Frp, carbon fiber and plastic tub strength.

[4x4 Chris 7]

Hi everyone, I have a quick question. Why is it that manufactures advertise frp and carbon fiber chassis as more rigid than the plastic tub type chassis’. I understand they are lighter in weight but clearly it takes more effort to bend a plastic tub than that thin piece of frp or carbon fiber??

[LeftyAl 164]

I suppose it is partly marketing and partly giving people options. A tub chassis should be plenty strong to take a bashing (where it will flex), where as a FRP chassis is more to do with chassis rigidity for racing etc vs overall strength/durability. 

I put a carbon fibre rear shaft in my F103, it was lighter and seemed stronger.... but when the rear of the car slide into a concrete barrier, it snapped the shaft.

On my FF01, TA02, and TA03 cars I have upgraded them all with the FRP chassis. More for looks, and ESC/Receiver placement..... Interestingly the only chassis I have every cracked/broken was a TA04 tub chassis.... admittedly though it was running a 5.5T set up......

 

[4x4 Chris 7]

Thanks LeftyAl. I am going to be building the re-release lancia. I bit the bullet and paid the MAP price which I suspect most of us on here will eventually do. I have a graphite chassis for it. I am going to use it to off-set some of the weight of the ABS body. However, if I wanted to make the car bulletproof and weight was not a concern I would use the tub supplied. Goodnight everyone.

[4x4 Chris 7]

One last comment. If the frp, graphite or carbon fiber chassis were the same shape as the tub with the side walls and  the same thickness...then they probably would be stiffer. But just using that flat plate as the chassis can’t possibly be more durable. I could be wrong but currently this is just my opinion. 

[LeftyAl 164]

Different brands will have different components to make up the part giving different types of strength. Even some of the Tamiya tubs are made of different grades of plastic. (TA04 has a couple of tub chassis available). Enjoy building the Lancia !!!!!

 

[Jonathon Gillham 4243]

I have been comparing some chassis lately to see what is more flexible and the carbon or aluminium are definitely stiffer, even though they are just flat plates. I have just upgraded the TA07 to carbon stiffeners as that FRP chassis with the rails is very flexible. The plastic tubs aren't as flexible as the TA07 but they still have a lot of flex. I'm comparing TT02, TA07, Lazer ZX6, Ultima RB6.6, TRF102, TA07 with carbon stiffeners and then a bunch of other peoples cars like the HB Racing D413, Schumacher Mi6 Evo, Xpress XQ1 etc. Of course the carbon or aluminium cars are all high end and cost 3 or 4 times as much as a plastic car.

So yes, a single aluminium or carbon plate can be much, much more rigid than a plastic tub.

[wolfdogstinkus 1577]

Carbon is nothing to a 6 year old boy with brushless power.

 

edit to add, he is really good at driving, he doesn't bash into things at speed, this is from rollovers. and a bad design. 

 

 

[topforcein 1753]

well i would say it all depends on what you plan or dont plan on smashing the car into .

as i remember back in 1989 when i had my first rc witch was the hornet i accident'ly pressed the throttle on the tx and it shot accross the living room and embeded under the tv stand and when i got it out the chassis tub was no more the front end was gone so i had to replace the chassis and that was on the kit motor. great really that was my first crash and rebuildas i thought it was all over until i visited the hobby shop and i told them what happened and to my amazement the chap came out with a new chassis i learned about shares that day lol.