How do you handle scratched up chassis?

[Kowalski86]

Whenever I take one of my lower touring cars out I consider taping up the underside just to protect it, but it got me thinking. How do all of you handle scratches underneath your chassis? And is it something that you worry about?

With buggies, it wasn't until I tried working on a Rustler until I noticed how some of the scratches had damaged the screw heads, same for my DT02. So now I pay more attention for anything that will be jumped or go off-road.

[alvinlwh]

Some use pre or post cut protection stickers on it.

 

 

[one_hit]

I use clear non-slip tape (the one used on bathtubs and showers) on my cars, especially the carbon chassis ones. It used to be expensive because 3M was the only one who had them but now there are cheap generic Chinese ones available

[Pylon80]

I use ProTek chassis protector sticker material on my carbon fiber F104 chassis. It's tedious work to leave all the holes available for the screws you really need. It also robs you of 0.5mm of ground clearance so you have to change your ride height accordingly.

On plastic chassis like a TT-02, m chassis etc it's probably best to not worry about it unless the chassis is a vintage/out of production one.

[Kowalski86]

7 minutes ago, Pylon80 said:

On plastic chassis like a TT-02, m chassis etc it's probably best to not worry about it unless the chassis is a vintage/out of production one.

On my M05 I didn't trim the sprue tabs off all that well, I just figured that the road would sand them off in time!

[markbt73]

I just drive more to even it out. If the whole thing is evenly scratched up, it's not as noticeable.

[Pylon80]

2 minutes ago, Kowalski86 said:

On my M05 I didn't trim the sprue tabs off all that well, I just figured that the road would sand them off in time!

The M05 would be very difficult to protect with a sticker since nothing of flat underneath!

[Kowalski86]

1 minute ago, Pylon80 said:

The M05 would be very difficult to protect with a sticker since nothing of flat underneath!

Id imagine that the easiest way to protect an M05 (or M03, Tl01, etc) would be to use a strap of masking tape. But its a narrow chassis with little to any contact area.

[one_hit]

Bathtub tape sticks well even on narrow chassis. I’ve had it on my M05 for a couple of years now, still stuck on there good and is still easily removable without leaving any residue. Yes it’s plastic so why the need to protect it? Well in a monocoque design it’s a major hassle to replace the chassis since almost everything has to be removed. I’d rather have the cheap bathtub tape wearing down than the chassis itself

M05 V2

MF-01X

[moffman]

I generally use the tears that I've produced after scratching the chassis to clean it up then just leave it well alone as a reminder to never forget to put the plastic film I bought and thought I'd put on the chassis but hadn't..........you can probably guess that's exactly what I've just done with my carbon fibre chassis I spent ages putting on my optima mid!

[Kowalski86]

2 hours ago, one_hit said:

Bathtub tape sticks well even on narrow chassis. I’ve had it on my M05 for a couple of years now, still stuck on there good and is still easily removable without leaving any residue. Yes it’s plastic so why the need to protect it? Well in a monocoque design it’s a major hassle to replace the chassis since almost everything has to be removed. I’d rather have the cheap bathtub tape wearing down than the chassis itself

M05 V2

MF-01X

Good call, maybe I'll do that on my M05. Even though I put it together I'm not looking forward to ever taking it apart!

[WillyChang]

5 hours ago, moffman said:

I generally use the tears that I've produced after scratching the chassis to clean it up then just leave it well alone as a reminder to never forget to put the plastic film I bought and thought I'd put on the chassis but hadn't..........you can probably guess that's exactly what I've just done with my carbon fibre chassis I spent ages putting on my optima mid!

Mid is easy - if the penguin undertray still fit over the CF chassis? (It should, unless chassis protrudes over the kit body’s perimeter)

[M 800STD]

ebay, Helicopter tape.

[BuggyGuy]

I use this: https://amzn.eu/d/6FRCewr

It's wide enough that you can do a lot of cars with a single roll - and its very tough.

You can find it cheaper than Amazon and in various widths and lengths if you shop around a bit. I got a multipack from Robert Dyas for £6 a while back

[Willy iine]

Honestly if I was going to drive my cars outdoors on concrete I wouldn't care what the bottoms are going to look like.  When I raced all my cars were heavily scratched on the bottom, we could see sparks flashing behind the cars when the rear bottomed out and scraped the counter sunk screw heads.      It was pretty cool.  

I think if I was going to do more driving out doors today, I would buy a dedicated chassis just for that.. say an Inferno nitro car and just let the bottom get scuffed.

 

[Elbowloh]

I've been contemplating getting one of these skins from eBay.

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/232386817307?var=531724827881&mkevt=1&mkcid=1&mkrid=710-53481-19255-0&campid=5338365712&toolid=20006&customid=EB104866980&

 

[M 800STD]

@Willy iine  With cars such as the inferno, Serpent or whatever, I wouldn't care.

When it comes to cars that are a little rarer, well that's a different matter.

[one_hit]

Dunno about you guys, but for me it feels so nice to peel the worn out bathtub tape and seeing a chassis that looks brand new underneath   Another benefit is that in my off-road cars, the bathtub tape prevents mud from getting caked into the screw holes. Makes maintenance so much easier

Even the part of the chassis where the battery sits on my FF-03R looks new. I also put tape on there when running it 

 

 

 

[M 800STD]

Also protects belts and pulleys when chassis have openings below them.

[Willy iine]

7 hours ago, M 800STD said:

@Willy iine  With cars such as the inferno, Serpent or whatever, I wouldn't care.

When it comes to cars that are a little rarer, well that's a different matter.

Good excuse to buy two.    

[TurnipJF]

There is some sound logic there. 👍

[TwistedxSlayer]

Keep it inside on a nice soft surface or shelf. No scratches, no problem :-)