Wow, plastic front knuckles aren't exactly my first choice...That would be the first thing to go...

I've never heard of anyone designing chassis flex into their vehicles.
The last thing you need in any environment is chassis flex...
It sounds like you need either Alum F/R braces or the RCM Alum center brace
My first choice would be the RCM brace or BOth if the funds are available

Starscream, I personally thought the same thing, but with truggies and buggies, its a different story than most. I read it in RCCA when they did the article on Ronda Skelton (it was the "Inside Pro Rides" article they do in every issue). She has the Mugen MBX5T runs the plastic braces, just like the Xrays have, to allow flex.

Wow, thats a first for me :rules:
Check out this snipit from the XT8 description:
Extra-robust Braces
Extra-robust composite braces are keyed to the chassis, guaranteeing overall chassis stiffness but still being flexible enough to allow the car to generate sufficient grip and provide the desired steering characteristics.

Xray is really big into chassis flex. Check out there on-road cars, they are designed so that you can change the handling characteristics by adding or removing certain screws to add or take away chassis flex. It is really helpful if you are running a touring car with rubber tires on asphalt or carpet. With foams on carpet you want your car pretty stiff, but with rubber the chassis flex adds grip.

But why the chassis flex have bring a diff pinion for Dafni's truck????

That wasn't the reason it failed. There was a bad batch from Xray, and I guess that was one of them.

something interesting i found from Xray's forum (this is per Xray) for the XB8, but i'm sure the same applies for the XT8 too:

The XB8EC chassis is manufactured from premium Swiss 7075 T6 and is hardcoated on XRAY‘s own fully-automatic state-of-the-art robotic hardcoating line.

Some XB8EC drivers who were used to the XB8TQ may feel that the chassis is softer, but please note that the XB8EC chassis is not softer but rather it is more flexible due to the use of composite braces both front and rear. The XB8TQ included both composite and aluminum braces and experience has shown us that most customers installed the aluminum braces; this made the XB8TQ chassis flex less and in most racing conditions where a more flexible chassis was required the XB8TQ did not have sufficient traction. For this reason XRAY decided to include only the composite braces in the XB8EC kit, which can be used in most standard racing conditions as they provide more chassis flex, making the car easier to drive.

i also took the truggy as far as i can take it right now. the next step is to take it to Dan for the conversion. then, when i get the middle chassis plate from mike, i'll install that too. then i have to figure out what paint scheme i plan to go with.

the shot of the XT8 next to the Stealth is just to show scale, even though they both are 1/8 scale.

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL127.../291054267.jpg

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL127.../291054266.jpg

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL127.../291054265.jpg

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL127.../291054268.jpg

Wow, thats one big truggy. On the length difference, I think if you had the Stealth setup with a higher center ground clearance, that would reduce the length a fair bit probably.

Well, I figured I should get in on the action too, so here's some pics of my XT8. I posted some of them in the other thread too. I got mine on eBay and it had been raced three times. The guy put some nice hop ups on it as you'll see in the photos. It came with the black anodized aluminum front knuckles as well as the rear uprights, all the steering blocks have been replaced with the aluminum ones too. The front chassis brace is aluminum but the rear is plastic. The guy also made some nice CF mud guards that attach to the rear suspension arms. I also have the RC-Monster motor mount and chassis brace on it right now as well as the servo piece. I'm working on a revision to the mud guards so they're not on right now. Well, here it is:

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z...r13/XT8_01.jpg

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z...r13/XT8_02.jpg

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z...r13/XT8_03.jpg

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z...r13/XT8_06.jpg

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z...r13/XT8_07.jpg

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z...r13/XT8_05.jpg

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z...r13/XT8_04.jpg

wow, that's a nice truggy sower! looks like he (or you) added the nice captive hinge pin upgrade in front and back too. the black anno knucks and rear carriers is a nice touch - he must've had the anno done, as i've only seen them in the raw aluminum. and i've seen that mud guard mod in the Xray forum... it's a good idea, and the CF is another nice touch.

that RCM motor and servo mount is nice too! you'd swear it's stock - mike really added a nice touch by making them black anno with silver edges to match the rest of the truck.

looks great! :great:

damn that thing is sweet.

i should be getting all my parts in today or tomorow!

Thanks guys! The guy I got it from owns a hobby shop in Florida so I got the impression he did things "right". And yes, he had the knuckles and uprights annodized black.

And I can't say enough about the quality of Mike's parts. Not only do they look stock, but check out the added touch on the motor mount. On one side it has RC-Monster cut into it and on the other side it says XRAY. That attention to detail is incredible.

mike's stuff really is amazing. i'm big on aesthetics (i have an art degree) so that stuff really goes far in my book.

i spy a lehner back there... is that what you're running in the eXT8? what model is it?

Ha! That's pretty funny . . . yeah that's a Lehner all right. It's an old 1940/10 hi-amp that I fried in my CRT. Oh boy, that brings back some memories. I don't know why I keep it around. Here's the old thread detailing the death of that Lehner if you're interested:

http://www.rc-monster.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7223

My XT8 will have either a Neu 1515 3D or 1515 1.5Y on 6s. Or it might have the Monster Max motor if that thing ever materializes and is what they claim it to be. :whistle: