Butters
Member
- Messages
- 40
- Location
- Ludlow, Ma
Hey All,
I decided to post my 08 Racer build due to the persuasion of my buddies. We have seen on several forums more drivers being bitten by the racing bug after bashing their truck for so long. I’m doing this for several reasons. Two major reasons are to give new drivers enough information that can aid them in setting up their truck by writing reviews for the parts I used and why they made it to the truck. I plan to update this thread after every modification and race to show overall performance. Now enough with the talking let’s get down to business.
Below is the subject. A custom mid-tank savage with an extremely successful 07 race season on it.
At the end of the race season I decided to bash my truck. The team owns a couple of jumps and I had the urge to begin hitting them after a rough day at work. As I began to unload the stress I kept seeing how many back flips I could do. One –Two flip weren’t good enough and kept trying for 3. Well almost made it and the key word “almostâ€. As you can see below what happened to my chassis.
As you can see this chassis wouldn’t make it through this year’s race season. And now this was the time to buy a new one. With so many options out there for chassis’s I had to weigh each option. Last year’s chassis was HPI LCG Chassis. For this year’s chassis I wanted a chassis that would offer a mid-tank setup without custom modifications, this would lead me to only to chassis companies FLM and Innovative as you all know about. I went with the Innovative chassis after months of research. FLM Chassis is a very nice design but for racing I felt the additional weight was not worth it.
I ordered the 6mm (.25 approx) front extend chassis with the mid tank kit approx 175.00 after the currency conversion. For shipping to the US I have to say the chassis came extremely quick.
After assembling the chassis my first thought how much weight am I adding to my existing setup. The old chassis weighed 10z. The innovative version weighed only 12 oz. I felt this was good for the amount of aluminum that being used compared to my CF mid tank plates I made for the old chassis. One thing to note the innovative weight does not include the aluminum skid plate supplied. I don’t feel the need to running one since I have not had any problems not running one.
Also here a side by side comparison of the two chassis
Here are the Pro I found using this chassis:
1) Overall the Innovative 2.5mm thick race chassis with the mid tank conversion kit superb. The instructions supplied are very thought out. They cover all three styles of the mid-tank conversion, Cen, Mugen and the Hellfire.
2) The fit and finish is worth the money. The layout of the chassis was well thought out.
3) All hardware supplied seems to be rated at 10.9 class specifications or higher for what I see.
4) With the tank moved forward the truck will be more stable in the air and on weight transfers from acceleration to deceleration and vice versa.
5) No more having to make spare parts, just by being able order spare it will make having them available on race day that much easier. More time to play less time to make!
Now the Cons:
On the chassis the hole that mount the receiver box/servo mount to the chassis is threaded and should be a clearance hole for the M3 screw. This does not allow proper tightening of the chassis plate to the receiver box/servo mount.
When mounting the assembled mid-tank setup I noticed that you couldn’t use the standard rubber isolation grommets that come with your servo. To fix this I am going to machine .030 off to the off the area top off the mounts. This should now provide ample clearance for mount the mid-tank plate. I some might say you don’t need the grommets but when a good 320 in-oz servo costs $120.00 a pop I am not going to take any chances.
This con was an oversight, but I feel it needs to be mentioned. When I put my receiver into the receiver box/servo mount I could not tighten the cover. My receiver was too large never thought a JR RS310 would be too large. I flipped through the instruction and found on the inside cover that you need a receiver smaller than 59mm long x 27.3mm wide x 24mm high. At first I was upset since I never saw these required specs on the Innovative website, but after reviewing the site more thuro I did find mentioning of this. My only wish is that Innovative makes this requirement stand out on the page. Yes this gives me the reason to go buy a spectrum module for my Z-1 radio, but for the owners who are on a tight budget purchasing a $175.00 chassis kit and then finding out you need to buy a $90.00 receiver to fit in the box might not go over to well.
With all Pro’s & Con’s of this chassis as of right now I would strongly recommend this for someone look a good racing chassis. I will not know how it will perform till RC Madness's Season Opener in mid April. I want even one to remember that this thread is not to say Innovative is better that FLM or another company. Everyone has their personal opinion.
As part come in, in the next several weeks such as bearing, diff gears & sway bars will add to this.
Thanks All,
-Champagne
I decided to post my 08 Racer build due to the persuasion of my buddies. We have seen on several forums more drivers being bitten by the racing bug after bashing their truck for so long. I’m doing this for several reasons. Two major reasons are to give new drivers enough information that can aid them in setting up their truck by writing reviews for the parts I used and why they made it to the truck. I plan to update this thread after every modification and race to show overall performance. Now enough with the talking let’s get down to business.
Below is the subject. A custom mid-tank savage with an extremely successful 07 race season on it.
At the end of the race season I decided to bash my truck. The team owns a couple of jumps and I had the urge to begin hitting them after a rough day at work. As I began to unload the stress I kept seeing how many back flips I could do. One –Two flip weren’t good enough and kept trying for 3. Well almost made it and the key word “almostâ€. As you can see below what happened to my chassis.
As you can see this chassis wouldn’t make it through this year’s race season. And now this was the time to buy a new one. With so many options out there for chassis’s I had to weigh each option. Last year’s chassis was HPI LCG Chassis. For this year’s chassis I wanted a chassis that would offer a mid-tank setup without custom modifications, this would lead me to only to chassis companies FLM and Innovative as you all know about. I went with the Innovative chassis after months of research. FLM Chassis is a very nice design but for racing I felt the additional weight was not worth it.
I ordered the 6mm (.25 approx) front extend chassis with the mid tank kit approx 175.00 after the currency conversion. For shipping to the US I have to say the chassis came extremely quick.
After assembling the chassis my first thought how much weight am I adding to my existing setup. The old chassis weighed 10z. The innovative version weighed only 12 oz. I felt this was good for the amount of aluminum that being used compared to my CF mid tank plates I made for the old chassis. One thing to note the innovative weight does not include the aluminum skid plate supplied. I don’t feel the need to running one since I have not had any problems not running one.
Also here a side by side comparison of the two chassis
Here are the Pro I found using this chassis:
1) Overall the Innovative 2.5mm thick race chassis with the mid tank conversion kit superb. The instructions supplied are very thought out. They cover all three styles of the mid-tank conversion, Cen, Mugen and the Hellfire.
2) The fit and finish is worth the money. The layout of the chassis was well thought out.
3) All hardware supplied seems to be rated at 10.9 class specifications or higher for what I see.
4) With the tank moved forward the truck will be more stable in the air and on weight transfers from acceleration to deceleration and vice versa.
5) No more having to make spare parts, just by being able order spare it will make having them available on race day that much easier. More time to play less time to make!
Now the Cons:
On the chassis the hole that mount the receiver box/servo mount to the chassis is threaded and should be a clearance hole for the M3 screw. This does not allow proper tightening of the chassis plate to the receiver box/servo mount.
When mounting the assembled mid-tank setup I noticed that you couldn’t use the standard rubber isolation grommets that come with your servo. To fix this I am going to machine .030 off to the off the area top off the mounts. This should now provide ample clearance for mount the mid-tank plate. I some might say you don’t need the grommets but when a good 320 in-oz servo costs $120.00 a pop I am not going to take any chances.
This con was an oversight, but I feel it needs to be mentioned. When I put my receiver into the receiver box/servo mount I could not tighten the cover. My receiver was too large never thought a JR RS310 would be too large. I flipped through the instruction and found on the inside cover that you need a receiver smaller than 59mm long x 27.3mm wide x 24mm high. At first I was upset since I never saw these required specs on the Innovative website, but after reviewing the site more thuro I did find mentioning of this. My only wish is that Innovative makes this requirement stand out on the page. Yes this gives me the reason to go buy a spectrum module for my Z-1 radio, but for the owners who are on a tight budget purchasing a $175.00 chassis kit and then finding out you need to buy a $90.00 receiver to fit in the box might not go over to well.
With all Pro’s & Con’s of this chassis as of right now I would strongly recommend this for someone look a good racing chassis. I will not know how it will perform till RC Madness's Season Opener in mid April. I want even one to remember that this thread is not to say Innovative is better that FLM or another company. Everyone has their personal opinion.
As part come in, in the next several weeks such as bearing, diff gears & sway bars will add to this.
Thanks All,
-Champagne
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