t2boats

I bought one of these year before last, absolutely brilliant to build. Quality of parts is outstanding, and so well packaged too. Haven’t ran it that much as I don’t want any scratches on it.No doubt someday I won’t be able to resist and it’ll see the dirt!

@NOFX I've got a Viper too, and to be fair - it's only had one part break (thanks to my nephew crashing into a stone wall with it), a suspension arm... and has even survived being raced offroad. The thing is tough, I'm thinking you've ended up with a duff one from the bunch by the sounds of it, which is a shame. I bought the Hooligan rally car (which has had no breakages at all) then the Outlaw going by the reliability of the Viper which I'd had for some time before. But I see where you're coming from, years ago I bought a Savage 25 - and it was a continuous replacement of parts (now bear in mind I'm not the kind of RC owner who subjects their cars to crazy jumps and makes bad landings etc). It tainted my view of HPI that's for sure, enough was enough so it was repaired and sold on. Compared to the other Sav's I knew of at the time and seen online etc I think I must've had a bad'n. Poor thing was plagued... As for the Outlaw Brushed - as Praet' says above - it ain't the quickest thing off the mark. I ran mine stock (brushed) when new but with a 3S - notched up 34mph which I was impressed with. But was waiting for that puff of smoke from the motor. On 2S and brushed its performance is somewhat "tired". I'd plumb for a brushless setup, the difference is leagues apart, and on 2S will suit your son/daughter.

@300bhp/ton they're the ones I use on the indoor tarmac track - grip very well. Fronts last around 5 race meets (they'll begin to wear on the outer edges of front tyres), which is 4 races of 5mins each per evening, so mine are good for around 90-100 mins of rag time on a track. They can still be used to good effect, but lose their edge around this sort of usage, but to be fair considering how soft a compound they are - they last very very well! Rears haven't worn at all! Oh and that's using 3S. I use a more substantial knobbly tyre for the offroad track, seen on earlier pages in this thread.

I started work as a Marine Engineer in the Merchant Navy in 2000, sailing on Tankers and Container ships around the world. Moved to ferries (between UK and Ireland) doing the same job for a little over 8 years and over the last 3 years I've been working offshore on the rigs up off Norway. Though since September I now work for a company called Petrofac. A more acceptable commute as I'm based in the Irish Sea, much closer to home!

I'm away from home for a while yet but on the hunt for a 5mm 11t pinion, can any of you guys tell me what mod the spur is, 32dp or mod 1? It looks mod 1 on from the pictures..

Trinity! Crikey I remember that, I used to use Parma motors. Before the last few years, my last electric RC was a Schumacher ProCat, Parma 15x4 motor, and 1800SCR batteries in the early 90's - it could certainly shift on the track. I've still got it now, waiting to be restored. Got a new belt for it anyway. I joined an old club local to me a few years back, they race mainly indoors on a tarmac in a hanger, but also an outdoor track in the summer months. That's where I use the 959 in the rally class, and a Basher SCT in the truck class.

hey we all start somewhere! I've only been dabbling in electric again over the last 2 to 3 years after many many years away from it. I only twigged what the 3660 and 3650 etc were all about the other year as this brushless and lipo game were completely new to me, ha! 36 is the diameter of the can, and the other number depicts the length of it, so either 50 or 60mm. There's many varying sizes available. I've got a 4268 there which is used in a Hobao rallycross, it's a chunky motor! I think fitting a 3660 can to the 959 would be a nice fit.

You can use the 3650 can (which is the 540 size), I've used it with no issues for a while in the 959 (and many other RC's). The 550 size (which is 3660 - sorry if you already know this lol) I'm sure would work better, more torque, won't have to work as hard etc.. but - with it having a 5mm shaft I need to now find an 11 tooth mod1 pinion to suit. It would suit the 3S better probably aswell.

@tolk83 That's the same motor in the 959 at the mo, but it's a red can. I've got a number of them, use them in a number of RC's and they do well. You might want to up the esc to 120A though, or higher than 60A anyway, I found a 60A struggles with 3S. I've fitted the same ESC GoolRC 60A to my T-Maxx, but I run that on 2S with FPV, so no major current demands on it.

The MB has a 2080kv motor fitted at the moment but on a stock gearbox (made of cheese). Even though I've always driven it carefully, ie gentle acceleration and careful landings, it's started clicking, so time for the MiP ball diff, and more kv! The 959 though should benefit from the 3800kv 3660 motor, undoubtedly it won't have to work as hard as the 3650 can that's in there at the moment, so temps will be down to a minimum hopefully.

I'll be fitting the 959's original 3000kv into my Tamiya Monster Beetle when I fit its MiP ball diff, should be fun!

up the KV for a start! Mine's now 4300kv 3650 can, 120A esc and just fitted a tray to cater for the 3S - it's mental. Thinking on running a 3800kv 3660 can on 3S...

@tolk83 Great fun eh! What size pinion is in yours? Mine's 11, but not sure if that's stock or not?!

Yeah very similar, just the central pattern overlaps on the Axial tyre, the outer knobbles seem closer together whereas on the FTX tyre they seem a little further apart. Not sure if they tyres are the same diameter and width!?!

Not sure on that one?! I guess the producer of the tyre must supply to several brand names (as they're also found on the identical model under the guise of VXL Octane) , or the tyres have been allowed to be produced under licence (however it works). Never noticed them on any other model other than the Outlaw and Octane now you mention it .

@rct I've posted a few pix of beadlocks on my thread in General Electrics, just deciding which set to go for.

Welcome to the forum Hilly! I've had this problem over the years too, spent ages fiddling with carb settings, tweeking the HSN very slightly either side of factory setting of 1.5 to get rid of th flat spot. Eventually I changed the carb and it worked perfectly fine, turned out the thin black diaphragm had a tiny split in it. You could also have an air leak from one of the gaskets between the engine head and venturi block, or block to carb. The gasket needs to go on a certain way too or a port will be blocked, which is also a common mistake.

@rct yep!

My club insist on our racers being BRCA members, as said above and in your other thread - for insurance reasons. Other than that, anything else goes... we kind of do what we want with the racing and cars used, the only rule they’ve clamped down on at our club is the compulsory use of hardcased lipo’s, as of 1st Jan this year, brought in by the BRCA. Which was a pain as practically every member ended up spending more money on buying new Lipo’s to suit.

My club uses a hanger in an old airfield, the hanger is also used for markets and the likes on a weekend, so doesn’t really affect our weekly Wednesday meetings. As you say, it’s a mixture of all abilities, from lads who are really good and go racing on the national scene, to people (like me) who aren’t the best but just go along cos they enjoy having a go, it’s a mixture of ages too and we all race together. Touring cars have their own races, as do the rally cars and SCT’s. If it’s brushed or brushless, doesn’t matter, they’re all thrown in together cos at the end of the day no matter how good the car is - it comes down to how good the driver is. Also check out the BRCA site for the club rules, each person racing will need membership for insurance purposes. I think you get 3 visits before you need membership?!? Our indoor track is smooth tarmac (which can be fairly dusty as it never gets wet), we just put down yellow discs marking out a course. Nice n easy! The outdoor track is worn short grass. I’ve ran a club before for largescale off-road and it’s hard work maintaining everything and especially the initial outlay of buying everything. I hope you make things work anyway and you get decent numbers who meet up. You’ll have to keep us updated!

Been gradually doing little bits n pieces to the Outlaw for a while, I wasn’t going to post up a pic until the video appears in a month when I’m back home. As you can see in the photo I’ve removed the stock body panels and began fitting my own 5mm foamex cut panels set within the cage. It’s only half finished yet as I also want to seal off the inner area to protect the electrics, fit LED lights too, and add a few more panels yet. Went for a set of 2.2” beadlocks, ended up with two sets as one didn’t arrive and was “lost in transit”, so they sent out another two sets as compo - nice one! But, kind of stuck between which set to use now. Originally I was after using the mat black alloys but since seeing the polished ali set offered up to the car, they stand out a bit more. The camera though doesn’t do the black set justice, they do look good.

Mark! How's it going? It's the first gear, so that'll be the 65tooth. I also found one in Australia a while back, not sure if it's that website though, I'll have to take a look again.

@Praet0r87 It's limiting factor is definitely the tyres, I couldn't get the motor to reach its peak rpm as they balloon sooo much at high speeds like that and it becomes uncontrollable really, but on the other hand they're incredibly grippy so I'll stick with them. From when I bought it, aswell as seeing how good I can get it to cover rough ground quickly, I just wanted to do a few speed tests and see if the car would reach 50mph without falling apart, and it's proved that's well within its capabilities. Perhaps if I were to fit a tyre of equal height but not as soft as the FTX tyre, then I have no doubt it'll surpass 50 with that motor installed. But I think I'll just leave it be as I'm happy with its performance now, just in the throws of changing the body somewhat, and fitting 2.2" alloys at the mo when I get time.

A precaution really, didn't like the look of the stock plastic mount so went for the ali upgrade. Then wondered if there's an ali gearbox casing for the Outlaw (they make one for the Outback), sadly not though.... It's also running a 23T pinion, and not chewed a single spur gear either. It notched up 50mph on this set up according to the GPS which I'm more than happy with.

@rct You'll like it, they're not a bad platform at all, and when you fit your brushless combo it's a massive difference. I began by changing to some FTX ali parts replacing the areas I thought would give rise to any flex, so at least it's sturdy, popped in a 3800kv 3660 motor and 120a ESC with a 3S lipo, and 20kg steering servo. It's great! Then added my rear anti role bar to keep it planted on all four.