Xo1 rebuild

[blacky2kgt]

[/U]Hey Guys!!!! Has anyone done a total dis-assembly and re-build yet? I'm in the process of de-burring, stress-relieving, blue-printing, indexing, polishing, and balancing all moving parts of mine (where applicable) (with exception of the 1717 BB Castle Motor). Steve Neu with Castle got the armature balance very close.
I came to the conclusion today (after wrecking mine) I am going to take it out of service and not drive it for a while. (I'll let you know how that goes) LOL!
Man! If you can get past the bump-steer, torque-steer and static weight issues..........these cars have Lots of Potential. My hat's off to Traxxas Engineers for the AWESOME aerodynamic package and giving us that want to take the car further some great potential. My objective is to address the 0-50 handling characteristics, and make the car predictable,consistent, and even MORE FUN to drive!

I would ask that you don't pay too much attention to the way my car looks as I'm getting old, don't see too well, and actually only work on the appearance (mostly) when I am in 'thought mode' about my next mechanical improvement. Here is a link to a few pictures.

http://s1001.photobucket.com/albums/...Traxxas%20XO1/

I'ts a work in progress .......so please don't be too critical!!!

Love the Website and appreciate all of you guys posting up all the good info! I really appreciate the running videos, especially the 'slow motion' ones............keep 'em coming. THANKS AGAIN!!!

[BL-Bob]

Nice looking work, you even balanced and polished the 34t pinion along with your dual top strap, hex heads, drive shafts(5) and hub inserts.

My rotor was balanced until the balance paste fell off. I just CA glued it back into place and have been waiting months for a factory replacement. What tool/stand do you use to balance/check your rotating items with?

P.s. I don't think you polished the motor fins.

[FartOfDoom]

LOL you do see too well but yet your car is a beauty. Love the polish job on your xo... There's a few mods I've posted up to help with her driving characteristic

[ponie1992]

Any reason for using 2 braces?

[blacky2kgt]

[You are correct, I have not polished the motor fins yet but I have de-burred and polished the motor screws and end of armature shaft.

I use a Dubro Top Spin Prop Balancer http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXD712&P=ML for the tires and wheels, a Top Flite Power Point Precision Magnetic Balancer http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXHY61&P=ML for the gears and drive shaft. I will use a block of butternut wood with 2 single edge razor blades buried in it (home made) to do the CV-Shafts, transmission input shafts, and differentials.

NIFTEC makes a better quality balancer but it is pretty pricey and I do not think it is tall enough to do 1/7 scale tires and wheels http://www.niftech.com/pix/cat/balancer-and-arm.jpg . I have been told that someone is making an electronic balancer (for small applications) that works on the same principle as a full-scale automotive wheel balancer and sells for approx. $300 bucks. I have not been able to see one of these but if it’s true…….I’ll own one!
Have you had a lot of experience balancing things? What fixture or tool do you use, and how do you go about it?
QUOTE=BL-Bob;5263421]Nice looking work, you even balanced and polished the 34t pinion along with your dual top strap, hex heads, drive shafts(5) and hub inserts.

My rotor was balanced until the balance paste fell off. I just CA glued it back into place and have been waiting months for a factory replacement. What tool/stand do you use to balance/check your rotating items with?

P.s. I don't think you polished the motor fins.
[/QUOTE]

[blacky2kgt]

The 2 braces J.B. (John Buchanan) Welded together adds to the torsional stiffness of the chassis. This makes the whole platform (chassis) more rigid. Anytime you can remove variables from the equation the car becomes more predictable, consistent and easier to tune.[QUOTE=FartOfDoom;5263512]LOL you do see too well but yet your car is a beauty. Love the polish job on your xo... There's a few mods I've posted up to help with her driving characteristic[/QUOTE}Ponie1992 this is the response to your reply. I DO NOT KNOW HOW FartOfDoom's quote got in here.

[blacky2kgt]

LOL you do see too well but yet your car is a beauty. Love the polish job on your xo... There's a few mods I've posted up to help with her driving characteristic

Anything to do with suspension dynamics is right up my ally. Handling is a compromise you give up something to gain something. I'm always looking to learn more so I am very interested in anything you have that will help me get hooked-up. Do you use tire temps to dial in your camber or how do you go about that?

[AngryEVO8]

Wow, fantastic job how did you balance the car that well

[blacky2kgt]

Wow, fantastic job how did you balance the car that well

If you will look closely at the balance pin, there is a dark ring of ring of resistance where the rear mount screw head (for the #6457 Center Bearing Carrier for Driveshaft) rubs on the balance pin, so there is some error at this point in the static balance.

Actually my current CG (center of gravity) is approx. 2mm behind the rear mount screw I am using as the balance point and I have adjusted the ballast on the front of the car to offset this for now. I still have some weight to add to the car (i.e. GPS Module, motor fans, suspension shims,and things of that nature) so this is all preliminary (just a starting point). As it sits now the static balance is probably within 10g.or so of being balanced at 50/50 fore/ aft and 50/50 left/ right. I feel sure that will change as I figure out what the XO1 actually likes.

I am currently working on a set-up board (with good reference lines) for squaring up all the suspension pivot points. I will tear the car back down, square everything up, and scribe lines on the bottom of the chassis to indicate exact fore/aft and right/ left center locations once the board is complete. Once that’s done it will be time to do some track testing, (monitoring tire temps, using suspension travel indicators, adjusting the weight distribution, and steering characteristics to figure out what the XO1 actually needs to be more equally loaded under acceleration, braking, and cornering.

Once I figure out what percentage of weight the XO1 is transferring fore/ aft and laterally for my driving style and set-up, (everyone’s will be different) I will put the car on scales (at each corner), record the corner weights, re-calculate the percentages, and ideal weights, re-distribute the ballast I have added to more directly reflect what the XO1 needs. Then …….back to testing and adjusting steering characteristics (overall balance).

HANDLING IS A COMPROMISE – YOU GIVE UP SOMETHING TO GAIN SOMETHING!!! My biggest compromise here is that my car is heavier than stock and requires more horsepower to get it moving. I have done everything I can (with exception of reducing the rotating mass) to free up as much horsepower as possible to help compensate for the additional weight I have added.

Having the car more predictable and consistent makes it more fun to drive! I think a little additional weight is a worth while trade-off. What do you think?

After all that, I didn’t even answer your question. If you want detail on how to achieve static balance…… send me a PM

[TheStenchOfSpeed]

From what I've seen, this car likes additional weight. The tires are pretty hard so a little extra pressure just makes them work better. And at speed it's more stable.

[blacky2kgt]

[IMG][/IMG]You are correct. The cars need additional weight in front and on the left side of center.

[BL-Bob]

^Your tire wear marks are worn off already. That was a short shelf life.

[blacky2kgt]

You are very observant and have a good memory!
I wish you were right about the shelf life but it's an older picture BL-Bob, I'm still dead in the water.

I actually use tire temps. these days. The tire wear marks have just been a habit for so long it's just second nature to paint them on, and they do still give you an early indication of a problem before your tires are worn down too far.