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FTX Tracer / HBX 16890?


bertberr

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They are actually very nice shocks for a tenner.  OK, not Tekno nice, but much nicer than some other cheapy shocks I've had for 1/18 rigs in the past.  A couple of mine were a bit low, so topped up with 30wt (thinnest I had), and when fitting I used some longer hardware as the standard screws are very small, too small IMO.  I did the same thing for the diff case screws and the wing screws.  Had a blast with it today, some damage, I'll update in a bit.

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Actually, no.  Body is fine as I reinforced it before first use with drywall tape and that sticks like s*it stuff. Usually use shoo goo but thought I'd try something different.  Seems nice and flexible, though I'd say it was a little messier to apply than shoo goo, and it weighs a ton!  Might just have gone a bit OTT with it, but the 1/10 MT shell i also did was 85g heavier afterwards...😄

 

No, the things that suffered during its first outing (admittedly bigish ramp on concrete) were the keyed axle/screw pin and the underside of the front and rear diff housing/skid plate/bumper.  The way the wheels are attached with these daft plastic keyed axles and thin screws is just crazy, after one bash the screws are already bent and the amount of play the wheel has on the axle is crazy.  Need to order the metal axles for rear, and CVD/unis for front, that come with proper threaded axles and wheel nuts.  My stock plastic hexes are also very badly moulded - I have the first seven sided hex in the RC world...  I have various spare ali ones though, might just need to drill them out a bit, not sure, will have to wait to find out what diameter the option axles are.  The plastic on the chassis/bumpers is also very soft and chews up bad real quick.  Ran it in the wet yesterday and the tyres are utter rubbish - far too hard, so almost no grip on damp concrete.  Much better in the dry today, will have to look into wheel/tyre options.

 

Oh, and the little 2435 BL can got pretty hot just running up and down alongside the house, will have to watch that in the warmer weather.  In hindsight, thinking it may have been better to go with the brushed FTX version and do my own BL conversion using a 2440 or 2445.  Time will tell.  But overall its a fun little rig, and ideal for this lockdown environment.

 

 

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Good to hear your thoughts on the stock motor before I ordered one.The stock is £17 on banggood but you can get a 2440 4600kv for only £7 so that would probably be a better idea.I will upgrade my dog bones aswell soon.I just got a set of the monster truck tyres to see if they offer any better grip.The stock truggy ones are great for drifting but not alot else.

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Tyres look good - are they any softer compound than the grubby ones? Not sure what the shaft diameter is on the stock brushed 390, will either be 2 or 2.3mm, hopefully the new can will be the same. What BL esc are you going with?

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They seem prity soft and seem to grip better than the truggy ones and doesnt drift as easily but I didnt run it for long as for some reason it started to go into reverse on it's own.For the esc I have a 25amp losi mini 8ight t one sitting here that I will try.

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Took mine for its maiden skate park outing yesterday.  Apart from some pesky BMXers, who turned up about 90 seconds after I'd switched it all on... 😠, it was a fun 20 mins or so.  The truck handled itself admirably, motor stayed cool, but then I wasn't on it 100% of the time, one body pin came off, which they do at home all the time - very thin/weak pins, will change them over to something a little burlier.  Only obvious thing that needs addressing is the new oil shocks.  While scooting around outside the house, the circa 30wt oil I put in has been fine.  But I defo need more dampening for the big air its getting at the skate park.  May try some 40 or 45wt.  Reinforced body held up fine even with a few less than perfecr landings.  The stock ESC is OK at best, it just doesn't have the more precise control in the air (throttle/brake) that I'm used to with my HW & Castle esc's.  As I said before, if you're serious about jumping this thing, I'd go with a brushed version and the gut it, sticking in your own BL elecs, that way you can go with a slightly bigger can, better ESC - HW 16BL30 perhaps, and make more space to allow for greater battery choice.

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Just some from my parts box, they came on some Kyosho FCW1 shocks I got a while ago, 1/14 scale.  Exact same diameter / length as stockers, just stiffer.

 

Split the wing in half yesterday, where those strange 'folds' are.  Plastic is super thin.  Patched it up with drywall tape and shoo goo, but may just run it without the wing going forwards, though with the mount, it does sort of act like a high level bumper when you get your landings wrong 🤪

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I will have to have a look in my shed and see what springs I have knocking around.The motor turned up today so I will run it with the losi esc and traumas servo if the servo horn is the rite size.

20210316_131658.jpg

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Looks like a nice setup.  Did the stock pinney fit on the new motor shaft?  Makes my 2435 can look quite small.  Are you staying with stk layout? Or are you going to have a shifty about, perhaps move the servo forward a bit to allow slightly longer battery?

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I haven't had a look at the pinion yet as I have got my son a tracer for his birthday and if I convert mine now he will get the hump lol.I will run it in stock lay out when I convert it but its something I could consider in the future but I am pretty sure it will be quick enough with the 1300mah li-on battery as it powers it nicely in the brushed set up.Silly question but when using it brushless I take it I want the esc out of lipo mode and in nimh mode?

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The losi esc is a BL one isn't it...just checking!  Well, I would have thought you'd want it in lipo mode as nominal voltage per cell on LiIo is same as lipo, but wouldn't hurt just pulling up the esc manual online to confirm.

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Yes mate its brushless out of a losing mini 8ight t.Thanks I will run it in nimh mode with the stock battery.I believe the destroyer uses a 16th pinion and the brushed tracer uses a 14th.The 16th is out of stock everywhere 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Good jumping sess with this yesterday, the 3mm ali front skid did its job well, though I have some steel on the way for a mk2 version. Had to reinforce around the front body post holes on the already reinforced body, but overall, it was a blast yet again.  The only serious design fault on these (which is magnified by jumping on concrete) is the pathetic little screws that hold the wheels on. Really need those optional axles, must order today!

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 15/02/2021 at 15:12, bertberr said:

Just ordered the BL version from banggood, hope it proves to be as enjoyable as it appears to be in all the vids.

Can you share a link? Has it arrived and is it any good? Was just going to get the brushed one from RC Geeks. Is it the actual brushless version of the FTX or a knock off?

Thanks

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Yes, had it a few weeks now, that's what most of my posts in this thread is about, have a quick looksy above.  The FTX is a rebrand of the brushed HBX 16889/16890.  I got the brushless HBX 16890.  Depends where you plan to use it etc, but the brushed one seems very good for the money, and fairly quick in stock form, though BL versions are obviously a fair bit quicker again.  

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