Got my ERBE and I'm going to change a lot of things

[mistercrash]

The Kershaw Design Chassis came in this morning so I had the pleasure of opening the box and inspect the components.

FIRST OBSERVATIONS:
- The top plate is made of heat treated 3.08 mm thick aluminum. The machining cuts are nice and clean. The plate seems to have been finished by giving it a light sanding on a belt sander.
- The two vertical towers are made of ABS plastic.
- The bottom plate is made of 2.2 mm thick heat treated aluminum with nice machining cuts and seems to have the same belt sander finishing as the top plate.
- The whole chassis with all the hardware weights around 520 grams. I will have to weight it again once it's all assembled, weigh the stock Nylon composite chassis for comparison and also compare the weights of the ERBE RTR with stock chassis and with Kershaw chassis.

POSITIVES:
- Fast shipping to Canada and good communication with Dan. I dealt with him in the past and Dan has always been helpful and professional.
- Everything is there, no missing parts and it was nicely packaged.
- All the hardware is packaged in individual numbered bags corresponding to the different steps of the assembly.
- Once the ERBE is all put back together, I suspect that this chassis will be very stiff and durable. There will be lots of room to use different dimension Lithium Polymer and Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries. The batteries are placed much lower than the stock Nylon composite chassis so the CG will be much lower.

NEGATIVES:
- It would ad a considerable amount to the sale price but this chassis would look so much better if it was anodized.
- I hate to complain about this as I have tried myself to make and sell parts before but the price is a little high. $125 to $140 range would be more reasonable. The present price should include anodizing.
- No designated spot to mount the receiver box, although it can be mounted on one of the servo spots if only one steering servo is used, or it's a very easy mod to fabricate a small plate to mount the receiver box where it should be.
- Dan if you are reading this, go buy a new counter sinking bit. The one you used on my chassis is dull and the counter sinks are grungy looking and off center a bit.
- The ABS side towers were a little rough looking but a light sanding of the edges cleaned them up nicely. I might dye them black as they are a dark gray in color.

Looking at the different parts on my work table, there is one thing that just screamed CARBON FIBER at me. That lower plate is a flat piece of aluminum that will be easily duplicated in carbon fiber. So I ordered a 3 mm thick sheet of carbon fiber and will make myself a bottom plate.

More to come as I slowly start to make the swap.

[mistercrash]

A few more observations about the Kershaw chassis. It is heavier than the stock Nylon composite chassis. I compared the completely assembled Kershaw chassis (battery straps and all) with my complete stock chassis (battery doors and all). The Kershaw chassis is around 80 grams heavier. But when the swap is completed and I compare a stock ERBE with a Kershaw ERBE, the Kershaw ERBE is only 30 grams heavier. This is due to the fact that you don't use the stock middle skid plate and the Steering servo skid plate. 30 grams is no big deal and should not be noticeable. By placing the receiver box in the second steering servo spot, that 30 grams is up front so I find this very good. I like to have as much weight up front as possible on my Revos.

I weighed the two different versions of the ERBEs using two digital scales, one beneath the front wheels and the second beneath the rear wheels. Both versions had a rear weight of 1714 grams. The stock ERBE had a front weight of 1599 grams and the Kershaw ERBE had a front weight of 1629 grams. I weighed the ERBEs without wheels, body or batteries.

A COUPLE PROBLEMS WHILE BUILDING

- My ACE 1015 servo did not fit in the opening so I had to use a file to enlarge it by 1 mm. Not a big problem and easily fixed.
- The two vertical towers made of ABS plastic have some flex to them and you have to watch out how much torque you put on the long screws that secure the towers to the top and bottom chassis plates. Anything more than ''snug'' squishes the towers and distorts the top plate. I seriously think the towers need more meat to them or maybe a different material should be used. I’m seriously thinking of making new ones myself to make them stronger. Below is a drawing of what the Kershaw towers look like and beside it is what I would intend to make.



- My rear diff did not stay in place, it pivots and the front end of the diff goes upwards making the joint of the output shaft hit the top chassis plate. I had to make something to keep the diff from pivoting.



- There are two big holes in the back of the bottom plate that accept two long M4 screws that go in the rear bulkhead. These are to stiffen up the rear. The holes are mis aligned so I had to make two new ones in the correct place. I also had to make spacers to go in between the bulkheads and the bottom plate to keep the correct spacing when the screws are tightened down. You can see in the pic where the two holes are, just behind the ‘’KD’’ in the back of the bottom plate, and where I drilled new holes where the M4 screws are.




I still did not have the chance to go to a suitable bashing site and beat the truck. But just by fooling around in front of my house on the street and grass and making small jumps, I can tell this chassis performs better than the stock one. The stock chassis is very good and I like it a lot but the lower CG of the Kershaw chassis makes a very noticeable difference. More room for bigger lipos or LiFe packs is very cool. I have been shopping around for batteries I never used to look at before. The chassis is stiff, once everything is put together, it feels really solid and with a few tweaks, it could be even better. I will have to tinker with it this winter.

I don’t regret buying this chassis because it delivers what it says it will. It is stiff, it is easy to make the swap for an experienced RCer, the CG is much lower than the stock chassis, it gives a lot more options for batteries. The following is just my opinion and I’m allowed to speak my mind so here goes. I like the chassis but the price left a ‘’bitter taste in my mouth’’. For that price, I would expect a better finish, anodizing and better chassis towers. If these can’t be achieved then, the price should be a little lower. But it really does make the ERBE look like a high end Monster Truck rather than a big and expensive plastic toy.

[mistercrash]

I will end with some pics of the finished truck (is it really finished )

[mistercrash]

On a side note, I received my Turnigy 4500mAh 2S2P 30C LiFePo4 Pack and tried them in my ERBE. I charged them up at 3C, they were balanced and ran really well. A lot less top speed of course but still very strong batteries that I ran with no LVC on the MMM. Really cool to not have to worry about your batteries, charge 'em up, run them 'till the truck looses power, recharge and repeat. These will be absolutely perfect for my son's ''GERBE''. I ordered another pair of these. The price just can't be beat.

[Novarider]

With the cg being lower does it limit the ground clearance? What is the ground clearance with this chassis?

[V0RT3X]

Why didn't you get the 3S life cells, since you're no longer limited by the battery boxes?

[Tiernan85]

nice review mc. I'm still not ready to part with my money for it yet though.

[mistercrash]

Originally Posted by Novarider

With the cg being lower does it limit the ground clearance? What is the ground clearance with this chassis?

The bottom plate is still above the front and rear skid plates level. If you measure ground clearance in the very highest part of the stock chassis which is under the battery compartments then I would say yes, a little ground clearance is lost in the middle of the chassis. I bashed it again this afternoon and although I could hear the front and rear skid plates rub from time to time, the lower plate of the Kershaw chassis still has no scratches on it so it hasn't rubbed anything yet.

Originally Posted by V0RT3X

Why didn't you get the 3S life cells, since you're no longer limited by the battery boxes?

The LiFe batteries I received are for the ERBE I am building for my 5 year old son and it has the stock chassis on it so that's the reason, they have to fit in there. The other pair I have on order are also for his ERBE. I have two cycle done on the LiFe batteries I have now that I tried in my own ERBE and I really like them so I will definitely look into 3S for myself in the near future.

[p01rogue]

I really like the chassis......But will not be buying one at that price.
IMO it's $100 overpriced.
Would also be nice to not have the cut-out NIMH style battery slots on the trays especially in today's world with lipo becoming the standard.

I've recently upgraded from a brushless Emaxx to a ERBE and am loving it so far.

Great thread and truck Mistercrash.......
We are practically neighbors....I'm in Kitchener.

[mistercrash]

Kitchener eh! We are neighbors. There must be others in the area that play with RC. We should all get together.

I started working on the new chassis towers I want to make the Kershaw chassis even stiffer and stronger. I decided to use carbon fiber since I already had this 4.5 mm sheet lying around. I cut 20 strips 10 mm wide then I stacked them up using epoxy to glue them together which makes two stiff solid carbon fiber blocks. After the epoxy cured, I trimmed the blocks and sanded them square. The end result is two solid carbon fiber blocks, 42 mm high by 8.9 mm thick. Once these chassis towers are done and installed on the Kershaw chassis, there will be a picture of it beside the definition of ‘’rigid’’ in the dictionary. It will be a PAIN to cut, drill and machine these blocks but I’ll git er done.



I think I mentioned before that a sheet of carbon fiber 3 mm thick is coming my way to make a new lower chassis plate. This chassis is going to be sweet. The more I look at it, the more I like it. I like the simplicity of it. Other than the hardware, there’s only 4 pieces to it, the top and bottom plates and the two chassis towers. More to come as I will start to disassemble the ERBE again to make those towers and the new bottom plate. I will probably wait ‘till the snow comes since I am still bashing my ERBE and having fun with it.

[mistercrash]

There’s a few things that people find annoying about me. First of all, I speak with a French accent. Better not joke about this, only I can joke about it Another thing is when I have an idea in my head, I have to act on it right now. So here goes, the chassis towers are done It went much better than I thought it would. I guess it helps to have sharp tools. Lemme tell ya! That chassis is as stiff as it can get. I derived a little bit from the drawing I made before and a little trimming was needed to clear the servo horn. The CF towers are 30 grams heavier than the stock ABS ones for a total of 60 grams more but I don’t mind it as I really thought it was needed to have stronger, stiffer towers. I like it, I’m happy, I can sleep tonight.

[David9301]

Originally Posted by mistercrash

On a side note, I received my Turnigy 4500mAh 2S2P 30C LiFePo4 Pack and tried them in my ERBE. I charged them up at 3C, they were balanced and ran really well. A lot less top speed of course but still very strong batteries that I ran with no LVC on the MMM. Really cool to not have to worry about your batteries, charge 'em up, run them 'till the truck looses power, recharge and repeat. These will be absolutely perfect for my son's ''GERBE''. I ordered another pair of these. The price just can't be beat.

For someone with no experiance with Lipo and just finishing building an ERBE, do you think these batteries would suffice for bashing? I've been considering them as an alternative to Lipo but was concerned about performance.

[mistercrash]

They have a lot of punch from a dead stop. They make the truck launch hard and fast like lipos but the top speed is way down. I am geared for 40 mph on lipos. I suspect I have a top speed of 31 or 32 mph with those LiFe packs I got for my son's ERBE. I am very interested in LiFe packs for myself so I will probably shop around for a couple 3S packs in the spring, connected in series for a 6S set up, that should give me speeds and performance comparable to 5S lipo.

[David9301]

32 mph is fast enough for the area that I would be running. Although it would be nice to find a way for those 3s packs to fit. Thanks for the feedback.

[David9301]

do you think you could gear them to get the top speed without running into temp issues?

[mistercrash]

I can't say if the temps would get too high by gearing for higher speeds. I haven't tried it. Not my intention to try it either as I bought those packs to put in an ERBE that will be geared to go as slow as possible because my 5 year old son will drive it You would have to experiment different gearing options yourself and check the temps. I know LiFe packs are tougher than lipos, they can take quite a beating and still come out strong.

[David9301]

I feel you on that one. That's why I have a brushless rustler for when my 2 1/2 year old son or 4 year old daughter want to drive. For the cost of those packs there's no loss in trying.

[candy76man]

Hey Mistercrash, Are you still using the summit drive shafts?
If so, how are those holding up on 6s? On my stock drive shafts where the larger pin on the universal joint goes through the slider shaft, the holes in the slider get elongated (sometimes badly) after just a few hard runs and I'm wondering if I should forgo my 8mm stubs and try the summit shafts. They look like they may be more likely to just break rather than stretch like the stockers but how much force does it actually take to break them?

thanks!

[mistercrash]

The Summit shafts are less likely to break, or snap then the stockers from my own experience. But they wear out quickly, every part in them seems to wear out at the same rate so when it's time to rebuild them, it gets costly. more than $20 per shaft in parts to rebuild, compared to just over $10 for complete stockers. And Traxxas does not want to sell complete Summit shafts, they just sell them in separate parts. I still have Summits on my ERBE but they will soon need to be replaced. I will be running the stockers with the slipper a tad looser.

[mistercrash]

Not much to report, just that I replaced the stock screws that came with my Kershaw chassis. There are six screws that hold the top chassis plate, the two chassis towers and the bottom chassis plate together. The stock screws are not the best and they have a phillips drive which I didn't like. And they were too short as they only caught the lock nut by a few threads, not even reaching the nylon insert of the lock nut. I needed flathead screws that are 55 mm long with a hex drive. I didn't find any. The only ones I found were 70 mm long so I just made more threads on them and cut them to the right length.
On the left is the stock screw (the tip is stripped already)
In the middle is the 70 mm screw
On the right is the modified screw with new threads and cut to 55 mm long.



Now I can really put some torque on those screws and have the chassis parts sandwiched tightly against each other.

[mistercrash]

The ESC wire coming out from the back was fine on the stock ERBE chassis with the receiver box on the other side of the motor but now my box is in the front on the same side of the chassis as the ESC so I re routed the wire so it comes out the front of the ESC to go to the receiver box. It just looks a bit cleaner that way. The excess on/off switch wire is placed in a piece of heat shrink and tucked away.



When I finally get my CF sheet to make a new bottom plate, the front battery strap will be placed 10 mm more to the front so the total space I will have for batteries will be 175 mm long by 52 mm wide by 43 mm high.

[mistercrash]

Remember GERBE? Gabriel's ERBE? It is pretty much done right now. I'm at the last stage of the build. It is ready to run right now with a Futaba 2PL 2.4GHz FHSS Radio. I am waiting on the body that will need to be painted and I need to get some sticky vynil sheets to print the decals for the wheels. I built this GERBE with all the same little mods and subtleties that my own ERBE has. That kid is spoiled rotten

[mistercrash]

The carbon fiber plate came in yesterday morning so I started working on duplicating the Kershaw Design bottom chassis plate. I finished this morning and here's the result. I made some changes from the Kershaw bottom plate. A bit more material here and there especially where holes are drilled and counter sunk for screws, I moved the front battery strap 8 mm forward to allow for slightly longer batteries and I didn't make holes for Nimh cells. Even though it has a whole lot more material and is thicker than the stock aluminum plate (3 mm versus 2.2 mm), it is only 10 grams heavier.

[V0RT3X]

I like your heatshrink on the MMM motor connectors (almost smoked my V2 when the neg. bullet came off and touched one of the motor bullets on 6S)

Did you just open the case and add the heatshrink? Are there any warranty stickers so CC knows if you opened it?

[mistercrash]

I put those heat shrink on there even though I'm not sure if it's necessary. If you say that you had issues with the motor connectors in the past then maybe it was a good idea. The idea is not mine by the way. Yes I opened the MMM case, I had to cut the Castle Creations sticker to do so. I put some heat shrink on the connectors and was very careful not to put too much heat as to not damage anything on the circuit board. I really don't think that opening the case voids the warranty.

[mistercrash]

Something I never mentioned about the placement of the batteries, the stock ERBE chassis has the bottom of the battery around 32 mm below the top surface of the chassis with them tilting up a bit towards the battery doors. The Kershaw chassis places the batteries 45 mm below the top surface of the chassis and they lye flat. That is a very big change in the center of gravity right there.

[Notin_but_aRevo]

very nice work on the cf chassis plate. i like all your mod's and you defiantly have one of the most custom & strongest looking e-revo's ive ever seen ...

[Tiernan85]

Originally Posted by mistercrash

I really don't think that opening the case voids the warranty.

yea, doesn't the case need to be opened to change the fan?

[mistercrash]

Yes it has to be opened and CC even explains how to do it so I'm sure it does not void the warranty.

[RcPocketRocket]

Originally Posted by mistercrash

Yes it has to be opened and CC even explains how to do it so I'm sure it does not void the warranty.

No it does not void the warranty. I asked joe ford when I was having esc problems if I could take it apart without voiding my warranty and he said no problem. I did not see anything that looked wrong but the bec just quit. They replaced it no problem.

[Kipper]

I had a nasty flip a few weeks back, and would like to prevent it in the future, but don't know of any alternatives. I was bashing in the parking lot at my work. It has a few grassy dips that work great for jumps. Well, one time I flew out of a dip, flipped the ERB and it landed square on its top. It broke the rear body mount... I was thinking at first that was all that broke. But, as I tore into the truck to replace the parts, I discovered both rear bulks were broke, the center skid plate broke at the rear mount, and even three "HARDENED" steel pivot pins succumbed. I was thinking it would be nice if somebody would make aluminum replacement bulkheads. I have read on other threads that some people think aluminum is more detrimental than plastic, but I feel it may be the lesser of two evils.
Your opinions would be greatly appreciated.


I know... Don't flip the truck on its top!

[mistercrash]

I would say that there are no hop up parts that would help when you have an impact that is big enough to break as many parts as it did on your truck. It was a bad landing, that's all. Replace with stock parts and keep on bashing.

A little 5S fun in the snow.

- Bashing through the snow
- With a brushless ERevo

I ran until my fingers couldn't take the cold anymore. And plastic doesn't like the cold. I cracked a front bulkhead. It's just a tiny crack so I'll leave it for now. It's fun to bash in the snow but it freaked me out to see the truck when I took the body off. Especially since I didn't do anything to water proof. I should at least use some love balloons over the lipos.

[PIR3lly]

Yeah, there's a lot of snow getting under there.
I tried driving in snow today, but as I saw snow coming closer and closer to the esc, I stopped.

I'm gonna try that liquid tape stuff soon, because I like to keep it working.

[candy76man]

Originally Posted by Kipper

I had a nasty flip a few weeks back, and would like to prevent it in the future, but don't know of any alternatives. I was bashing in the parking lot at my work. It has a few grassy dips that work great for jumps. Well, one time I flew out of a dip, flipped the ERB and it landed square on its top. It broke the rear body mount... I was thinking at first that was all that broke. But, as I tore into the truck to replace the parts, I discovered both rear bulks were broke, the center skid plate broke at the rear mount, and even three "HARDENED" steel pivot pins succumbed. I was thinking it would be nice if somebody would make aluminum replacement bulkheads. I have read on other threads that some people think aluminum is more detrimental than plastic, but I feel it may be the lesser of two evils.
Your opinions would be greatly appreciated.


I know... Don't flip the truck on its top!

I think the revo bulkheads would be difficult and costly to machine out of aluminum and that is probably the main reason no one has done it yet, and cast aluminum probably wouldn't even hold up as well as the stock composite bulks.

[mistercrash]

I got a call from the hobby shop this morning, my bodies are in. They are both trimmed and I really like the way they fit. These Proline Ford F650 bodies are wide and long. I use extended rear arms on both ERBEs and the wheel wells almost align with the wheels. If I were to run the stock rear arms, the wheel wells would align perfectly with the wheels. In the pics, the body posts are at their lowest setting and I like how it looks. The body is so long that it almost fits over the stock bumpers so I removed them. I want something I can fabricate that will fit inside the front grill and the rear bumper of the body to give it some support in case of impact with a tree or something.
One shell will be metallic red and the other will be metallic blue. I will try this Alclad chrome for Lexan for the first time. I'll use it for the front and rear bumpers, the front grill and the rear tool box. The truck beds will be black and I want to have the windshield trim black. And I have some silver to back everything up. I hate to paint bodies but these two have to be as perfect as I can make them.
Here's a few pics of one of the unpainted bodies on my son's GERBE.

[rash_powder]

Mistercrash, would the Losi Smart Diff work for your center diff conversion? Would its "smart" action be of any benefit to the erbe?

If you or anyone knows if it fits, I may do the conversion with that unit.

Thanx,

matt

[rcmaniac]

I thought of using one, and the ring gears are exactly the same size, but i couldn't justify spending the 80.00 for the diff

[mistercrash]

Well not always but sometimes, the things I do are just plain stupid. I wanted to give this ESC waterproofing thing a try so I started coating the ESC board with this liquid electrical tape stuff. I was going well but once it dryed, it was not stuck that well on the board and I was thinking that if it gets unstuck a little bit along the heat sink for example, then there would be a place for water to get in and it would get trapped in there and never dry off. Plus I was not convinced that it was that water tight, especially behind the caps where it is a very tight spot and I couldn't positively verify that the stuff got in there to seal the whole board properly. So I ripped the whole thing off the board and started thinking of what else I could try. I had this tube of white silicon for outdoor windows and doors. I put a small tip on it to squeeze silicon in tight spots and started working on sealing the board. I thought white is great because I could really see where the silicon was going and really check that it was finding its way everywhere. It went well and once I was done, it looked like the board was completely sealed. Then I glanced at the tube and saw:

LATEX WATER BASED

I couldn't believe what I just did. I just coated everything with a water based paste So I thought to just let it dry and once the water is out then it'll be fine. Three days later, the thing is still not dry. I decided to clean this stuff off the board but how? I did something radical. I let the board soak in warm soapy water for 9/10 hours and that dissolved the latex based silicon and I was able to clean the residue with an old tooth brush. I got everything off, the board was really clean. Too clean! That protective coating from the factory was off also. So after cleaning everything to like new condition, drying it with compressed air and letting sit on a furnace register for two days, I plugged the board back on the truck with a couple Turnigys and flicked the switch on. The ESC was working like nothing happened

But I wanted to get a protective coating back on the board so Tremclad Urethane Clear Coat to the rescue. I used this stuff on many surfaces and it sticks to just about anything, dries quickly and is really though once dried. I gave the board three coats. I actually think that it is practically waterproof now but I'm too scared to dip the ESC in water to test it.

I am not going to try it, I don't want to come here again and write another lengthy post explaining how much of an idiot I am again
Water ''resistant'' is enough for me.

[candy76man]

Originally Posted by mistercrash

Well not always but sometimes, the things I do are just plain stupid. I wanted to give this ESC waterproofing thing a try so I started coating the ESC board with this liquid electrical tape stuff. I was going well but once it dryed, it was not stuck that well on the board and I was thinking that if it gets unstuck a little bit along the heat sink for example, then there would be a place for water to get in and it would get trapped in there and never dry off. Plus I was not convinced that it was that water tight, especially behind the caps where it is a very tight spot and I couldn't positively verify that the stuff got in there to seal the whole board properly. So I ripped the whole thing off the board and started thinking of what else I could try. I had this tube of white silicon for outdoor windows and doors. I put a small tip on it to squeeze silicon in tight spots and started working on sealing the board. I thought white is great because I could really see where the silicon was going and really check that it was finding its way everywhere. It went well and once I was done, it looked like the board was completely sealed. Then I glanced at the tube and saw:

LATEX WATER BASED

I couldn't believe what I just did. I just coated everything with a water based paste So I thought to just let it dry and once the water is out then it'll be fine. Three days later, the thing is still not dry. I decided to clean this stuff off the board but how? I did something radical. I let the board soak in warm soapy water for 9/10 hours and that dissolved the latex based silicon and I was able to clean the residue with an old tooth brush. I got everything off, the board was really clean. Too clean! That protective coating from the factory was off also. So after cleaning everything to like new condition, drying it with compressed air and letting sit on a furnace register for two days, I plugged the board back on the truck with a couple Turnigys and flicked the switch on. The ESC was working like nothing happened

But I wanted to get a protective coating back on the board so Tremclad Urethane Clear Coat to the rescue. I used this stuff on many surfaces and it sticks to just about anything, dries quickly and is really though once dried. I gave the board three coats. I actually think that it is practically waterproof now but I'm too scared to dip the ESC in water to test it.

I am not going to try it, I don't want to come here again and write another lengthy post explaining how much of an idiot I am again
Water ''resistant'' is enough for me.

I generally don't even run mine if the grass is damp, much less through standing water. Just makes a mess I have to clean up later, if it stays dry then a quick once over with the air gun on my compressor cleans it easily.