The whole point of the 3 piece chassis was to allow a worn section of the chassis to be replaced at a Lower cost than buying a whole chassis.

And yes you can "tune" chassis flex by design. Just as in racing karts have inserts or different thickness cross brace to allow the kart to have more or less grip and steering. They also can predict by design the flex points depending on the weight of the drive and postion of the seat. I know this as I have experience in kart racing. It's how we tuned the karts "suspension" so to speak.

I run on a medium to high bite clay track as well. As for traction I would get:

1- fast laps clutch basket
http://www.fastlapproducts.net/Products.html
2- rcshox garo disc set
http://www.rcshox.com/associated-dual-garodisc-sc1044/
3- exotek front locker
http://www.exotekracing.com/sc10-4x4...-front-clutch/
4- track star shock o-rings and shock snot.
http://www.trackstarrc.com/trackstar...mart&Itemid=64
http://www.trackstarrc.com/trackstar...mart&Itemid=64

As for steering:

1- M2C rear toe block
http://www.amainhobbies.com/product_...e-Block-System
2- Factory team Ackerman bar
http://www.amainhobbies.com/advanced...1181&x=10&y=10
3- exotek or hot racing rear hubs
http://www.exotekracing.com/sc10-4x4-rear-hub-set/
http://www.hot-racing.com/index.cgi?...SCF22G01;c=617
If you are looking for a more stable, better planted and better handling truck, I would run:

1- Exotek chassis
http://www.exotekracing.com/sc10-4x4-lcg-alloy-chassis/
With the saddle pack mount:
http://www.exotekracing.com/sc10-4x4...or-exotek-lcg/

There are a few other mods I personally run but some here would contest their performance benefits, although I feel they do through personal experience.

On this platform, you can have fun with that.

(there's a reason that Losi and Kyosho have an AL chassis now.)

Thanks for all the info.!
I also just bought the front and rear sway bar kit.

I think it would be cool to see a deep pocket for saddle packs to fit into, it would eliminate the need for extra parts, and lower the CG even more.

I think associated got it right I just think you things the chassis they're wrong like the brace it's just as competitive against Lucy if you tune it right

What surface was that on again? Thats right, not the one people have been hunting for a setup for that is proven with an actual win.

Its great AE got the win, but something all of us should keep in mind is that the problems we are still trying to address with the vehicle in conditions that AE hasn't address are still there.

An example I can recall was when 2wd gas ST was still running, AE had the wins, but go to most local tracks before the GT2 came out and it was darn near a losi spec class. For regular guys who wanted an out of the box car that just simply worked on the conditions they were seeing, the losi even in RTR form was the hot ticket. Didn't change the fact that AE had the wins, but at the variety of tracks I attended in CT and out here, the losi seemed to have the actual purchases.

Unlike some others though, I still have faith AE will do SOMETHING to fix the issue those of us who run on loose surfaces need, well, fixing. But it will take AE running the vehicle by its top guys and getting a setup out there for the conditions we need one for (not just running it where it already is known to shine). I think with that and whatever parts they make to help address those needs, you will see a turn around in opinions on the vehicle on these conditions.

+1 . But I personally believe we need those sponsored drivers (the top ones) who can spend the time coming up with setups to well, get us those setups we need and any parts needed to get the vehicle on point.

Market may not even be that hot. Seen a lot of SC10 4x4s going for less than that with upgrades beyond a stock one.

Heck, before I sold the team one I had, I thought of just keeping it to make an SCB 4x4 buggy of sorts. Could of ran it with the 1/8 scales lol. More I think about it, may have not been a bad idea.

http://www.teamassociated.com/cars_a...oLite_4x4/RTR/

Interesting...

Game over.

Looks entry level. And I can't see that design being turned into a FT model.

And
You said Ae was defected and no good

No, I said the belt truck was sub optimal for a dry slick or blown out 1/8 scale track. And I think I even figured out why. And I said the A arms warp without provocation, and the (non VTS) slipper sucks. But I wasn't alone.

I have a closet full of AE product that I like very much...and one that I'm certifiably MEH about. But the 4x4 is good indoor and its uber durable so I just run it for fun if I want another class other than my B4.1 or my SC10.

So George, please, when you read this, take it personally - you are a big stupid head. There, I said it.

And, for the record, I think the biggest problem with this truck is when it was designed, nobody thought anything about 550 can motors. The evolution of the motors rooked this chassis (in the hands of an average sportsman racer running in outdoor club race conditions, because if you can run Gold compound barcodes it's fine).

For some reason I get a feel of some Thunder Tiger influences from some of there vehicles they have out in the sparrowhawk line. Particularly the a-arms from looking at the 3 holes in the a-arms:



also, the motor mounting setup looks similar:



There are some differences though for sure. Like the position of the servo, however, I *think* there are some other thunder tiger vehicles in a similar layout that have the servo in the same position as AE does.

Yep that's spot on. Looks like they've added bumpers and reworked the centre chassis.

Even the front Aarm brace matches.