[Shimmy]

Originally Posted by YoungChazz

X-Cars are usually King on those kinds of tracks -- they bounce around less thus handle the bumps better at speed.

To weigh the car, make three little stands which are the same height as the scale -- little wood blocks do nicely. Then, one wheel on the scale and the others on the blocks gives you a treasure trove of info. We suggest even weight side-to-side and 35% - 65% front-to-back. Look at the U.S. set-up sheets posted on our site for info on total weight and placement.

http://www.xfactoryrc.com/rc/Tech/SetupSheets.php#2wd

Car looks good.

Well I weighed it and got 513g in the front and 1062g in the rear which I think is about 32.6% / 67.4%.
However the rear right is 60g heavier than the rear left.

I'll see if there is anything I can do to take weight off the rear right corner, or if I must add to the rear left and see how it goes.

Originally Posted by Big E

Looking at your set up I'd try moving the front shocks out on the arm, going to the outer hole on the rear hub and possibly try the inner shock hole on the rear wishbone although that doesn't always work with those big expanding dirt tyres

E.

I changed out the front spring for the next heavier one and moved the shock out on the arm and noticed a bit of an improvement.
I forgot to change the spring/stand up the shock more when I added the lead up front, I think this could have been part of my problem.

Next chance I get to test/practice I will play around with the rear camber link/spring.

Originally Posted by Paul_Sinclair

I would really recommend arms and hubs forward on that type of surface. To help with the jumping, moving the wing forward too. I almost always mount my wing so the back edge of the flat area is tangent to the wing mount pads, if that makes sense. I cut it out around the shocktower/shocks. Here's a picture from an indoor race just a few weeks ago; it's not the clearest but hopefully gets the idea across: http://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-R...RsdMKjj-X2.jpg

The 4* block is best for forward bite; I very rarely have a problem with forward traction if I've got the 4* block and arms/hubs forward. If the 4* block kills too much steering though (it shouldn't, see recommendations below for steering tips), you can run the 3* block and dremel the hubs to move them an "extra" 1mm forward. That's a compromise between the 4* wheelbase/CVD angle and the lesser toe-in to keep on-power steering.

I wouldn't be afraid to add some weight to the rear of the car either. Front and rear weight don't have to be either/or, sometimes a slightly heavier car just feels much more settled and is loads easier to drive. I almost always have 14 to 28 grams around/behind the motor (Cut a lead piece in half diagonally, stack the triangles together and they'll fit great in the little triangular braces in the back of the chassis, just between the transmission and motor.)

As to the front end:
Ribbed tires generally have more steering than treads. If you feel the steering is washing out mid-corner with the bobcats up front, I would try some JConcepts groovy's, Losi 7202/7204s, Proline 8175's, etc. Ribs definitely steer more when there's loose stuff on top.

That short front camber link, with no ballstud washers, is going to allow the front end to roll easily but without much authority, which could lead to the steering washing out mid-corner. If the car goes in well but won't hold the turn, I'd recommend going to the inside hole on the front tower, start with one washer. Especially with the long rear link, going to a longer front link will help with the overall balance of the car.

I did the Kinwald mod for the front and noticed a decent improvement, better over the bumps and steering was much better but still pushed a bit, so I put the 25° caster blocks on and that again was another good improvement.

I also raised the gearbox with the gold shims (.03?) and after that it was starting to feel pretty good but not quite perfect.

So I moved the rear hubs and arms full forward and again noticed a little improvement, not much of one but there nonetheless.

I found the rear end was still a little squirmy at times (loose/dusty track probably not helping) so I put the 4° toe block on and pretty much fixed that although I did loose a little steering, pushes a little bit in a couple of corners, still better than what it was though and over all is still more consistent and predictable.

I also made the front camber link longer (moved in on shock tower) and added 3x of the #4 washers and this again made an improvement although I think I might have to take one of the washers out as I felt it had a slight tendency to roll over more.
The front end felt more solid but didnt really solve the 4° toe block issue.

I'll leave the wing till last I think, see how it goes.

So at the moment I think a fraction more rear side bite and a little mid corner steering would be great.

On top of all that though, I did all this testing on fairly worn goosebumps and VP Pro 201 rib fronts, I did do a couple of laps with the bobcats and v1 barcodes and these were near magic, although I still had the same issues as with the other tyres just not as often and not as bad.

Thanks everyone for the help, I really do appreciate it.