Hey guys, I am in the market for some new b4.1 rear a-arms and am confused on which ones to get. What is the difference between these?

http://www.amainhobbies.com/product_...ear-Arm-B4-B44

http://www.amainhobbies.com/product_...ear-A-Arm-2-B4

http://www.amainhobbies.com/product_...rm-Carbon-2-B4

Dunno the difference in the first two you listed...... great question...
The last one is made of carbon. It's supposed to be lighter in weight but stiffer. Some like it stiffer, some don't. I 'understand' the carbon is easier to break than the 'plastic' but are more flexible and less prone to breakage..... of course ALL can break. ;)
I'll be watching this thread to see what others say about the first two a-arms.

I searched the thread because I remember reading about this ages ago.

See here:
http://www.rctech.net/forum/10338294-post11515.html

ok the first link you listed are b44 rear arms..they are stiffer than the second link but less stiff than the carbon...pretty much everyone runs the b4/b44 arms pretty much everywhere.

As someone that wants to get back into it after 20 years out, so early 90's, while waiting for life to sort things out, doing some research, I want to know what to get also. I think there is two answers to your question. For a highly skilled driver, they are going to pick the car that suites their driving style/tuning abilities. The people that would test each car then pick the one they like best. For people like me, we're going off what everyone else says. And it seems each car has it's pros and cons, as if its kind of hard to go wrong. But eventually driving skill will come into play, and we might be tempted to something new, that might suite us better. Also if one of the pros of a car is its easy to drive and tune, at my skill level, would be a great selling point. This is kind of the impression I get of the b4.1 after following rctech for a little while.

Then there is the psychology/sociology of it. This is a sport, people have favorite football teams, people arguing endlessly over Ford vs Chevy, and, have favorite RC Car manufacturers. I had great experiences back in the day with AE and am drawn to them for the fact I'm a fan. They also win a lot, which would help people along in the which one to buy debate. Regardless if the driver is leaps and bounds better or what ever. They win, have a big presence at races, their website is geared towards their racing program, etc. For the more casual hobbyist I'm thinking marketing has a lot to do with it basically, and a critical mass, lots of other people have them, its easy to get advice on them, parts are available, probably everywhere.

Good to know. Personally i use Reedy or Thunder Power. No issues at all.

Big bore springs were an improvement for me for two reasons.

The first is with a larger diameter spring they do not rub on the shock body, so less wear.

Second, when landing hard on a tripple or missing the down side of a jump, the big bore springs controlled the hard landings better absorbing more on compession, almost like a thump with less rebound.

That is all i noticed.

All this talk of shaving seconds off lap times is the placebo effect. I feel faster so i must be going faster...

I totally forgot about the springs, remember hearing the bigger spring also don't want to take the shape of a banana as much. Also the bigger coil diameter probably influences things. Possibly less twitchy like spring steel gets when its on the short side.
As for placebo effect, ideally the upgrade would allow you the driver to drive faster more consistently. The shocks themselves only react to what the driver does. A confidence thing for sure, if you know it can hold the speed through a turn, you'll utilize it. The flip side, I think my car is faster, because its shinier, so I'll drive it that bit faster shaving a few tens.

jrspruitt brought up some really good points. I personally am just recently getting back into it again after taking a few years off and I started with a TLR 22. After hearing all the hype about the AE buggy, I decide to get one to give it a try, havne't had one since the early 90's. I wasn't immediately faster with the AE, but I could feel that the B4.1 was begging me to be driven harder. The biggest plus for the AE was corner speed, I could now power out of the apex without worry about my rear end breaking traction. This was huge. The TLR was impossible to get out of a corner fast, always seemed to break traction way too easily. Other than that, I liked the TLR better, especially how it jumped, but at a cost of more than a sec a lap, I'll stick with the AE.

All of the above seems reasonable to me, but personally after trying AE an Losi i have found the b4.1 was easier for me to drive over the 22. The 22 was better quality, less slop, and very durable. But i just drove the B4.1 better. My lap times were faster, i crashed less, and was able to tune the car better.

Bottom line... Price, quality, design, and features don't matter at all if you can't drive the car.

Im hoping they make it more plush and def. more consistant. I run the Losi springs and it make quite a difference. I know they wont win races but they will hopefully shave some times off my laps.

It also helps if you wear a cape and a mask while driving.

Which body do you guys like the best?

BULLDOG for me...:nod:

:tire::tire::tire::tire: