S-Tuned R/C
To Tweak Or Not To Tweak... (1 of 2)
Probably the single biggest issue to divide SD owners is chassis tweak. The car is undeniably prone to tweaking in its standard double-deck chassis form, and it can be hard to spot and rectify when it happens. Here’s a quick guide to getting that chassis straight.
First off, a basic description of tweak. In this instance, we’re looking at a twist or misalignment in the chassis, and incorrect settings on the suspension. It’s effect is to make the car handle inconsistently - it may track poorly (not run in a straight line), or understeer/spin out when turning a certain direction.
De-Tweaking the SD
1. Remove the carbon-fibre centre stiffener and aluminium posts from the chassis. It doesn’t help.
2. Slacken off ALL the screws that go into the lower chassis and top deck by half a turn or so, twist and wiggle the chassis around a bit, then retighten the screws into the lower chassis in a “star” pattern. This will help to relieve some of the stresses in the chassis, as some components may have been tightened in a way that holds the chassis slightly out of shape.
3. Place the chassis on two 100% true blocks on a totally flat surface, one block towards the front of the chassis, one towards the rear, as shown below. I use the handles from 2 Associated allen drivers, the flat surface is my kitchen worktop. The chassis should sit squarely on both blocks, without rocking if you push on it. If it doesn’t, manually twist the chassis
to get it straight. Once the chassis is straight, retighten the top deck screws in a “star” pattern. NOTE: I have found that simply placing the chassis on the flat surface is not good enough, sometimes a chassis tightened on the flat surface will still show a tweak on the blocks.
