I ran the hotracing aluminum diffs, they are junk. The tolerances were way off.

sad to say it but lots of companies do this. Gotta love running changes. At least with AE if you contact them they will send you the right sized shims for free.

If they made an addendum section on there website specifically about this, it would be great so you could see what the running changes were, as well as updating part numbers too.

Yeah, forgot about that part. They don't even supply new part numbers. I had to order in a new rear shock tower. Suprise, old style came in.


As for the bearing diff mod. I made some the night I seen the post about them. Even took it a step farther and modified them using a lathe. They were perfect.
Sadly, they failed. The dust at our track is very fine. It gets in bearings bad.
It came to the piont where now I change my diff bearings before every event.
It's the best $4 piece of mind.

How did u use a lathe for it?

I trued the casing in the lathe. Then end faced the outputs to the correct length to accommodate the bearings.

Sinking Ship????
 

So I've owned the original kit version of this truck since Oct of last year. Have done just about every mod mentioned here. I finally got an Exotek chassis and that did make the truck much, much better. But I still can't keep up with the damn Losi's at my local track!

Last night, I wrecked right off the bat and got pretty far behind the leaders. (nothing new btw) So I took it easy and decided I would follow the Losi's around the track and see where I was slower. Just about every corner! I could keep up with them in the straights, the sweeper, double/triple jumps, but when going thru the chicane, the s curve, and the 180, I lost time in every corner. I just couldn't plant the power like they could. When I tried, I'd either roll or overshoot a corner and end up in the rails.

After really trying to stay close to those guys last night, I walked out thinking it's time to abandon this truck and move to the Losi. Then someone mentioned that the rumor mill is swirling that AE has a new 1/8 based 4wd SC in the works that was shaft driven. I see they have the ProLite4x4 out soon that is shaft driven. Are we to assume that a real race truck is on the way? I like AE, I have a SC10 and a B4.1. I hate to switch to Losi for 4wd only. But I'm one of only a couple guys left at my track running this truck, and one of the others is the Team Associated local driver so you know he has to drive it. It just seems like the Losi is easier to work on, easier to tune, more planted, easier to drive, etc....

Thoughts guys? Don't roast me, I haven't made up my mind. Just thinking of following the path of so many others on this thread.

Please post the following:

- Exact Setup including electronics, tires, etc
- Track conditions (videos of track if available please include)

Me personally, I would recommend you try the M2C Toe In Block if you haven't already. The reason I say this is that the issues you described as far as the rear end feeling planted was corrected for me by the M2C Toe In block using the 3.5 degree toe in setting.

It's all in the set up. The only reason I don't get first place every time over the losi's is because I have the worst habit of shitting the bed as soon as I hear my name in the lead. I get over excited and lose my rythem, try to go too fast in places I know I shouldn't.

I've learned to appreciate the truck for what it is, and fine tune it to my driving. I'm poor, I can't afford to switch trucks. The only reason I have the exo chassis is because I got it at half price haha.

lol. Yeah, I agree. I think the thing though is that we need a good setup for the conditions we run, and some things really help a lot like the rear toe in block As with it, changes that I know could help the grip situation but affect other things I can avoid having to make and makes the car feel better overall.

I'm basically using Maifield's setup from Nationals. Blue springs in front, front blues in the back. 32.5/27.5 oils. RCShox ball diff. 7kf/5kr diff fluids. RX8/Pro4 4000kv, Savox 1257 servo. I was running Bar Codes on Hazard +3 MM wheels. The Losi guys were basically running slicks.

Track is wet clay. Here's a video from last weekends 4wd SC A Main:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNWdL...layer_embedded

Associated team driver is the white truck. He actually won this pretty easily. But his driving skills are light years ahead of mine. I was in the B main.

From one of the fastest drivers after last night's racing talking about tires. He was one of the ones I was trying to follow:

Super Soft Enduros worked ok but, THIS winter will be nothing like past winters. without the nitro cars and the vents open the track will not dry out. the last couple of weeks its all been about slicks. jimmy and i made some and it was toooooooo much. we made another set but left ghost pins on the outer and inner of the tire = more gooder. i used a set of worn out cityblocks, jimmy used bar codes. we found last nite that the suspension needs to be firm and the droop limited or the car rolls too much and you bicycle or roll over.

What is the factory setting of toe in on the FT version of this truck without the upgrade you mentioned?

^ oh man, what I'd give to run indoor offload clay.

On a good day at our track we deal with 10-15km/h winds. On average it's more like 25km/h. And constantly changing directions.

This is not a bash or a call out, but that's nothing like Maifield's setup.

Springs are wrong, Diff is wrong, Balldiff is wrong, motor is 540, not 550, I see no weight added by your comment.
----------

I run maifield's setup + Exotek and minus one change per track.

Indoor - front diff goes to 10k
Outdoor - Pistons go to 1.1's

That's it. And the truck's never felt better.

Go in the proper Y/Y springs, and get some weight in the truck for starters.

Looking at this setup which I believe you referring to:

http://www.teamassociated.com/pdf/ca...field_ROAR.pdf

I am going to assume you are NOT using RC Shox pistons as you didn't mention that.

I am going to assume you are using 4 pins in the RC Shox ball diff, version 2.

I would give the middle position on the rear hub carrier a try first if you don't plan to get the toe in block.

Have you tried softer rear springs than the Blue Fronts? Based on what you are describe, outside of trying the M2C Rear Toe In block to lock in the rear end first, I would give the next step lighter rear springs a try after the carrier change. But, I am using RC Shox Pistons, you may see more of a benefit like Shaun described with the changes he suggested to the shocks.

This is based on what you described as the issues you are seeing alone, no wet clay here but that is where I would start from what you have as your setup. You may find more value on what others who run similar conditions have to say.

I was able to actually make the front end grip more aggressive using the block.


3 degrees

No offense taken Shaun. I am running the same setup as Maifield less the items I listed. The same is:
-1 Camber all around
3-2 Toe block with -1/2 Toe in front
23mm ride height all around
2.0 / 1.8 roll bars
2 mm washers under inner ballstuds on rear, 1 mm in front
Outside hole for the ballstuds in back, inside in front
Outside on the arm, middle on the tower shock location front and rear
Medium Wheelbase
20T pulleys front/rear.
1.2 shock pistons

Cain, running stock pistons, not RCShox. The track is very smooth so don't think I need the 2Stage Pistons till outdoor season. 8 pins in the ball diff.

I should have also mentioned I have 8MM of up travel limiters including the shock boots. And running the RCShox Ackerman.

The problem I have is at my track, everyone is running Losi's with the exception of me, my buddy, and the pro. Pro isn't always there when I'm there. So I can't get too much setup info from the local guys as their trucks are Losi's. Only gen info like tires and stiffer chassis

Next time I'm there, I'm planning on running some slicks to see if that helps. How would I stiffen my setup? That's the other thing the fast local Losi guy mentions.