Chassis Builders Showcase

Randy Sanders “Macho” - Overdose Vacula 2 - The base chassis used for this build is an Overdose Vacula 2. I believe it was produced in 2018-2019. The retail price was $500 at that time not including any upgrade parts.

Since I bought it in 2022, I’ve upgraded the purple servo holder, rear uprights, front bumper plate, front lower arm, and servo horn. Overdose parts aren’t as easy to come by as some other RC drift companies, but that’s the fun part about this chassis. Fully upgraded or not, this chassis rips.

I’ve always admired Overdose. I’ve owned a couple, in fact I still own an original Vacula from back when Rear Wheel Drive (RWD) chassis first came out. I had taken an All Wheel Drive (AWD) Vacula and transitioned it to RWD. It was the most tuning fun I had modifying a chassis… up until then.

Nothing special is needed for tuning, the basic set up works really well on this chassis. It’s one of the reasons I enjoy it.

The dampers I used are the OD gen 1 dampers with the 6 hole pistons filled with 20w OD Mineral oil all around
I run an Overdose ball diff which meshes really well with the belt drive system this chassis has.
I set up the Front Ackerman at -4 with the original OD slide rack The rear camber is at -10.
I’m a big fan of Accuvance electronics, so I went with the older model Accuvance Keyence with a 13.5 Accuvance BS Dual Luxon motor as I felt it would feel best at our track here at Darc.

For servo I went with the Reve D RS-ST and for gyro I went with Sanwa SGS-02. I feel these 2 pair really well together and I’ve had zero issues with them.

I would estimate my drift machine’s value at 900 USD.

The Overdose Vacula 2 drives very, very smoothly, almost like it drives itself.

Chris Cruz - SHIBATA GRK5 Kodai Sobagiri Limited Edition - This base chassis is a SHIBATA GRK5 Kodai Sobagiri Limited Edition.
It was produced around the 4WD days but I got into them back in 2020.
I’m not too sure what the cost in the US was. I want to say anywhere from $1,000 to $1,400. I was blessed with mine from a very good friend of mine in Japan.
I haven’t made any major upgrade modifications. I have a few option parts that were all sold for the chassis by SHIBATA. It also has the House Of RWD titanium bolt conversion and tie rods.
I particularly like the stability and smoothness of how the chassis naturally drives.
The stock kit offers a few unique layouts, I really enjoy the kit for this reason. I’m always into trying different set ups and layouts. Currently I’m running a full SHIBATA damper set up. The mineral oil for the front is 35 weight and 45 weight for the rear. The springs in the rear are 9.5 SHIBATA Dual Rates and the front are 5.0 L/R Symmetrical.
For electronics I’m using the Reve D Breve ESC, Rocket Super Sonic 10.5 Motor (a smaller 380 size motor for smaller 1/14-1/12 scale RC), KO Propo RSx3 one10 Version D Servo, KO Propo KG-X gyro, and Acuvance Trace Becter Caps, Cavalier Trace. I went with the Reve D Breve ESC because after running a few other brands, I felt the Breve was the most user friendly and simple to use.
One thing it has that’s new to me compared to any of my chassis in the past is the 380 size motor. I went this route because I wanted to build a rear motor set up without the rear being too heavy. Normally on my GRK’s I run the SHIBATA brand from the 10.5, 13.5, 15.5.
The amount of toe, camber, and Ackermann changes quite a bit depending on track and size. Right now I’m set up for a polished concrete track. I’m running -4 degrees of camber for the rear and -13 degrees of camber for the front. The rest I eyeball and make sure it’s all equal with measurements on the tie rods, gaps, etc.
I estimate the electronics to cost 60 for the gyro, 80 for the servo, 60 for the motor, 220 for the ESC, and 60 for both caps, so around 480 USD in total. I use a Futaba 10px radio that’s estimated to be around 1000 USD. So altogether a little over 2000 USD.
Unfortunately, the KO Propo servo and gyro are both discontinued.
I’ve been told it’s a real “set it and forget it” chassis but super smooth. One thing I love about it is that you can stay relaxed while driving it… even in comps.

Luis Nieves - Yokomo SD3.0 - This base chassis is the Yokomo SD3.0, purple edition, finished out with the additional purple upgrades.
I really like that it has the familiar feel of the Yokomo YD2-SXIII, but more refined. The quality is always top notch and it goes together relatively quickly. It’s also easy to get a base suspension tune for our track.
I generally run full ceramic bearings, I don’t like the kit bearings.
It has a CLSD in it, 8 soft spring. The CLSD is a differential that allows you to make adjustments by changing the internal gears and springs. There is an option for the soft or hard springs and an option to run 4 or 8 gears, depending on whether you want the feel of an open differential or a stiffer, more solid spool-like feel.
The CLSD diff feels great when entering the long sweepers and it helps with being able to hold a pretty hard angle through them. I’m going to try the 8 gear, on soft spring and see how the change feels. I may end up switching it to a ball diff.
The dampers are the Yokomo big bore with the Yokomo tapered pistons and Reve D dual rate springs for the rear dampers. I have 10 weight mineral oil for the front and 15 for the rear.
I have installed all Yokomo electronics on this chassis, except for the Accuvance Fledge 10.5 motor with the standard rotor. It also has the Yokomo RPX II Drift Spec Electronic Speed Control (ESC), Yokomo DP-302 V4 gyro, and Yokomo SP-03V2 servo. My normal “go to” is the Accuvance RAD ESC, Futaba GYD550 gyro, and Futaba CD700 servo, but for this build I wanted to keep the chassis all Yokomo.
In the front I run 10-12 degrees of camber with 1-3 degrees of toe. The amount of Ackermann varies based on the amount of full lock on the lead wheel and the angle of the drag wheel. For the rear wheels I run 0.5-1.5 degrees of camber with either zero toe or 0.5 degrees of toe in.
With electronics I would value the car around 1400 USD.
It feels good to drive! I like my chassis to feel planted, but still be able to give it a hard flick when entering the sweepers or transitioning on the turns while maintaining it’s smoothness.

Victor Ho - Overdose GALM - The base chassis for this build is the Overdose GALM. The base retail price is difficult to estimate. I would say 3,000 USD for the retail price with the full options, or 400 USD for the base model of the chassis.
There are no additional modifications or conversions on this chassis, but the chassis is currently fully optioned with only the finest Overdose optioned parts. I set up the High motor configuration on the trans range deck.
The Overdose GALM is a high performance chassis that has endless amounts of fine adjustments. It delivers a precise feeling of drifting that I haven’t found in any other chassis. The option parts for it are very performance driven and you can set up three different configurations using OEM option parts (high motor, low motor, rear motor). It’s a tuner’s dream!
The high motor mount configuration has been the go-to for many drivers on different platforms. Compared to the transitional low motor mount configuration, it moves the weight up top so it provides more side-bite and more roll overall on the chassis. The rear motor configuration is where the motor sits behind the rear suspension pin, giving you the feeling of pushing the car forward from the rear end. They are different tuning options for different characteristics and preferences of the driver. The GALM can do all three configurations.
For the damper setup, I run the overdose high grade shocks version 4 with OD springs and OD 10 weight mineral oil. I use the Overdose ball diff for the gear configuration for the Overdose GALM as it seems to mesh perfectly with the gears.
I am currently running a Maclan MDP motor and ESC. I am a Maclan team driver and I trust the people that helped develop the platform from day one. It has given me three wins in Texas SDC rounds, so I’ve really grown to count on the Maclan Combo. For the servo/gyro combination, I am using Reve D RSST Pro with Futaba GYD550.
For toe, camber, and Ackermann, I honestly just eyeball everything. I make sure I have minimal toe in front and 0 toe in the rear. The camber is dictated by the Ackermann setup in the front. The rear I run as much of a contact patch as I need per track.
With electronics, I would estimate the value of this chassis to be around 5,000 USD. I have the GALM Anniversary chassis too, but don’t drive it often. It’s a rare collectors item. The Anniversary GALM is 2,500 USD as a roller with no hop ups.
My daily GALM chassis feels direct, quick, and does everything you need on demand. In the corners, it catches very well and allows you to continue the drift without any delay. The Overdose GALM is the most tunable and direct feeling platform I’ve ever had.