Popular Post hoss Posted March 25, 2016 Popular Post Share Posted March 25, 2016 (edited) Hello All As The Title says, This is a Topic on the all New Dragon Hammer by FID I First Picked it up in November from RcModelz the Sole UK distributer And have had it out testing EVERY week for Them & FID since Any one that's been awaiting this truck will have an Idea on it's Spec's & it's type of Truck But if not then this is the First of it's kind to hit the market A SOLID rear axled truck, nothing lije the more standard type with a flat chassis and a shock at each corner, The Dragon does't have that, it has a much more like a REAL Scale axle, with full articulation of a Trailling arm, and Four linked Suspension This gives it far FAR greater off road capabilitys than Any thing else that's currently on the market. Now many of you will know me, equally as many wont I have been in this hobby for 30+ years, Racing & Bashing nearly Everything that's been out, And have Run a lot of Clubs, Groups & Forum's, Many at the More Extreme End of the RC Bashing So having driven a lot of stuff, and owned, & still own many 5th scale Rc including Baja's, MCD's, Losi's, X2's, I know what they're like and can Handle & stand up to Off Road, & On And the Dragon Hammer, Is Absolutely AMAZING. It's a real pleasure to drive, very easy & EXTREAMLY capable It will go places that most everything currently out simply can't or really struggle, and it will do it with EASE I've taken this to places that I know a 5ive, or Baja simply Cant go, and it makes it seem so Easy, even to the point where you actually wonder if it was bad enough, Right up until I take my own X2 into the same places, & that just cant manage That's when it really does show how good the Hammer really IS Now the Truck itself is an Absolutely Amazing bit of kit The build quality, & the Spec it comes with out of the box are Awesome Far FAR higher than other 5th scales in this price range, and market I will include a LOAD of pictures But as a quick idea It has All FID part's 7075 Chassis Full Billet Alloy Steering Set Up, Push & Pull Type Billet Alloy Front Top Plate Billet Alloy Front Chassis Brace Billet Alloy Front Shock Tower Billet Alloy Front Pinion Holders, Front & Rear Billet Alloy Front Swaybar Plate Billet Alloy Diff Cases on ALL 3 Diffs, With Helical Cut gears Front & Rear Billet Alloy Rear Top Plate Billet Alloy 2 Piece Center Diff Housing, with a Superb brake Set up Billet Alloy Center Driveshaft Bearing Holder Billet Alloy Clutch Carrier Billet Alloy Engine Mount Billet Alloy Fuel Cap Billet Alloy Rear Swaybar Trailing mounts Billet Alloy Servo Savers on Both Throttle/Brake & Steering Billet Alloy Rear Trailing Arms FID Tomahawk Wheels Etc Etc The List just goes On & On Show Me ANY other car that comes like that out of the box these days, that doesnt cost you the price of a small country So how have all these thing's stood up to the testing? Well I have to say, pretty much faultlessly on the whole Have I broke it? Hell yeah, of course I have But it's had plenty of Abuse, and the bits I have managed to break, would have, and Have broken on my other stuff way before, and miles easier than they have done on the hammer in the last 5 months So what have I managed to break so far during testing, Well I've broke a Front Steering Hub (plastic part) I broke it right on the thinnist bit where the bolt goes through, Rear shock bottom (Plastic Part) Now this broke as a result of some stupid jumping tests, and broke because a lower swaybar link came off, allowing the shock to extend to far (shock limiting Cables Now also Fitted) Rear SwayBar Lower Ball end (Plastic Part) Front Upper Turnbuckle Ball End (Plastic Part) This Happend after a Poor 1 wheel landing on the Front, Also In VERY cold conditions, which I wanted to test the plastic in Ive also have a Bearing fail on the Front Diff case that the Pinion sits on So All told, Very little really Especially from a Brand New Truck, and a Truck that's this companies First And a Completly New Style of truck to boot It's an AMAZING Truck I've had it out in Mud, Sand, Dirt, Gravel, Even Snow Racing, other 5th scales, Baja, Losi's X2's and it beats most, especially in the handling stakes Off-Road, along side other stuff, it out shines them all day long, and does it all with ease, it just Soaks up ANYTHING thrown at it, all day long Jumps, Flys Great, and handles them all great, You do need to jump it differently than other stuff, as the axle likes to absorbe the jump, but can kick the backside up after the jump making it nose dive, but it's very easy to learn to jump it Right Now I have been testing this straight out of the box as it comes, And as such I didn't change anything, so I could give an Honest report on how it goes, an feels out of the box for Everyone an it's Extremely impressive That's not to say that you can't do tweaks to further improve the ride and handling, but as it comes, it's Great straight away It does like to do the Tripod, Lift a front wheel look that many of the real life trucks like this tend to do, but that can be tamed down and tuned out if wanted I ran it totally stock for the first 2 months And then decided to do a strip down & service, and do a Diff set-up while I was at it Upon stripping it down, you do then really find out just how good this truck is, and just how HIGH SPECCED it really is, Even the little small thing's like how the rear axle is made, and how the drive works, and the little touches like there is metal plates to screw into instead of just screwing into plastic ( I will add Pictures of it Stripped Down) It's also incredibly easy to work on, and to Service, The Whole rear axle can be taken off with 4 bolts, two on the trailing arms, two on the rear links, you dont need to faff about with removing loads of other bits, it then there ready to work on, Removing the Front diff case is equally as easy, you undo the bumper, pop off the sway bars, then undo 4 bolts off the fron plate and it allows you to remove the whole front diff case and driveshaft The engine can be removed by 5 Bolts, one on top into the clutch housing, and the four engine plates, then the engine is out and sat on the bench ( one extra bolt if you're using the perfomance pipe) So after getting it all strippind down for checking and serviceing I decided to do all 3 diffs with Fresh Silicon Diff oil ( they were All already filled with silicon oils) I have chosen to go for 75k Front 300k Center 10k Rear And this seems like a nice set up so far But This is running the Zenoah G290 I have plans to put in my Zenoah G340, so I may end up changing these to slightly Higher, but time and driving will tell Radio gear wise On the Steering I have been running with a Savox SV-0235, 35kg on the steering, and that's provong to be MORE than plenty, theres no real need to run anything bigger, as the steering is very light an responsive as it is, so you don't need any of these Mega expensive HUGE servo's just to do your steering, The Savox fit in to the tray perfectly, but if you wanted to fit the smaller sized Hitec's, then you could do that with the adaptor plates available for that The Throttle is using the Stock 25kg that came with it, and that's been fine, the throttle is on a Cable set up (also a new idea) and that makes it very easy to pull the throttle, The Brakes are so Strong that ive had to dial them down as if you really slammed on, you could sit the truck on it's Nose So again, it's more than enough for the throttle and brake, an a Savox would fit on the space available There is a Volt meter included in the lid of the battery tray ( you need a Y-splitter) and a stock sized 6 cell battery fits in with space to spare, The Receiver box is a generous size for your receiver and killswitch to fit in, with room to spare, My only gripe is that the exits for the servo leads are right at the bottom against the chassis, so it can allow some muck in ( I have blocked to holes with some foam) It's a really enjoyable Truck all round It's Great fun to Drive Has AMAZING off-road Handaling, far more than anything else on the market yet It's great on the loose as much as it is in the mud, very easy to drift about on the gravel, and faultless in the really tough stuff EXTREMLY well specc'ed up straight out of the Box, and the build quailty on the parts is Top Notch Best of all It is coming in at a very good Price Anyone wanting this spec of truck is already likely to either have theri own engine and radio gear, or have a personal choice as to what they would like to use in it They will be released by Rcmodelz into the UK at £849 as a roller Which for this level of spec & Truck is simply amazing So a Huge THANKS to RcModelz for the opportunity Here's a Bunch of photo's for your enjoyment Edited March 25, 2016 by hoss 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post hoss Posted March 25, 2016 Author Popular Post Share Posted March 25, 2016 (edited) Edited March 25, 2016 by hoss 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoss Posted March 25, 2016 Author Share Posted March 25, 2016 This is its First Strip Down And Service So you'll get a Great Idea of How it's built and How WELL it's built 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoss Posted March 25, 2016 Author Share Posted March 25, 2016 Next is the CENTER Diff 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post hoss Posted March 25, 2016 Author Popular Post Share Posted March 25, 2016 Next is FID's Performance Exhaust, And This Alone is a SUPERBLY well thought out and Made bit of kit ( this is a optional part, NOT included) Test Fitment to the exhaust Test Fitment to the exhaust 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoss Posted March 25, 2016 Author Share Posted March 25, 2016 (edited) Now for the Broken Bit's Ive done along the way during testing Front Lower Hole on the Steering Hub Carrier Rear Lower Ball end On the Swaybar Drop Link (The Breakage of this is what allowed the Rear shock to extend to far and break the plastic shock end) Rear Shock End ( Plastic) Front Upper Turnbuckle Ball End (Plastic) It Was Also Extremely cold that day (-1 All day) Front Pinion Bearing Failure Edited March 25, 2016 by hoss missed a file out 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoss Posted March 25, 2016 Author Share Posted March 25, 2016 And for those that 'Think' This is a Losi DBXL Clone Here is ther Dragon next to a Highly Modded DBXL ( Neil Leigh's) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mond Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 Impressive car and the roller price is very reasonable. Just need that brushless version... What's with the wheel hubs? Does it have the option to mount standard 24mm hubs? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.AJ. Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 Great review 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotty napalm Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 That thing looks awesome Fast and hard 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tug Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 It dwarves the DBXL! Agree with Mond, a BL version would be awesome. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 Great write up and pics Mark, looks awesome. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post hoss Posted March 25, 2016 Author Popular Post Share Posted March 25, 2016 The wheel's Mount totally differently to anything that's about But are miles stronger for it too, They totally clamp the wheel center's, Not just the size of a hex nut ;) But yes it's easy enough to switch back to a 24mm hex if you really wanted to :) There IS a Brushless version already in development :) And will be released by mid year I believe :) Thanks Nick :) Still hard at it ;) 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(-:AD:-) Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 Looks good quality. Good review. Something different... that looks very promising. Looks like the era of the 5ive is over! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
53HRA Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 Good to see you back on here Mark Great review and set of pictures 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NG15 Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 Some lovely parts on that. Good write up bud 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scatteh316 Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 Awesome Mark..... Has the official release date been confirmed yet? This should also silence the critics who have questioned it's quality because of where in the world it's been designed and built. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tug Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 Looks good quality. Good review. Something different... that looks very promising. Looks like the era of the 5ive is over! I hope not! Perhaps it's time for a challenger though? The 5ive still rocks! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supersavage Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 Good review and it does look pretty impressive. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_RCModelz Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 Awesome Mark..... Has the official release date been confirmed yet? This should also silence the critics who have questioned it's quality because of where in the world it's been designed and built. The date is mid may the container leaves china on 4th April and takes approx 45 days to land and clear customs. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babylon Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 How many in the first shipment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carpmart Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 Hoss..... Hallelujah - a decent write up of a new truck! Well done mate! a couple of questions if I may. Please can you provide more context about the performance relative to other cars. You mention several times that it's better than all other trucks and goes places they won't go? Are we talking from a ground clearance perspective, the grip of the tyres, what gives it the extra performance over everything out there currently? Need to elaborate here please with some data points please? Ive had lots of full size RWD cars over the years. The old ones had a solid (live) axle set up like this. This is also used in slow off road vehicles due to the articulation and simple engineering they provide. The world has moved on and pretty much all vehicles that we want to go relatively quick in now how IRS (independent rear suspension) which has many advantages to putting power down to the ground. How does this perform relative to a 5ive or X2 in terms of skipping around on rough ground and the power delivery issues this will give with a live axle? I can see both this and the Kraken being much poorer in this respect than the 5ive and the X2, hell even the DBXL... Do you agree? How does it compare? The pics seem to show a number of different cars with different hop ups etc on them, is that correct? (How did you get so many BTW?) Please could you post a pic or two with the standard spec that it has as it comes out of the box? @John@RCModellzzz - what's include in the roller sale price please? Pipe? Servos? Pinion and bell? Fuel line? Clutch and housing? Radio gear? Be good to understand so I can work out what I need extra? I will take one too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carpmart Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 Looks good quality. Good review. Something different... that looks very promising. Looks like the era of the 5ive is over! Hold your horses there Ant... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_RCModelz Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 @John@RCModellzzz - what's include in the roller sale price please? Pipe? Servos? Pinion and bell? Fuel line? Clutch and housing? Radio gear? Be good to understand so I can work out what I need extra? I will take one too! The roller will Exclude Engine, Battery, Radio gear, Servos and Exhaust. (oh and you need petrol and oil ) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoss Posted March 25, 2016 Author Share Posted March 25, 2016 Hoss..... Hallelujah - a decent write up of a new truck! Well done mate! Cheers Fella a couple of questions if I may. Please can you provide more context about the performance relative to other cars. You mention several times that it's better than all other trucks and goes places they won't go? Are we talking from a ground clearance perspective, the grip of the tyres, what gives it the extra performance over everything out there currently? Need to elaborate here please with some data points please? Agility, Ground Clearance, Speed over Really Rough terrain, Ive had lots of full size RWD cars over the years. The old ones had a solid (live) axle set up like this. This is also used in slow off road vehicles due to the articulation and simple engineering they provide. The world has moved on and pretty much all vehicles that we want to go relatively quick in now how IRS (independent rear suspension) which has many advantages to putting power down to the ground. How does this perform relative to a 5ive or X2 in terms of skipping around on rough ground and the power delivery issues this will give with a live axle? I can see both this and the Kraken being much poorer in this respect than the 5ive and the X2, hell even the DBXL... Do you agree? How does it compare? Yeah I'm 44 and come from the 'Old School' of the car scene, so I'm pretty familiar with rear axles But they are certainly not now used on the Slower end of the 'REAL' scale off-road scene, check out the 'KING of Hammers' race series The axle and the four linked suspension give it a completely different maneuverability to the now normal 'Flat' Chassis rc's we are now used to There is the chance of the rear end 'Skipping' up if you do catch it right, over a certain bump/jump, but there isn't any loss of power transfer with the axle itself, In fact you can get the drive straight down to the floor so much that it like's to leave the 11's everywhere it goes I've had this up against Everything we've got in the club, So Losi 5ive's X2's DBXL's Baja's Hormann's MCD RR5 And it's on par with any of those, and as I say, Miles better, when it gets Really rough, and those start to struggle with their shorter shocks & flat chassis The pics seem to show a number of different cars with different hop ups etc on them, is that correct? (How did you get so many BTW?) Please could you post a pic or two with the standard spec that it has as it comes out of the box? @John@RCModellzzz - what's include in the roller sale price please? Pipe? Servos? Pinion and bell? Fuel line? Clutch and housing? Radio gear? Be good to understand so I can work out what I need extra? I will take one too! The other car I think you are referring to is a Losi DBXL A lot of people are saying it's a direct 'Clone' of that, which quite clearly to anyone's eyesight, it Isn't There is only this ONE that's being used in the UK currently So as you are seeing it is EXACTLY as it comes , STRAIGHT OUT OF THE BOX That's the STOCK spec Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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