Traxxas Slash 4x4 track setup #3

#3 Set the basics: toe, camber, ride height

OK, your truck is in decent order, you have the parts you want on it, it's time to actually do something.

Set your ride height so that arms are level. Better yet, get yourself a ride height gauge and set the ride height front and rear. For the LCG chassis with normal race tires, somewhere around 27-28mm is a good place to start, but whatever you do, set it and stick with it. Each day you drive your car, check it before you run out and make sure your ride height is the same as before. 1mm makes a big difference believe it or not. To set it, pick up the truck with body off and electronics on, drop it from about a foot off a flat surface, and then measure the height under each diff.

Set your camber to -1 degrees. You will need a camber gauge for this. You can use various degrees of camber, but -1 is a good safe number that will work in 95% of cases, so just go with it. Again, drop the car from a foot, measure, and then roll the car back and forth and check again. Tires are not totally round, so different spots on the tire will measure differently. Just make sure the average of the different spots is about -1 degrees (1 degree pointing inward on the top).

Set your toe-in to 0 degrees. This means your front tires should point straight ahead. You never want the front tires pointing inward. Pointing outward (toe-out) can sometimes be beneficial in some spots, but zero degrees is a good, safe number that will work in 95% of cases. I usually just eyeball toe, there are various ways to measure it, but eyeballing seems to work fine for me.

Set your rear toe-in to 2.5 degrees. This means using the stock black plastic rear hubs, and not the Traxxas aluminum carriers. The aluminum ones only do 4 degrees or 1 degree which is way out of whack unless you're doing speed runs or you're running on the loosest, lowest traction track in the world. 2.5 degrees is pretty close to ideal in 95% of cases, so use that! If you have a Platinum or Ultimate, it came with aluminum ones, but should have also come with the original plastic parts in the box. Put those back on.

After all this, make sure your truck still drives straight (set your steering trim) and it's not a bad idea to re-check your EPA/dual-rate on your radio.

Traxxas Slash 4x4 track setup #2

#2 Put whatever parts you want on, now!

Tuning is an iterative affair, meaning you will go through it, get it working well, make a change (new motor, center diff, etc.) and then have to start all over. Lather, rinse, repeat. If you're going to get an LCG chassis, put that on now! If you're going to use a lightweight battery, put that on now! If you're always adding new heavy aluminum parts, changing tires, moving your ESC around, etc., you are changing the weight balance, weight basis, roll, etc., and you'll often have to start over.

So get that stuff, put it on now, and then we can go about actually tuning the truck. Else you will get it working pretty good, change it, and then have to start messing with springs, roll centers, etc. again.

How-to Guide: tuning your Slash 4x4 for the track

I've been posting a long multi-part series on the Traxxas forums on tuning your Traxxas Slash 4x4 for the track and thought I'd repost it here for everyone else.  The goal was to write a fairly comprehensive guide to how to setup your truck for driving to its full potential on the track.  It's meant for anyone that doesn't understand what all of those little adjustments are for and to try to get the up to speed as easily as possible.

There's very little discussion of aftermarket parts in this guide.  Most people think tuning your truck means buying a bunch of aluminum and bolting it on.  That's not true -- tuning means using the adjustments that are available to get the truck to drive the way YOU want it to.  I'll try to put one up per day.

How to tune your Slash 4x4 for racing on the track

I'm kinda bored, so I figured I'd start a new thread on tuning your Slash 4x4 for racing. I don't claim to be some pro-driver or awesome racer or something, but I have a reasonable amount of experience in getting RC cars to drive pretty well and this is the part of the hobby I enjoy the most, so I figured I'd start it.

Words of warning: it's quite possible I'm going to say something that offends people (don't use aluminum A-arms), so I apologize, but I am giving my opinion and I will always explain to the best of my ability why I think that way. I'm also sure to be wrong on something, but we can't always be correct and hopefully I will provide more good in this thread than bad. This is also going to focus on racing at a racetrack (dirt, indoor clay, carpet, whatever). It's not mean for speed runs, crawling, jumping 30 feet in the air, etc. However, if you just drive at your local BMX track or homemade makeshift track, this should also apply.

This is going to be a multi-part series of posts, and if people have specific questions, I'll be happy to answer them as best I can. A lot of it will be obvious, but I'm going to start with the easiest/simplest stuff first and move on to more esoteric topics if people are interested. The Slash 4x4 is a pretty good platform, because it has a nice blend of adjustments, without having TOO MANY that you can get lost trying to navigate.

So...

#1 Get your truck in order!

Check all your bearings, set your end points, make sure none of your hingepins are bent, your shocks have oil in them, you shocks shafts aren't bent, etc. etc. Remove the shocks and make sure your arms move up and down freely by gravity alone. Clean out your halfshafts. Remove a camber link and spin a halfshaft/axle/wheel in the wheel bearings and make sure they move freely. Those bearings go bad really easily, so replace them often. Disconnect your servo draglink and make sure the bellcranks move smoothly left/right. Remove your motor or pinion and roll the truck on a flat surface and make sure nothing is binding/dragging. Hold down the center driveshaft and turn one wheel and make sure the other wheel turns smoothly (your diff is working properly). If something is not moving smoothly, it will be impossible to tune your car and you'll be chasing your tail trying to figure out why.

Team Associated ProSC10 review

Overview:
Team Associated has come out with a new line of rear-motor RTR vehicles, the ProSC10, the Trophy Rat, and the Reflex DB10.  All three vehicles are the same kit, just with different bodies.  I decided to get the ProSC10 version, which is a short course RTR based off of the B5.  It's a rear motor, plastic chassis, metric RTR.

Build: 4
For the most part, the truck was assembled properly, but there were a few things that were issues.  One rear shock was mounted with too short of a screw.  Fortunately I found it before it stripped out and replaced it with the proper length.  The shock cap o-rings were excessively large and had to be replaced.  The gear diff also was assembled almost dry -- it just had a dollop of anti-wear grease in the middle of the pins.  Finally, the motor mesh was set too tight.

Other than that, the build was put together fairly well and was certainly driveable out of the box.  The radio controls were setup perfectly.

Design: 9
The ProSC10 is basically a plastic chassis rear-motor version of the SC5M with some simplification of parts.  Most of the B5/SC5M pars will mount right on -- there is a long list of factory option parts in the manual if you so choose to upgrade.  The plastic chassis is light and durable, overall it's a big improvement over the previous generation of trucks; the SC10/.1/.2/.3 which were based on the B4.  Rear motor helps in loose traction surfaces, and also allows a full size lipo to be used in the chassis.  The truck can run 2S or 3S right out of the box.

The kit is also fully metric which is a welcome change.  Overall, I think the design lends itself well to bashing and some light racing at the club level.  It performs well, has waterproof electronics and a lot of tunability.  Team Associated removed some of the adjustments that are available in the SC5M -- the spindles no longer have adjustable trail or caster and the rear hubs do not have adjustable inserts.

The parts also seem to be made of a softer composite from normal Associated race kits, which makes it a little more durable and able to handle crashes better.

Performance: 9
The truck drives great and handles well.  Overall, it's very light on its feet and jumps and lands well.  For outdoor rough terrain, the stock suspension works well, but you will want to upgrade the springs and shock oils if you run on higher traction surfaces.

Stock tires are only suitable for the street, for dirt, grass or clay you will definitely want to get new tires.

I did not test out the stability control, opting to turn it off, but it is there if you want it with 7 different levels of engagement.

The stock servo is reasonably quick and seems to have enough torque for the stock tires.  On 2S, stock gearing was a little low, but should be perfect for 3S.

The radio is not the greatest, but has all of the adjustments you need for setting up your truck and actually surprised me with how decent it was.  There's a fair amount of play in the wheel and trigger, but for some bashing and light club racing, it's actually not that bad.


Durability: 9
I found the truck to be very durable and did not break a single part.  The body is made of PVC or some other type of plastic, and is not going to hold up to serious bashing, but that's really the only durability concern I had.  Overall it's proven to be a very durable truck and even after letting my 10 y.o. son drive it, nothing broke.

Value: 10
The basic ProSC10 sells for $299 in the U.S.  It's main competitors are the Slash VXL ($319), the Kyosho SC6 ready-set ($349), the Losi XXX-SCT ($329), and the HPI Blitz Flux ($315).

It's the cheapest of the group, and definitely the most modern and durable and capable truck.  There is no other brushless RTR out there from a major manufacturer that is this capable, durable, and low in price.

Support: 10
Team Associated is a major force in the U.S., and availability of parts and support is hard to beat.

Maintenance: 6
Short course trucks in general can be a bit difficult to work on because of the amount of body mounts, bumpers, and stuff that gets in the way, but the ProSC10 is reasonably easy to work on.  The rear transmission comes out fairly easily leaving the arms and chassis intact, and the diff can be split without removing the motor from the motor plate (leaving your mesh the same).  Overall, a pretty good truck to work on.

And the big one -- the whole kit is metric, which is a huge improvement from the SC10 line of trucks.

Dislikes:
I wish the truck came with the V2 shock caps out of the box, the stock shock caps have no bleeder holes which makes it impossible to properly build your shocks.  Other than that, I have no real grips with the truck.  It's a great platform.

Conclusion:
Overall, the ProSC10 is a welcome update to Team Associated's line of RTR short course trucks.  It brings it into the modern era in terms of durability, easy of maintenance, and performance and is a huge upgrade from the SC10.  It also performs extremely well on the track and is the perfect blend of bashing and racing.  If you want an RTR truck (heck, ANY short course truck) that can do both, I think the ProSC10 is the top choice out there.

I'm a big fan of this truck and think it makes an excellent first, second, or even third RC car.  It can do everything you could want, provides excellent performance, durability, and value, and really has no faults.

Overall rating:  9

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Tekno EB410 review

Overview:
The EB410 is Tekno's first foray into true 1/10 scale racing, and they built upon the lessons learned from their 8th scale line of kits.  I've always been a fan of Tekno, because they are definitely one of the underdogs in the RC world who try their hardest to just get it done.  Their kits are known for high performance, extreme durability, and high quality parts and instructions.  I had been watching this company for a while, and they finally produced a kit that I felt I needed to get.

Build: 5
The Tekno manual is very well done, clear with high quality full color schematics.  The only thing missing was explaining what wheels fit the car, I wish they included that information.  Out of the box, the kit is designed for TLR 22-4 wheels, although Associated wheels will fit with the +1 front wheel hexes.

However, there is one area that really brings down the score -- the plastic shock caps were a bit ovaled for me and made out of a soft, plastic material that was really difficult to thread on properly.  They also stripped out on one of the bleeder screw holes -- I think the plastic should be made a little harder with more glass content.  The o-rings on the bleeder screws are also ridiculously small and difficult to get on.

Other than that, the build was quite fun and everything fit together well.  If they included aluminum shock caps, I could easily give the build a score of 8, but the plastic ones definitely drop down the score several notches alone.

Design: 7
The EB410 is a unique design, and you can see there were certain things Tekno focused on.  First and foremost is an emphasis on extreme forward weight-bias.  Everything, and I mean everything, is pushed all the way forward with the back 1/3 of the chassis completely empty.  This is unusual -- the 22-4 has a balanced weight distribution, the B64 has a classic rear-weight bias, but the Tekno team decided that a heavily forward weight bias worked best.

There are also lots of little details Tekno built in to improve the durability and tidiness of the truck.  Almost all of the bolts and nuts are captured, requiring only one tool to tighten/loosen.  For example, the shock standoffs are mated into the shock tower, so you don't have to hold down the hex side while you spin off the nuts.  Shock cups are captured into the eyelets, and there are tidy wire holders throughout.  The chassis nicely accommodates different size servos (standard and low-profile) and you have the ability to use both of the most common wheel offsets (TLR and Associated) on the same buggy.

But at times they got a little overkill -- Tekno has left-handed hex screws to hold in the shocks, which I found unnecessary and replaced them with standard button heads.  The electronics can also be a bit difficult to package in such a small place.

The area I was a bit surprised they didn't build into the design is adjustable axle heights.  There are diff shims to raise or lower the gearboxes, but the latest competing designs also allow you to raise or lower the axles in the hubs.  There also is no slipper clutch option -- this buggy is center differential only.

Performance: 9
I tested the buggy with the stock setup and it was a bit squirrelly.  There is gobs of steering, but the rear end was a little unstable and twitchy.  I then put in Ryan Lutz's Ohio RC Factory setup, and the kit was perfect.  Removing the short rear chassis brace as well as raising the inner ballstuds tamed down the rear end and softened it and made it more stable.

Highlights of the buggy are excellent steering while still maintaining good rear traction.  I think the value of the front weight distribution is that it uses the front end much more.  Both for steering, but also on throttle has more of a 4WD effect where all of the wheels are driving the buggy forward rather than having more of a rear-wheel bias.

Transitions with the stock setup were a little erratic, but with the additional sweep from the Lutz setup it seems to have improved quite a bit.

Jumping and landing is also very good.  The buggy has a slight nosedive, but nothing unusual for a 4WD vehicle.  Landing is where this buggy really shines -- the 13mm shocks irked a lot of people for having non-standard springs, but I can honeslty say this buggy lands better than any 10th scale buggy I've driven.  It's phenomenal -- it lands very plush and stable, and you can instantly get on the power as soon as this thing touches down.

Braking can be slightly unstable, but it makes it easy to land a jump, get on the brakes, and pivot around a 180.  Short landing pads become long ones with this buggy.  I did notice the buggy has very little rear droop -- both front and rear have about the same amount of droop, presumably to tame the rear end under braking.

Overall the buggy drives amazing and I'm not sure it could be any better.

Durability: 7
4WD buggies are the most difficult class to keep durable, but I think the Tekno does a good job.  The plastics are forgiving, but I did break a couple of things.

Smashing the right side into a wall in a high-speed sweeper resulted in a bent inner hingepin and a tweaked shock standoff.  It seems like the plastics do a good job of absorbing impact without breaking, but there are reports that the metals tend to bend.  The shock standoffs stick out further than 12mm shocks, and I think this contributes to them being more prone to getting bent.

The body does stick out more than most buggies, which means that landing upside-down tends to focus most of the forces onto the front top of the body, and I've noticed it starting to break down.

I was worried about the lack of side rails on the chassis, but it's been holding up pretty well with no signs of fatigue.  The bottom of the chassis also seems quite durable with minimal wear.

Value: 6
The EB410  sells for $399, which is quite inexpensive for a 4WD buggy.  There's not a lot of carbon fiber (read: none) and limited aluminum in the kit, you can tell they did their best to lower the price.  You will need to supply your own wheels however.

On the plus side:  machined aluminum A/B/C/D blocks and motor mount parts, parts made in Taiwan (rather than China), and high quality plastics and chassis.  On the down side, lots of parts on parts trees, steel hexes, and no carbon fiber anywhere.

There are a couple of pieces that I think are a must have -- aluminum shock caps and aluminum servo horn.  Most people will also want to get the carbon top plate is nice because it has an integrated fan mount.

Overall, I think the kit is a good value being priced lower than most kits, but it definitely is low on the bling chart.

Support: 3
Tekno is a small company, but if you're outside of California it may be hard to find local support.  I imagine outside of the U.S. is especially bad.  Setup sheets are limited, but parts are easily available online and from Tekno themselves.

Maintenance: 7
Maintenance on the EB410 is pretty good, for the most part.  The diffs are easy to get to, requiring 4 screws to unbolt and it's nice that the underside of the front and rear diffs are sealed.  Shocks are easy to bleed, and with the machined caps are not an issue.

The only area that can be tricky is the electronics.  It's difficult to place the electronics so that wires are out of the way, and still have everything serviceable.  In my buggy, I can get to the receiver plugs, the bind button, the ESC power button, access to the transponder and still remove the motor fairly easily, but I have a hard time getting to the motor sensor wire on my ESC.  So if it fails, I have to remove the capacitors and then shoe goo them back into place.


Dislikes:
I wish they had provided a little more real estate to the electronics, and provided aluminum shock caps in the box.  Other than that, I can't really complain much about the kit.

Conclusion:
The Tekno's extremely high performance, good durability, and low price is hard to beat.  I'm sure this kit has its competitors going back into the lab and re-thinking their buggy strategy.  At the 2017 IFMAR 1/20 World Championship, the TLR guys did something Tekno-like and moved all of their electronics forward on the 22-4 2.0 and left the back half of the chassis open.

I think Tekno has moved the bar forward in the 4WD 1/10 scale buggy world, and everyone else is scrambling to catch up.  This is a very, very good kit.  If you're considering buying one, don't hesitate and pick one up.  Just make sure you get the aluminum shock caps too!

TLR Spring chart

Standard Springs
Front Rate		Buggy	Truck
2.3	Pink		TLR5178
2.5	Red	TLR5172	TLR5179
2.9	Orange	TLR5173	TLR5180
3.2	Silver	TLR5174	TLR5181
3.5	Green	TLR5175	TLR5182
3.8	Blue	TLR5176	TLR5183
4.1	Black	TLR5177	TLR5184
4.4	Purple
4.7	Brown	TLR233020
5.0	Light Blue
Rear Rate		Buggy	Truck
1.6	Gray	TLR5165	TLR5162
1.8	White	TLR5166	TLR5163
2.0	Yellow	TLR5167	TLR5164
2.3	Pink	TLR5168
2.6	Red	TLR5169
2.9	Orange	TLR5170
3.4	Silver	TLR5171
Low Frequency Springs
Front Rate		Buggy
2.86	Pink
2.96	Red	TLR233012
3.03	Orange
3.18	Silver
Rear Rate		Buggy
1.96	Gray
2.02	White
2.06	Yellow	TLR233013
2.11	Pink
2.16	Red

Bigger tires, thicker diff fluid

Just a random thought I had today as I was working on my Hyper TT.

I think if you go to bigger tires on your car, you also need to increase the diff fluid weight to compensate.  Bigger and heavier tires seem to require thicker fluid to get the same diff action as with smaller and lighter tires.

Team Associated B64D review

I had a lot of fun running my TLR 22-4 2.0, so when Team Associated announced the long-awaited successor to the B44, I knew I had to get one.  What you get is a car completely different than the 22-4 2.0, and much more like other 4WD buggies on the market.

Overview:
The B44 was Associated's first 4WD buggy, and was basically an offshoot of the BJ4 prototype buggy.  It lasted a long time in the Associated lineup, and there have been rumors of a new platform for literally years, but nothing showed up.  Finally in early 2017, the B64D was released.  It's an all new, thoroughly modern, fully metric, 1/10 scale 4WD electric buggy.

Build: 4
Team Associated has been taking some slack lately for their latest kits.  The B64D was not a hard build, but there were some tricky parts to it that might confuse a new builder.  All of the transmission screws are extremely tight, and I definitely had to use black grease in all of them.  One of the kingpin screws in the camber block impinged on the hinge pin hold, such that it was hard to thread it in all the way.  Finally, the diff shims call for 5 shims on one side and 2 on the other, but 7/0 fit much better for me.

The manual is pretty clear for the most part, but the slight machining error on the caster block and the requirement to cut parts off parts trees was a bit of a bummer.  This is the first Associated kit I built that didn't quite build properly out of the box, so I have to give it a below average score.

Design: 9
Team Associated took a long time to release the B64D, and boy is this a nice design.  The diffs (front/center/rear) are very easy to get to -- they just require 4 screws.  The layout is very elegant and clean, with plenty of room for the electronics.  This is one of the easiest cars I own to work on, it's even easier than the B6 in my opinion.  The sliding motor mount is nice, and there are lots of carbon fiber and aluminum parts sprinkled about.

There are tons of adjustments to the car -- axle heights, 3 diffs, front mounted rear arms, slipper option, Ackermann plates, in addition to the usual shock locations and hub spacing.  They use the pill system in the front and rear arms to adjust kickup, track width, anti-squat and toe.

About the only complaints I have are that the front bumper is practically non-existent, and the rear bumper is completely non-existent.  The chassis seems to take a lot of abuse as a result, moreso than most buggies.  The kit also uses a funky C-clip in the diffs, which is a bit annoying, but not a major issue.

Overall, the design is awesome and a joy to work on and look at.  Even if it is an X-ray clone...

Performance: 5
It's a little bit difficult to judge performance, and I'll explain why.  I think the kit setup isn't that good, and definitely needs some work.  Out of the box, I would give it a below average score.  The B6/B6D have amazing setups, as do most modern day kits in the U.S.  I run on high-traction indoor clay, which is similar to the tracks the U.S. manufacturers run on (TLR, Team Associated), so I kind of expect the kit setup to be close.

It's not terrible, but it is quite edgy.  With some tuning, it can get a lot better, and so that's why it's hard to rate the performance.  I ended up going to 200k center diff oil, stiffer rear springs, a higher ride height and different axle heights just to get the car in the ballpark.  And I still have many more hours of tuning to do.

I'm pretty confident that eventually setup will be really, really good, but it will take time and testing to get there.  There are enough adjustments to be able to get the car to drive any way you like, but for the purposes of this review I'm going to give it an average performance rating because the kit setup isn't really there, but has the potential to be there.

Pros:  the steering on this buggy is amazing out of the box.  Team Associated said they wanted to make this drive more like the B6D, and I would agree that the steering and the way it gets into and through the corner is very good.

Cons:  it doesn't jump or land very well, partly due to the cheap shock internals, and also due to the low ride height.  Rear traction is a little suspect until you increase the center diff fluid and go to stiffer rear springs.

Durability: 3
The B44 had notoriously weak front arms, to the point where most people replaced them with RPM super rubbery arms.  You would think this would be the one area they would make sure they got right, but in my experience, the arms are once again the car's weakness.  I've broken 3 front arms in the first 6 weeks of running.

The B64 also uses the same rear hub design as the B6D, including the much-maligned little plastic inserts for the camber link.  I've broken that piece 3 times in my B6D, and I also broke it in my B64D.

Some people have broken the diff cases, but this has not happened to me.

Finally, the wing is super flimsy and will only last a few crashes before it needs to be replaced.

Value: 6
The B64D sells for $429, which is on the low side for a 4WD buggy.  It comes with a lot of nice factory aluminum parts -- caster blocks, caster inserts, all 4 hinge pin braces, front axles and rear hexes, center brace, and a spiffy motor mount.  It also has thick carbon fiber shock towers front and rear.  All of the driveshafts are CVA's.

So a lot of value in the box for a fairly low price.  My main complaints are the molded shock internals and a fair amount of the parts still come on parts trees and need to be cut out.  The polycarbonate pieces (wing especially) are a little thin.  And there are no wheels or tires in the box.

It's still one of the better deals on the market though.

Support: 10
Team Associated parts are the easiest to find in the U.S., and there are lots of sponsored drivers out there providing setup sheets and tuning tips.  There is no better supported platform in the U.S.

Dislikes:
The flimsy front arms are a major issue for this buggy.  I've gone to the hard arms to see if they last longer.  Other than that, it's a fun buggy and I look forward to getting it working as well as possible.

Conclusion:
Team Associated took a long time to come out with the B64D, and they've released a very good buggy.  If they can fix the durability issues with the front arms, this may be the buggy to be beat.  The design is elegant and has a plethora of tuning options.  While I don't think the performance/setup is as good as some of the other buggies on the market (i.e. the TLR 22-4 2.0), it's still early days for setup with this buggy.  Give it a few more months, and I think the performance will be right there if not better.

Hyper TT front-mounted shocks

I spent a few hours at the track testing some stuff.  The initial plan was to work on my B64D, but I also wanted to test the plastic steering knuckles on the Hyper TT, so I started with that kit.

(Boiled) plastic knuckles held up great, and removed a lot of slop, so I'm going to stick with that and just keep extras in my parts box.  I also tested 10k rear diff oil and 5k, still not sure which I like best.  10k gives more forward traction and stability, but loses a bit of steering.  7k is probably going to be perfect.

But I tested out one change that made a MASSIVE improvement in the handling of the TT --

I noticed the Hyper TT has a ridiculous amount of rear toe-in (probably 4 degrees or so), and that the arms add about 0.5-1 degree of toe-in.  My theory was that this was adding a lot of push into the car.  So I flipped the arms around, and mounted the rear shocks on the front of the arm.

Bing blang blaow, this added a SICK amount of corner speed.  The truck enters the corner with way less push and rails through the corner much better.  You need to add 2mm of spacing on the shock mount (I used a TLR ballstud spacer), and you'll want to mount the rear arms all the way forward (spacers all in the back) because the hubs are moved back when they're flipped.

What this modification does is a few things:

• reduce rear toe-in (main thing I was after)
• forward mounted shocks, which centralizes the mass better.

The only downside I see is that the body doesn't fit right over the shocks, so you'll have to trim the covers on the shock towers from the body.

Try it, I think you'll like it.

22-4 one-way clicker

I spend a few hours at the track testing out some springs for the 22T 3.0, some diff fluids and front springs on the B64D, and I also tried out the one-way clicker for the 22-4 2.0.

The one complaint performance-wise I have with the 22-4 is that it doesn't like to land cockeyed on one wheel.  The one-way clicker works by allowing the front wheels to freewheel (or at least rotate at a faster rate than the rears) under deceleration, or when landing jumps.  This smooths out the landing if you're off throttle, at the cost of straightline deceleration.

Overall, I found the buggy to be more forgiving and smooth on landing jumps (and you can still power your way on landing like you should with a 4x4), but more unstable under hard braking.  I'm thinking of leaving it in since my son is the primary driver of the buggy, but for sure if it were my car I would take it out.  It's too much of a braking loss to justify the landing performance.

I also put up a review of the 22-4 2.0 on YouTube.  It's a bit long, but let me know what you think!

Team Associated RC10 B64D

I ordered this kit back in December, and amazingly it showed up on my doorstep the day after I got my 22T 3.0.  I didn't plan it that way, they just got released basically on the same day.

So I put together an unboxing video.  Got tires glued up, just need to assemble the kit now!

Review in video

For those of you that are illiterate, there's a YouTube version of my 22T 3.0 review.  😁

Getting your house in order

I cleaned up the wiring my 22T 3.0 a little, partly to drop a few more grams, but also because I'm planning to shoot a review video of the truck in the next few days.  The funny thing with shooting videos of your car, is that it's a bit like inviting people over to your house for a party.

You want to have everything nice and tidy, because it's kind of embarrassing to show off a really messy car (or house).  So this is probably the nicest wiring job I've done in any of my cars.

TLR 22T 3.0 review

It seems pretty early for me to do a full review of the 22T 3.0, as I've only had the truck a week, and this is definitely the quickest I've decided to do a review, but honestly I feel like I know the truck well enough after having put in about 300 laps this week on a track layout I'm very familiar with.  So I've decided to do a review.

Initially I was going to do a video review (and that will come later), but for you guys who faithfully read my blog, I figured I'd reward with first.  So here it is, my review of the TLR 22T 3.0!


Overview:
I owned a 22T 2.0 for about a year and a half, and enjoyed it a lot.  It was a huge improvement over my other TLR, the SCT 2.0 and really got me to enjoy the stadium truck class.  I raced it occasionally as a second class to my 17.5t stock buggy, but I never took it that seriously.  Towards the end, I upgraded it with an Exotek chassis, 3-gear transmission, and some lightweight parts.  I feel like the 22T 3.0 is similar to my evolved 2.0 in many ways and features similar improvements.

The 22T 3.0 incorporates most of the changes I wanted to see -- transverse mounted battery, 3-gear transmission, and the option for a laydown.  I always felt like TLR needed to share components between the stadium truck and the short course, and it's nice to see the 3.0's now share arms, hubs, and steering blocks.


 
Build: 8
The build is quite clear and typical TLR.  The manual is an international version, and maybe not as easy for newbie to digest, but if you've built an RC kit before, you should have no trouble with the 3.0.  Though I feel Associated does a better job of hand-holding you through the build, for those who are new to the hobby.

Frank Root has a series of build videos on the TLR Facebook page that I highly recommend you watch.  There weren't really any build instruction errors (there's a phantom washer on the top of the transmission case, but that's about it).  In terms of manufacturing, there seems to be two things to watch out for -- the servo mounts need to be sanded down a bit to sit flush, and my kit was missing a screw/nut for the rear wing (3 instead of 4).  One thing I thought was done well, was that the kit bags contain all of the parts for the kit setup, so you don't have to figure out what pill inserts to use or Ackermann insert to use, etc.  You just use the parts in the bag and you'll be at kit setup.  Overall, I give the kit the same rating as my 2.0 build.


Design: 8
The 3.0 platform has been simplified overall from the 2.0 line, and I think it's more clean and elegant now that they don't have to worry about rear motor.  Oh yes, this truck is mid-motor only.  Not a big deal, as mid-motor will outperform rear-motor at most tracks, but this could be viewed as a downside to some.

Nice improvements are the transverse and inline shorty battery positions (the 2.0 was pretty much square/saddle pack intended), the simplified rear shock tower and camber block and the adjustable front suspension (variable length arms, adjustable trail, adjustable Ackermann).  The rear hubs are now the gen II aluminum/plastic hubs that are more durable.  The chassis features more milling than before, although weight is probably close since it is quite a bit wider.  Finally, the 3-gear transmission is a welcome improvement over the previous 4-gear.

The body is a huge improvement over the 2.0 body, which was just plain ugly and weird.  It seems to be very thick Lexan, although there are a lot of sharp angles which you may want to cut down to reduce leverage on weak points.

The only area I wish TLR fixed was the slipper.  The HDS spring is tons better than the previous spring, as you can now actually get enough tension on the slipper, but the 2 pad setup is still lacking.  There isn't enough bite, and the pads glaze too easily.


Performance: 9
The 22T 3.0 has more rear traction than before, probably due to the stand-up.  It accelerates and brakes more smoothly due to the 3-gear transmission. 

It steers way better than before.  Like, way better.  I think there is more steering travel lock-to-lock, which was a weakness of the previous truck in my opinion.  It enters the corner with more steering, has much more mid corner steering, and maybe even a hair more exit steering.  It flies through the air straighter (I think due to the massive wing that channels air down the center).  Landing seemed to have too much pack initially, but going to different springs helped quite a bit and it now lands very smoothly.

It is better than the 2.0 in every way.  Period.

The only area I that let me down is the slipper/topshaft.  The HDS spring makes it tolerable, but it doesn't grab enough and you have to put on a ridiculously amount of tension to get it to work.  If they upgraded the slipper, I would confidently give this truck a 10.  It is that good, only marred by a weak slipper system.  If you put garodisc pads and an MIP topshaft, you will love this truck.  I imagine there will be a lot of big races won by it.

The rear wing is also kind of goofy -- it is way too big and caused my truck to slap the chassis on the face of jumps, but after I cut it down by 50%, it flew beautifully.

Durability: 10
My local tracks currently features a ridiculously huge double that I can only make about 8/10 times.  This means I've crashed the truck A LOT, and in pretty much every conceivable way.  I've lawn-darted it, I've hit walls, I've carwheeled the truck multiple times, I've even hit a steel pole at full bore.  Nothing has broken.  Literally nothing.  A ballcup popped off once, and that's basically it.

The body is getting beat up, and the giant wing also tends to crack the body, but it thick and is holding up with some shoe-goo.

I give the truck a 10 in durability, it has been basically indestructible so far.  This number may be revised if the plastics don't wear as well as I think they should, but only time will tell.

Value: 5
The 22T 2.0 sold for $299, which was an amazing value.  The 3.0 sells for $349 which is quite a bit more, especially when you consider the previous version came with both rear and mid-motor parts and bodies!

The 3.0 has a more adjustable steering system and some nice durability updates like an aluminum idler gear and aluminum rear camber block.  But overall, I feel like it is only a fair value compared to its competitors.  If it included aluminum rear hexes, I would consider the value pretty good, but you will need to buy those on your own.

Support: 8
With the advent of the TLR build videos in addition to the online forum support, I feel like TLR has really stepped up their game.  They will post setup sheets from time to time and their staff is always available on social media and online.  They are definitely well above average in this category.

Dislikes:
The slipper is really the only weak part on the truck.  It would also be nice if they included aluminum rear hexes, as the plastic ones really suck.  I pretty much consider that a necessity, it's pretty absurd that you have to worry about losing drivepins every time you take off a rear wheel.  Other than that, I have no complaints.

Tips:

• The 4-gear/3-gear composite idler will also fit this truck if you're racing stock class.  Part number:  TLR2966.
• Garodisc pads will also make for a huge improvement in the performance of the truck.  It will engage/disengage more smoothly with less spring tension. 
• Cut down the rear wing.  It's way too big.  Also trim down the rear wheel well overhangs, and this will reduce the amount of cracking on the rear wing mount.
• Make sure you motor spray the set screws in the CVA's before using threadlock.  They are not captured, and definitely need to be tight.

Conclusion:
The TLR 22T 3.0 is better in every performance category over its predecessor.  It drives better, is more durable, is easier to work on, has more tunability.  It comes at a bit of a price increase, and you no longer can go rear motor.  But if you're racing on medium-high traction dirt, I think this truck will be putting you atop the podium.

Highly recommended.

...of mice and men!

Today was a 180 degree turnaround from yesterday.  The truck is dialed!

I got about 6 battery packs in on my 22T 3.0 and found the stock wing has a ridiculous amount of drag and downforce.  Trimming it down by 40% allowed my truck to jump about a foot further on the giant double, and it no longer chassis slaps on the face of the jump.  I think they made it too big, it's about 2" tall and is like a giant parachute on the back of the truck.

I also installed my trusty Avid Triad slipper with garodisc pads, and it works way better.  The garodisc pads are more consistent, smoother on/off, and don't glaze over like the stock pads.  The slipper also drops rotating weight on the drivetrain and gave me another foot on the jump.  I can now consistently make the big double, even down to 7.8v on the battery.

The last thing I tested was TLR low frequency springs front and rear.  I'm still playing with front springs, but the rear LF yellow springs are working well.  I got the front colors messed up and accidentally put on the softest (pink) front springs.  It gave ridiculous front end grip, but it's definitely too soft, lol.

The best laid plans

Today was a pretty frustrating day at the track.  I was pretty excited about trying the 22T 3.0, and actually got a lot of laps in, but lots of things conspired to make the day pretty rough.

The current layout has a gigantic double, that is tough to make in a 17.5t dialed buggy, and pretty much impossible to make in my 13.5 22T.  So lots of crashes.  I had a heck of a time trying to get the gearing, timing, and slipper adjusted to get maximum drive for the jump.  It's better, but still extremely hard to make.  Also, my sensor wire came loose.

I had to trim the body because it cracked and was dragging on the rear shock, and I sliced open my trigger finger trying to trim it.  It turns out it's pretty hard to control the throttle when your finger is covered with a shop towel and electrical tape!  😂

On top of that, a couple of guys kept overwatering the track, making it pretty difficult to get in clean runs.  The coup-de-grace was when I broke the shorty servo and had to retire.  Note to everyone reading this -- a Savox 1251mg is NOT an adequate servo for a stadium truck!

I got the truck shoe-goo'd back together and my 1257tg reinstalled, so I will try again tomorrow.  I also installed my Avid slipper and garodisc pads which worked a lot better in my 2.0 than the stock slipper.

On the plus side, the 22T 3.0 kit setup is pretty dialed and handles loads better than my 2.0.  I was getting some chassis slap off the face of jumps, so had to go up to pink springs in the rear.  Other than that, I'm still at kit setup.

Speed secrets!

My 22T 3.0 weighed in at 1912g, but that wasn't going to cut it.  I put on titanium shock mounts (-4g), removed the ESC fan (-8g) shorty servo (-9g), and the SECRET WEAPON?

Smaller body clips (-4g).  😂

Currently sitting at 1887g.  I'm going to bring it to the track tomorrow to test it all out.

22T 3.0 build is going, going...

Almost there.  Just gotta do shocks and electronics.

I also did an unboxing video on YouTube, check it out here:  https://youtu.be/T7SwyboHtJo

Hyper TT tuning session 42 (of infinity)

I spent the afternoon at the track alternating between testing springs and oils in the Hyper TT and building my 22T 3.0 when they were watering.

Current setup on the Hyper TT is:

Ride height:  
27mm front/rear

Front shocks: 
kit silver springs, 37.5wt TLR oil

Rear shocks:
Losi 2.5" blue springs, 32.5wt TLR oil

It'd be nice if someone made a stiffer rear spring than the Losi blue, but I haven't found one yet.  The firmer oils helped, and I may go even stiffer, especially in the front.  The truck is very composed now.

Diff fluid:
Front: 10k
Center: 40k
Rear: 5k

The 40k center diff oil is a big improvement over the 7k I was using, but I definitely had to up the front/rear oils to 10k/5k.  I'm also running a little more toe out, probably 1-2 degrees.  It helps, and with the thicker diff oils it still drives fairly consistently down the straightaway.

The springs I've found so far that fit that are a decent rate:

(from soft -> hard)

Front springs:

• Losi 2" black
• Kit silver
• Ofna Hyper 10SC white (hard)

 Rear springs:

• Kit silver
• Ofna Hyper 10SC white (hard)
• Losi 2.5" blue