Losi’s Accidental new Crawler Release

[gtxracer]

Tempted - How many crawlers, RC or 1:1, have you had? Just wondering.

I think you'd be surprised how that feature comes into play. Drive a locked rig and a rig with selectable lockers. You'll see.

[lincpimp]

Being able to remotely unlock the diffs is a cool idea, that is for sure

My only issue with the losi setup is that the worm drive axles will not allow the free wheel function that most dig setups allow. It is nice when making a steep crawl, or going up a rock that has an indent at the bottom. Not having drive to the rear wheels can help the truck not experience the rear axle trying to "drive under" the truck. However it is important in this situation to let the axle freewheel, as any resistance may cause issues with the front axle pulling the truck up and over. Only way I can see to do this would be to have a slightly slower ratio gear that could be selected to drive the rear wheels slower than the front. No "drive under" that way, and the rear wheels would still turn, helping the front wheels out. Not sure what kind of setup that would require...complex to say the least. Could be done with a clod/worm axle hybrid that had 2 motors and escs. Have some sort of radio mix that had a bunch of expo on the rear esc throttle to drive the motor slower... I really want to make some worm axles with outrunners mounted directly to the worm... Ultra low cg and a very narrow chassis, with super drag brakes and no driveshafts, plus only 2 gears. Its in my head, just need to make it!

The Worm axles will give great drag brake, and having selectable front and rear engagement is a cool feature. I only play crawl, so no reverse points for me. Should be a big hit with the comp crowd, and most likely much cheaper than the kyosho...

[Tempted]

Originally Posted by gtxracer

Tempted - How many crawlers, RC or 1:1, have you had? Just wondering.

I think you'd be surprised how that feature comes into play. Drive a locked rig and a rig with selectable lockers. You'll see.

Two 1/1 crawlers FTR. My all purpose truck that I used as a crawler was a Detroit locked 14 bolt rear and full spooled Dana 44HD front. Almost every single time I went off-road I locked the front hubs for a completely locked front end. And every time I crawled I locked the diffs. Bar none. I went places I could never go with an open front diff and I never had to unlock my front to get somewhere. I crawled with people who had open diffs and had to winch them out half the time. If you are making a U-turn on asphault then sure, unlock a diff. Otherwise its a feature that will never be used on a true comp crawler.

[johnrobholmes]

Otherwise its a feature that will never be used on a true comp crawler.

Sure it will. Sounds like you haven't competed before. Gates are set up so tight that you have to turn 180's between them sometimes. Let us say there is a gate facing downhill, with the next gate set up so that you must turn a 180 in a 4 foot circle and go back up the same way you came. An unlocked rig could do this pretty easy without a reverse, a locked rig could not. A rig with front dig won't have any advantage, as the dig will just make the front end slide further downhill.


Big difference between crawling and competing. You can reverse with no penalty when just crawling.