East End Machining replacement skid plate

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NluvWithXLR8ing

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  1. Bashing
I have had nothing but great luck in the past ordering from East End Machining so I decided to try their new Double Reverse Triangulation Skidplate for the AX10.


My current AX10 isnt really an AX10 anymore, however the skid plate still applies 8) I couldnt wait to get rid of the links on the outside of the chassis and the quality of the EEM part is much nicer than most I have seen, or than I could maching myself :ror:

Test Rig ready for the new skid:

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Removed the old skid plate:

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Packaging and supplied hardware. There are two sets of 4 screws, different styles depending on your application.

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Close up shots of the skid plate. Every edge is smooth and leaves nothing to catch on.

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Test fit, no problems at all.

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Finished shots:


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You're right mate. There's not much AX10 left.
Thats one heavy duty Axial. Awesome
 
Very nice! I plan on ordering one of those soon!
 
How does it flow with the links being that close together?
 
How does it flow with the links being that close together?

I'm not sure that I understand your question. I'll try to answer it the best I can, but let me know if you're getting at something else.

The whole point in designing this skid plate was to triangulate the lower links. The axials have a big problem in the stock suspension configuration, known as "axle steer". As you witnessed at the June Ark-La-Miss competition, the rear axle steer puts a lot of unwanted stress on the suspension links and causes the rig to bind up prematurely. When I got done with that competition and saw some of the problems with the axial suspension on a very difficult course, I wanted to find a way to fix the problem. After doing lots of research, I learned that it was a very common problem, and there was almost nothing available to correct the problem without replacing the chassis and running a new suspension configuration. I had already ordered the GC2 competition chassis, but I wanted to have a solution that people could access who couldn't go out and drop $200-300 on a new chassis and suspension link setup. That's when I decided to start designing crawler parts that would allow a person with a stock chassis and suspension to build a comp capable rig at an inexpensive cost, and I wanted people to be able to show up at a competition and keep up with the big boys even if they couldn't spend thousands on a rig. The dual triangulation works wonders on designing a suspension layout, and this design was chosen after different configurations were gone through and tested, and this provided the best results. The dual triangulation also lowers the roll center a good bit, and drastically improves the handling of the rig once its dialed in.

Now that I'm used to the performance of running dual triangulation, when I go back to a factory suspension setup to test parts, I'm always dissapointed in the performance. Many of my customers were having problems with torque twist, and it has pretty much eliminated most of the problems that they were having. I had already dialed out my torque twist, so I couldn't tell how much it improved until other people had run it on their rigs and compared the before and after performance.
 
If there was one thing I would change since this skid is so thick, it would be to bore the countersunk holes in further so the head of the screws are recessed by a mm or so.
 
Thanks Rob, that's an excellent suggestion. We're currently getting ready to go into production on another skid plate, that is designed differently than this one is, with some simlarities. I will definitely take that into consideration. Our customers' opinions are VERY important to us, and we always welcome comments and advice.
 
Thanks guys. I agree, the skid plate is worth every penny. Its a whole new rig now, between this skid plate and a slight height adjustment I made its starting to keep up with my berg :whhooo:
 
What is the width of that plate & will there be a 55mm width in the future? I've come to really like the clearance of the narrow chassis.
 
Width is the same as the stock axial skid plate. Just measured mine with the calipers: 3.160"
 
Ron, let me know if you want a 55mm skid plate, I should be able to make it happen no problem.
 
Just so you know Charlie this very thread is the reason I ordered that skid plate.
Just looking at the pic told me it was what I wanted.....
 
Just so you know Charlie this very thread is the reason I ordered that skid plate.
Just looking at the pic told me it was what I wanted.....

Wait till you see it in person :whhooo:
 
That's great to hear. It's been wonderful having Brandon use our products and provide feedback, as he's a veteran crawler from waaay back before crawling was "the cool thing to do". So with Brandond using and testing our products, he can provide valuable input to potential customers because of his experience, which is something that even I as the designer don't have yet.
 
After ripping the droop shocks off my rig and re-fitting the stockies with soft springs, and moving the links in at the axle a little (ala CKRC's comp rig guide) to stop the bent links fouling the springs, the skid plate performed magnifficently. My truck was among the most capable there.

It's just a pisser I didn't do it before my Comp run :(
 
It's GREAT to hear that you're finally getting it dialed in. Crawling is definitely a learning experience as you go, but instead of being upset that you didn't do it sooner, just be glad that you have it set up better now :)
 
Yeh, for sure, the rest of the day was great. I learned a lot and got my truck pretty well dialed in too, with some help from the other guys. Once it was dialed in right your plate made it rock the course. After the comp finished I actually went back and did a lot of the sections over and it pwned most of them :D
 
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