English Titanium Chassis and towers

[Warby]

One weird idea I’ve always had was an under chassis support brace. If someone made a 1.5mm titanium plate to bolt where my skid plates are screwed in, it’d provide a ton of stiffness and combined with the front and rear aluminum chassis braces up top, it’d be a very solid setup I’d think?
View attachment 41525
Just a little cutout for the spur gear and heavily countersunk 4 screw holes (marked in red) and the general shape I made as the yellow.. I guess it’d cover the screws but because it’s only 4 bolts it’ll take a minute to get off. It’d also act as a skid plate to protect your chassis, and this is a completely flat trapezoid of titanium (or 7075 aluminum) so a mold would be very cheap.

One weird idea I’ve always had was an under chassis support brace. If someone made a 1.5mm titanium plate to bolt where my skid plates are screwed in, it’d provide a ton of stiffness and combined with the front and rear aluminum chassis braces up top, it’d be a very solid setup I’d think?
View attachment 41525
Just a little cutout for the spur gear and heavily countersunk 4 screw holes (marked in red) and the general shape I made as the yellow.. I guess it’d cover the screws but because it’s only 4 bolts it’ll take a minute to get off. It’d also act as a skid plate to protect your chassis, and this is a completely flat trapezoid of titanium (or 7075 aluminum) so a mold would be very cheap.

Like this?

 

[SrC]

One weird idea I’ve always had was an under chassis support brace. If someone made a 1.5mm titanium plate to bolt where my skid plates are screwed in, it’d provide a ton of stiffness and combined with the front and rear aluminum chassis braces up top, it’d be a very solid setup I’d think?
View attachment 41525
Just a little cutout for the spur gear and heavily countersunk 4 screw holes (marked in red) and the general shape I made as the yellow.. I guess it’d cover the screws but because it’s only 4 bolts it’ll take a minute to get off. It’d also act as a skid plate to protect your chassis, and this is a completely flat trapezoid of titanium (or 7075 aluminum) so a mold would be very cheap.

To work right you would need at least 2 more bolts at the center to spread the load evenly and reduce lateral twist of the chassis in my opinion. Total of 6 bolts across the brace. Probably could get away with a narrower brace if using Ti. vs Alu. Great idea!

 

[olds97_lss]

And now... I just did a kneejerk purchase. lol!

I know the one on the rear of my outcast has been bent a few times and it's bending more each time as it's getting weaker. Will see how these do with a T2T brace on them. I really should get the M2C chassis... then again, haven't run my outcast in a while. Too many trucks, too little time.

Got my towers today, 12 days to ship, not too bad from Russia.

These: https://www.ebay.com/itm/New-titani...R330222-and-AR330220-Replacement/323873711229
Seller: 1fpvshop

I found that the holes aren't all in the same spots though. The shock mount holes are off and the upper camber link holes are off. I don't particularly care, just thought I'd mention it.

I laid them over each other and ran a bolt through the holes where they screw to the bulkhead then took a photo of each side. The middle shock tower hole sort of lines up. The other 2 are way off. The camber holes aren't that far off, just half a mm or so lower.

Rear:

Front, the shock mounting holes don't line up at all on these:

It's hard to see with a camera as it only has one focal point, but you can easily see the shock mounts are off.

I only installed my rear one as my front stock tower isn't bent:

I made a little block to mount on the new low profile wing mount I installed. I left about 1/2" gap between the front of the block and the T2T brace, so the wing mount will flex 1/2" before it impacts the tower. Hoping this helps keep the wing mount lasting longer while taking some of the abuse from the tops of the shock towers. Really wish I had bought black plastic vs white... oh well. I also moved the tops of my shocks to the inside hole, will see how I like it the next time I take it out.

They are very rigid, as expected and the same thickness as stock. They have a high pitched ping to them if you tap them with something steel when off the truck. Kind of irrelevant, just thought it was cool to hear, like thumping a ripe melon. lol!

 

[SrC]

How light are they by comparison? Ti metals do resonate differently than steel and alu. I noticed that before with Ti bicycle parts I used on a custom I did.
They truly are cheap for Ti.

 

[olds97_lss]

How light are they by comparison? Ti metals do resonate differently than steel and alu. I noticed that before with Ti bicycle parts I used on a custom I did.
They truly are cheap for Ti.

I didn't think to weigh them.

I still have a stock OEM front one, it weighs 1.4oz. The titanium front one is 2.3oz. All I have is a postal scale and I can't get any better of a measurement than that.

 

[Dbx]

Scorched Parts towers for comparison. The holes on these exactly match the stock holes. The weight of these is also significantly less.

 

[SrC]

TI lighter than Aluminum????? Technically should not be lighter than Alum. What is significantly less weight?? Can you give us the weight specs?
Machining the TI tower more aggressively may offset that?
I love TI. And these Towers are sweet for sure, as long as they are truly a machined equivelant to the OE (down to the .01mm tolerance)

 

[Dbx]

TI lighter than Aluminum????? Technically should not be lighter than Alum. What is significantly less weight?? Can you give us the weight specs?
Machining the TI tower more aggressively may offset that?
I love TI. And these Towers are sweet for sure, as long as they are truly a machined equivelant to the OE (down to the .01mm tolerance)

Significantly less than the Russian version shown above. They are 5mm thick - to thick, too stiff IMO. The Scorched Parts ones are 3mm thick, hence the weight is only 3/5 of the Russian ones, and only a small fraction more than the stock aluminium - almost the same stiffness, but twice the strength.

 

[SrC]

ok now you talking good stuff. Price???

 

[olds97_lss]

Well, the Russian one made it through the first bash unscathed. I know it took a few hits as the white block on the wing mount has some gouges in it from hitting the T2T brace. Still looks nice and straight.

Videos compiling now.

 

[Dbx]

ok now you talking good stuff. Price???

Check them out on the Scorched Parts website https://scorchedparts.co.uk/
I know availability is still a bit of a problem ATM, but should get sorted out soon.

 

[BashingBrian]

@Dbx.. Are you scorched parts..??

 

[Dbx]

@Dbx.. Are you scorched parts..??

Guilty.

 

[BashingBrian]

@Dbx ... could you guys make some skid plates for underneath the Infraction chassis..??

I can pm you my idea..?

 

[Dbx]

@Dbx ... could you guys make some skid plates for underneath the Infraction chassis..??

I can pm you my idea..?

Sure, always interested in new ideas. We’re just about to start working on Infraction parts.

 

[BashingBrian]

@Dbx ... What will you be making for the Infraction..????

I'll pm you later and what I'm after..??

 

[olds97_lss]

Well, the Russian one made it through the first bash unscathed. I know it took a few hits as the white block on the wing mount has some gouges in it from hitting the T2T brace. Still looks nice and straight.

Videos compiling now.

Mine made it through another bash. Busted the LP wing mount off and the body is totally decimated at the rear, but the tower is still nice and straight.

 

[Mathew with 1 T]

That's so familiar about time and rcs... I also have some planes and a lot of fpv mini quads?
But less time year to year

Funny over time how it becomes a hobby of patience , play ,break , order parts , wait for delivery, find the time to fix repeat process (x # of trucks) = you better not be in a hurry ?

 

[SrC]

I found out that when you are not a patient person, this hobby can be shortlived for newcomers. I seen friends who were drawn into it from seeing me doing this for years. I made it look easy to them, I guess. But some of them who started out simply got out if it, because I could see they didn't have the patience to learn, break, fix, order and repeat. (A few of them even had some decent driving skills). Even though I was always there helping them. It's not for everyone. And a hobby too expensive for most.

 

[unclebrudy]

One weird idea I’ve always had was an under chassis support brace. If someone made a 1.5mm titanium plate to bolt where my skid plates are screwed in, it’d provide a ton of stiffness and combined with the front and rear aluminum chassis braces up top, it’d be a very solid setup I’d think?
View attachment 41525
Just a little cutout for the spur gear and heavily countersunk 4 screw holes (marked in red) and the general shape I made as the yellow.. I guess it’d cover the screws but because it’s only 4 bolts it’ll take a minute to get off. It’d also act as a skid plate to protect your chassis, and this is a completely flat trapezoid of titanium (or 7075 aluminum) so a mold would be very cheap.

You have no idea how often I dream of this. I would pay good money for something to fabricate this. I’m on my 4th, 5th, and 6th LWB chassis.