Hop-Up for Better Handling
Words: Greg Vogel
The Traxxas Slash is, of course, credited with the launch of the popular short course market. The truck brought the fun and excitement of a short course truck to RC drivers of all calibers. The draw was realistic looks on and off the track. With its high center of gravity, the truck would have lots of body roll in the corners that looked awesome, especially when it was kicking up loose dirt. But that handling trait that everyone once loved is now a hindrance when you’re going head to head racing or bashing with your buddies. Traxxas, who is always tweaking their platforms to give drivers a better experience, turned their attention to the 2WD Slash and came up with a low CG conversion kit that will take the fun, and sometimes tipsy, Slash down to a racing stance and ready to lower anyone’s lap times.
VITAL STATS
MANUFACTURER: Traxxas
WHAT IS IT: Low-CG Chassis Conversion
WHAT DOES IT DO: Replaces the main chassis while lowering the vehicles center of gravity
PART NUMBER: 5830
PRICE: $39.00
INCLUDES: Chassis, lower chassis, nerf bars (2), battery hold-down, front and rear battery hold-down retainers, front shock springs, complete installation hardware set
REQUIRES: 2mm and 2.5mm hex driver
BUILD: Easy
TIME TO ASSEMBLE: 45 minutes
THE GOODS
The chassis kit comes with everything you need to drop the CG of your 2WD to the next level of performance. A blue chassis, black nose plate, some springs and a battery mount assembly, along with an instruction sheet, are all bagged up and easy to find on your LHS shelf. The plastic components are also available separately in several colors: black, blue and grey. The chassis is made of the same strong composite plastic as the original plate with a low center tunnel for the battery to sit, and slightly angled side pods for the electronics to sit in without the chassis scrubbing in the corners. The servo, however, sits under a raised nose section for a lower CG. The stock steering is transferred to the new nose plate, and the separate front plate is an interesting set up that allows the steering and front end to remain together when the front is removed for service. Also included with the kit is any hardware you’ll need for the swap, with battery foam blocks and front springs that work better with the chassis’ new handling characteristics. Beyond the parts we mentioned, there is also a battery strap along with the front and rear mounts.
THE WORKS
Installation of the chassis is fairly simple, as long as you have a good set of Allen drivers for the dis-assembly of the stock chassis and reassembly of the new chassis. To make things go a little smoother, start with removing the rear clip, unscrewing the front of the tower from the chassis and then removing all the screws retaining the gearbox to the chassis. With a few wires removed, you can transfer the rear clip from the stock Slash to the new Low-CG Chassis. Up front, there is a little more work involved. You’ll need to remove the front clip assembly and then most likely turn your attention to the servo that needs to be transferred to its new location on the new plate. This should be done first, as its access will be covered later. Once the servo is in place, go back to the front clip and lower skid to gain access to the steering cranks and transfer them to the new lower plate, making certain to adjust the steering to the servo link in the process. Now you can attach the rest of the front assembly to the new chassis plate mounts. The truck is almost back to normal. Install the new nerf guards and battery mount hardware and then transfer your electronics. There are mounts on the chassis to accept the stock electronic mounts for maximum security. The only thing left to do is swap out the front suspension springs. The swap is very easy and only requires time, no modifications.
On the track, the chassis swap is a night and day difference. Before, the truck had lots of body roll, with the battery sitting up so high, but now that it’s 45 percent lower than where it sat before, along with other weighty items such as the ESC, servo, receiver and yes, chassis weight too, that roll feels much less. Entering corners, the truck sits much more square with little lean, which allow you to power through the corners faster without worrying about the rear end washing out. The other benefit is landing off of jumps. With a higher CG, you’ll battle weight shift as the suspension tries to settle the higher balanced weight. With the CG lower, the suspension does less work to settle the truck after landing, allowing you to get back on the throttle that much quicker.
WRAP UP
Traxxas Slash owners have had a few aftermarket options to lower the CG on their trucks, but now they have a genuine factory replacement that gives them all the hardware and components they need for the conversion, all with that fresh factory look. The look is backed up with real noticeable performance gains that makes spending a cool forty beans on the conversion a no-brainer.
LINK
Traxxas traxxas.com, 888-872-9927
