Learning more about the hobby as I go, just got overdrive front gears ordered for my TRX4 and TRX4M. My Element Ecto crawls really well with the stock overdrive gears so far so I'm leaving that as is.
I've been adding a little weight here and there, but realized weight in different places leads to different results, sometimes not desirable. Going on my limited current knowledge, it seems that adding weight at wheel and axle level is the best approach as that is the lowest place, not sure about any advantage of adding weight higher up. Also weight can be added to the front, middle or rear, with front weight helping uphill and rear weight helping downhill. I intend to do a lot of trailing with a fair amount of tough hills along the way, both uphill and downhill. Should I try to bias the front? Keep it balanced? Also not sure how much added weight is enough and when the line is crossed into too much.
For example, right now my TRX4 has 42g outer portal covers (168g total), 52g front/rear diff covers (104g total), and beadlocks/tires that come in a little over 500g total. I'm running a Hobbywing Fusion & Hobbystar high torque servo that seems totally unphased by the additional weight so far. I guess I could keep adding more weight, but don't want add it just because I can.
How do those here more experienced with crawler/trail rigs typically approach adding weight to find the sweet spot for performance?
I've been adding a little weight here and there, but realized weight in different places leads to different results, sometimes not desirable. Going on my limited current knowledge, it seems that adding weight at wheel and axle level is the best approach as that is the lowest place, not sure about any advantage of adding weight higher up. Also weight can be added to the front, middle or rear, with front weight helping uphill and rear weight helping downhill. I intend to do a lot of trailing with a fair amount of tough hills along the way, both uphill and downhill. Should I try to bias the front? Keep it balanced? Also not sure how much added weight is enough and when the line is crossed into too much.
For example, right now my TRX4 has 42g outer portal covers (168g total), 52g front/rear diff covers (104g total), and beadlocks/tires that come in a little over 500g total. I'm running a Hobbywing Fusion & Hobbystar high torque servo that seems totally unphased by the additional weight so far. I guess I could keep adding more weight, but don't want add it just because I can.
How do those here more experienced with crawler/trail rigs typically approach adding weight to find the sweet spot for performance?