Slashed my Slash Chassis

Question:
Heya Doc,
My son just purchased a Traxxas Slash 2WD VXL model and within 10 minutes of driving it the chassis broke in front of where the rear wheels attach. Now he wants to upgrade to an aluminum or graphite chassis. Do you have any suggestions on what might be one of the better chassis upgrades? I was looking at the Proline chassis, but see that it sits lower than the stock chassis so I’m not sure how well that one would work for field or taller grass driving. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks for your time and have a great day!

Ron

Answer:
Hey Ron.
While that part of the chassis isn’t super-weak, I have seen quite a few people shear the rear end off at that point. So, you really have two ways to go…

1) Chassis upgrade. The Slash is a great basher truck and was designed to be just that; climb dirt hills, run through tall grass, rocks and even through water. Most of the chassis upgrades out there convert this fun-time truck into a pretty stout racer, thus the reason the Proline setup is alot lower profile than the stock setup. You could go with one of these types of chassis’ and it will do just find under most conditions, but as you said you will lose a bit of ground clearance. If this is the route you take, you can go with any one of these: Team STRC Chassis Conversion, Proline Pro-2 LCG Conversion or Integy Alloy Chassis Conversion.

2) Chassis replacement with reinforcement. This, actually, is the way I’d go. I have a basher 2WD Slash I run in the backyard with my neighbors and it’s as tough as nails. First, purchase a new, standard chassis and replace. Second, pick up one of these: VGRacing Roll Cage, RC Solutions Roll Cage. These do add a bit of weight but if you’re out bashing around, they will certainly help protect both your chassis and shell (the shell won’t collapse in a bad crash).

Good luck, hope this helps and keep it tires-side down!
The Doc