"How did we get here: The GCM Racing Blog"

--Updated September 2009-- This is best viewed in a wide screen format.

When I was 5, I remember wondering what all this stuff was in my dad's shop - parts of cars, big solid airplanes, and radio controllers that looked like a big match box with some extra long screws sticking out of the front. And when I was going to get to play with it all....

Only a short while later I remember getting my hands on the first controller. What a thrill then, and what a thrill now - to be able to get a hold of a finely tuned and finely made model and rip it through the air, land or sea. It's been a long and full journey here with the radio control variety only topped by my teachers.. and we are still going. This blog will send us through the history of GCM Racing, and the manufacturing and design of parts for only the last several years GCM Racing has been a name. Come along for the ride.

Much of the influence of the current RC performance world came from years of doing full scale automotive work. These two examples are a sleeper truck with a nice stock look, but a large high power v8 engine installed, and the second a full metal stripped restoration project including full drivetrain and interior. Both include special performance mods developed here in house.

We continue to do engine work on a small scale, and electronics and audio work - usually small projects now but there are always several every year. No more large restorations are possible with our current setup.

The RC modifications began when the first Traxxas Stampede came out. It had several inherent problems and we enjoyed the 'monster truck' style so much, we worked tirelessly to make this the best possible truck it could be. The Duratrax Evader ST was also a great truck back then.. it was a nice, tight, fully adjustable real stadium racer with many Graphite components, not the more entry level truck it has morphed into over the years. With the tuning experience of years of automotive work, the Evader became a strong performer after some special GCM Racing tweaks.

Enter the 4WD monsters. Along side the E-Savage came an old E-Maxx, the first one. Between this and some new Stampedes - number 2 and 3 shown here - we had alot of opportunity to learn about setups and suspension, as well as the benefits and drawbacks of each one. Weight and balance began to become factors in tuning and with the growing availability of better and better tires, treads and compounds, the possibilities for performance grew in leaps.

The 4WD world of the BIG monster trucks was taking over. Discovering how to become the biggest, fastest and strongest monster truck was the mission for a long time. It was clear that the E-Savage was taking over, even though the E-Maxx was a capable and tuneable performer. After dozens of bulkhead and shock tower replacements, it was clear that the E-Maxx needed some aluminum parts upgrades, while the whole time the venerable E-Savage was taking all we could give it, including taking drive axles for snacks. With some tweaks, gearing changes, and tire swaps the E-Maxx developed into a dirt eating monster with alot of attitude, all the while the E-Savage had gotten it's first ever Chassis plate re-design - called the Big Boy - which grew the center ground clearance, and slightly stretched it out in length.

Simply because of the performance gains seen in the chassis switch on the E-Savage, alot of effort was put into that project. The E-Maxx could wait, as it seemed to be as good as it can get by this point. The E-Savage on the other hand began a series of 12 chassis plate revisions that included silly long, way too much castor, can't fit the parts on it small, and custom battery mounting. Here's the first ever custom tray RoadBoy chassis and the first ever finished production version installed on a truck.

Over the course of a year, the now great handling E-Savage began to take over the 4WD off road scene here. Each development on this truck brought a new level of performance and opportunity for its use in competitive off-roading. Enter the EXarm - a whole new thought on performance gains. Here's the introduction of EXarm to the E-Savage and eventually to the use of aluminum shock upgrades and some incredible off-roading performance in a monster truck... at last.

Considering the E-Maxx just couldn't stand up to high speed off-road crashing, we decided to make it slower than ever, yet more capable still. Enter the Rock Crawling world of GCM Racing. This began for us with a full diff-locked E-Maxx with 4 wheel steering. Geared super low, and using chopped tires, we had this thing climbing cliffs and log piles like no other in our history of 4WD. This new crawling fever eventually led to a full solid axle 4 link central frame crawler in the early stages of the 'Super Class' crawling.

One of the ill-fated E-Savages also got in on the fun. We called it Rock-Savy, and with lessons learned on 4 link suspension geometry from the E-Maxx Crawler, we developed this 12.5 inch crawler and shortly after the legal 'Super Class' crawler using custom made diff lockers and full aluminum chassis and suspension components. The places this will go still amaze me.

While all this rock crawling was going on, and with the EXarm and metal CVD E-Savage running around, some diff problems in the E-Savage started to surface. Those weak planet gears in the diffs were starting to annoy us. That began a quest to marry the stronger E-Maxx Diffs - and already available upgrades - with the much more durable and better handling E-Savage. The perfect combination! Here's how this came along. First was to use the lighter and simpler E-Savage center gearbox and suspension geometry with the E-Maxx differential components, but keep the TVP chassis design. We designed several of these using different platforms and components, but all included what we considered to be the strongest components available. With the help of some genius German designers who came on board, we had been successful at marrying the two, and also making some major structure changes to the future of 4WD off-road as we knew it. Unfortunately as you already know, none of these designs could make it to final production because the cost of these kits would have been well above market acceptance. BUT the good news is that this forced the development of a strong and simple E-Savage stock diff replacement we call the TWINv2 diff from GCM Racing.

Our 4WD experience was not limited to the monster truck arena at all. We went into the fast and crazy world of 4WD Buggies also. The first of the competition level buggies was a Losi XXX-4 Graphite unit with brushed power and li-po battery. Wow, li-po. There's a development for the industry we are all very thankful for. This thing with our first li-po and still brushed power was a rocket on rails, even in dirt. A simply amazing combination of power, handling, and finesse.

Enter Brushless powertrains. Our first brushless experience happened on a full-load E-Savage build, and consisted of a modified MambaMax ESC and a 3100kv Turborix motor using dual 2s li-po batteries. I can promise you that the first time I hit the throttle on this truck I let out the most heart-felt laugh of my life. If you have never experienced the brushless motor phenomenon, don't die before trying it out. This is simply the best innovation for RC since the li-po battery power. We went from full on-road extremes to full climb-over-anything offroad with the brushless powered E-Savages and never looked back. Brushless Forever!

With all this design work, RC production winding up, and full time industrial machine work also, let's not forget to have fun! We spent a couple of summer seasons with this excellent P51 Mustang in the air and many, many days at the parks, tracks, and dirt piles with some of the trucks.

The rock crawling world had really taken off at this time. With the introduction of Axial Racing's new AX-10 line, the availability of a competition-ready crawler grew. We jumped right in realizing the opportunities for rock crawling developments was at it's infancy. We were right. The AX-10 ARTR turned out to be a very competitive and tough rock crawler with simply endless setup options, and using our experience with the Super Class rigs, we went about developing performance setups for each of the environments we crawl in.

It was clear to us that the 4WD monster trucks has their place, that the rock crawling has its place, and the stadium racing has its place. But what about the daily bash, the run-around-anywhere trucks? Something simple, strong, and fun. And if it looks like a truck, that would be great also. Thanks to Traxxas for bringing the Slash to the masses. The perfect answer to that problem, and I, my adult friends and all the neighborhood kids will thank them for it! We used Slash 1 in a brushed motor setup on 'training mode' for the kids, Slash 2 in brushed setup with 2s li-po power for spec class racing and general bashing, and Slash 3 for all out fun - a brushless wonder on li-po battery power with tire-eating performance that required shock upgrades and a few other tweaks to hold it all together.

The E-Revo came on the scene next, and considering the results the Nitro brothers were acheiving on the track, we considered this worth looking in to. We were right. But it's huge. GCM also started some track goodies for customers and our own use, like this portable charging station already mounted in a hard case with everything you need right at your fingers.

The E-Revo underwent some GCM tuning, and a heart transplant, and eventually we got a still heavy, but fun truck that was tough and fast. It seems to be somewhere between a huge buggy and a monster truck. We tried to make it tall, short, and everything in between, but it still had the same performance capabilities. Back to the drawing board, then, because it's not 'monster' or 'buggy' but it sure is fun.

With the E-Savage performance at an all time high, we went looking for the extreme of a plate-chassis race truck. The result was the RB3, a new design of chassis and component placement that made the way for an internal battery bay, keeping the battery weight, and everything else for that matter, right in the center. This truck was outfitted with some GCM experimental Delrin RacerEX suspension arms and was called the RB3 Pro. At a tiny 3800 grams, this 3s li-po powered, Nitro Savage sized truck was the lightest and fastest monster we have ever come up with. Even a carbon fiber chassis was created for it, although the one shown is the aluminum version. This also precipitated the introduction of large buggy shocks and short shock towers for the E-Savage line, making a true race-capable truck right out of the GCM line.

The RB3 was calling out for custom body work, which we sourced out to a superb local painter at Bodywerx.net and the results speak for themselves. For full-on competition we also developed the SS suspension arm line, which is a direct copy of the delrin RacerEX arms, only in heat treated aluminum. A much better solution for the riggors of the track and the odd bad landing. The delrin arms, although incredibly light and strong were subject to small fractures at the hinge pin holes which resulted in a DNF one too many times. Using the SS aluminum arm in the front, and the delrin RacerEX in the rear seems to be a good compromise for light yet strong at the track.

RC Racing has taken off to new heights all over the world. With the addition of timing transponders, groomed tracks, and organized events, much fun can be had at your local gathering through the week. Two such events have seen drivers sponsored by GCM Racing, the first being the No Limit of Virginia circuit with a novice driver running some GCM goodies on his E-Savage, continuing to hit the podium finishes throughout the season. The second is on the Western Canada circuit in the MT class, with a smart driver using his smart setup techniques to bring the GCM equipped E-Savage into the competitive MT world with great success. Congratulations to both teams for their efforts and contributions to the GCM Racing world!

Our local driver here has turned his RB3 into a multi purpose truck using the RB3 platform, 3s li-po and brushless power, and adding a full set of SS aluminum arms and a soft offset wheel combo. This has turned out to be a great balance of size, weight, and capabilities, to make a truck that jumps well, runs strong with great handling, but still takes the off-road beating you want to give your monster truck at times.

The rock crawling scene got more real by the day with the introduction of the 'scaler', a combination of rock crawling capability with a 'real' truck look. We began to experiment with joining the AX-10 offerings with some hardbody scale Jeep builds, and have had alot of fun in the process. Using a TCS crawler frame, we came up with this, the Wrangler-10. It's a great rock climber with a realistic look and offers us a truck to run in the 2.2 inch competition class as well. Notice how the Super Class rig simply towers over it.

It appears HPI did not want us to take over the world, because they soon released the Savage Flux to fill the electric Savage gap (something the aftermarket has been doing for some time), a totally overpowered twin battery powered Nitro Savage with specific electric power changes. This truck is a bit bigger than the RB E-Savage, but much heavier, and uses big and strong components to hold back the giant brushless motor and available 6s li-po power supply. It's big, heavy, and incredibly fun to bash around.

GCM Racing continued to develop the E-Savage platform with a new combination of the RB3 and the RoadBoy Brushless Editon. Named the RB2, and only available in 4mm carbonfiber from Platinum Products, this chassis combines the light and strong design with new battery mounting options, and the under-spur motormount adapted from 'Jedi', a product developer in the USA. With the RB2 and Jedi-mount a low center of gravity is achieved and another improvement in handling comes forth. The RB2 chassis was extensively tested for durability and balance by our Western Canada racer for many races, and certainly proved it's worth on the track. Our RB2 build is shown here with the short shock towers, Jedi-mount, single battery tray, and EXarm v2 suspension using big bore buggy shocks.

While the 4WD trucks were running, GCM Racing decided to enter the scale crawler market with a dedicated scale frame rail set. Called the CrossCanyon, this new design makes a realistic frame for most 2.2 and some 1.9 sized scale rigs, and allows for some setup options without too many holes in the frame. Using AX-10 components and a few hours of setup, this can be a simple and solid scale crawler platform for your hardbody. Shown here is our CrossCanyon 2.2 scaler Jeep JK 4 door with some scale goodies and details. It is a very capable crawler, and looks the part as a big off-road Jeep.

We keep up with the dirt road scene with this Rally car. Based on the HPI E10 series, this one adds some more off-road prone equipment like longer shocks, rally tires, and 3300 Medusa Brushless power. Using a 2s li-po, this car rockets to full speed, and dirt-drifts to perfection using all steel CVD drivetrain and locked diffs front and rear. This is a fun car with the classic STI rally look.

Considering the overpowered nature of the Savage Flux, we deemed a remedy for wheelies was in order. By adding much chassis development experience from the E-Savage and RB chassis linup, we developed this 17 inch wheelbase Savage Flux conversion called DesertBoy-17. It's a complete re-think of the Flux platform, as you would expect from GCM, and uses optimal weight and balance to produce an almost wheelie-free power-on run with this truck. The DesertBoy-17 also makes plenty of room in the rear for internally mounted battery packs, and therefore increases the safety of the ride. The improvement in the ride, jumping, throttle control, and general smile factor is so huge we can only say " try it for yourself! " At almost the exact same weight as a stock Flux, this is a real step in the right direction for an already good truck.

Considering the popular monster truck use, that is - some track, some jumps, some skate parks, some lawns, some flower gardens (oops) - we also added the DesertBoy XL to the Flux chassis linup. This platform gives internal or stock battery tray options, and allows all the improvements of the DB-17 but retains some of the agile monster truck bashing characteristics with the XL sized wheelbase. Using a revised suspension mounting angle (castor) for the front and rear, as well as component placement changes, this bolt-on kit can convert your Savage Flux into a much better handling and better flying monster in the matter of an hour. It's a simple conversion we have come to love for fun and durability while still retaining that big-truck-conquer-anything feeling. It corners great also with the half-offset rims and better tires.

We continue to invade the 4WD buggy scene with the E10 based Brama from HPI. With new wheel bearings and a motor change, this otherwise stock buggy is a great performer and super tough. HPI did a great job with this unit, and we have had a great time proving it. For some reason you can't help but enjoy the thrills of the 4wd buggy on the smaller tracks. Of course there are some parts in the design que for his one also....

Using the CrossCanyon frame rails we also entered the scale 'trail truck' world with this 4 door Jeep JK body. It's as real as a replica as we can make up at this time, and with great ground clearance and the capable Flat Iron tires, this is one great trail truck. A full blown culmination of all of the off-road capabilities and details are encased in this Jeep project.

With several new things in the design and testing stages, we will continue to develop the GCM Racing world. Stay tuned for more of this piece of RC history.