Losi LOSB0102 - Manual (Page 16)

TM
Tuning, Adjusting & Maintaining the Desert Truck
Periodically examine your Desert Truck for the following:
• Keep your vehicle clean using a brush to remove dirt
and dust.
• Look for cracks in the suspension arms and other
molded parts.
• Check that the tires are still glued to the wheels.
• Check that all the wheel bearings are clean and lubricated.
• Using your tools, attempt to tighten all the screws and
nuts.
• Verify that the Camber Links and Steering Linkage are
not bent.
• Check that the Toe and Camber settings are as desired
and equal.
• Remove the gear cover.
o Check the Spur gear for wear.
o Check the Pinion gear.
o Check the Slipper Pads for wear.
• Take the shocks off the vehicle and check, especially if they
appear to be leaking as it is time to rebuild them.
• Look over all the wiring and connections for bare wire or
any place which could lead to a short circuit.
• Verify that the ESC is securely mounted to the chassis.
• Verify the receiver is still securely mounted to the chassis.
• Turn on the radio and if the Green LED is off or dim replace
the 4 AA batteries in the transmitter.
After you become familiar with driving your Desert Truck,
you may need to reset or make adjustments for better
driving performance.
Just as in a real car, alignment is an important factor in your
vehicle’s handling. When you are ready to make adjustments
it is a good idea to have a flat work space to place your vehicle
on. This will enable you to easily and more quickly make both
Toe-in and Chamber adjustments. These adjustments should be
set with the vehicle sitting at its normal ride height.
Tuning the Front End of the Desert Truck
Shock Location: The Desert Truck has two mounting locations
on the front shock tower. The position can be easily adjusted
by simply moving the top of the shock to another hole. The
standard location (outside hole on the tower) works best on
most surfaces. Moving the top of the shock inward a hole will
slow steering response and make the Desert Truck smoother
in bumps. The standard position on the arm is in the middle,
which offers the best balance. Running the inside shock
location will give the Desert Truck more steering into the turn
and less steering on corner exit. Running the shock location
outside on the front arm will give you less overall steering
into the turn and keep the front end flatter through the turn,
making the Desert Truck smoother and easier to drive. This can
be used on high traction surfaces.
All of the Camber and Steering Linkages have been assembled
in the following way.
Using the supplied flat metal turn buckle wrench if you need
to SHORTEN any link on the Desert Truck rotate the wrench
towards the front of the vehicle (counter-clockwise). If you need
to LENGTHEN any link then rotate the wrench towards the rear
of the vehicle (clockwise).
Static Camber: This refers to the angle of the wheels/tires
relative to the surface (viewed from either the front or back).
Negative camber means that the top of the tire leans in toward
the chassis. Positive camber means the top of the tire leans out,
away from the chassis. Camber can be precisely measured with
after-market camber gauges, sold at a local hobby shop. It can
be measured (roughly) using any square (to the ground) object
by checking the gap between the square edge and the top of
the tire. Testing has shown that 1 degree of negative camber
is best for most track conditions. Increasing negative camber
(in the range of 1-2 degrees) will generally increase steering.
Decreasing negative camber (in the range of 0-1 degree) will
generally decrease steering and the Desert Truck will feel easier
to drive as a result. This is, most often, a very critical adjustment
in tuning your Desert Truck that can be made quickly and easily.