smokeymctyres

Hello all. I just ordered the sakura d3 cs chassis via EMS delivery so it should be here in a few days. I'm super excited about it and excited to re-learn how to drift seeing as tho its my first counter-steer chassis and is much better than my E10. I have seen and read a lot of reviews, un-boxings, etc. And they all pretty much had the same complaints of loose middle belt, too soft of springs, wheel chatter at full lock, and a locked front diff. I could only afford a couple of parts with the chassis so i decided on the one-way and the belt tensioner. Eventually I will be getting other things such as the cvd's and springs, but was just curious if anyone else who has this chassis could tell me if the springs and wheel chatter are a serious problem or not. Or if there is anything else I should know. I will only be drifting on smooth concrete not carpet. Any input would appreciated.

ToraKitsu

The manual doesn't cover some aspects of the chassis, so be careful of the front belt adjuster. Make SURE the front belt is adjusted properly, or it will strip the teeth right off the belt.
You might want to invest in some lead weight, for the area just behind the steering assembly. That will balance out the chassis, because if you've never done CS before, it is TOTALLY different from 50/50. In 50/50, turning the wheels initiates drifts, and is barely required to maintain them. In CS, turning them gets you out of drifts, meaning once the wheels are turned, the chassis is beginning to straighten itself up. You'll see what I mean.

On those other parts - they are required to get the chassis as "pliable" as possible. CS chassis are much more prone to surface irregularities than a 50/50 chassis, and on a few, more "flex" is desirable. Since the D3 already has some, this is not so much a problem, but the suspension should be set up just a "hair" softer than normal.
On chatter - It matters. Chatter can eventually tear up the steering assembly/knuckles/C-hubs. Since CS drifters require as much steering as possible, this should be addressed as soon as you are able.
Enjoy your D3!

smokeymctyres

Thank you very much for your input. How tight should the belts be? I assume they shouldn't be too tight. Correct? I also see your from Washington. I'm from Everett, Washington. And surrounding areas. I've lived in Washington my whole life until about 6 months ago. I now live in Iowa Because the cost of living is so much in Washington. And the job market sucks there. I miss it so so much. I still rock my Washington plates on my truck. Lol. And I will until I have to change them.

ToraKitsu

Since the manual says nothing about it, I would suggest 3mm of play (just press the belt, the amount it gives is the adjustment) The long belt should be somewhere around 4 - 5mm. I usually add 1mm to that, for extra RPM, since all I use are 17.5T BL in my drifters, but on short belts, I stick with 3mm.

Yah, I'm retired, so where I am is good. Lotsa green, and clean air!
I agree about the job market. It's the reason I retired early (57).

smokeymctyres

Thank you. That was exactly the info I needed. I think its awesome your rc drifting at 57 BTW. Thank you again for the info. And I'll take your advice on that wheel chatter and get the wide angle cvd's and the aluminum steering system ASAP. Prob even next payday

ToraKitsu

Oh....Hey, I thought of this.....

You might, when you get the $$$ up, purchase a front one-way for your D3. Those complaints about the front diff are valid, and if there's one thing that helps a CS drifter drift with better control and smoothness, it's a front one-way. In fact, all my drifters, whether 50/50 or CS, have them installed. I won't purchase a chassis, whether drift or grip, unless it has a one-way available for it.

If you're not familiar with what they do, a one-way drives both front wheels, rather than a diff, which drives only one, and the one with the least traction, to boot. The one-way also drives both left and right wheels independently, and that's where the smoothness comes from.
The one drawback to a one-way is that there are no brakes OR reverse at the front wheels, since the one-way drives in only one direction (hence the name), and freewheels in the other. While this can be a problem with grip chassis, it doesn't make much difference with drifters, since drifters don't use brakes except to come to a full stop, and that can even be accomplished without brakes at all, but good throttle control.
For a grip chassis, it actually, with some practice, makes the chassis faster! A grip chassis with a one-way installed can dive into corners with more speed, because brakes can only be applied BEFORE the entrance of the turn, and power can be applied earlier in the turn, as well, so the one-way equipped chassis is driving out of the turn under power earlier.
One-ways take some getting used to, but in both disciplines, the one-way makes a big difference in performance.

If you drift your D3 without one, then install it, you will IMMEDIATELY see a difference in the way it drifts. Control is much enhanced, and practicing for smooth drifts is also much easier.

So mull it over, because aside from the universals, the front one-way is the only other part that drifters benefit from the most.

smokeymctyres

I did order the one-way with my D3. That and the belt tension post. I am very familiar with the one-way. I have one on my E10. (And a locked rear diff of course) My main reason for it was to have "E-brake" type braking when drifting. But when I heard the D3 had a locked front and rear, I knew I wouldn't even put it together without one. But thanks for the info anyway. I'm really looking forward to the challenge of CS. I've been so bored with 50/50. Lol

ToraKitsu

Oh...O.K., cool!

Yah, CS will be a much different experience for you, and for me 50/50 is also becoming a little old, and it's why I'm working right now with 50/50 acting like CS - I've narrowed it down to differing tire compounds front and rear, and weight bias. I know it's basically against drift theory to alternate tire compounds, but I stumbled upon the concept by accident, and all my drifters have been tuned to be as easy to drift as they can be, even the CS'ed ones.

Essentially, what you will find is that CS'ed chassis want to spin circles from a dead stop. That's why the countersteer, and the concept itself. Turning the wheels will, therefore, straighten the chassis up. With the 50/50 chassis I'm working with the tires on, they act much the same, even though their ratios are still even, front and rear. It's a curious thing. I put them right about halfway between a "standard" 50/50 and CS chassis.
I actually have only two "standard" 50/50 chassis left - "M" class drifters, because those are kind of twitchy to begin with, and are very hard to drift smoothly.
In any case, if you haven't already, try CS Junkies online. They have a lot of good info on CS (including a CS ratio calculator for those CS'ing the DIY way), and some pretty nice drifter pics.

smokeymctyres

I got my E10 to counter steer by wrapping the rear tires in a lot of foil tape until the diameter was quite a bit more than the front. Electrical tape works as well but I think its a bit too "grippy". And by making the rears diameters bigger you in turn make the rear wheels spin faster, therefore giving it a counter steer feel. I haven't experimented with it too much but I did get it to work. I was actually thinking of making my own really thick tires for the rear out of A.B.S. piping but then I ended up ordering the D3 so I no longer care about trying to make my 50/50 counter steer anymore.

ToraKitsu

Yah, it's a diversion, because there's no drifting around here. Just me and my garage.

I just use different compounds, as I used to be an indy rep for Raikou. I use just about any tires I can find, to experiment. I don't do it with diameters, it just looks weird, and alters weight distribution, to my thinking.

At the moment, all my drifters are close enough in drift technique to each other, though the 50/50's won't ever be CS'ed without swapping pulleys.

It's all good fun, though.....

smokeymctyres

I agree it does throw it off. And looks goofy. But it was only an experiment. And don't worry, there is no drifting around here either. Hell, I can't even drift in my driveway because the concrete is that very sand paper type concrete that eats my tires up bad. Most everywhere here is that type of concrete and I hate it. I like concrete that makes my tires smooth and sometimes even shiny after drifting. I found a few good spots here though. Including the skate park. I usually wake up early on weekends and drift with the skate park all to myself. If you have a skate park nearby, I highly recommend it

ToraKitsu

LOL! You're describing almost exactly, what I have here, too!

My driveway is, likewise, the "sandpaper" type, and there is only one parking lot locally, that is smooth enough to drift that is only empty enough on Sundays, but it always throws off my tire choices, because I test on the smooth, treated concrete in my garage. I do have asphalt tires now, and they drift much thr same as the concrete tires for my garage, but they took a while to find.

As a matter of fact, I do have a skatepark right across the street from my house, but these kids here are pigs. The place is filthy, and to be honest, the city has already closed it numerous times, because these kids don't care about, or for the park. The last thing I'm going to do, is sweep the place, just so they can pigsty it up again. If I sweep that local parking lot, it stays clean until the next rain.
I'd ideally drift on concrete, but the concrete at the skatepark is also the wrong type - not sandpapery, but rough, nonetheless.

If you have any above-ground, or below-ground parking structures, they typically have the same concrete that's in most everyone's garages. They just require sweeping, to be suitable for drift!

smokeymctyres

Actually this skate park gets trashed too. But fortunately the city's "parks and recreation" cleans it. My favorite drift spot is a platform of concrete surrounded by trees, so I have to sweep it every time before I drift. But it has a wicked cliff on almost all sides that's a 10 ft. drop onto more concrete. It makes for literal "On the edge" drifting. I love it and have got quite good at it. But my E10 has gone off it many times in the process. Which by the way, I have to say the E10 is a very durable chassis. LOL. I have alot of parking garages around here and have tried to find one good enough for drifting so I would have a spot in the winter but no such luck. They are all either the sandpaper concrete or real bumpy un-maintained concrete that makes my car jump around like a jack rabbit. I may have to drive over to Omaha Nebraska to find a decent parking garage for winter drifting. Which is only a 10 min drive but still, its gonna suck in the winter. The winters here are definitely not like the winters I'm used to in Washington.

ToraKitsu

Yah....the last few winters in my area haven't been winters at all. Last year - no snow - at least none that stuck. It snowed for like two days, and not in succession, and immediately melted off. Still cold, but just not that "wintery" cold you know. During those times, my garage is swept clean, junk around the edges cleaned up, so I have the entire floor to drift. It's not ideal, but there's enough space to make a tight "left-right-left" course that tests one's skills.
Right now, the weather's getting worse....rain predicted for the rest of the week. It's cool, though, because I just got a Losi Nightcrawler today. for a great price from my LHS, and plan to fine-tune it for the next few days, and install a disconnect, so I'll have a dig (if you're not familiar, the Nightcrawler has worm-gear axles, so a simple disconnect acts as a "dig," because the axles "lock" when not under power).
I'm finding crawlers like the Nightcrawler are now "out-of-vogue," because I guess scalers took over. Too bad......I used to compete in crawling comps, and it was fun. I suppose all things have to come to an end...... At least I have a representation of those old days, since I sold off all my comp rigs.

I'm still with drift, and just don't see myself getting out of it any time soon. Those, and my "M" class blasters. If you haven't tried a mini, you might give it some thought.....They can also put a smile on your face, when drifting loses it's luster on some days. I have a couple of Tamiya M05's, just about two of every chassis ABC Hobby makes (those are the fastest, no joke), and a couple of conversions that are no longer available, but a different way of looking at mini class performance. Two of them are also drifters! Aside from my drift chassis, I'll never get rid of my minis, either!