sputnik

but i will say - its tuff aF

Nickarla ... I found the cars suspension always worked well with the 16mm Big Bores ... that aspect was never really an issue .. what was - was the in air characteristics caused by the weight displacement / chassis layout ... and NO WING. I just couldnt get used to SC style vehicles "in air attitudes" ... when jumped. After driving buggies and truggies for so long - I just got frustrated with it.

yes Complete build thread is HERE: http://content.screencast.com/users/sputnikkk13/folders/Jing/media/4d97cecd-8084-4318-98bc-0cba94db18cc/2015-04-16_0834.png

There ya go and thats kinda to my point. Getting a new RTR kit to fit in a small budget - you have to scale back on the quality of the car ... only to find out you still need to get all this other stuff for hundreds more. And in the end youre stuck with a lessor quality model and spent 2x your initial budget 45 days in. Then you have to upgrade the rtr model after just a few bash sessions to get REAL gear. Its why a 2nd hand roller - IMHO - is the better way to go - because ... youre going to blast thru your budgets top end rather quickly anyway - or else - be sitting with a crappy model that wont burn nitro - and that sux ... get a discount on a top quality rig [ choose carefully ] and put the motor / pipe / clutch / servos and radio system in yourself.

Magneto = USA eGhost = France Ph@ntom = France Blackbird + RC Monster = USA Unlimited Engineering = USA

1. avoid 1/10th scale - if you already have your eyes on a nitro buggy - u wont be happy stuck with a 1/10th scale flyweight vehicle. 2. Absolutely consider a top notch rolling chassis buggy 2nd hand - and add your motor and gear to it as you learn. 3. buying an 8th scale buggy rtr like a Hyper 7 - as good a deal as it is and probably a wise move - you will soon be wanting to replace the - throttle and brake servos - rx / rx pack / radio - tires and wheels - center chassis braces

I agree - we in the states are spoilt ... lots of access to PARTS / KITS etc. Helps having a large population as a market. To rub it in worse unintentionally - being in Southern California for RC is pretty amazing. OFNA is literally down the street from where I live and Associated / Mugen / LOSI / Tamiya / HPI and a few others - national headquarters and warehouses are within a 15 minute drive - and thus the hobby shops have been pretty stocked in the past - but A-Main has killed all of that - and eBay. Perhaps for the better ... All that said - I have seen some builds from the UK that are just simply jaw dropping and awwwweee inspiring. Stuff built from scratch out of like 17 different vehicles. Like you said - some of the details of the scale builds from you guys are just freakin insane. Im spoiled - I just see cool stuff - buy it - make it shiny and screw it together. You guys over there get wicked creative and blow minds. Throwing money at something and using a hex wrench is quite different - IMHO - than making amazing out of less. Truth be told - I love this build but its pretty tame and mediocre compared to several of the guys over in the CentraleMaxx FB group and the UE Forums ... Kray Kray Builds - reeeediculous $$$ spent etc. But damn ohhhh so nice. This one is a runner - :-) The other two in the first post ... one will be a shelf queen making motor boat noises on a countertop someday ....

Well trial and error - mostly error ... lol - continues. Currently the Angle of the Dangle just isnt quite right or the fine tuning of dremel'd bits and motor height adjustment on the pinion spur mesh isnt where it needs to be. I can further modify the Traxxas ESC hold down w/ dremel - and the motor needs to get its pinion on and then mesh with spur - its just in there at Max Height and will likely be much lower, helping further with clearance issues.

$35 - UE Knucklehead Towers w/ standoffs - new $16 - UE Center Outdrive Cups - pair - new $30 - UE Outdrive Cups - 2 pair - new $140 - Pair UE Diff Cases - new $150 - GARC Bulkheads - new $150 - strobe braces - new $35 Body Post Holders - new $145 - Spider 8 Hobao Diffs [ if thats whats in there ] $700 + shipped to get new - and Robyn at UE wont ship across the pond ... Damn - had no idea I had that much into just those two things LOL Have 3 builds going on now - clearly Im mental. Seeking help now ....

X-Maxx v. T-Maxx [ short chassis t-maxx but ... ] If your determined for true 5th scale - why not a converted Losi 5t to electric - then just do the mods needed to make it a Monster Truck.

Some guys are paying $1400 just for the VBS style UE bulkheads. Real Racer X suspensions go for $500+ For a short time before CentraleMaxx started making theirs and UE restocked - the chassis extensions exceeded $200 ea Flex Tec Ti arms are the rarest of the rare now and command $800 - $1k for a full clean set.

Thats a really highly upgraded Magneto Custom build - with some of the rarest of high end parts on it - for show only. Theres $400 - 500 in custom anodizing and machining the designs into the alum. I think you could possibly get close for $1000 - but ... 1. No strobe alum bulkhead braces 2. run plastic rpm arms [ like me ] 3. OFNA cvds - not UE ti or steel customs or the Losi custom modded ones Ihave 4. Run RPM plastic bulkheads. 5. run standard hyper hobao 6 gear spyder diffs with plastic cases. 6. run reasonable wheels and tires 7. put on some modest front buggy shocks vs. the overpriced collectible "OFNA Super-Shocks" [ aka old ofna 9.5 front buggy shocks w/ shorter body and shafts ] Its not so much the Chassis thats the spend - its all the trick knick knacs and stuff ... that adds up in the end to hundreds upon hundreds - at least thats my experience. http://maxxparts.forumactif.org/t37-magneto-chassis-kit - I paid $200 on the pre order option when it hit and now its $249 - its a substantial piece of kit this Magneto thing. $250 - Magneto chassis $125 kmaxx diff cases [ option ] $150 Titanium Duh Shock Towers $90 - Mugen MBX7T front Buggy Shocks [ could use a lessor cost option ] $150 Great Assembly 7075 bulkheads [ option ] $95 Great Assembly 6061 bulkheads [ option ] $35 UE Knucklehead towers [ option ] - in stock $95 - Centralemaxx chassis extension $135 - Centralemaxx Custom Servo Saver $150 Strobe braces in 7075 $150 for Hyper 6 spider gear diffs [ option ] $300 for Hyper Hobao 8 Spyder gear diffs - choose option $80 Center Diff Mount $35 for alum body post holders $45 for body posts with crew on caps $150 LST driveshaft mods - includes parts $25 - Ejector Pin Hing e Pin mods $150 - Bearings / Hardware / Misc odds and ends

Making more progress now ... one of the guys in our FB group Gary - aka G-Man - does a cool mod for LST driveshafts to make them work with the RPM widetrack suspension. Im using it here ... [ is this thing still even a T-Maxx - lol ] SUPER-Maxx perhaps. I also found some really sweet and rare 23 mm adapters I got for my Twin Titans [ mine and my lil brothers ] because they have L / R threads and down let the jumbo wheels fling off at 40 mph ... Anyhow - one aspect of the G-Mans Losi mod - I wish we could do away with is the excess Losi stub axle stickign out that needs to be shimmed etc ... G-Man's Losi axle mods - see bolt and silver spacer - he drills the stub axles and uses a large losi pin. Spacer can go on inside or outside of hex nut. Comparing my 23mm adapters to the 17mm setup. 23mm - loses the spacer. Left & Right Handed threads I was discussing ... Got the Pillow balls shiny with a wire wheel and will get them inserted tonight ... made some progress ... Test fit the Castle 2200kv motor to the K-Maxx Universal Center Diff + Motor mount today - nice! Magneto is designed to fit up to a 1717, and the mount accepts it as well. Off to fit the pbs together and sort the rx and wiring ... still need a proper body - looking for a roll cage, and fitting wheels and tires [ 3.8 badlands ] Until next time.

Grannies and Eggs? Not a saying we use over here in the States. Sounds kind funny - lol. Havent used CA on the CF edges as of yet - Ive modded it once more today. Imagine it will have a few more minor mods as well - waiting for the Traxxas style ESC hold down to drill holes for that and I'll be done with it I reckon - still need a trick way to secure and protect the Micro Rx ... Sorry Im a little OCD and AR ... I manage to mix in ADHD in there too and get distracted by adding trick little bits and fuss over nonsense at times. Oh look someone did a cool thing to this or that ... tear it down and start that part over ... Ohhh ... look - a squirrel :-) I have all sorts of truggies already - for me this is a Monster Truck - no truggy wing like most guys run. Im partial to find a nice roll cage for it an just launch this baby as hard core as I can ... this build is my "runner" - the Blackbird is the shelf queen - old school monster as well. The Ph@ntom will be truggy style maxx runner.

New Carbon Fiber ESC mount. Design goals were to get ESC in front of truck in front of the motor, make room for the Rx, and have clearance for a 1717 can if needed. Looks like we got em all. Feels rather sturdy too. Traxxas ESC Hold Down bits are on their merry way from Flea Bay. Interesting fit for the Spektrum old school Micro Rx :-) Glad to have that task down and over - mostly. Next ... EDIT 1/3/16 : Is anything ever - Really Done ...? Realized I needed better access to the flathead screws behind the esc mount - so I made a few minor mods for that ...

Ohhh you can count on that mate - still a bit off yet... but soon. I need a custom rx box and a mounting spot yet to be determined and a custom ESC mounting plate up in front of the motor somehow. As well as a customization of the battery tray and a mounting schema. Consulting various experts / pioneers, hope to have that sorted in mere hours now then grid drill screw and wrench. Arms going on diffs and new shocks to be ordered and rec'd - getting closer!

So I'll push out the Servo Saver post . The issue was this jewel - was binding up and my old eyes couldnt see what was making it happen. I had to get out the ol' magnifying glass to see the issue. If I tightened everything down - the smoothness of the slide action became horrible and notchy - it was clicking ... weird. What the heck is it hitting? Why would it click and feel notchy? Here it is - as intended to be installed ... After looking at the height of the posts thru magnifying glass I could finally see that the spacers / shims were just a fraction of mm's higher than the saver posts - thus nullifying the bearings! The culprit ... Note the ridges on this side of the shims - designed to ride in the saver's bearing race and - promote smooth operation ... . The notchyness and clicking feeling was - the actual bearings under sever pressure rotating in the race - Not Good! ... so my solution was to flat file the Non Ridged side of the factory shims / spacers to a few thousand of an inch lower than the top of the saver's POSTS - and then the saver would slide and function smoothly with all bolts tightened. When all these were snugged down - the pinch on the bearings was clicking ... So heres the actual saver after filing the spacers and with a new added shim in place to take up the excess slack I inadvertently created. Part of this post is to warn ya what to look out for if you have this issue - and how NOT to make it worse ... It took me 5 times of filing then installing and testing until I had enough material off the spacers to allow for the excellent operation of this rather nice servo saver to reach its potential. 1. DONT take off too much material. 2. DONT take it off the wrong side of the spacer ;-) 3. Be Able to identify and easily fix / solve the issue - should your saver suffer the same problems Finally - out of the new package the machining is pretty precise and fresh ... I took a wire wheel on end of dremel to debur and smooth out the Saver CAM areas - which seemed to make it a little less "sticky" when actually engaging as a "saver" - red arrows are where I deburred and smoothed. Softend the machined edges a tad.

Progress Update Jan. 1 2016 These gems arrived from G-Man over at CentraleMaxx FB Page - for the Ti shock towers and shock mount standoff spacers As did all my Tonys Screws hardware needed to finish up ... AND some cool new G-Man Designs Body Post holder / mounts hes made just for the Ti Towers. New hardened CEN outdrive cups for the custom 38/11T gearing in my other F/R diffs on Ph@ntom. Servo Saver had been giving me fits - so its removed whilst I ponder the issues by its not smooth and bind free ... I had to break out my magnifying glass to work on it. Its a post unto itself - so that will be next post ... did get it sorted though. Main thing that got done was - removed all temp hardware and replaced all with proper length and type Tonys screws. Dry fit the Rear Bulkhead and Skids to the chassis main body, and got the Jammin Rear Center Universal driveshaft fitted. Again G-Man is making some spacers / shims for me to get optimum fit using these unis on the CEN outdrive pinion shafts. Here's the pics Jammin X2 CRT Rear Center Uni - installed Here's the gap that G-Mans shims will help me fix... Im happy with the depth of the fit here into the center diff outdrive cup Had to spend a solid 2 hrs fussing over the CentraleMaxx Servo Saver - but once I identified the factor causing the issue - the fix was straightforward. Next post with pics and details. Maybe it will help you ... Additionally I spent a good 2-3 hrs fussing about Motor / ESC / Gearing / Heat / Tires / Pinion and Center Spur sizes and Lipo types today and settled on my options for initial launch - and have a backup plan if this setup runs too hot ... http://www.scriptasylum.com/rc_speed/top_speed.html Castle Mamba Monster - X ESC / Castle 2200Kv/1515 / 52T Hobao Spur / 13T Motor Pinion / Proline Badlands 3.8 / 26T CEN Ring Gear / 9T Cen diff pinion bevel gear Here's how things calc'd out. Link to calc'r up above.

Wow bulks included? which ones? or is that his Ti skids? EDIT: I think these are the included "bulk plates" $90 - Centralemaxx Chassis Extension $135 - CentraleMaxx Servo Saver $125 - KMaxx Diff Cases - when theyre available $125 - CentraleMaxx Ti Skids I built my first Mugen Diff for the center of the Ph@ntom build the other day ... wow - thats some nice kit ... for stock bits, not upgrade parts.

I think the Magneto is quite a bit more affordable than the eGhost ... I think youd spend the $$$ either way - Salvage or Maxx - after a Center diff conversion and all the HPI based upgrades. SuperMaxx ftw!

These bulks are some GPM's I first came across early in my Maxx discovery days - I liked the weight reduction cut outs and stuff - then I bead blasted them. They are of course Chinesium - so we'll see what becomes of them. If they poop the sheets then - its off to GARC 7075 land ... Have rpm everything else - but towers - lol. I have folks tell me they are el cheapo - but have never broken or stripped them. So we shall see how the GPM's hold up. I have the expectation they will go the hard way - so prepared for that.

Right on ... that looks pretty cool. Not sure why - but that chassis didnt speak to me at $2-3k per build for some reason. Im happy with just the 3 T Maxxes Im going for. Magneto is by far my fav. Little birdie tells me a Magneto V.2 is in the works with what looks like is some cool new innovations. I want to stay focused on these three and get them very DIALED IN. Git yer Ghost on bro! That will be a fun truck to watch get built.

Yes these are the DUH Engineering - old school Tall Titanium Towers. They are clearly much thinner than stock - by design. I run all DUH stuff on my Twin Titan too ... [ but thats yet another build story ] This Ti stuff is strong as hell. That twin titan is cleaned up now - but Ive bashed her damn good and it all withstood a good beatin'. I bet the owner and designer - that I could / would bend those towers in 1 bash session. He drove down and we bashed it hard. Needless to say I lost and owed Eric - the money for the towers and lunch w/ pints ... I was glad to lose :-). Ok bro - for me - you win the interwebz today ... finest Chinesium - LMFAO ... Im stealing that fo sho' Chinesium = wood chips, floor shavings, Coors lights cans, rat hair, asbestos, scorpion pea-nis, and a drop of magnesium = ALLOY

Some more progress today - not much ... Jammin / Hong Nor X2 CRT Front Center Universal Driveshaft fitted ...

Whatta ya think - Ya or Nay ? Banged this out right quick - it would work in a pinch... wish I had a water jet handy :-) Carbon Fiber spacer ...