My e-revo brushless edition build

[sjcrss]

Hmm, I was thinking of getting one of these chassis, now I'm unsure....I'll have to see whhat you have to say about it MC....

[shaunjohnson]

mrcrash...
we were just beginning to assemble my friends KD chassis yesterday.

everything you said is 100% the same, even the grungy countersunks!!

because we run our motors on top of the tranny rather than on the E-revo mount, we wanna flip the tranny 180* so we are gonna need to mod it to work

[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 )