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This February has been the snowiest on record, so we have plenty of material to work with.

February 2019 is now the snowiest February on record for the Twin Cities, and there is still 8 days to go! In the second picture, some of our meteorologists posed for a picture during the storm this morning as the record was being broken. #snow #minnesota #mnwx pic.twitter.com/cXtwSXiq9z

— NWS Twin Cities (@NWSTwinCities) February 20, 2019

I had a track layout in mind… a simple figure-8 with a jump at the crossover point. The jumps are the two that came with a Ten Eighty 1080 Flybox Ramp combo. I just put them side-by-side before it snowed. You could also dig out a space for jumps and cover them in snow, or simply build a snow jump. I can’t speak highly enough of these 1080 jumps – especially if you can find them used through craigslist or a garage sale. They’ve provided hours of jumping fun.

To help design the track, I marked off some critical points with plant potters or buckets to give me a reference even with 30+ inches of snow. Then I went and shoveled out the lanes, putting most of the snow on the outside of the lane.

The lanes aren’t the standard 8-10 feet you’d see at a sanctioned RC race – they average about 6 feet instead.

I originally shoveled several “hard edges” – walls of snow that met the driving lane at a 90 degree angle.

While this seemed like a good idea during design, testing revealed that your RC was likely to get stuck hitting the wall. It required more driver skill than me or my kids would tolerate while our fingers were freezing, so I instead made all of the track edges ramps.

I took a page out of the mountain biker book and used a set of snowshoes to tamp down the fluffy snow into a hardpack – doing a “snowshoe stomp.” This helps especially on the deep-snow sections that will get a lot of traffic – like the jump and the ramped edges that are on off-camber sections.

To make sure it was usable, I brought out a 2wd Monster Snow Slash to test. I purposely started with the battery at a storage charge (50%) to make sure the track was usable at slightly slower speeds. I’d turn some laps, make some mental notes, make some changes, then repeat.

The ramped edges gives the track a fun luge-like feeling. You can ride the edge to help turn and maintain speed.

To the right is a patio made of pavers. I shoveled all the snow off, so it just has the layer of ice that came before the snow. It makes for an interesting slippery surface, sort of like the tiled corner that was part of the 2014 IFMAR worlds track at Naxos:

The patio section and the jump were smooth enough for my daughter to drive her LaTrax Prerunner on, so she joined me for a race. She would just do the jump and take a hard right going back to the patio because it is the smoothest section of the course – best suited for her Prerunner.

A few days after that run we got eight more inches of snow. I took the opportunity to really ramp up the edges of the track

Now it’s like a winter version of the track at Radiator Springs.

Maybe I should add a balanced rock, or art deco wing made of snow to the middle for authenticity

Have you built a backyard track or have any interesting ideas you’d like to see? Drop a comment below and share.

The post Off-Road RC Snow Track appeared first on Meatball Racing.

The idea came while researching tire and wheel sizes for the Prerunner. I wanted to find out if my daughter could drive her truck at Dollar Hobbyz Raceway on a practice day. To keep their carpet nice they have a strict “no knobby tire” rule. So I looked for some touring car tires that are approximately the same size as the stock Prerunner tires.

Turns out the LaTrax tires are exactly the same size as normal 1/10th scale touring car wheels and tires. Then it came to me… if touring car wheels & tires fit, so will drift tires – which means Kitchen Drift can become a reality. So I picked up a set of Integy drift wheels/tires for $20 at my local hobby shop and mounted them up.

It looks a little like an SUV rollin’ on dubs.

On half speed, it drifts well on the kitchen linoleum. With the tires providing very little grip, bumps into the fridge and oven aren’t going to do any damage to the car or the appliances

I haven’t tried full speed yet because it gets a good enough slide for this small space. Full speed would be great if you have a large room, like a concrete basement floor.

Start working on those drifting skills, maybe you could be the star driver in a Super Bowl commercial

The post LaTrax Prerunner Drift appeared first on Meatball Racing.

Parts:

• RPM Rustler Wide Front Bumper 81162
• Traxxas Rally Foam 7436
• M4 Tapered Head Screw Insert (3D printed)
• (2) 4x14mm Button Head Screws
• (2) 4x35mm Tapered Head Screws
• (2) 4mm Fender Washers
• (2) 4mm Lock Nuts

Tools:

• 4mm drill bit

Pre-built Solution

Before I built a bumper, I had originally looked at this out-of-the-box foam bumper from Integy:

However it extends 92mm (more than 3 1/2 inches) beyond the front of the gray chassis tub. This might be fine for a long-nose speed run body, but not for a short-overhang rally body.

Custom Solution

Making my own bumper out of the RPM Rustler bumper wound up being cheaper and it also fit better because I could customize the dimensions.

Installation of the RPM bumper itself is simple – just install it upside down.  Because the RPM bumper is made to use the stock counter-sunk screws, I designed and 3D printed some M4 tapered head screw inserts. Installing them should take some of the strain off of the bumper when you tighten it down.

All of the hardware I used I got at the hardware store. I’ve found Ace and my local Do-It-Best has a better metric selection than the big-box home improvement stores.

Use 4x14mm button head screws (something slightly longer than stock) that will sit flat on the bumper plastic. Because the Slash has 4 bumper screws and the Rustler has 2, you have a couple of mounting options, depending on how far forward you want the bumper to extend.

There are two indentations on the RPM Rustler bumper that make for perfect counter-sunk M4 screw holes. Just drill them out with a 4mm drill bit. Metric drill bits seem to be easier to find at US hardware stores these days. If you can’t find one, a 5/32″ will probably work.

Put your body on and test fit how much overhang you want your bumper foam to have. You can mark the foam with a paint pen through the bumper holes. I wanted mine flush up against the chassis.

With the foam holes marked, drill them out. I simply did mine while holding the foam in place against the chassis and bumper.

Fasten it all up by putting two 4x35mm tapered head screws through the bottom.

Add washers and 4mm nylock nuts on top.

Now I’m ready to rally!

More information on this complete rally build is coming up. Are you doing something similar? If you’re interested in a set of those M4 counter-sunk screw inserts and don’t have access to a 3D printer, comment below and I can print and send you a pair.

The post Slash 2wd Rally / On-Road Bumper appeared first on Meatball Racing.

Well… it turns out that the Mashers by themselves aren’t great in the cold:

I should have seen this video before I purchased, but I hadn’t

Other Setups

I’ve also tried a Pro-Line Sling Shot paddle tire and Mohawk ribbed tire setup. They’re good on densely packed snow but anything deep or fluffy and you’ll just dig in and get stuck.

A Usable Setup

While indeed the Mashers by themselves perform pretty poor (traction wise) in the cold, they make a decent front tire on a 2wd vehicle in snow. And if you continue to watch that 2nd RC Sparks video, Medic constructs some snow chains for his tires.

Too Long; Didn’t Read? Here’s what I arrived at:

Trenchers in back with chains, Mashers in front facing the “normal way.”

This set up works great for two 2wd Slashes. If you’re going to buy just one type of tire for one vehicle, go with the Trenchers. They are all-around great and you can add chains for the snow. This would probably also work great on a 4wd Slash with chains all-around.

2.8″ Trencher Tires with Chains

To make tire chains for the 2.8″ Pro-Line Trencher tires, I went to the hardware store and purchased 8 feet of #12 single-jack chain. It was $1.39/ft. so about $12 to cover 2 tires. Double the length and cost if you’re doing 4. The only tools I used were a needle nose pliers, a side-cutter, and a clamp.

To start the build I constructed the ring chain. I wanted it to sit a little inside the sidewall lettering. To make it easy I found a can from the pantry that matched the size I wanted. I put it in the middle of the tire and draped the chain around it. I opened the link at the size I wanted and kept it open – this will be how the chains are hooked on and off. In total I made 4 ring chains to cover the inside and outside of the two rear tires:

To measure and construct the cross chains that go across the tread, I needed a clever way to hold the ring chains in place. I got another can of the same size, added both ring chains, and clamped it all together.

Once clamped, I just needed to construct one cross chain length to go across the tread. Then I could make several other lengths to match. On the Trencher I found there was a nice open slot to weave the cross chain through. Also when you’re choosing your chain size, bring your tire to the hardware store. You can see in the top of this picture that the chain does not need to stick out very far above tread surface to be effective.

To space out the cross chains evenly, I used the Trencher’s tread pattern as a guide. There are 14 of the thin blocks (on each side). You can see the chain going below (on the left) and above them (on the right). I added a cross chain to every other thin block, giving 7 cross chains per tire.

I fit them up on the tire, not paying too much attention to the cross chain connection points on ring chain. Once I had all of the cross chain sections hooked on the ring chain, I removed the chains from the tire by unhooking just the ring chains.

With the cross chains attached and the ring chains unhooked, you can lay it out flat like a ladder and adjust how the cross chains are spaced out:

Since each link on this single-jack chain is like a figure-8, I counted each loop as one space. In my example the cross chains were ultimately spaced out with this pattern: 6, 5, 6, 5, 6, 5, (5). The last “5” in parentheses represents the spacing between the last cross chain and the first (where the ring chain hooks together). You can see the spacing in the above photo.

Once you like where they’re at, install the chains back on the tires and crimp the cross chain links closed with a needle nose pliers. Only leave one open link on each ring chain so you can remove them.

Then install on your vehicle, check for clearance, and go test it out!

Results

Here’s how it looks, ready to rumble:

The chains offered paddle-like traction without the extreme propensity for digging like the Sling Shots do. 2.8″ Sand Paws probably provide even better traction, but I have the versatility of being able to remove the chains and use the Trenchers on normal surfaces.

The big 2.8″ tires also give some extra ground clearance that the Sling Shots don’t have. And the extra width makes the tires float over the snow more than dig through it – they will still dig, but at a slower rate.

The chains get a little wiley on hard surfaces – much like a drift car. Plus you’ll be wearing your chains down. Better to stick to the soft stuff when the chains are on.

Clean Up

The Slash chassis can really act like a snow collection tub. With the body raised up to accommodate the big tires, it gets even worse:

I always blast out any snow with an air compressor in the garage where I can get the snow out before melting and make a mess without worry.

The amount of snow was getting ridiculous so we got some OuterWears chassis covers. Even though the electronics are advertised as waterproof, it gives a little extra insurance. Plus it makes clean-up a heck of a lot easier:

Now we can get out in the elements and have a lot more fun with a lot less frustration!

The post Snow Slash 2wd appeared first on Meatball Racing.

And I used an extra-fine white Sharpie paint pen on my 1/10 scale vintage trans-am (VTA) pre-glued Protoform tires (front and rear). Using some patience and a toothpick I was able to get OK (but not great) results.

The goal was simple, color the raised logo sections on the tire. The execution was more difficult than it seems because the logos are barely raised from the sidewall. What happened was paint often running off the logo onto the sidewall.

The best solution I found was to keep going! Leave any paint that you want to remove from the sidewall to dry for a minute while you’re continuing to paint. Then take a toothpick and scrape off the dried paint you don’t want.

If you want the stuff to stay-put you’ll want to seal it up. All the guys at my local track glue the sidewalls to avoid excessive traction rolling, so I suggest doing the same for both performance and retention of your newly painted lettering.

I use TLR tire glue. It’s a clear CA glue that dries flexibly. Other tire-specific CA glues are black in color and won’t let the white shine through.

So it doesn’t take several hours to dry, use some CA kicker. Don’t spray it directly on the glue or it will turn white. Instead spray a quick spritz into a cup, and then cover the tire with the cup. I use a collapsible camping cup that I got at walmart. It was super cheap and folds down to put into my tool box.

I tried using this sharpie paint pen for another project but it didn’t work as nicely as it did brand new. If anyone has any tips for cleaning or storing these sharpies so they last longer, let me know in the comments!

The post White Lettering on RC Tires appeared first on Meatball Racing.