 1610 or so with it on if i believe the scales.

Mason

To me, it's way easier to adjust toe with the stock hubs than taking apart the entire rear end to swap the mount or pills out. If you have found away to swap the aluminium mount pills or the plastic kit mount out without looking like a monkey humpin a football - please, by all means let me know and i would consider the aluminum hubs.

Wildcat1971

iTrader: (84)

Mason,
I see what you are trying to do by keeping it "real". And yes driving and track time mater the most. But from my experience, some of the steering comes from less weight, but not super light. For instance, the light weight tranny stuff take about 50 grams out of the diff, which should free up the rear. I run my car at about 1550-1560 with the body on. I didnt go crazy on the weight, but I did do the tranny stuff. The light weight tranny stuff seemed to free up the rear, lower motor temps and the car spools up power better in 17.5. If you are running mod, then yeah you dont need all that. I think rivkin runs just over 1600 in mod, so about where you are.

dbowen

iTrader: (7)

Yes you're exactly right everyone likes different things and ya that setup is money! It's basically Cavs Spektrum setup in the rear (I dont run the long link in the front) and have you tried 2x1.6s or 3x1.4s in the rear rather than the 1.7s and 3x1.4s in the front? Also I never struggle with steering (whether on or off power) that is of course as along as I have the right tires and I usually run Proline Transistors or AKA Pinstripes up front chainlinks rear both clay compound.

So I know this is prob a stupid question bc you've prob done it but have you tried a diff combo of tires front and rear? I've found that I like the chainlinks the best out of the Electron and dirt webs bc they have JUST ENOUGH side bite to where my car is free enough to drift around corners, hang on, and still have TONS of steering even with a tire like the Transistor which is very smooth and not aggressive.

So if you haven't already try the chainlink with like a pinstripe, bar code, or transistor front

Mason

I have an mip topshaft on hand but have yet to put it in. Since I normally run mod I have no desire to mess with the pressure sensitive areas but will consider ceramic bearings in the future. The other lightening items I would consider are some aluminum screws in areas where items are keyed together by design. titanium in these areas is just pissing money.

Wildcat1971

iTrader: (84)

I have tried the alum screws.....They are jump IMO. There is only a couple places I would use them. To hold on the cradle and to hold the servo in. That is probably about it. I use Ti for the towers (because of the misters) and steel everywhere that I often remove screws. Alum screws do not like to be taken out a lot. Maybe if you tapped the holes, they would be better. The threads wear and the screws start working their way out. That was happening on the screws that hold the tranny to the waterfall and rear tower.


Since you are running mod, no real need for all of the light stuff. I do like the aftermarket bearings, alum top shaft and Avid slipper though. The slipper just has a better tuning window IMO. The topshaft and bearings seem to really make the tranny smoother. I assume because the topshaft is machined, is the main reason it makes it smoother. You can probably degrease the kit bearing and oil them for performance, but the kit bearings are just not very good. IMO the Avid steel shielded bearing $1 bearing in the tranny is all you need for mod.

Skeeter36

iTrader: (32)

Hey WILDCAT, do you go through many of the slipper pads on the avid setup? I know u usually run 17.5 but just curious. I'm on my second set of schelle pads in 3 months. I run mod and my lt is pretty high grip.

Wildcat1971

iTrader: (84)

No I dont. And I am 99.99% sure the pads are exactly same. I could be wrong, but I am piecing together info from several people that lead me to believe this.

Mason

1.6's are okay but rear tends to skid out with some of the bumps and tends to bounce on landing some of the jumps. too much pack. I only have 3x 1.4 tapered and haven't tried them in the back yet. i will probably do this thursday and definitely before I start lightening the car.

We run natural rubber (ie clay compound) slicks 99.99% of the time. It is a clay based track with some crappier stuff mixed in and sealer on it to help hold it together. Here's a mod a-main i recorded one evening to give you an idea. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aU-fknS7Uk

Towards the end of the track layout cycle it will start dusting up and there's been only 1 or 2 club races i've considered running a ghosted pin. Sometimes getting the equipment and labor in the same place at the same time to do a track change can be a challenge and this is when the track would fall apart. We let it dry out as its much easier to break up a drier track than a wet sticky one. I pine for the days of good old kitty litter only and water. The joke was you could take any that stuck to your shock towers/car and form it into an ash tray. Kinda like silly putty. I believe the new SRS clay is somewhat similar from some of the pictures I have seen.

Addressing different compounds - Front to rear i would consider running a synthetic front tire for driver in the early stages of development or if i was trying to dial out steering as it calms the steering down at my facility. I did this with the girlfriends car for awhile. Now that she's getting better I've put the front end on clay compounds. Now she just needs to stay on the throttle more lol.

Wildcat1971

iTrader: (84)

According to Kody, the 3 gear will be out this month.

"Kody Numedahl This month... Sorry molded parts take a long time. We also wanted the gear mesh to be perfect which took a few tweaks."

Socket

iTrader: (61)

Yep, I talked to Don at AE, he said they have a negative 1100 inventory of the 3 gear transmission parts with an expected release of a few weeks.

MIP didn't answer their phone.

Wildcat1971

iTrader: (84)

WTF, negative 1100. hahaha. So what your saying is they will be like gold on release.

Bob Barry

iTrader: (22)

his track is no where near medium to high bite. It's perception because that's all we know here in the North East (no offense Wonton). What we call high bite here is more like medium everywhere else.

This winter we recently got a few tracks that are legit high bite tracks. Graham runs at one and he can offer comparisons (Railyard).

WonTon, I would try Mike Gay's setup from RCE on your car. It was tailored to our region and everyone who tries it loves it. I'm not as active on here any more because of everything else going on, but feel free to PM me if you have questions.

WonTonsChicken

iTrader: (43)

Fair enough. I just want to find out the in and outs of this lil buggy of ours.