Nitroholic

There are plenty of really good 1/8 scale buggies around just over the

Thanks for the tips I'll search out the mod and see what it entails. I like My ST1 despite the issues. It is a decent piece of kit once sorted.

I'll give that a try. If I give it a boost on the EPa one way, and reduce the other way a little I should be able to get a balance so the steering lock is the same both ways. I compared the full lock turn with my XT2, and it looks like it turns a LOT further one way...and the XT2 seems to turn pretty well when I am driving it.... so it's not a major issue really. Soon as the rain stops pouring down I plan to give it a proper run out.....

hmm...not going to be that simple, I can see. There does seem to be an issue with the amount of total movement each way. It actually moves further on full travel one way compared to the other. Is there a simple way of telling if the servo has reached it's full range of movement? Should it stop and go no further?I am going to do some more testing tonight, but if I don't cure it i might just have to live with it. From a general point of view, how much steering lock is considered 'good' and how much is too much. It occurs to me that the thing could be steering too far the other way....and anyway, full lock is only really used at lowish speeds anyway. At higher speeds you have to get it sliding and break traction before you can use hard lock to slide her.

It's an interesting idea. Don't know if they would generate enough heat to make a difference. Gives me a wacky idea though. When I was clearing out the shed a while back I found an old spare from a VW Beetle we had many years back. A common fault with beetles was carb icing, or more specifically, the long inlet manifolds. Pressure drops caused cooling and this lead to poor throttle response. The cure was a 12V heating jacket around the centre section of the manifold. It's a tie on heating element around 1.5" in diameter ... perfect to fit around the fins on a nitro motor. Hook it up to a 12V jelly cell and you have a cylinder warmer. Can tolerate a reasonable heat as it lived in the engine bay of an air-cooled VW.

Not seen any way of cleaning them ... or in fact needing to. Glowplugs don't last for ever, and it is not unusual for them to fail during the initial break in. Just consider them something you need to keep spares for ... like lightbulbs Those who keep spares are seldom in the dark for long.

Personally, I would look to start with the basics first. Pop off the airfilter etc. so you can check the carb opening at idle. Set this to 1mm. Also make sure the throttle servo is not pulling the throttle open at zero throttle. Before you refit the filter, it is worth giving it a clean and re-oil just because you can! Check you have a good seal on the filter and that all is well there. Once you know the idle is set where it needs to be, then start tuning the low speed needle so you can get a stable idle without stalling or revving up. I know from first hand experience that a buggy can be made to run with the needles WAY off where they should be...and when I tuned the LSN on my ST1 I had to turn it out 1 1/2 turns to get the idle to sit stable without revving..it was miles off! Make sure you know your starting point in case you need to back-track. Adjust in 1/8 or a turn, and just check how many turns you made clockwise/anticlockwise. Also make sure the car is warmed up before you try and tune....a cold engine won't behave the same as one that is up to temperature, and you may find that your tune goes haywire after a few runs otherwise!

thanks Creamsoda, the steering servo horn will be off tonight I probably won't bother with the throttle one as I adjusted the linkage already. I might fiddle with it more later, as I am not 100% sure it will be giving me all the throttle opening. that's one to play with over the winter in those quiet moments as I dream of Baja's and the smell of 2-stroke. I will also check with the steering that I am getting the same amount of movement each way. If this is not even then moving the servo horn may not be the whole answer, unless of course, it was hitting full movement in one direction. Still..it's only one screw to undo!

Having just invested in 2.4Ghz for the RC fleet, I spent a happy weekend swapping out the old RX's from both cars to put in the new Spektrum kit. The XT2 was pretty straightforward, aside from it having RX connectors that were oddly fat and not able to fit in properly... nothing that 5 minutes with an old connector, soldering iron and heat-shrink sleeving couldn't fix. Fired up the kit to bind it, and it worked fine. Everything seemed pretty much as it had been before aside from my aeriel now being teeny and there being far more space in the rx compartment now that the failsafe is part of the RX. So..I moved on to the TT ST1. hmmm Now, whilst I like this truggy a lot, it has been somewhat of a problem child from day 1. If this had been my first buggy, I would have kicked nitro into touch and gone and spent my wages on something else...Suffice to say, the thing arrived with the idel set to fully close on dead throttle so she stalled every time hte brakes went on. The LSN needed to be wound out 1.5 turns before it would stop winding it's idle speed up to dangerous levels if you paused for 30 seconds ( once I had stopped it stalling ) and last ...but by no means least....I found the throttle linkages snagged on the brakes at full throttle and would apply the brakes. I wondered why the clutch was overheating .... Anyways....that's all in the past! Now, she has some new things I don't get. 1) I had to reverse all the servos to work with the DX3. Is this indication of something in the way the servos are wired? I think I read somewhere about US and EU kit being different in this respect. Do I have 'US' servos or is this just one of those things that happen? 2) The throttle linkage now sits at a different start position even though it was in it's correct 'neutral' position when the new RX was put in and the binding process done. Easy enough to adjust...but gave me a surprise when I started it up. Rrrreeeeeevvvvvvvv! Fortunately I always put her on a block when startinng up. 3) Steering. I now have stacks of full left lock, and limited right lock. I can even it out with te Spektrum using the end-point adjustment, but the steering servo does not seem to want to behave as it did before. I had trouble with the start point being wrong, manually set the wheels straight ahead, then re-connected and re-bound it and that sorted the middle...just won't behave on the turns. I know the RX/TX kit is good as I swapped them over onto the XT2 and they behaved fine there. At this point, I did what any sane man would do, and headed off with the XT2 for a bit of bashing. I assume this is something in the way the thing was set up or something I skipped on installation, as the servos worked OK before and the RX/TX is fine. Just not sure exactly hos I should go about setting this up so it works PROPERLY rather than with reduced steering.

Yes.... I was joking. I am ALWAYS careful of bystanders and the like when out with the buggies. Most uninitiated onlookers have no idea how fast a nitro buggy can go, let alone a hulking great petrol job. With a second hand Baja, what should I be looking out for in terms of spotting a genuine one as opposed to a clone, and what should I watch for in terms of wear and tear? Marders seem to go for a lot less on E-Bay but I don't like the look so much. Also....a lot of the ones I have seen have damaged bodies or ones cut for custom pipes. Really has to be a Baja for me.

Like all overgrown boys, I want bigger toys Nitro is fun, but I have the urge for something bigger and badder to blast round the park terrorising the dog-walkers. The question is, how best to dip my toes in the water. Currently, the sluch fund for toys is running at around

I don't think there is a definite yes or no to this. It's all a question of dimensions. Assuming the inner bearing diameter is the same, and the clutch inner diameter is the same, all you need to do is make sure the gears are the right pitch.... If life were simple they would be standard. Best bet would be to head for your nearest hobby shop with your clutch bell, and measure up the options.

That's it exactly. I wanted the one with the extra rx unit which is why I paid a bit more. If you don't need all the extra toys, then this is a great way to get quality at a giveaway price

No probs. I'll leave them in the spares pile and stick with the current setup.

Have you tried here? http://www.lstshop.co.uk/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=391_395&products_id=2682&osCsid=9c251c21acefe00e1fcab85122d8ee04

Having dodged the postal strikes my Spektrum DS3.0 arrived this morning. And it looks lovely I ended up getting it from Bolton Model Mart, and I must say I can't fault the service at all. Polite and efficient, box was well wrapped, anddelivered exactly as promised. I would happily buy from them again without hesitation. Anyway....I digress. Opened up the box, and not only do I get the Tx, RX plus free Rx ( all for

If pure straightline top speed is what you want, then the 2 speed will give you that. Most of the time, though, it will just be a pain. For general mucking about, a tuned pipe will give you a bit more power and that will probably give you more enjoyment more of the time. Of course...you can always look at 2-speed later on.

I have an ST1, so if you need any bits measured or photographed, let me know.

Actually, I have a spare tin in the shed. Willing to part with it for

Thanks Mr Terminator, that makes things clear for me. My XT2 is about ready for a new set of wheels, so this info will come in handy for me as well

I must admit, I am also somehwat confused about the actual measurements and such like. The hex diameter is easy enough...this is the size of the cutout in the wheel where the hub actually fits in to drive the wheel. Both my cars have 17mm which for a 1/8th scale seems pretty standard. Offset...this is the one I don't know for sure. Is it the distance from the inner edge of the rim to the point where the hex is? If so, then a 1" or 1/2" would affect the amount of clearance available on full lock for the steering and also on the overall width of the buggy. Have I got this right? Wider is better for stability in the turns. Also, when it comes to wheel diameter, is this pretty much the same for most after market wheels? Quite often this is not listed and would obviously depend also on the tyres fitted. Make too much of a change here and it will affect final gearing. As long as you don't buy monster truck wheels for a buggy..... is it pretty much all down to personal taste?

Cleaning hte air filter can't hurt. If it is clogged up it will reduce the airflow through the carb, leading to richer running. On it's own, though, it would have to be pretty bad to stop a motor running...but combined with all the other issues you are having, it is a quick and simple job that will add one more thing to the list of what is DEFINITELY NOT wrong!

Wd40 is king. Cleans, degreases, lubricates....and smells nice I would consider binning old fuel and getting fresh. The largest portion of the fuel is methanol (alcohol). Methanol is hygroscopic meaning it attracts moisture. This can cause your fuel to be contaminated with water, which will cause poor engine performance. Also, the UV rays in sunlight will eventually break down the nitro methane if the fuel is stored in sunlight for long periods of time. 'Bad' fuel will make your engine run poorly or not at all, which you don't want if you are trying to bring it back to life!

Best advice I can give is read the manual carefully, take special note of the instructions it gives for breaking in, and follow them carefully. While you wai for the car to arrive, read how many variations there are on the best way to break in and tune a nitro engine It'll help to pass the time! Also, before you run the car, give it a good check over to make sure everything is bolted up tight, and where it should be. Check things like fuel pipes are not kinked orin the way of moving parts etc. It's also a good chance to get to grips with what is where under the bodyshell! Also look at the wonderful extras just waiting to lighten your wallet If you haven't already, budget to replace the servo power supply with a rechargable hump-pack and buy a failsafe. These things are pretty much essential. Tuning wise, there is a pretty neat flowchart stickied on the forum....it is fairly simple to follow and looks pretty easy to follow if you are new to all this. Carb setting is a bit of a confusing subject to begin with, but you will soon begin to realise what does what. Complete the break-in before you think about tuning. Also, expect to have to set things like the idle so that the carb is open 1mm when the throttle is closed. This is not always set right out of the box. Same applies to the other carb settings. Make sure you know what the baseline settings are, and which screw does what on your buggy before tweaking. If you get lost in tweaking, you may need to return to the stock settings as a baseline. Make small changes when tuning and see what effect it has. Avoid making big changes to the carburation in one go, as you are aiming The Savage is a pretty good piece of kit, and should perform well once setup and sorted.

Personally, I wouldn't run the car until the cause is identified and sorted. You are running the risk of causing more damage. It may not be a major issue.....but are you prepared to take the risk? I would advise caution until you know the nature of the problem. If a bearing is giving out, then it's just a question of replacing it. If a bearing disintegrates at 20,000rpm then it will make a bit of a mess.