Rebel158

Thanks mate 😁

Aaaaaaand... complete! Light build thread here...

Well, it’s built! My first ever end to end RC car build, and micro/mini no less! I had started out with the intention of taking photos during the various phases of the build but found that I became so immersed in the build that I neglected to capture key moments, so the completed item will have to do. To be fair the end results throughout the build are no different to those captured in other threads. In summary, the build went quite well, and as expected, with no major ‘gotchas’. However, due to the scale of this kit, some parts are a little fiddly but overall not too bad, especially for my short sausage fingers! In fact the diffs went together first time, and without issue, as did the shocks, and pretty much everything else (it helps to have a decent illuminated magnifier, and micro tweezers, amongst other tools!) For the oils I went as follows (based upon Darren at DMS’s recommendations) Front Diff: 5000 Rear Diff: 3000 Front Shocks: 450 Rear Shocks: 350 ‘Gotchas’ Well, there were bound to be some, but nothing I couldn’t overcome with lots of coffee and snacks! ESC placement - Mine is the ‘Pro’ kit, which came with the larger 60a esc, and is larger in footprint and height than the standard 35a offering, so a little more challenging to shoehorn in. Solution: The pre connected motor cables are removable (not soldered) so I was able to squeeze it in between the motor and the servo, and connect the motor direct to the esc (the motor comes with pre soldered cables) although care needs to be taken with flexing the cables into position. I also used threadlock on the servo securing bolts, in the event that the esc pushes against the servo body (the esc is pretty secure anyway) Battery size and placement - Probably the most challenging part of the build as you are limited in the battery size you can use due to a number of factors. The standard kit comes with a fairly robust (if chunky) top deck, which reduces the available height a little. The main issue for me was the battery width as i) the supplied battery ‘holders’ are quite narrow, and foul slightly on the chassis buffers, thus limiting your options, and ii) too wide a battery will foul against the drive shaft. Solution: The Pro kit came with a carbon fibre top deck, which is much slimmer in profile, and means that the battery height is less of an issue. I have a new Turnigy 2s battery that I wanted to make use of, so I resolved to trim the plastic chassis slightly to gain as much width as possible. I also sourced some heavy duty velcro via Amazon, which appears to secure the battery pack very well, allowing a couple of mm between the battery and the drive shaft. We’ll see how it holds up in practice. For reference, my battery pack dimensions are L:105mm x W: 35mm x H: 18mm (excluding cable protrusion) Receiver placement - The Turnigy GT5s receiver that I have is a little too wide, and tall to sit atop the servo, and under the top deck. Solution: I resolved to place it on the chassis floor, just in front of the battery. The antenna wire I secured by shaping and stick a piece of velcro backing to the top deck and boreing two small holes through the velcro (the velcro backing is fairly rigid and provides ample support) Through these holes I was able to thread the antenna, and I also sleeved it with a length of wire shrink wrap, so that the antenna sits upright, towards the front of the car. Screws/bolts etc - There isn’t much to say here, save to say that it would be prudent to have a decent set of digital calipers to measure the bolts etc. The associated bolt length and diameter is specified throughout the build instructions but I did find myself using the wrong bolts on occasion, and having to reverse my errors, and this is where the calipers came in very handy, although the manufacturer’s tolerances can be fairly ‘loose’. Solution: Digital callipers. Spare screws. Turnbuckle end caps/joints - Yep, I was caught out by the opposite handed thread and spent AGES trying to figure out why one end joint per arm wouldn’t catch! Solution - Similar build threads on this forum! Items of note, and the way I’ve pieced it together… In past threads I have read that the instruction build manual wasn’t particularly clear, and that key details such as the slipper clutch setting were not covered. I’m pleased to say that the manual does appear to cover this, and other areas not previously referenced. This is the 2022 spec kit (the latest as far as I’m aware) so perhaps past comments have been taken on board by LC Racing. Slipper clutch - I have set this at 7mm from the end of the shaft as per the manual and will see how it runs. Slipper shaft assembly - A few have mentioned play between the bearing and collar/spacer at the differential pinion end, and as a result have installed a second bearing. It looks like LCR might have addressed this as I did not note any such play, nor any additional space available for an additional bearing (ref step 4 in the manual below) ESC to battery connection - The ESC comes pre fitted with a Deans connector, and my battery (Turnigy Nano-Tech 2.25 2s 65-130c) comes pre fitted with a XT60 connector. Rather than mess about with chopping and soldering I opted for a male Deans to female XT60 connector. Motor pinion - Three are supplied in the Pro kit. I opted for the middle sized option (circa 9mm diameter if memory serves) as the supplied grub screws only appeared to fit this and the larger pinion, so we’ll see how this setup runs. Body shell - The supplied body shell is clear, and whilst I intend to paint it at some stage (along with another spare that I acquired) I also opted for a pre painted shell, which costs only a few £s more than a clear shell. You can never have too many spares, especially as this will be a light ‘basher’. Wheels/tyres - The standard pre mounted truggy items are supplied. I also picked up a set of the monster truck pre mounted wheels which work out to the same diameter (the monster wheels are smaller, but the tyres larger) which I have installed for now. Rear shock mount - The manual specifies 6mm length screws up top, and 8mm below. Deciding these might be a weak area I added a couple of nuts to the bottom screws to provide a little more strength in this area. Rear wing - A black nylon item is supplied. I purchased a spare (yellow) which I chose for a splash of colour! Potential Upgrades… No major plans at this stage, but items such as a servo saver, monster truck front bumper, and metal turnbuckle end caps/joints might be an option depending on how the standard setup holds up. The finished item!

Does anyone know of a chassis skin that will fit the LC truggy? Or perhaps the equivalent WL Toys model?

Thanks mate. The challenge now will be building it... I'm technically minded, but fat fingered... 😅

A belated but none the less Happy New Year to you all! Right then, reviving this thread as I am back in the game... The last time I I posted (back in 2021, I think...) I was waiting on the LC 1/14 Truggy to come back into stock at DMS, which it never did (or at least I gave up checking, it was that long a wait...) My initial preference was for the 'Pro' kit version of the truggy, which you if you refer back to my previous comments, I took delivery of, but found to my disappointment that LC Racing had changed the spec of the kit, and omitted the 60a ESC, amongst other things. I returned the kit and put my myself on waiting list for the RTR version, which also failed to materialise (slow boat from China etc) and in the end just gave up. Fast forward to last week, itching for something to do, as it's too cold to shoot (one of my other passions is airgun benchrest target shooting) and I happen to hit the DMS site once again and, wait... what's this... an EMB-TG Pro kit in stock... the last one in fact... and now including the 60a ESC, and the previously omitted 'hop ups'... Yes please! I collected it from DMS at one of the their trackside meets in Watford last weekend, along with 4 x LC Racing Monster Truck wheels/tyres, which I was assured will fit the Truggy. Comparing them side by side, they are a very close match in terms of width, and diameter (the Monster wheels are smaller, but the tyres larger) DMS also appear to have the stock 2850 motor in stock too. The price for the Pro kit has risen by £10, but considering the inclusion of the 60a ESC, and other uprated bits that are included, it's unlikely you could do better by purchasing the base kit and souring the remaining parts separately. I'll get round to building it at some stage, and will of course let you know how I get on etc 😁👍

Nice thread @Alex97 When I last posted (quite some time back) I was looking at building the truggy version, but the endless delays in delivery sadly put paid to that plan, and following more than a six month wait I pulled out. I'm now awaiting stock of the latest Pro version (2022 spec) at DMS and wondered if anyone has any useful insight into the build i.e. has it improved since the original iteration? Also, what spares would you recommend having on hand in the event of crash breakages etc? I'm wondering if an extended front bumper is available 😅

Or I could just buy a bag of oranges from Sainsburys and use the mesh from those come to think of it 🤔 No longer an SC-10? I'm intrigued...

Oooooooh, slippery slope @Colosus 😉 Saw the edited pics, don't mind at all mate, and it does make it look more 'business'. Good to know also that there are other parts options that work with these 🙂👍

@Colosus Mate, not at all. That does look rather awesome. Where might I acquire said items?😉

I think the general concensus is that a longer can will give you more torque. So in my tiny little mind, I translate that to 'mine is heavier than standard (with the Exotek centre chassis) and I get extra 'free' torque out of the 550 can'. I bought my new ESC and motors as part of a Hobbywing package, so the cost wasn't too bad. Another thing I was told by the chap at EuroRc was that whilst many people will often opt for a lower KV motor in a heavier car, a 550 can will allow you to go higher up the KV range, in my case 4000kv for one of the motors. The spur I have came with the car. Looking at it, it does look very similar to the Axial offering. I note also that Axial offer lower tooth pinions in 5mm, in case we feel the need to gear down a little more, whereas other brands offer pnions from 13T upwards. You can find plenty of 5mm 13T+ kits on Amazon. How good they are though, I have no idea... I think, so long as you don't stry too much past the recommendations, gear too high, run through thick grass, and try to launch from a standing incline, you should be OK 😄

So, mine originally came with one of the 3700kv (5,5T) 550 LRP motors, which I believe were one of the cans recommended by Team Associated in their catalogue. The chart in the catalogue mentions using the 32p 62t spur, and those motors have a 5mm shaft, with the recommendation being circa a 13t pinion. My new motors both have a 5mm shaft, and having spoken with the a couple of model shops/enthusiasts, the general concensus is that the 13t pinion should be fine, and so far it is. It can be quite confusing, and I'm far from expert on the matter, but if using a larger can (which will almost certainly have a 5mm shaft) you would probably need to look at using the 32p spur. Happy to be corrected 🙂

That's a good call. Sadly I'm going for 1/14 truggy, so that rules me out... On that note, does anyone know of a standard skin that will fit the truggy chassis?

Very neat and tidy effort there! Genuinely thought those were production items at first glance 👍

Recently took a punt on this cute little Panda Tetra X2T Mini 1/18 crawler and so far, I'm very impressed. I briefly owned an FTX Outback Mini 3.0, followed by an Axial SCX24 (Deadbolt) during gthe original lockdown, and although my favourite of the two was the Axial I soon grew bored of it (I'm not a crawler kinda guy, and this was my first foray into crawlers) To be fair this scale, and below are not exactly the most capable of machines, so unfair to compare with their larger 1/10+ sibblings, although they do have their place and they are lots of fun around an indoor or small garden course/trail. Then one of these little bad boys came up for sale, brand new on the forum and I though why not. The reviews and spec looked great at full price (I paid much less) but first impressions are that it is more capable and of a better build quality than the SCX24! The kit comes with a multi point wrench tool, allen key, decorative wheel hubs, shiock spring spacers in varying sizes (to fine tune the suspension) spare body clips, a sticker sheet, a 700mah battery pack, a USB charger, and the controller. The plastics lookm and feel sturdy and tge main chassis frame is fabricated from aluminium. I beleive that the wheels also come pre weighted. That's a huge spec out of the box, and for the price (approx £130 retail) The controller has 3 speed settings, and also allows you switch the led headlights and roofbar lights on and off. It even has rear tail and reverse lights! Setup is simple and you're pretty much up and running out of the box following a quick charge. I was quite impressed at how much throttle control is available, and you really can 'craaaaaaaaawl' with this little car. Whack it up to speed 3, squeeze the throttle and you're rewarded with a faster than walking pace charge. It's pretty quick for what it is. A few pics below. The last pic shows it climbing quite a steep and smooth bit of wooden decking. It took me a few attempts to line it up just right and give it the right amount of throttle to power it up and up it went!

Technically not today ( a few days ago) but only got round to charging it today and having a little play... Awesome little 1/18th crawler... Panda Tetra X2T. Yes, it actually climbed that steep smooth piece of decking! Took a few attempts to line it up just right and apply just the right amount of throttle and up she went!

Thanks mate. I bought this one on a whim, and it hasn't dissapointed. I think what put people off them as 'bashers' was that they're a little more time consuming to work on than say a shaft driven setup (this one has a belt drive) but I've found it easy enough to work on and make adjustments etc. It's been pretty much bullet-proof.

@Colosus as promised, some pics of my recent SC-10 restore.

Not today, but recently completed the restore of my Associated SC-10 4wd!

After a period of absence from the hobby, and owing to locdown boredom and frustration, I recently completed a restore / rebuild of an original Associated SC-10 4wd. It came pretty much as hopped up as you can get with an Exotek alu centre chassis, and numerous other alu bits. The previous owner had built this as a 'Team' kit and raced it competitively, and sadly it ended up with me, as a basher. Sacrilege! 😇 It was by no means in bad condition, but certainly no shelf queen. It came with a Castle Mamba esc and an LRP XL12L 550 BL Modified 5.5T sensored motor which was plenty quick on 2s but had started to cog (could have been due to an issue with the esc) It also has a Savox SC-1267MD digital servo, Proline Street Fighter wheels / tyres, so a very decent spec list. I learnt a lot from the teardown/rebuild process, and although frustrating at times, on balance, I really enjoyed myself. OK, I didn't remove, soak and polish very screw, but I did strip it pretty much all the way down and cleaned everything else properly. I then decided to rebuild the diffs and replace the shock fluids, which was quite brave of me as I have never built a kit and was in pretty much unknown territory. I was very pleasantly surprised to find that the Associated Team kit build manual was very clear and descriptive, with all parts and associated part numbers identified clearly, and of course there are numerous YouTube vids and forum support articles available which gave me the courage to proceed. The diffs, both front and rear displayed no visible wear, although the fluid was of course black. The gaskets, orings, and bearings all looked and felt fine but I decided to replace all of these items anyway whilst I wass in there. I was so proud of myself when I actually managed to seat the planet gears on the sun gears first time, and properly too! Everything went back together smoothly., so much so that I was awaiting the punchline, but no, everything went relatively well. Whilst in there I replaced the top shafts and the outdrives with the Team lightened options for good measure, as I had spares. My spares also included the upgraded rear VTS slipper clutch set, so in that went with a set of new slipper pads for good measure. I don't 'race' and this car was very much intended as a basher when I purchased it, and I originally acquired it for a decent price, so I didn't feel too bad about possibly 'down-speccing' the electrics. After some forum research, and a couple of chats with Lee at Modelshop Direct and Pete at EuroRC I decided on a Hobbywing MAX10 SCT esc (120a) coupled with a matching 3660 G2 4000kv motor, which would work out as the most efficient on 2s, whilst still handling 3s perfectly well. Then for the hell of it I ordered the 3200kv variant to cover all options 😊 I have to say that I’m really impressed with the ESC/motor combo. I wasn’t expecting a perfectly smooth throttle at low speeds, but at times I find it difficult to believe that this setup isn’t sensored, it’s that good! It’s running on the original 32p 62T spur with a steel 13T pinion and all appears to be well. The proline shoes were in my opinion too good for bashing, so I decided to pimp up the original chrome wheels with some Humbrol matt enamel orange paint, which I applied by hand. I removed the original chrome finish with my rotary tool and set about applying several coats by hand with a small modelling brush. Not professional by any standard, but they actually came out a lot better than I had hoped and I think they complement the truck quite well. The shell did have a few small splits at some of the corners, but in still otherwise excellent condition, so I setup about repairing and strengthening it with mesh tape and shoe good and a little touch up paint here and there. The less than perfect finish lends a more rugged look to the car and overall I’m quite happy with the outcome. Any, enough of my waffling, some pics of my amateur efforts!

Spotted the following 2845 motor on 'Banggood' (I think someone linked to it earlier) which comes in an impressive choice of kv: 2600kv, 2800kv, 3100kv, 3800kv, 3930kv, 4370kv, 5000kv, 5900kv https://uk.banggood.com/Racerstar-2845-Motor-Brushless-Waterproof-Sensorless-5900-or-4370-or-3930-or-2800KV-1-or-12-1-or-14-RC-Car-Part-p-1112738.html?cur_warehouse=CN&ID=511866&rmmds=search Reviews appears to be favourable, and only £10.83 a pop (plus £1.17 shipping) Has anyone tried one of these? If so, how does it broadly compare to the factory 2850 unit that comes with the truggy? In terms of a spare backup to the factory item it would be the 4370kv? Any others worth considering for a little variety using 2s and 3s? Also spotted their 60a esc (60a/320a burst) - £21.81 plus £1.28 shipping https://uk.banggood.com/Racerstar-60A-ESC-Brushless-Waterproof-Sensorless-With-Fan-1-or-10-RC-Car-Part-p-1116663.html?cur_warehouse=CN&rmmds=search

Do you still have it? If so, how did the project progress?

Hi @Colosus Apologies, I missed your replies! So, its a MK1 belt driven 4wd and originally came with what I believe to be a Castle Mamba esc and an LRP X12L 5.5T 3800kv Sensored motor (550 can) both of which functioned, but had seen better days. I went for the HobbyWing Max10 SCT esc (120a) and both the 3200kv and 4000kv variants of the HobbyWing 3660SL G2 (550 can) motor as they were well enough priced. It already has a decent heavy duty Savox servo which appears to be in good health. I ordered some new slipper pads, bearings, diff and shock fluids, diff gaskets, orings etc. Rebuilt both diffs for the hell of it (everything was actually in excellent condition, save one or two slightly dry bearings) Gave everything a good clean (I'll clean all the screws at a later date) and pieced it all back together. It really is an awesome bit of kit. Heavy yes, especially with the Exotek alu centre chassis, but planted and so predictable. I did briefly own both a 2wd and a 4wd Slash and both went a while back with SC10 remaining my hot favourite. I have no idea about the standard chassis but in this guise it makes an excellent basher and in my opinion more than a match for the Slash. The new esc and motor setup are nothing short of excellent, with practically no cogging at the lowest of speeds. I've tried both motors and the experience is practically the same, on either 2s or 3s. The shell has seen better days and has been repaired and strengthened with mesh tape and shoe goo and actually looks quite good. It also came with a set of fugly chrome rims, which I sanded and hand painted orange out of boredom (by no means a professional job, but perfectly acceptable) I'll get some pics up soon 👍

Thanks, and you're right, they are cheap enough from DMS. It was really to allow for more alternative options, and a little pimpage (alternative style) I also queried this with DMS and they didn't know what the offset was, as LC Racing apparently doesn't disclose that info... Re the motor, again I queried spares availability with DMS and it appears that they only carry the smaller 2840 can, which suggests that a replacement might only happen via a warranty claim (not sure how successful that would be) or it would be a case of sourcing an alternative. On that note, what have we found to be the largest motor (comfortable, not crammed in) to fit, and also what kv rating? I'm thinking more along the lines of maintaining as close to original spec as possible and decent torque etc. It appears that the buggy is the easiest to cater for all round, although my preference is still for the truggy.

A few more Qs on wheel fitment if I may: Do we have a list of 'after-market' wheels that are known to fit the truggy without any modifications? I've heard mention of adding extenders or adaptors to enable a wider range of wheel fitments. What are these and what are people using? What wheels (with the addiiton of an extender/adaptor work with the truggy? Do the offsets differ front to rear? Would the wheels from the other LC range fit i.e. SCT, Buggy, MT? The MT wheels/tyres look like a possible/quick/easy win for a little more robust offroad/grass use, unless offset is an issue with the truggy? I suppose gearing might be an issue given the larger wheels? Apologies, I'm obviously not particularly experienced in this field 😉 On the subject of the difference in motor spec between models that I raised in an earlier comment, I spoke with Darren at DMS and he comnfirmed the following: Buggy, SCT, MT, DT, WRC - All use the smaller 2840 motor. Truggy - Uses the longer 2850 motor. The truggy is apparantly the 'heavier' of 3 and has larger wheels than the buggy, SCT, DT, WRC (the MT whilst having the largest wheels is based upon the smaller chassis, so lighter)