World's First Team Academy Short Course Truck?

Well.  OK.  Maybe not the world's, but certainly Jackson's?  Michigan's?

Certainly the first Academy (based) Short Course Truck I've seen or heard of both from the track or Cyberville.



Just for laughs, I Googled "Academy Short Course Truck" and HandyRacing sits at the top with two hits...

And none other were listed,  None from Yahoo either.  I guess there aren't too many out there.  Try it.

Maybe it is the only one out there?

And it isn't just for show, this build means business under the hood too:






Anyway, we're offering up a World Wide Web exclusive review of Chad Sulski's made at home, Academy based Short Course Truck.  Hand made in his workshop, and not just for show - this truck is actually raced on the track.  No cutting corners and keeping it clean for this performance racing machine.  This truck was just raced this past weekend on one of the most challenging tracks in our Midwest Offroad Racing League points series.  Raced hard in the mud grime and sun and rain of a long day, the truck held its own all day long.

We even have a little taste of the truck on the track, enjoy...



I had first seen the truck on Chad's practice track a few weeks ago, and while we were practicing and then racing at Stateline RC Speedway last weekend, Chad and I were able to talk a little bit further about his project and it seemed  it would be interesting to share it with the world, and I'm darn lucky to be able to make it available here.

One of the things I find really special about our local Mid-Michigan off-road race scene are the many experienced folks who have been racing for a long long time, and among them there are many who are true innovators.  The last couple years, as we've raced the winter season atr the Washtenaw RC Raceway, I'm proud to day Chad is among the biggest supporters of our local racing scene, and with that helping promote the fmaily friendly race programs we like to frequent.

The RC Short Course Truck class is one of the fastest growing things in off road racing, and this truck is a must see build.

Last winter when the Slash Spec class began to tak eoff, and the rumors started circulated about other manufacturers may be coming out with similar trucks to race, Chad didnt wait.  Being a fan of the Academy race truck products, he set out to build his own from a dasic stadium truck chassis.  And build one he did.  This truck rocks, in fit feel and finish, and on the track.

When we discussed our approach to sharing this first class effort with the world, it occured to me that rather than me tell the story of how he built it, and we thought it would be best if it was in Chad's own words.  So following is the story of how a long and steady supporter of the local racing scene went about converting an off the shelf stadium truck into a hard core racing Short Course entry for actual running on the track in this new and exciting class: 

Quote:

The truck started life as an Academy GV2-T stadium truck. The main chassis was extended 35mm to bring it to a wheel base of 325mm (roar spec is 320-335mm).  It actually took 2 chassis to make the 1 piece I needed. The truck width is 293mm.  I used Associated SC10 wheels on all 4 corners with J concepts goosebumps on the rear, and Associated sc10 front tires.  It uses Asociated SC10 front and rear bumpers and body mounts that bolted on with minimal modifications.  I also used a J concepts Truth body for the Slash.  For shocks, I used Duratrax Evader ST shocks (because they are CHEAP and work very well), plus they enable me to use AE, Losi, or Academy springs on the truck.  The hardest part of the build was the drive shafts.  In order to get a legal width using the AE wheels, I needed to widen the suspension by 8 mm total, so each driveshaft needed to be lengthened 4mm to acheive the proper driveshaft plunge at the outdrives.  To do this, I cut the dogbone portion of the CVD's, and used brass tubing, silver solder, and paste flux to re-assemble them with the 4mm of extra length I needed.  They are strong as the stock peices were to begin with.  To actually widen the suspension was easy.  The Academy trucks (and buggies) use a MLP (multi-length pivot) system for the hub / a-arm hinge point which means it has 2 sets of holes on the arm, and the hub carriers.  Well the 2 holes are exactly 4mm on center from each other, so I used the outer hinge pin hole on the arm, and the inner hinge pin hole on the hub carriers and c-hubs, which widened the stance by 4mm per side, or 8mm over all which gave me a 293mm width (ROAR spec is 290-296mm).  The build was a blast!  That's the part I enjoy most, the planning and tinkering.  I gave this project a good couple months of thought before I began.  It actually only took about 25 hours to do the whole build once all the peices were in hand.  It was built in a week and half in the evening after work.

End quote.

And a star was born.

Last weekend, Chad and his custom made SC truck came in 7th in the A-Main, not too shabby considering there were 26 entries running in A,  B, and C Mains after a grulling long day of qualifying with storms the night before, soaked track in the morning, sun backed track in the afternoon, ran again in the evening during the mains - and a late night of racing.




We're lucky to have this exclusive close look at this brand new truck.

Following is a peak at Chad's truck during actual qualifying heats last weekend:

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One of the best things about Chad's R&D program?  The workshop is at home, and so is his test track.  AND, its a family program.  Seeing the Father and Son(s), and Father and Daughter(s) racing together in our area is really a thrill.  Seeing the hobby and love of the sport passed on from generation to generation adds something to it that's hard to find.  And VERY worthwhile.  The family, friends, and aquaintances and that race together around here promote a true family friendly atmosphere at the track, an amazing place to play.

Who knows, one of these days the Team Academy product development folks may even take a closer look at some of Chad's development efforts, and you might be able to order one of these yourselves?

If there are any questions about the build, or how it handles on the track, I'm thinking Chad might keep an eye on the post for awhile so feel free to ask away...

Stay tuned...

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Posted by HandyRacing at 8/1/2009 12:32 AM
Categories: Projects
Tags: midwest offroad racing league rc video slash handyracing team academy short course
 

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