BOB: Yeah, my 3/4 used to be built with the regular rear arms, and yes, the dogbones are swept towards the centerline of the car... very similar to the front. That was the biggest improvement on the handling of the car. The efficiency of the driveline wasnt the issue for me, its already freer than any belt car ive seen, it was the cars lack of squat on power, w/o having to soften the rear shocks dramatically, or other changes. I wanted the front and rear to feel similar in weight transferred input, off and on throttle. With the rear arms on the car, most guys run the hubs forward, for a short wheelbase, and even place a shim behind the arm to move it further forward. While this is still about 1/32" closer to the rear of the car than running the front arms, it does not transfer the weight like the front arms. With the front arms, the axle is moved forward, not the arm, the arm pivot point remaining the same on the chassis, but changing at wheel location. The shim for hub wheelbase placement is removed, for less chance of slop. This does require a bit of different thinking for setup, than a traditional AE design. But the car IS planted, and alot smoother through transition when set up this way. It gives you a wider range of rear traction to adjust from, without hitting that rear diff scorching barrier. Like i said in that e-mail... just something i thought you might like to try...
LEM: Thanx.
There are a ton of places to get plastic shims, but i get Losi part #5050. Easy to find, and the package comes with several choices in thickness. Good luck with the car!
- DaveW