johninderby Posted December 20, 2016 Share Posted December 20, 2016 (edited) FTX Outlaw 1st Impressions Generally good quality overall but a few minor things to improve. I bought the brushed version as I didn't want to spend the extra for a brushless system I'd probably be upgrading later anyway. I'll be sticking a 600BB brushed motor and a better ESC in it for now until I decide on which brushless system to go with. The 600BB should improve performance quite a bit. Also won't be using the stock radio. Looks very nice indeed when it's removed from the box. Everything was well finished and no bits loose or badly positioned. Nice big and soft tyres. Suspension is reasonably firm at the rear but the front feels way too soft and bouncy. Heavier oil and maybe stiffer springs? Body and spare tyre are removed with four standard body clips. The steering linkage bell-crank feels loose on it's post and will need sorting out.Too much slop. Will be replacing the steering servo with something stronger. Front suspension has adjustable turn-buckles and generally feels fairly robust. Rear suspension is a little different and reminds me of a grasshopper (the insect not the car) with its knees. Good amount of travel. Rear lower links are plastic but nice and substantial. Rear upper links though are quite spindly and I can see replacing them with alloy bits fairly soon. Battery tray holds a standard sized LiPo but you could easily trim the back of the tray to allow a longer pack to fit. Rear shock towers will need a little reinforcement. A tie rod between the top of the mounts wiil improve stiffness no end. John You can see the tie strap for shipping on the rear axle. Edited January 14, 2017 by johninderby 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johninderby Posted December 20, 2016 Author Share Posted December 20, 2016 More pics............. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PraetoR Posted December 20, 2016 Share Posted December 20, 2016 Looks very nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capri-boy Posted December 20, 2016 Share Posted December 20, 2016 What do you make of the motor mount John? From the parts list it looks non adjustable? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaz! Posted December 20, 2016 Share Posted December 20, 2016 Looks a very close copy of the axial yeti, although it all looks spindly in comparison but again it's down to price point, the difference is 130 ish, maybe another Rc should you choose.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johninderby Posted December 20, 2016 Author Share Posted December 20, 2016 (edited) Just took the motor out to have a look and indeed the mounting plare is not adjustable. However it can turned upside down to change from a 17t to a 23t pinion. Wouldn't be too hard to make a new adjustable plate though. John Edited December 20, 2016 by johninderby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johninderby Posted December 20, 2016 Author Share Posted December 20, 2016 6 minutes ago, big gaz said: Looks a very close copy of the axial yeti, although it all looks spindly in comparison but again it's down to price point, the difference is 130 ish, maybe another Rc should you choose.... I think it's a bit like the Outback in a way. They've made it lightweight with good quality plastics so they can get away with it not being so heavy duty. It's light so there's less strain on everything. If it works half as well as the Ouback I'll be very pleased indeed. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chewbacca Posted December 20, 2016 Share Posted December 20, 2016 35 minutes ago, johninderby said: Just took the motor out to have a look and indeed the mounting plare is not adjustable. However it can turned upside down to change from a 17t to a 23t pinion. Wouldn't be too hard to make a new adjustable plate though. John 17 and 23 are FTX's favoured pinny sizes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johninderby Posted December 20, 2016 Author Share Posted December 20, 2016 (edited) Looks like the plastic motor mounting plate can just be flipped over but they list a 17t alloy plate and a 23t alloy plate. Hmm so maybe the plate can't just be flipped upside down. John Edited December 20, 2016 by johninderby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigjimknickers Posted December 20, 2016 Share Posted December 20, 2016 So what sized pinion would the BL setup require I wonder? IF I've got one of these on the way from mrs santa, I have a 4000 kv motor spare & a BL esc from hobbyking I could possibly bang straight in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johninderby Posted December 20, 2016 Author Share Posted December 20, 2016 23 minutes ago, Bigjimknickers said: So what sized pinion would the BL setup require I wonder? IF I've got one of these on the way from mrs santa, I have a 4000 kv motor spare & a BL esc from hobbyking I could possibly bang straight in. The brushed comes with a 17t pinion. Have been trying to find out if the brushless uses a 17t or 23t but can't find any mention of which one. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johninderby Posted December 21, 2016 Author Share Posted December 21, 2016 Pics of motor mounting. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capri-boy Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 1 hour ago, johninderby said: Pics of motor mounting. John Thanks John. Appreciated. It does indeed look like it should be easy enough to fab up an adjustable plate though it does all look quite flimsy - I assume the plate slots into channels on the chassis and the 'gear covers' hold it all in place? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johninderby Posted December 21, 2016 Author Share Posted December 21, 2016 (edited) The upper gear case is fastened down with five bolts and is a one piece unit that covers the spur gear and the motor mounting plate. The "ears" on the plate do slot into channels in the gear case. The motor mounting plate isn't going anywhere. John Edited December 21, 2016 by johninderby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johninderby Posted December 21, 2016 Author Share Posted December 21, 2016 (edited) Stock ESC and radio removed and replaced with something better. ESC replaced with a Dynamite Tazer10T that's just a little bit heavier duty than the stock one. 250A continuous / 1000A burst v 45A continuous / 340A burst. Was a bit dubious about the stock ESC handling the 600BB motor I'll be putting in. Radio replaced with my Absima CR4T. While changing the RX discovered the RX box isn't waterproof. merely splashproof as there's a big slot to pass the wires through and no rubber seal around the lid. Could be waterproofed easily enough though with some silicone. Battery tray needed a notch cut in one end to clear the battery wires on the nVision 4500mah LiPo. John Edited December 21, 2016 by johninderby 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johninderby Posted December 22, 2016 Author Share Posted December 22, 2016 (edited) Little run around the car park this morning. Not exactly blinding speed but then it is brushed (for now). Handles fairly well though and fast enough to have some fun with. Flipped it over a few times and ran into a couple of things but nothing broke or came unscrewed. John Edited December 22, 2016 by johninderby 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johninderby Posted December 22, 2016 Author Share Posted December 22, 2016 (edited) Stock servo wasn't that bad but decided to replace with a metal geared one with more torque. Turnigy 1501MG should do all right. A Nanotech 5800mah hardcase lipo fits nicely and will give more run time. John Edited December 22, 2016 by johninderby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
t2boats Posted December 23, 2016 Share Posted December 23, 2016 They're alright aren't they John, some worthy improvements too. I too have changed the servo to a much stronger type, a Turnigy 17kg. Still waiting for the rear ali axle adapters and 23t ali motor mount to arrive so can't run my brushless 3660 set up as yet (unless I stick in a 540size can to suit the 17tooth pinion). So for the time being I'm going to fit a brushed esc which can handle 3S Lipo, that should improve things. So I wonder if these Rock Racers fit in the Rock Crawler or Buggy category on this forum? I wasn't sure so just popped up a thread in general lol.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johninderby Posted December 23, 2016 Author Share Posted December 23, 2016 (edited) It does run better than expected. Adjusted the front shocks as far as possible which does help stiffen things up a bit but now to stick in some thicker oil. Not sure how well the stock motor will handle 3s but as you're going to,be replacing it shortly why not. Looks like the 600BB brushed motor I ordered from Germany won't arrive until after Xmas. The motors about 50 quid in the UK but about a third of that in Germany which makes it cheap enough to experiment with. Will go brushless later but want to see how a decent brushed motor works. Wasn't quite sure which section to put it in myself. John Edited December 23, 2016 by johninderby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
t2boats Posted December 23, 2016 Share Posted December 23, 2016 Exactly, brushless is on the horizon so it's an opportunity to experiment! Will change things around a bit and see how it copes, will pop up a video soon of it.. All in all I've been impressed with it, it'll handle the rough ground well with those large tyres and maahoosive suspension travel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johninderby Posted December 24, 2016 Author Share Posted December 24, 2016 Yes will be interested to see how it runs on 3s. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
t2boats Posted December 26, 2016 Share Posted December 26, 2016 How's your Outlaw coming along? Made any changes yet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johninderby Posted December 26, 2016 Author Share Posted December 26, 2016 Waiting for the new motor to arrive. According to tracking it's about to leave Germany but has been sitting there for a couple of days. Hopefully things will start moving again tomorrow. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
t2boats Posted December 26, 2016 Share Posted December 26, 2016 Is it the Graupner motor? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johninderby Posted December 26, 2016 Author Share Posted December 26, 2016 No but the specs are identical. Cheap enough anyway to experiment with. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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