OK Jason (and assorted sages).
Here's what's bugging me.
When siting components on the chassis we do so with balance devices to get the side-to-side balance equal. Pretty much every chassis has balance holes at the front lip and the rear edge of the rear pod.
MY quandry is that I really think we should be balancing the main chassis plate and everything on it IRRESPECTIVE of the rear pod and it's symetric attachments to the main plate. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate that the rear pod should be as balanced as possible but my belief is that:
a) the rear pod balance is what it is, really, other than adding weight we have not say in it other than to change motor brand/type
b) regardless it's balance (or lack thereof) it is sitting flat supported by the straight axle we are limited to by rule.
I'm thinking I should be balancing the chassis main plate and it's components by itself since it is, essentially supported by the front wheels via the suspension there and the rear pivot. To do so I'll add a hole to my main chassis plate ahead of the pivot screw to accept my balance buttons.
Really I should be able to do this without the components on the centerline (shock, antenna/mount, battery brace) OR the symetric stuff (front suspension, side wings, hockey sticks, pivots, etc. If this works I should be able to take the main plate with the servo, servo-saver and linkage attached then balance it out with my receiver, esc and related components (caps, diodes, etc). THEN assemble the rest of the car around this.
If I'm clearly goofy please feel free to point this out but be sure to explain why. I've been puzzling on this for a while now and just can't see how I'm mistaken.
Thanks,
Scottrik