Popular Post Kukynas Posted February 11, 2019 Popular Post Share Posted February 11, 2019 (edited) Hey guys, didn't know if to create new thread or hack someone's else existing SSTE thread so if mods decide to glue it with other thread I'm perfectly fine here I'd like to share experience with Hobao SSTe (latest revision) rolling chassis and mods applied with list of parts used, this should be applicable to RTR as well but first of all some intro... After weeks spent on forums and youtube reading and looking at user experience with RTR 1:8 scale versions of currently available truggies I found that all of them have some flaws, smaller or bigger but always something, combined with compromised electronics (usually cheap servos and radios) I decided to go ARR kit so that I can build it my way with my parts... Went through internet and looked at several kits from Tekno, Mugen, X-ray, Serpent, Losi, Hobbyking and Hobao, nearly bought BSR Berserker (Hobbyking) for 200 EUR as price/performance ratio looked perfect but than I came across their forum and revealed that most of the critical spare parts are always on backorder and waiting for months to get them is nothing unusual, secondly several people were complaining about steering issues so decided to look elsewhere. Next in price range tree was Hobao Hyper SSTe, checked forums and YT videos for user experience and found that most of them are pretty negative, below video sums up why Wasn't happy at all especially considering all the other brands costing double or triple (600-800 EUR) I had to do deeper search of what's going on, why 10 years old PRO version was so good and still capable of keep up with best on the market and electric version so bad, looking at their actual manual and part list suggested that in 2017 Hobao made significant upgrade and most of above mentioned supposed to be fixed with latest revision, unfortunately (not sure if caused by bad reputation) I couldn't found enough reviews of their latest ARR model but according to review from Vas of the RTR version (over here) I took a risk and ordered it to find out myself, for 260 EUR delivered I knew I can fix remaining issues with either upgraded parts Hobao selling separately or from third party providers or other brands as many of them sharing similar concept and dimensions of their parts... so below some pictures, as you can see lower arms are beefier with more robust construction and nearly no flex (similar to the old PRO version) , looks like beefier front drive shafts so hopefully less prone to bending and few bits and pieces, it looks like Hobao listened to user complains and addressed most of the problems, is it perfect? nope, but I didn't expect I will get Tekno quality for 260 EUR, instead solid base for further improvements... with spare parts usually available either from local dealers or directly from Hobao (I tried both and it worked well with lead time between 3 to 5 days) In order of importance here are my suggested mods/hop-ups (I plan to do) : 1. First of all shock springs, as mentioned in other thread these needs to be changed for something harder, BSR Berserker or Hobao MT springs works fine 2. Next is shimming, as mentioned in first video above there are places where shimming is necessary, C-hubs, steering knuckles, servo saver, back shocks touching the lower arms, wheel hubs touching knuckles and finally all 3 diffs (as pointed out by Vas as well) 3. Aluminium chassis stiffeners, there is still some slight flexing from back part of the chassis which could cause center rear shaft to bend (in case of hard bashing) 4. shock and diff oil, here we have basic set up with pretty low viscosity like in many RTR versions so change of the oil with higher viscosity is more than welcome 5. wheels, seems to be improved version but I will use aftermarket anyway 6. camber and toe adjustment, as Vas said this needs to be done but I take it as standard in case of kit or ARR so no issue for me 7. Pro aluminium shock towers, to prevent bending 8. Aluminium C-Hubs, to improve strength of the arms 9. Universal center drive shaft set 10. Rear CVD shafts 11. Pro spider diffs + shimming, if you plan to use/run higher power/torque set, in my case between 3.5 - 4.2Kwatts 12. New battery tray (requires drilling new holes) 13. will follow hop-up parts list: 1. Hobbyking 9655000108-0, 9655000105-0, or 9655000109-0 and 9655000195-0 , Hobao 94073 2. Nylon washers for chassis parts, from china here 2. Shims from Modelsport, for wheel hubs ANSSM0812-0102, for diffs 86972 and CR442, for diff bearing ANSSM0812-0102, for servo safer CR449 3. Hobao OP-0050 4. up to individuals, I will use front shocks 550-600cst, back shocks 650-1000cst, front/center/rear diff 75K/100K/30K cst 5. BS502-001 for start 7. Hobao 86201+86202 and 86212 8. Hobao OP-0120 and 89147 9. Hobao OP-0030 10. Hobao OP-0059 11. Hobao 87343 and 87344 + CR457 12. Losi LOSA4461 General part list: 1. ECS - Hobbywing EZRUN Max8 V3 150A 2. Servo - JX CLS5830HV 3. Motor - X-TEAM XTI-40 4-Poles Inrunner 2000KV and SSS 4092 / 2140KV additional cost for first 2 critical items is between 25-45 EUR depends on what you buy (+ your time) , third one alone cost 50 EUR, cost of oil vary per brand but I assume most of us have those types anyway none of above is required to get us use it as is but I highly recommend it from longer reliability perspective Edited March 3, 2019 by Kukynas updated part list 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jumper Posted February 11, 2019 Share Posted February 11, 2019 Are the drive shafts thicker and the arms less bendy? Those were the main issues from what I've seen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capri-boy Posted February 11, 2019 Share Posted February 11, 2019 Following. I've just bought another SSTe myself..... missed the old one purely for cosmetics My information is the new version has stronger arms - thus reducing the incidences of the shafts bending - afaik the shafts themselves are identical. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BashingBrian Posted February 11, 2019 Share Posted February 11, 2019 Great little write up..?? I'm running 800cst front and rear with the uprated Hobao orange springs front and rear, the springs still seem a little soft to me... Diffs I went 10k50k7k I agree about the shimming c hubs etc, I can't comment on the A arms as I've nothing to compare them to, but a little bendy should help them to not break..!! One weak point I feel is the shock towers, I bent mine far too easily 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mydoddy69 Posted February 11, 2019 Share Posted February 11, 2019 1 hour ago, capri-boy said: Following. I've just bought another SSTe myself..... missed the old one purely for cosmetics My information is the new version has stronger arms - thus reducing the incidences of the shafts bending - afaik the shafts themselves are identical. Sadly from what I’ve seen the newer arms are now more prone to snap at the hinge pin ? thus still bending those thin cvd’s . Still has the super flexible chassis and parts support has become exstinked pretty much in the U.K. ? Sadly I think Hobao heading down the toilet ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jumper Posted February 11, 2019 Share Posted February 11, 2019 32 minutes ago, mydoddy69 said: Sadly from what I’ve seen the newer arms are now more prone to snap at the hinge pin ? thus still bending those thin cvd’s . Still has the super flexible chassis and parts support has become exstinked pretty much in the U.K. ? Sadly I think Hobao heading down the toilet ?? idk why they didnt just use the hyper st parts and make a new electric chassis for it. That would have been what most bashers wanted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kukynas Posted February 12, 2019 Author Share Posted February 12, 2019 11 hours ago, Jumper said: Are the drive shafts thicker and the arms less bendy? Those were the main issues from what I've seen. I'm not sure if the shafts are thicker then previous version but these are 4.5mm in diameter 9 hours ago, mydoddy69 said: Sadly from what I’ve seen the newer arms are now more prone to snap at the hinge pin ? thus still bending those thin cvd’s . Still has the super flexible chassis and parts support has become exstinked pretty much in the U.K. ? Sadly I think Hobao heading down the toilet ?? arms are much stronger than previous version, they still flex a bit similar way to the ST pro so not sure why they would snap? any link to that info? 11 hours ago, capri-boy said: Following. I've just bought another SSTe myself..... missed the old one purely for cosmetics congrats ? 11 hours ago, BashingBrian said: One weak point I feel is the shock towers, I bent mine far too easily I didn't get into this one yet so one of my future plans to look at, front or rear or both? rear from ST pro should fit without any adjustments, front may need some tweaking 8 hours ago, Jumper said: idk why they didnt just use the hyper st parts and make a new electric chassis for it. That would have been what most bashers wanted. you can take entire front and rear suspension unit (gearbox with arms and shock towers) and mount it on the SSTe (4 screws from the bottom) , the only part which may require drilling new holes is servo safer and front chassis stiffener (on the other side of center front shaft) , of course arms are shorter so it would be bit narrower, was thinking about it myself at the beginning ? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capri-boy Posted February 12, 2019 Share Posted February 12, 2019 20 hours ago, Jumper said: idk why they didnt just use the hyper st parts and make a new electric chassis for it. That would have been what most bashers wanted. Electric ST Pro is still the current truggy to beat, it's just £££ compared to going SSTe. 23 hours ago, BashingBrian said: Great little write up..?? I'm running 800cst front and rear with the uprated Hobao orange springs front and rear, the springs still seem a little soft to me... Diffs I went 10k50k7k I agree about the shimming c hubs etc, I can't comment on the A arms as I've nothing to compare them to, but a little bendy should help them to not break..!! One weak point I feel is the shock towers, I bent mine far too easily CNC shock towers, at least on the VS, are good and not too expensive. Can usually always double up RTR towers for additional strength. 21 hours ago, mydoddy69 said: Sadly from what I’ve seen the newer arms are now more prone to snap at the hinge pin ? thus still bending those thin cvd’s . Still has the super flexible chassis and parts support has become exstinked pretty much in the U.K. ? Sadly I think Hobao heading down the toilet ?? Hobao are on the up, VS platform is selling well and more importantly for us well received. The SS' platform is what it is, they at least tried to mitigate the bendy shafts - whereas some companies wouldn't bother - think Tekno and the MT410 parts bin special diff input bearing issue (whether they do later remains to be seen). My contact at Hobao said they looked at thicker shafts as optional upgrades - nothings come of it yet. Parts support has had sketchy periods - personally I think they under estimated US demand and are playing catch up. FWIW plenty of places to get parts from - the only thing that seems to have tailed off massively is the ebay chop shops. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jumper Posted February 12, 2019 Share Posted February 12, 2019 44 minutes ago, capri-boy said: Electric ST Pro is still the current truggy to beat, it's just £££ compared to going SSTe. CNC shock towers, at least on the VS, are good and not too expensive. Can usually always double up RTR towers for additional strength. Hobao are on the up, VS platform is selling well and more importantly for us well received. The SS' platform is what it is, they at least tried to mitigate the bendy shafts - whereas some companies wouldn't bother - think Tekno and the MT410 parts bin special diff input bearing issue (whether they do later remains to be seen). My contact at Hobao said they looked at thicker shafts as optional upgrades - nothings come of it yet. Parts support has had sketchy periods - personally I think they under estimated US demand and are playing catch up. FWIW plenty of places to get parts from - the only thing that seems to have tailed off massively is the ebay chop shops. I bet someone could make loads if they had a tekno ebay chop shop. if you buy 10 spares it cost about as much as a whole mt410 kit! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kukynas Posted February 12, 2019 Author Share Posted February 12, 2019 1 hour ago, capri-boy said: CNC shock towers, at least on the VS, are good and not too expensive. Can usually always double up RTR towers for additional strength. ST Pro towers each for ~25£ through Modelsport UK, #86201 and 86212 1 hour ago, capri-boy said: Hobao are on the up, VS platform is selling well and more importantly for us well received. The SS' platform is what it is, they at least tried to mitigate the bendy shafts - whereas some companies wouldn't bother - think Tekno and the MT410 parts bin special diff input bearing issue (whether they do later remains to be seen). My contact at Hobao said they looked at thicker shafts as optional upgrades - nothings come of it yet. Parts support has had sketchy periods - personally I think they under estimated US demand and are playing catch up. FWIW plenty of places to get parts from - the only thing that seems to have tailed off massively is the ebay chop shops. well said, there's no perfect car, each has some flaws... I had zero troubles with spare/upgrade parts and I bought a lot of them from Modelsport and Hobao Taiwan, if they had issues with supply in the past now it seems they've been able to resolve it so I wouldn't be worried 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kukynas Posted February 13, 2019 Author Share Posted February 13, 2019 btw. do not buy front drive shafts part number OP-0079 as potential upgrade, these are already part of the kit ? , on the other hand if you bend them you need to buy upgraded shafts OP-0079 not the (previous) original #92003 as mentioned in the actual parts list as these are 2mm shorter btw. 2 , if anybody know about any other CVA dogbone 149-150mm (edge to edge) long post them here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kukynas Posted March 1, 2019 Author Share Posted March 1, 2019 I think I'm ready to start, few more bits and pieces but overall enough to keep me busy for next couple of weeks ? I'll update the list of parts used soon 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kukynas Posted March 2, 2019 Author Share Posted March 2, 2019 (edited) diffs are done, didn't expect these aren't ready to run, just bit of grease and that's it, I know instruction manual for ST PRO stating extra oil required but I thought that's valid only for kit version, anyway all cleaned with C6000 and filled with 75, 100 and 30K CST silicone oil oh, btw. center diff did required extra shim as per below picture, 6x18x0.2mm (CR457) , original 6x19x0.3 is only sold with diff casing another thing is that both diffs 84343 and 84344 do contain/require different bearing than shown on below assembly diagram, these are standard 8x16x5 (not 10x16x5) and instead of 1 shim prior to bearing there are 2, it may vary per diff but I assume tolerances are the same Edited March 2, 2019 by Kukynas added pictures 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kpowell911 Posted March 3, 2019 Share Posted March 3, 2019 On 12/02/2019 at 18:51, capri-boy said: Electric ST Pro is still the current truggy to beat, it's just £££ compared to going SSTe. CNC shock towers, at least on the VS, are good and not too expensive. Can usually always double up RTR towers for additional strength. Hobao are on the up, VS platform is selling well and more importantly for us well received. The SS' platform is what it is, they at least tried to mitigate the bendy shafts - whereas some companies wouldn't bother - think Tekno and the MT410 parts bin special diff input bearing issue (whether they do later remains to be seen). My contact at Hobao said they looked at thicker shafts as optional upgrades - nothings come of it yet. Parts support has had sketchy periods - personally I think they under estimated US demand and are playing catch up. FWIW plenty of places to get parts from - the only thing that seems to have tailed off massively is the ebay chop shops. I bent the CNC ones in their first run. I kmow weve has this ‘discussion’ multiple times, but The SSTE has no redeeming features. Mine spent more time bent than running and was genuinely the worst RC Ive ever owned. Shame because it looked epic and seemed to perform well, it was just far to weak to be an off road vehicle. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kukynas Posted March 3, 2019 Author Share Posted March 3, 2019 It seems that majority complaining about bent shock towers, will confirm if PRO version fits within next week or 2, if yes than that's £50 (£60 with body mount) fix 1 hour ago, Guns said: I bent the CNC ones in their first run. I kmow weve has this ‘discussion’ multiple times, but The SSTE has no redeeming features. Mine spent more time bent than running and was genuinely the worst RC Ive ever owned. Shame because it looked epic and seemed to perform well, it was just far to weak to be an off road vehicle. was this the latest version or previous? btw, cost of electric ST PRO ST PRO cost £269 https://www.modelsport.co.uk/index.php?product_id=28366 Brushless conversion - 90057+87048+87050+90012 = £57 Battery tray 90060 or LOSA4461 or any other adequate = ~ £10 Total = ~£336 It's definitely better value for money than SSTe with all the hop-ups ? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capri-boy Posted March 3, 2019 Share Posted March 3, 2019 See how you get on with oil in these. I don't run spiders anymore - stock diffs hold up to 6s fine, and spider diffs have a habit of leaking. I know others use RTV sealant to prevent it but it's an extra unneeded faf to me. 5 minutes ago, Kukynas said: It seems that majority complaining about bent shock towers, will confirm if PRO version fits within next week or 2, if yes than that's £50 (£60 with body mount) fix was this the latest version or previous? btw, cost of electric ST PRO ST PRO cost £269 https://www.modelsport.co.uk/index.php?product_id=28366 Brushless conversion - 90057+87048+87050+90012 = £57 Battery tray 90060 or LOSA4461 or any other adequate = ~ £10 Total = ~£336 It's definitely better value for money than SSTe with all the hop-ups ? ST PRo is def good value compared to throwing £ at the SSTe. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kukynas Posted March 3, 2019 Author Share Posted March 3, 2019 9 minutes ago, capri-boy said: See how you get on with oil in these. I don't run spiders anymore - stock diffs hold up to 6s fine, and spider diffs have a habit of leaking. I know others use RTV sealant to prevent it but it's an extra unneeded faf to me. thanks for your info, I will monitor potential leak during first run but I'm running pretty high viscosity oil in them so hopefully no leak, I was afraid originals won't hold up torque from 3.5-4.2Kw motor I plan to run but may be I was afraid for no reason ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capri-boy Posted March 3, 2019 Share Posted March 3, 2019 1 hour ago, Kukynas said: thanks for your info, I will monitor potential leak during first run but I'm running pretty high viscosity oil in them so hopefully no leak, I was afraid originals won't hold up torque from 3.5-4.2Kw motor I plan to run but may be I was afraid for no reason ? I ran 60k cST in the centre diff - pretty thick - and under the high speed it forces itself out at a fair rate - after each run there would be a line of oil with dust / dirt stuck to it perfectly aligned with the centre spur. They weep out the screw threads too but much less of an issue, especially with the thick oil. I never ran anything powerful, just 1800 - 2200 kv motors in the 74 - 82 mm long range on 6s max - so around 3000W plus or minus. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kukynas Posted March 3, 2019 Author Share Posted March 3, 2019 the smaller one is 82 can with 2000kv and 3500W, second for testing is 92 can with 2140kv and 4200W, both very cheap... links in the first post under general part list if interested Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capri-boy Posted March 3, 2019 Share Posted March 3, 2019 A friend runs the 92mm SSS open ended motor in his ST. It copes very well. I look forward to seeing how you get on. My new SSTe is still languishing in the man cave.... next to my new VSe and numerous (never enough) other RC's, mostly Hobao and LC Racing, that aren't getting the use they deserve! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kukynas Posted March 3, 2019 Author Share Posted March 3, 2019 good to hear it copes well in his car, should be fun than ? can imagine, that's something I'd like to avoid if possible (a lot of cars and not enough time) , I plan to stick with 1 max 2 cars, hopefully I won't get too addicted ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BashingBrian Posted March 3, 2019 Share Posted March 3, 2019 1 hour ago, Kukynas said: I plan to stick with 1 max 2 cars, hopefully I won't get too addicted ? ????????? Good luck with that..?? 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kpowell911 Posted March 3, 2019 Share Posted March 3, 2019 (edited) 7 hours ago, Kukynas said: It seems that majority complaining about bent shock towers, will confirm if PRO version fits within next week or 2, if yes than that's £50 (£60 with body mount) fix was this the latest version or previous? btw, cost of electric ST PRO ST PRO cost £269 https://www.modelsport.co.uk/index.php?product_id=28366 Brushless conversion - 90057+87048+87050+90012 = £57 Battery tray 90060 or LOSA4461 or any other adequate = ~ £10 Total = ~£336 It's definitely better value for money than SSTe with all the hop-ups ? It had the grey alloy parts as opposed to Orange which I believe meant it was the latest one? Edited March 3, 2019 by Guns Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kukynas Posted March 3, 2019 Author Share Posted March 3, 2019 2 hours ago, BashingBrian said: ????????? Good luck with that..?? haha, lets see ?… any progress on your car? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kukynas Posted March 3, 2019 Author Share Posted March 3, 2019 43 minutes ago, Guns said: It had the grey alloy parts as opposed to Orange which I believe meant it was the latest one? I wish there was only one gray version, unfortunately nope, gray version is running for couple of years now, the main differentiator are lower arms, latest version running I think from middle of 2017, below old type (left) vs. new version As you can see in video in my first post, "Rc Anonymous" is complaining about one of the older gray version with old type of arms 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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