Proline split six beadlocks on a diet...

[rag6]

Just picked a set of cf beadlock rings from rccarbonworks.com



The owner of the company comes to my track every Sunday. I did not know who he was, but for the last 3 weeks, he has been taking interest in my slice chassis taking peeks. I picked up 2 sets (4) rings for $20. They are $15 a pair on the website. A friend of his told me he can custom make just about anything (slice chassis pieces?)!!! I looked at everything he brought with him, and all of his stuff is quality.

I hate beadlocks for racing... they are just too darn heavy. I hate removing glued tires even more. I picked up a set of P-L split six beadlocks to try. They were heavy, real heavy compared to the protrac rims I was using. 4 of the cf rings weigh ½ of 1 proline steel beadlock (put 4 of those in your hand and they just feel PIG). I gained a couple of tenths/lap (60+lap race) over the P-L rings. My laps were back down to where they were with the protrac rims. The new beadlock combo still feels a little heavier in my hand, but just a little. I am guessing I saved 2-3 oz in unsprung weight over the steel beadlocks. Will have to get them on a scale. It is so nice to just unbolt your tires, and bolt up a new set. If this works out, and I am just as competitive with them, I am done gluing SC tires...

I would def recommend these for racing, especially if you race often, and burn through tires. Bashers, just keep using the stock rings...

[kwitty]

I'm glad to hear that they hold up to your endurance runs. I have a set I have not had a chance to try yet but was aware that they are on the heavy side. I know there are replacement aluminum rings too but those you have look sweeeeeet!
Besides that RC Carbon Works .com would look good as a sponsor on your car!

[rag6]

I weighed the proline beadlocks and the RcCarbonWorks CF's tonight at the track...

4 Proline= 70.9g
4 CF's...= 18g

Just under 2 oz difference on unsprung weight... HUGE

[SR-71]

Rag6, thank you for posting this information. I have a set of PL split six beadlocks that I have been wanting to put on a diet. These are exactly what I need. I'm big on saving weight wherever possible on my Slash. There are many ways to cut weight while maintaining strength and this will be a welcome addition.

[rag6]

I want to check into lightening the rims. I just bought anoter pair that had th AE Pin hubs by accident. Im gonna go to town on them and see what I can do...

[rag6]

Well, I tried to sell the AE pin style rims at the track, but everyone uses the hex setup.


I went and started lightening them:


I still need to clean up the holes when I get my borrowed dremel back, but made the holes with an old body reamer. Took about 10 min per rim.

I can def feel a difference in my hands, but will have to wait till I get to the track to get an actual weight:

[kwitty]

Swiss Cheese Split Sixes looks like you took out at least 1/3 material!

[rag6]

I am hoping to save 1.5 oz per wheel. Just switching out the red bead rings with cf saved .5 oz. If I can loose a total of a ¼ lb on the truck I will be happy. If I can get them down to the weight of a glued wheel/tire I will be very happy.

I am also curious to see if the lightened wheel will loose its shape or distort in any way next time at the track. I will do 2 lightened ones in the rear(those see the most forces) in case something gets bent. I dont want to ruin an $18 pair of rims if I dont have to.

[pavmentsurfer]

You could use titanium screws to no? Not sure what that would add up to but it would help.

[rag6]

Yup. I dont know what the stockers are made of. I will e-mail proline. I should get some of my traxxas screws together for a weight comparison when I get to the track. I need to find where to source ti-screws for them.

EDIT:
Proline site says they are stainless. How much lighter is ti? If I am only gonna save 4 grams on screws, I dont think its worth it.

[rag6]

Ok, looking around and it seems that these screws are going for $.75+ a piece. Anyone know where I could get them for under $10 for 24?

[O.G.]

How does unsprung weight compare to sprung weight? I mean, how does reducing 2 oz of unsprung weight compare with reducing the same amount of sprung weight. I assume unsprung means parts of the truck that isn't weighing down the suspension.

[rag6]

Well, in the rear on a 2wd, it affects driveline loads, runtime, acceleration. in both front and rear, imagine boxing, then imagine it with a couple weights tied to your wrists. Your arms getting tired quicker would simulate higher driveline load, faster battery depletion, and motor heat. your slower punches thrown would simulate how the suspension would be slower to react, and slower less responsive steering. Now stick those 2 lbs to your chest, and you will prob not notice any difference during the fight. As mentioned in another thread some trucks work better with more weight. Removing weight from the outside corners to the inside near the cog, can be two fold. You can get a better handling truck that weighs the same.
The boxing example may not be the best, but I hope it gives you an idea.

[kwitty]

Interesting analogy on the boxing reference. Also I would think since this weight is at the end of the axle it is even more relevant to the effect it has on the load of the shocks. Shock oils could likely be thinned and springs changed to a 'lighter' coil?
You sure are squeaking out as much as possible Rag, sounds like you are on the cutting edge to breaking through with even faster lap times and turning more heads at the track with that Slice chassis

So are ceramic bearings lighter than steel bearings? Axle weights, bearing carriers, caster blocks right down to the nut at the end of the axle all become important with weight control as do the weight of the tires themselves. Do you shave down new tires or do you already have them scrubbed down to race with?

Cool stuff you have going on there sir!

[O.G.]

So with less weight on the wheel you should spool up to speed faster with better acceleration.

[rag6]

Interesting analogy on the boxing reference. Also I would think since this weight is at the end of the axle it is even more relevant to the effect it has on the load of the shocks. Shock oils could likely be thinned and springs changed to a 'lighter' coil?
You sure are squeaking out as much as possible Rag, sounds like you are on the cutting edge to breaking through with even faster lap times and turning more heads at the track with that Slice chassis

So are ceramic bearings lighter than steel bearings? Axle weights, bearing carriers, caster blocks right down to the nut at the end of the axle all become important with weight control as do the weight of the tires themselves. Do you shave down new tires or do you already have them scrubbed down to race with?

Cool stuff you have going on there sir!

Well, in this case, its not about reducing the overall weight of the truck. I am going through m2 calibers pretty quick on the carpet oval. Picked up the beadlocks to save the cost of rims (I hate acetone and baking the tires off!) every 3-4 weeks when I change 2 of my tires(move the rears to the front that are 3/4 worn and put new tires on back. I also run 2 different offsets as the late model body is wider in the front. It takes about 3-4 packs to get the new rear tires worn just right, and the fronts work great when they are almost bald.). The beadlocks feel 2x as heavy, maybe more, than normal glued rims. I noticed a drop in lap times, about 2/10ths of a second with the heavier rims. On a 4.4 sec/lap, 60-65 lap race that adds up. I am just trying to get most of that extra weight trimmed back. Dropping about 2 oz off the rims with the graphite bead locks got my lap times back down, but the rims still feel very heavy. Now the swiss cheese rims feel closer, but still heavier than normal rims. I am not doing anything special. Just spending some time hacking some plastic with an old body reamer. I could not race today, so did not get to weigh them.

I have seen some posts about these rims not holding the tires on under heavy power. On proline's site they mention an improved lock design. My rims have little spikes on the backside of the tire bead. You can see them here:

On these rims that are popping the bead, do they have the spikes? I have never seen the "unimproved" rims, so if you have them, post a pic up. I have been hammering on these, and they are holding the tires on fine.

[rag6]

I know there are replacement aluminum rings too...

Just seen this. When I weighed the cf rings, another racer brought up a set of green alum rings and 4 of them weighed 30g.
So,
CF=18g
alum=30g
P-L=71g

[kwitty]

Just seen this. When I weighed the cf rings, another racer brought up a set of green alum rings and 4 of them weighed 30g.
So,
CF=18g
alum=30g
P-L=71g

So now you can drill holes in your CF rings LOL and be ultra ultra light! Wow that is an amazing difference!

[rag6]

Ok, finally got to weigh the final product.

Now my drilling and jangifying took off over 20grams per wheel.
The rc carbon works rings took off 53 grams for all 4.

So, by using the cf rings (-53 grams), and my hacking the rims with the body reamer(-81g) I saved over 134 grams off of the split six beadlocks! its around 4.85 ounces and makes a ton of difference in handling and corner speed.
Each individual tire/rim combo now weighs 112g.

If anyone has a new caliber tire, and proline rim they could weigh for me I would really appreciate it. I would like to see how close I got to normal rims/tires weight. I dont have any of the regular rims anymore.

These have performed flawlessly, never popped a bead, and have held their shape(after lightening). They spin as true now as when I bought them.

Next I want to try to bolt on some monster jam tires to these rims for the pede 4x4 I will get soon... Should look pretty sweet!

[O.G.]

What's the cost difference between aluminum rings and the cf rings?

They look pretty similar in weight.

[mrhammer2u]

Dang Rag6! Glad you brought these to my attention,..however looks like everyone else has the same idea too as they are OUT OF STOCK

[Wolfslash16]

Try http://www.rcplanet.com/ They have almost every kind of wheel, tire, and beadlock in stock!

[rag6]

axial makes the alum ones. A guy at the track had them, so not sure on price... he said they do bolt up to the proline wheels.

I payed $20 for 4 cf rings.
RcCarbonworks owner is at my track often, and gives discounts to local racers. They prob are more on the site than what I payed locally.
Let me look up a price for the axial. (only)12 grams is the difference in total weight for all 4 corners, so the alum may be the cost effective way to go. CF looks really sweet though!

[rag6]

Rccarbonworks are $15 a pair,
axial range from $15-$27 a pair. May as well go with the cf.

Just to remind everyone, even with my mods, the beadlocks are still heavier than a stock 1 piece wheel. How much, I do not know, but I can feel a small difference in my hands. This will affect your handling a little...

[kwitty]

Why not run narrower rims and tires on the inside, get some skinny lightweights or lighten up some swing arms, they are plenty beefy to go round and round? Bet there is bulk to remove safely there.
How heavy is your servo compared to others ?.
C'mon man find the speed!
When I show up at your track you better have the 'checkered' in your hand LOL !

[mrhammer2u]

I meant the carbon rings Wolf,..they were sold out. Just checked again,...back in stock!!! cha-ching!

[rag6]

Oh kwitty, you have no idea whats in store for this truck. I am going to remove about another 3-6 oz off of the truck... at least 30% of the bottom chassis plate will be gone, and at least 10% of the side rails will be routed out.

[scootroc]

Rag6,
What about wheel balance? Any issues?

[trashyrich]

Dang, I havent read thru the whole thread, I will . I just bought a bunch of PL bead locs. Looks like I will be giving this guy some business.
Thanks for the heads up.

[trashyrich]

I cant find the bead locs on his website. HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[scootroc]

Sending you a pm.

[trashyrich]

Thanks scootroc.

[rag6]

Rag6,
What about wheel balance? Any issues?

Being that my hole reaming was done by hand, I needed to use a small ammt of losi balancing clay, but I used very little on the rear rims, less than a 1/2 oz total. If just bashing you will prob not need any.

[adamargue91]

If u could get some slice pieces made in cf that would be awesome!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using Tapatalk 2

[reod12x2]

Yup. I dont know what the stockers are made of. I will e-mail proline. I should get some of my traxxas screws together for a weight comparison when I get to the track. I need to find where to source ti-screws for them.

EDIT:
Proline site says they are stainless. How much lighter is ti? If I am only gonna save 4 grams on screws, I dont think its worth it.

material's
ti half as dense of steel
aluminum 2/3 less dense then steel

[billy-bones]

I worry enough about taking weight off my GM powered mustang,only got it in the 7.36,or 7's once,and blew a $23,000 engine doing it.
oh well,that engine lasted two seasons.Blew one on the third run,but it was a ford motor,guess i had it coming.[IMG][IMG]http://i1326.photobucket.com/albums/u645/billybones2/carlin015.jpg

[billy-bones]

[IMG][/IMG]wops there it is

[billy-bones]

[IMG][/IMG]this is the ford engine

[rag6]

Sure is purty. Need to fit a 302 Chevy in my slash ...

[Electrocutioneer]

[IMG][/IMG]wops there it is

nice car. must be a handfull running low 7s on those tires. What ya run for motor in it now. like the color