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Vertical Plate vs. Flat (Horizontal) Chassis

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T

tjstinson

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Let us not puff out our chests and dismiss the possible advantages and disadvantages of either of the vertical or horizontal chassis design from the obvious major monster truck manufacturers. Forget brand bias, for the moment, and discuss the pros and cons of each design.

This isn't a HPI vs. Traxxas debate as much as a chassis vs. chassis design.

Have you owned both? Did the chassis design of one show advantages over the other?

Just interested.
 
I know I find the TVP chassis design a PITA to work on. I much prefer the Flat bed design any day. Although from my experience the TVP's seem stronger and take a better beating.
 
Racer 1966 said:
I don't see either one as hard to work on. The flat design leaves more room to move stuff around if you need to use custom accessories.
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More room=easier to work on at least for me. The TVP's that tie everything together just seem harder for me but hey everyone has a preference my brother thinks the TVP's are easier to work on than the flat bed design. Everyone is going to have there own preference same as with most things in this hobby LOL! By the way My nephew bought one of your revo BB conversion mounts and that thing is awesome bro! Just thought I would let you know.
 
I prefer flat any day! I was working on a friends Savage and almost gave up. But I do think the vertical chassis may be a bit sturdier if you ran them it into something assuming if they were both made out of the same material during the test.
 
I have owned and worked on both...I prefer flat chassis and all race machines are flat chassis for the same reasons.....

so in my view the flat chassis has multiple advantages over TVP's and no real disadvantages...Durability is more of a brand thing then chassis thing , as some of the race truggies are more durable then a Savage is....And the race buggies are nearly bomb proof, with their short arms they are very robust......

1.. Flat chassis handles better...in fact the controlled flex of the chassis makes a massive difference in the handling of the model....in racing we play with different chassis and braces to add in or take away flex...

2. ease of maintenance...everything is laid out in the wide open....takes a fraction of the time to work on then a TVP setup.

3. Lower COG....flat chassis has a much lower COG.....which makes the model more stable and more capable....especially if you like going fast....... a MT will tip over on a high speed turn, a truggy will just turn or flat slide...
 
I think it is hard to say one over the other. It depends on the type of vehicle and its purpose. Is one easier to work on? Sometimes, sometimes not. Does one handle better? Sometimes, sometimes not.
 
tjstinson said:
This isn't a HPI vs. Traxxas debate as much as a chassis vs. chassis design.
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HPI. Just kidding. ;-) Wait, no I'm not.

I see no advantages to TVP. I'm sure there has to be some...but I have not experienced it. With that everyone told me they'd be a PIA to work on but I've not found that to be the case at all. I'm more of a gorilla wrencher anyway in that I just tear it apart to get to whatever I need to. ;-)
 
Physics. A horizontal chassis, in the context of monster trucks especially, would roll less as the center of gravity is displaced horizontally more than vertically. With a narrow vertical chassis design a truck will roll and turn. Specifically, the Traxxas and HPI trucks, will handle differently based on their chassis design if all else were equal. The HPI (again if all else were equal) would out perform the Traxxas in situations that a monster truck would be designed to do.

Let me put it like this... if you were jumping, bashing, and using a monster truck in the typical ways most would, a vertical chassis design is best in performance. It is why the full scale trucks are designed in the same way. Still don't believe me?

Imagine putting suspension on four corners of a 2x12 and then the same suspension on a 2x4 orientated vertically. Using the later, landing impact is displaced through the suspension as suspension is meant to do. When cornering the suspension takes the force, again, as suspension is meant to do. So, all things being equal, it is my opinion based on what I understand in physics (and admittedly that is limited), the vertical chassis out performs the horizontal design.

Now, if we are talking about wrenching and upgrading... I admit that having a platform is more ideal. I'd rather, however, buy a chassis for how it responds than what I can add to it. That isn't to say one is ultimately better than the other based on chassis alone.
 
tjstinson said:
Physics. A horizontal chassis, in the context of monster trucks especially, would roll less as the center of gravity is displaced horizontally more than vertically. With a narrow vertical chassis design a truck will roll and turn. Specifically, the Traxxas and HPI trucks, will handle differently based on their chassis design if all else were equal. The HPI (again if all else were equal) would out perform the Traxxas in situations that a monster truck would be designed to do.

Let me put it like this... if you were jumping, bashing, and using a monster truck in the typical ways most would, a vertical chassis design is best in performance. It is why the full scale trucks are designed in the same way. Still don't believe me?

Imagine putting suspension on four corners of a 2x12 and then the same suspension on a 2x4 orientated vertically. Using the later, landing impact is displaced through the suspension as suspension is meant to do. When cornering the suspension takes the force, again, as suspension is meant to do. So, all things being equal, it is my opinion based on what I understand in physics (and admittedly that is limited), the vertical chassis out performs the horizontal design.

Now, if we are talking about wrenching and upgrading... I admit that having a platform is more ideal. I'd rather, however, buy a chassis for how it responds than what I can add to it. That isn't to say one is ultimately better than the other based on chassis alone.
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on a race truggy the flat chassis bottoms out and helps absorb the impact...... In terms of function the flat chassis suspension is far more functional.... Believe it or not but a truggy actually has more travel then a savage does.......This si what allows them to take massive amounts of air without breaking....
 
Uh-huh. and thats why i have a box of broken pan-frame parts still sitting around my shed eating up space and my TVP broken parts box is almost empty after a couple years. hmmmmmmmm. Tmaxx may very well be the greatest vehicle since sliced bread but it dont survive crashes and hard bashing without hundreds of dollars of upgrades.Savage may not be a racer but it can survive some pretty good crashes right out of the box, no upgrades needed.
 
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bifft it said:
so whats the point of this thread exactly?see whos who, Tmaxx haters or savage haters? start a flame-war?
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I think the point is to discuss advantages/disadvantages of both. Don't think he was trying to start a flame war seeing as he explicitly stated that in his original post. I take his word for it.
 
All things considered the 2 different MT platform styles (TVP and flat chassis) are not that different other than how they bolt together. The TVP’s and flat plate serve the same purpose as to attach all the other components too. Transmission/bulks/diffs/engine still align the same. They both have approx the same COG in stock form. Differences in handling characteristics when setup approx the same are mainly due to differences in the wheel base and suspension geometry & weight/distribution.
Old school savages were a little more difficult to work on, now with the ez access diffs/transmission they are a lot easier.
Flat chassis give you more options for re-arranging components whereas with the tvp’s you’re stuck with the width and can only move components so much within the confines of the tvp’s or your forced to move things to the outside.

As long as you know the ins and out’s of how they are assembled and in what order they should go together I find them equally easy to work on.

I prefer a flat chassis on a MT mainly because it allows me more freedom for modifications and layout options.
 
Flat chassis with a decent roll bar.

The great thing about the Savave TVPs are the protection they provide to the components.

A flat chassis with some overhead protection on a MT would be great. Thinking of the LST with NewEra roll bar.
 
One advantage of the TVP's is they have a relatively high COG which makes the vehicle very good for doing tricks..somersaults rolls and wheelies, at very slow speeds ............whereas a flat pan chassis is soo overly stable that they are very poor for doing tricks.....and to be any fun have to driver at very high speeds.

So if I was going to have fun in a smaller area I would use a TVP machine..as it can be much more entertaining without needing serious offroad terrain as opposed to a flat pan machine which really needs big rough offroad terrain to be any sort of fun..they are just too stable to have any fun in a small area....

And when I talk flat pan I am talking truggy specifically
 
I had this same thought for my FLM savage.....sorta I was more concerned with ground clearance, so I used 4 front 5b shocks, but it's getting rather heavy, Its way heavier than my 2wd savage!
 
You have to compare vehicles of the same class. Comparing MTs with truggys isn't a fair comparison. The Arrma Granite for instance, has a tvp chassis and handles much better than its direct competition, the flat pan Traxxas Stampede.
 
everyone always bust my nuts about Truggies.... But its not that easy for me as I bought my first truggy when the class was called Unlimited monster truck......I started with the very first T-Maxx .15 and have bought em all every since....And the MT class became Unlimited Monster truck and we ran the same style machines we ran today.... Then one day some bozo decides to call the class "Truggy"and then MT up and died....... but really for me a Truggy is nothing more then the evolution of Monster truck......Basically the truggy is what Monster Trucks evolved into when they were pitted head to head on a timed offroad course......Truggies did not evolve from Buggy, they evolved from Monster Truck... In fact many of the first "Truggy" kits were sold as Monster trucks...... its sad, but probably the worst thing they could have done is dropped the name Unlimited Monster truck ..
 

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