Section 8

Last friday when it snowed like hell, I went to the track, and it was closed at 11:30. I didn't go back later. The week before that there was a heat of 5 stockers, and 3 heats of sportsman. Hopefully it was just the weather.

I can't do tomorrow, I have a meeting every first Thursday of the month. After that, I don't know if I can get to the track early enough on thursdays to get a pack charged before the first race.

Firdays I have off which is why I usually spend the whole day at the track. Though I don't always race.

As far as the set up, it doesn't really matter. Chad was great giving me his set up, I just can't help screwing around with everything, and I want to know somethig about the car instead of just racing someone elses set up. Now that the track is back like it was, I'll probably go back to it because it was alot more consistent, which is what I should be driving, not a slot car that only works sometimes. Man, you guys really gear hard, I don't think I go that fast into the straight to use that much gear.

If I see you again, drive my buggy. I'd like to know what a non-hack thinks about it.

Buggy Action. That's funny. I'm gonna get me some buggy action!

AaronR

iTrader: (113)

Doh, I forgot about the blizzard! I had to work 14 hours last Friday!

It's great that you have time and ambition to tinker with things! I pretty much run Chad's setup too maybe except for 30 degree front caster blocks (bought my B4 used and haven't had ambition to change them yet, see avatar) and maybe gearing. So many run different gear ratios. I was at 22/84 until my 2nd qual. last Thurs. Car didn't seem to have ANY torque out of any corner so I put the 21 in and it feels better. For most of the layouts at Trackside, I was running 19-21/81, but decided to try a 84 spur and mess with different pinions. I was doing this during the big race back in November. Smart no, lazy yes.

I could drive your buggy but there are MANY others that would give you better feedback/answers/opinions on what to try. I could tell you how it feels to me but I wont know what to change. Andy Boucher and Nick Myszkowski would be 2 good guys to help out. I believe both have a habit of being down there on Fridays.

schmidt452

iTrader: (15)

What are you running for shock oil? How about battery placement? I run a T4 there as well in the brushless class 35 front 30 rear but I also have weight added in the rear, I think it helps a lot. It also lets me run the battery almost all the way forward witch helps steering For me going fast is being able to hit your lines every lap I took the weight penalty to be able to do that.

David the motor show up?

Davidka

iTrader: (86)

Yes, it arrived yesterday. Looks good.

Darkshinobi

kinda a newbie when it comes to motor ratings i had one of my stock motors tested on a friends lrp pulsar at 2 volts, and it pulled 5.68 amps, how does this rate? pm me plz

plumslow

iTrader: (1)

Where are you mounting the added weight that several setups are calling for I have seen up to 2 ounces in the rear?

jbrow1

iTrader: (28)

Pulling 5.6 amps at 2 volts the motor should be pretty good. Alot of guys will tell ya amp draw doesn't mean anything. Really it doesn't, just gives ya something to base the motor before and after or against other motors. I run mine on the charger also. Mostly just to see how how springs and brushes affect the amp draw and how it sounds while it's spooling up. Put it in your car and try it out. That's the only way to really know if it's any good or not.

You can put a weight in the front bulkhead, weight in the rear side pockets of the chassis, and also you can sandwich one between the rear bulkhead and the tranny.

Mason

associated weights.. you can get 1 oz in front of the tranny. stack 1/2 oz on top of another, turn sideways and it will fit between tranny and antisquat/rearbrace. (the tranny screws that come down on the top will hit the weight slightly. try a shorter screw. I used the stock ones and it slightly dented the weights but i think that might have held them in place better. Then in the rear pockets of the tub you can stack up how many you wish.

front weights in the bulkhead area and possibly in the steering area or the 2 pockets around there. just depends on how it feels when you drive it.

the 1 oz alone in the rear dropped my lap times by 1-1.5 seconds on the Litchfield Michigan track. Black farm dirt, loaaaamy.

Section 8

The whole point was not to run the weights.

b4zed

iTrader: (2)

The B4 is very good for this type of track.

Mason

8 i was referring to plum's question.

As for your issue.
i run high bite clay, weekly. our facility has an off-road track set in the middle of an oval track. the off-road uses the oval portion also. a video from last week which i missed out on. video thanks to google the oval corners sweep, and the infield is fairly tight but not quite hair pin. Losi guys will bicycle or traction roll on the sweepers in stock if they are not careful. its that kind of traction.

Your set up is a bit puzzling to me. Everything looks extreme. You run the least amount of progression on the front with a soft spring/oil combo, have the tires square up fast and with the least camber.. Then on the rear you run the most progression, quite soft and then a tight roll center. Are you driving the car or is it driving you? I’m not asking this to be a smart ass but it seems you would be fighting this thing. Especially with the chassis mods. Some calming of this would really help. Some pictures of your track would really help but this setup(changes) will work as a start for any indoor track running slicks.

First, if you are running slicks on the front you will have a lot of off-power steering. Try a green spring, 2 piston with 35 weight oil to help slow this down a little. mount 2-O. Your link is fine, but a lot of corner speed can be picked up with 1 or 2 shims under the stud. I personally run 2-B because its easier to adjust the shims when using non-hex head studs. Go back to the 25 caster blocks and it will get you a bit more steering from the corner off. Going to less camber may actually gain you traction because there will be more tire on the ground to work with. (you are running slicks for the surface area in the first place) Try your 2* and then try going down a half degree all around. Arms level

A trick a lot of guys like to do. Put a few shock limiters inside your shocks, then unscrew your shock ends. 2 full turns = 0.60 or maybe I’m off a decimal like everywhere else. But this will allow you to try limiting without needing to take the shocks apart all the time. Just screw the shock end 1 full turn for each shim, or back it off the equivalent of shims you put in to gain back full shock travel. On our particular track I have 060 up front, 090 in the rear and I’m using 060 in front and rear. 090 was a bit much :P

Run the battery to the back.
Start with 1* anti squat. (add no weight anywhere. Weight is for loose/fluffy tracks)

Back of the car: Your car looks it spends more time fighting itself than anything. Keep the 1-B link with 2 washers (if the plastic of the stud base is raised then you have the new brace. Its 0.30 or 0.60 taller than the old (I forget which) and you may need to adjust accordingly) This will get the car to progress forward more instead of transitioning side to side. Let’s get the car to carve through the corners. Its time to stiffen up the rear. Start with 30, 1’s and green. Try 37.5, 1’s silver if the track is smooth. This will make the car ride ‘harder’ but its moving forward more so than compressing. Start with 2-O again. If you do not feel this is not biting enough go to the inside hole all the way around on the lower shock mounts. Wheel base medium. Ride height between arms and bones level.


I run similar to this but I’m 40 2's (maybe 1s)silver up front, and the silver set up in the rear. Currently with 2* antisquat, 25 blocks, no weight added, and black sway bar. With the layout in the video, using a swaybar in stock is a slightly touchy situation. In mod it’s a no-no. Sway-bar = wheelie bar. My car is quite neutral for an AE and easy to drive. I can drive it harder into the first turn in front of the drivers and out brake them with ease. The car squats front/rear on brakes and allows me to duck backmarkers. Between the moisture differences from afternoon to evening I only need to adjust dual rates 5% at most.

If you feel the rear is squatting too much on power causing it to push, drop 5 weight in the rear oil, go to 2 piston. Stay with the same spring.


If you really like to play around with trying stuff I have some things for you to try. For slicks I suggest getting a set of Panther Slicks (clay compound, model # will have a C on the end. soft is not the right compound clay is supposedly pink). That will cover the rear. For fronts use the Panther Wildcat 2wd fronts. Panther used to make tires for Losi, so you'll recognize these as tapers. Same compound front and rear is important. Start with Trinity Blue Bomb One Foams. (A tip, but not necessarily for slicks: For any tire carcus with a pattern on the inside run a piece of duct tape around the foam and back to itself so it touches and sticks to itself. This will make the foams last longer and hold form better) For the fronts cut a rear foam in half. One foam will get you both front tires.
Rears will be straight up. You may wish to trim the inside edges for a little more rounder profile. On the Fronts dremel off the taper pins and the ridge on the edge of the tire - its a must. make sure the profile looks round. When you dremel make sure you get the shine off the tire. Scuff up the rears a little bit to get the shine off them as well. Run a few packs through the tires and dont forget the traction compound. Around here the tires are dynomite by pack 3 or so. I’ll try to get some pics up shortly.

let me know how this works for you.

Section 8

I didn't see that post, just read the other replys in the thread email, sorry.

I would think that it is fairly obvious that I don't know what I am doing. The buggy was set up using the set up guide for the buggy. I am beginning to loath it. It describes everything in terms of entry steering and exit steering.

I moved out of sportsman because I guess I can drive a car, but not set it up. I also didn't know that the races were a minute longer in stock, so my laps weren't 4-5 less than the slow guys like I thought that they were (didn't think anyone wanted a moving chicane in the class).

Here is a drawing of the track (drivers stand is at the bottom, forgot that, track is clockwise):



There are some pictures of the track here:

Clicky

A few more mid way down the page.

Trackside

The track is moist, and covers the tire with clay within 2-3 laps, but won't come close to leaving tire tracks, very hard but its not a blue groove type track with any stretch of the imagination.

I have 2 sets of shocks, so I can screw around wtih those with out loosing what I just had. Also helps with changing track conditions. (or rather screwing up my set up more in changing track conditions ) I like that shock trick, will probably use it experimenting with the second shocks.

I will rebuild the car with your suggestions, but the track is having a national level TC race and is closing the dirt track 30th-7th so I probably won't be playing in the dirt for a while. Probably next week though. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe not till next year.

I have the Panther slicks on my truck, I wasn't aware of the buggy slicks till now. I like them on the truck.

Mason

Are you allowed traction compounds?

Section 8

Yep.

AaronR

iTrader: (113)

Greg, I've got a set of Panther Slicks (clay compound) mounted to Losi rear wheels. I scuffed up the tire surface (when new) with my Dremel sanding bit and they seem to have really good bite when the track was damp/had good moisture in it. I really havent been using them lately though. The Panthers are narrower than my Losi pink tapers but grip didn't seem to be a problem. I can try to measure them if you like. Hell, come down Thursday and you can borrow them! We had 9 in stock buggy again last Thurs.