We designed our saddle pack conversion to keep the mass as centrally located as possible. it adds 1.2 oz per side and the weight is inside the endbell of a 540 size motor.

The reason for choosing a 4 post vs 2 post battery hold down design was that the 4 post hold down when screwed on, makes the battery a stiff box making the chassis stiffer with less side to side flex.

By adding the turnbuckles the side to side flex is almost gone.

Are you taking into account the sides of this exo chassis that will be higher than the floor of the chassis when you are insisting it will raise cog? The exo chassis spreads the weight over the entire area of the chassis whereas the plastic chassis with weight under the saddles should be more centrally located and maybe a little forward biased. I would have to see the proof to believe the cog would be raised. To get a fair comparison on plastic versus aluminum they would have to be run back to back on the same truck , not two different trucks. JWhiting, lol.

One more thing to think about. If this truck has such a high cog, why are we having to lower roll center so much to get vehicle to transfer weight and grab some grip?

So does anyone have a good setup for running on a blown out 8th scale sx style sandy outdoor track ????

Yeah a different truck....that's my setup..

In fairness, you had the best AE truck at Brandon's.

Send me a Exo chassis, I'll sacrifice my spare AE chassis and cut them both up on the bandsaw, weigh them, take pictures, and post it.

But that's what I was going to say - a majority of the weight is on the edges.

Because the roll center is too high?

Kind of funny, the hot ticket right now in the 2w buggy class is to raise the rear roll center.

I believe the roll center height against center of gravity height has a lot to do with chassis torque and weight transfer therefore center of gravity with plastic chassis has to be low to begin with I would think. Seems like a lower cog would hurt performance in slippery conditions where grip is elusive.

Well, it is a free country.

So would having mechanical roll center that was way too high.

Got another Q about the type of Bullet Connectors,
that are suppose to be used to plug the ESC str8 to the Saddles??

-Can I use Bullets, like Castle bullets, to plug into the battery??
(the bullets that connect motor to ESC)
- Or do i need the bullet connectors with the little springs
on them.(Like the ones that come with chargers & they also
come on the end of the GENS ACE batteries to plug into
the bullets holes when charging)???
Looks like this type in PIC

I thought i read the bullets with springs are not as good??
They both fit, I tried.
THX for the help

You're overthinking this 'way' too much.

You should use:

- Castle 4mm bullets direct to battery from ESC
OR
- Castle 4mm bullets or Standard Caged Bullets wired up to a Deans or connector of your choice to connect to the Deans or connector of your choice on the ESC

The caged bullets will work fine, but they tend to soften up and hurt your connection possibly causing issues. Pros use the Cages with no problems but if you reuse the bullets over and over again, they will get loose and cause connection issues. It depends on how often you disconnect your bullets from your saddles. If you're going direct, the cages will wear out and cause problems. If you use a wire connector, they won't be an issue if you don't overwork them with plug ins and outs.

hi thx,
that is the reason im over thinking this....

I am going to be unplugging the bullets everytime,
I change packs. I just wasn't sure if one type,
is preferred or used more then the other??

I would think the Castle or reg bullet connectors,
seem to be better quality, then the cages?
More surface for connection, to the inside of the
bullet holes in the Saddles, would seem the way to go.

I just wanted to know what is the Norm, or what the
Pros do? Which i believe u answered in saying cages?
I guess they put new bullet "cages" on, when they start to wear?

THX

Funny..IT WILL GET BETTER....I've been working on "it" this week..I can't believe how much stuff I had "jacked up" on this truck..that's set up wise, no wonder it wasn't working to good..I mean it wasn't bad but it will be way more drivable next time..

[shameless plug] The Murphdogg bullets are awesome. They don't have the springs that fail, and allow you to either solder them in straight or at a 90 or anywhere in between. I got some as swag, and they are the best thing ever insofar as this product goes [/shameless plug]

No shameless plug, Craig..

I think i'm going to try these..
That's why I post in here, to see what every1 is doing &
to see what works best!...Most of my RC knowledge(although
limited), i learned from RCtech..
Any1 else had good experience with these or others??
Thx guys for help, throughout this FT Upgrade

I use all Murfdogg products.