AWD 1:10 Electric Truck/Truggy/Stadium?

[rob_s]

I currently have a Losi MLST that we're having alot of fun with, but I find it to be a bit of a pain to work on because of the size, and the tolerance slop of the parts is magnified as well. Does anyone make a decent AWD/4WD truck of some sort that's more like 1:10 scale?

I'm not quite ready to jump into nitro for now, so I'd like to stick with electric. I really don't have any kind of rabid brand loyalty, but I'd like to find something with good aftermarket support.

[evst 360]

Surprisingly, not many exist. Most 1/10 scale st's are 2wd. The only one I can think of is the discontinued hpi rs4 mt. Ebay would be your best bet for one. 4wd electric 1/10 scale buggies exist though. Tamiya Dark Impact, Losi xxx-4, and the bj4 (dont remember the manufacturer) are some good 4wd buggies. Somewhere there is a thread with a link to a xxx-4 conversion, making it a 4wd 1/10 electric truggy. If I find that thread i'll edit it in here. So yeah, I hate to say it but you're probably best off looking at buggies or 2wd st's. :cool:

[rob_s]

I'm glad you posted that. I found a couple of possibilities.

http://amainraceway.com/xxx4truggy.htm

http://forums.radiocontrolzone.com/showthread.php?t=233847&highlight=xxx-4+truggy

[rob_s]

I'm not against the buggies per se, but for bashing around the neighborhood I'd prefer the ground clearance of a truck/truggy without getting as silly as a monster truck.

[RCMadMatt]

Doesn't HPI have a 4wd stadium truck in 1/10th scale? The name escapes me at the moment.

Matt

[evst 360]

Doesn't HPI have a 4wd stadium truck in 1/10th scale? The name escapes me at the moment.

Matt
its the rs4 mt, but it has been discontinued.

[T/Losi]

I'm glad you posted that. I found a couple of possibilities.

http://amainraceway.com/xxx4truggy.htm

http://forums.radiocontrolzone.com/showthread.php?t=233847&highlight=xxx-4+truggy

Amain have been working on that for 5 or so years.
HPI use to make one called the RS4 MT which was double belt driven and used a inner body like the RS4 Rally. The front arms and shock towers were fragile though. They pop up on ebay every now and again. There was one also made by Yokomo but can't remember the name of it

Cheers

[rob_s]

I wonder if I could get an HPI Emaxx to sit lower? It's 4WD right?

[EDS]

http://forums.radiocontrolzone.com/showthread.php?t=232933 I am working on that. I am thinking about starting to sell them .They would have good aftermarket support too. Peace Ethan

[z-man280]

i owned 2 of the HPI RS4 /MT's... IF you can keep it sealed, its not bad. The belt drive is just a horrible idea for off-road. Want something unique? Pick up a shaft drive touring car, such as the TC3,...gear it LOW, and put 2.0 buggy tires all the way around. I think that would be kinda neat.

[rob_s]

Yeah, I'd rather avoid buying a truck that's out of production and wasn't all that great even when it was.

[JDT]

just convert a nitro over to electric, plenty of nitro 4wd 10th choices
hpi MT2 or MT2 18ss
academy rt 4 gp or the prospec version
hot bodies-lightning stadium 10, lightning gt 10
cen premier 4 and mt spec 3.0-coming soon the mg 10 tr and mg 10 mt
kyosho st 15
gs 10th but I am not sure on the name
I am trying to decide which one I am going to do, money is in the bank I just need to pick one and go for it, either the academy prospec or hpi mt2 18ss kits look best IMO. The academy don't have a motor so its cheaper and I wouldn't have to mess with selling the nitro motor but the hot bodies have been around ebay for $200 rtr brand new. I will just use my mm5700 system at first either way, probably end up with the mm controller and a lower kv motor for more cells.

[rob_s]

How complicated is it to change one to electric? Do you have to fab gears and motor plates, or are there kits available?

[rc10mike]

Yokomo made one also, the YR4-MT if I remember correctly. Does anyone else remember this one?

[JDT]

no kits, you will need to make a motor mount, several guys have offered them in the past but I just intend to make one with an angle grinder and a dremel tool and some aluminum angle unless glassdoctor (rczone member and local to me brushless genius) gets his production version back in from the machine shop really soon, the gears will be either mod one or 32 pitch depending on what you get, either way rcmonster.com has you covered with the pinions for normal 3.17mm shafts, 4mm shafts of the big lehners or the 5mm shaft of the fiegao/bk/neu/hacker motors.

[NitroTXT1]

i'll be running a tamiya dark impact with a few hop ups including a newly designed chassis that runs saddle packs..and gonna run academy prospec rims with standard sized tires/rims

[rob_s]

That Dark Impact looks like it might be a good step up from the MLST for the 9 year old's 10th birthday in a couple of months.

[NitroTXT1]

i can't wait i got a nice chassis that lets you run saddle packs on it and moves the steering servo forward that i'll be running with lipo saddles and mamba 7700kv setup

[Cain]

You could also convert the Academy SB V2 Series of vehicles into a truck. There RTG4P truck uses similar parts, and I think you could go the full truck route via parts, or, just mount up the truck rims to the buggy (I am thinking of doing this to fun around with) as they will fit fine.

[rob_s]

Any reason that particular model and not any of the other 1:10 buggies?

[rob_s]

This looks somewhat interesting, assuming they get rid of that chasis scab in the middle.

http://www.msuk-forum.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=22018

[Cain]

I posted it because it was pretty easy to do and the parts are available from one source. Also, the vehicle is very durable.

[rob_s]

I posted it because it was pretty easy to do and the parts are available from one source. Also, the vehicle is very durable.
gotcha, I'll have to do some more research on it.

[Cain]

no problem! You can also use traxxas style rear rims. If RPM makes an offset version, may be an even better choice!

[Davey G]

Rob S: That truck that you posted is just something that we were playing around with. Obviously the chassis's bottom and top plate would be once piece. This was just a hack job to see what people would say about a 1/10th scale truggy. Glad people have interest in it. Not sure if anything will ever come of it, but its cool to see the publics reaction.

DAVE GRABOSKI
RC Car Product Manager
Model Rectifier Corporation

[Cain]

Davey G: Even if a hack job, its still awesome that you took the time to put one together and show it to the community!

By the way, MRC Sells Grand Prix tires and after using the truck and buggy versions they are actually quite good. Kind of inbetween an M2 to M3. The Fusions work as well or better than holeshots.

[GT Freak]

THAT looks interesting... would make a GREAT 10th basher...

[rob_s]

Rob S: That truck that you posted is just something that we were playing around with. Obviously the chassis's bottom and top plate would be once piece. This was just a hack job to see what people would say about a 1/10th scale truggy. Glad people have interest in it. Not sure if anything will ever come of it, but its cool to see the publics reaction.

DAVE GRABOSKI
RC Car Product Manager
Model Rectifier Corporation
I assumed that the scab would be removed if it was ever produced.

What else on the prototype as shown is different than the buggy? Is it just a stretched chasis and larger tires? If so I could just buy the buggy, install the larger tires as Cain suggested and be GTG.

[Davey G]

Rob-S: I used RT4 GP Pro-spec arms, along with the universals, tierods, and some other stuff. Its all ACADEMY parts. So its def not just a stretched V2 with big tires. Ya dig it ??? :D

[rob_s]

Any chance of a parts list, besides the stretch, obviously.

[jedipirate]

yes a nice thorough parts list would be nice!

[fathertime]

i bought an sb pro carbon buggy to put some 2.2 gladiators on and just backyard bash it. i didn't like the final gear ratio and the stress brushless power would put on the plastic ring& pinion gears, so i did some investigating and found the nitro 4wd truck and the buggy share the same diff housing. cool! so i tallied up the parts involved = $100 + !! can that, i'll just run a smaller pinion and deal with it. then i found ultimate hobbies was selling the truck for ...$100! so now i'm converting the truck to brushless, using .098 g10-fr4 (fire retardant garolite) for the main chassis and top plate. and with some work i managed to use the buggy's motor mount and spur gear. pics to come(someday!)

[rob_s]

For anyone playing along on the Academy idea, I found this exploded parts view on their website.

http://www.modelrectifier.com/resources/rcCarsBoats/RT4-GP_exploded.jpg

You can also find the original SB buggy (not the V2) for $150 +/- which should make for a pretty inexpensive swap to get the nitro truck arms/dogbones/gears.

Anyone know of a good online source for any aftermarket parts? Specifically for upgrade items like aluminum hubs, CVDs, etc.

[JDT]

Anyone know of a good online source for any aftermarket parts? Specifically for upgrade items like aluminum hubs, CVDs, etc.

I don't think I have ever seen any alluminum for any academy cars, the only parts source for the truck is MRC direct as far as I know. Can't find any english speaking hobby shops in korea to get academy parts from so hopefully MRC will keep a good stock of spairs.

[Davey G]

Rob-S: There you go, I just went by the exploded view and got the part#'s through that. Feel free to give me a buzz and I will be able to help you out with whatever you need.

DAVE GRABOSKI
RC PRODUCT MANAGER
MRC
732-225-2100

[rob_s]

I think I'm going to have to order the car and see the stock parts in front of me in order to figure this out.

Two last questions:

1) What is the advantage of going with the V2 vs. the older model? Any advantage in V2 pro for these purposes?

2) Are the shocks the same between the truck and the car or are the truck shocks/towers longer/higher?

[Davey G]

Rob S: The V2 and the SB series of cars are quite a bit different. The V2 series drivetrain is ROCK SOLID, the surface area on the "cut" of the gears is more then double then the SB series, the suspension geometry is better for racing as well.
The shocks that are in the picture posted above are the shocks from the v2 pro, but.......you can use rear shock towers all round and run long shocks all round just like the RT4 GP Pro Spec uses. Again this was a quick job to see what the public would think. If you need some help, feel free to call me and I can get you everything you need to build one of these.
The cheap but durable route would be to purchase a V2 Sport and an extra fiberglass upper and lower deck, and purchase all the other RT4GP Pro Spec parts needed for this conversion. Stormer Hobbies has the V2 Sport car kit on his website for $239.95. The other parts you can get through us or just buy the complete RT4Gp Pro Spec truck from Ultimate hobbies for $99.99 I believe.

DAVE GRABOSKI
RC PRODUCT MANAGER
MRC
732-225-2100

[rob_s]

I don't think ultimate doing that deal on the RT4 GP as I can't seem to find it on their website. If I could find that I'd order it immediately, but it appears to be no more.

[Cain]

May have sold out of the vehicles.

The SB V2 Pro is $279.99 at ultimate, and I think the SB V2 Sport is 205 or something like that.

I would go with the V2 Pro if possible. You get alot of bang for the buck out of the vehicle and the stiffer chassis and other parts would work great for a truggy conversion. Also, that front oneway is a nice touch too.

[JDT]

the trucks are still in stock as of 8:47 am, I just ordererd so they had better be lol

https://www.ultimatehobbies.com/istar.asp?a=6&id=ACY15950!1013&csurl=%2Fistar%2Easp%3Fa%3D29%26search%3D15950*%26 view%3D15950%26

at this price I couldn't resist, in all my searching of the internet I only found one busted shock tower and one busted knuckle so I guess I will just have to get it converted and figure out what parts I want and give MRC a call for some spairs, they show most of the parts in stock. It been relayed these are 32pitch spur, Dave can you confirm this? not a big deal as I can get mod one or 32pitch I just don't want to order a handful of the $10 mod one pinions if I don't have to as the 32p are available for robinson for $3.50 each.

[JDT]

thats cheasy my link didn't work...type in 15950 in the search box on ultimate and it will pop up.

[rob_s]

Thanks JDT. I just ordered one. $108 with shipping.

Now, I wonder if I'm better off trying to mount an electic motor in this truck or scab the parts off onto a full electric buggy..... :D

[Cain]

Probably be easier just to mount it up to the buggy.

Heck, wouldn't be bad to just order two of them for that price for spare parts.

[JDT]

Thanks JDT. I just ordered one. $108 with shipping.

Now, I wonder if I'm better off trying to mount an electic motor in this truck or scab the parts off onto a full electric buggy..... :D

dang it I was going to mention $100 orders get free shipping so you should have added a .95 cent package of bolts you would have saved the shipping cost, sorry my bad

[JDT]

Probably be easier just to mount it up to the buggy.

Heck, wouldn't be bad to just order two of them for that price for spare parts.

lol I did order 2, most of the breakage parts will probably need to be ordered in spairs but since the basics, arms, hubs, diff cases, spur, shock towers and cvds are nearly $80 from MRC I concluded the same thing as you. Hopefully it will be trouble free and I will just need to get a few spairs to keep it running for a while, I tend to keep stuff longer than most guys, in five years I only had four cars, stampede, sb pro, t4 and tamiya df 02, still have the pede and two of the df 02s although my pede is neglected and left at the barn we sometimes bash at, there is enough parts for two or three complete pedes out there as we all king of compiled our mess to have two loaner trucks for when peoples cars and trucks break, a stinger is slow but not compaired to nothing lol.
edit, I guess I forgot about the xx and xxx-4 so make that 7 cars in five or so years lol.

[Davey G]

JDT: Just confirm what you were saying in one of your above posts, the nitro vehicle gear pitch is NOT 32 pitch, it is def closer to Mod One. From what I gather the RT4 GP series of gears is around (guessing) 27 pitch?? Just didnt want to leave you hanging. Hope this helps...talk to you soon!

DAVE GRABOSKI
RC PRODUCT MANAGER
MRC

[Cain]

From what I have heard from those who have the truck, it was quite durable.

I am just still suprised there really never was a 4wd 1/10 scale stadium truck class. You would think with all the truggy craze going on, 10 scale truck racers would want a vehicle that has 4wd which would be easier to control.

[rob_s]

I agree Cain.

We (my girlfriend's son and I) currently each have a Mini-LST. We run in the street and grass in front of the house as well as at the track down the road. I'm going to be buying one of the new Ofna 1:12 gas trucks shortly so I want to build a bigger electric for him to run with me. I don't think he's quite ready for nitro, and I'm not sure the neighbors are either. :eek: I think I'm also going to pick up one of the Tamiya Dark Impact buggies and see what I can do to increase it's ground clearance so he and I both have quiet cars to run in the street and grass.

I'll let him pick if he wants my Academy franken-truggy or if he wants the jacked-up Dark Impact. :D The other one will be mine and I'll get a tranceiver for it to match it up to the Nomadio I'm planning to buy shortly. I'm going to try and find him an inexpensive spektrum-type so he can have just one radio as well.

[JDT]

Rob did you hear from ultimate, I got a voicemail saying they cannot fill my order, discontinued and out of stock.

[rob_s]

Rob did you hear from ultimate, I got a voicemail saying they cannot fill my order, discontinued and out of stock.
Damn, that sucks. I was afraid that might happen.

Looks like I'm just going to go with a pair of the Dark Impacts then and just see what I can do to increase the ground clearance. Maybe if I put the front shock tower on both the front and rear, mount the rear shocks on both the front and rear, and put some bigger wheels/tires. :D

[Ed237]

1/10 scale off road in general is all but dead. It's an 1/8 and 1/16 scale world so why fight it? I'm starting to see some truggy conversions with lipos and brushless motors that look very promising.

Thats the future, like it or not.

[rob_s]

1/8 makes no sense in electric, and 1/16 is too small. I have an MLST now that's supposedly 1/18 but more like 1/16 and it's just too small to work on.

[Cain]

it depends on how you look at it. 1/10 scale can make a comeback if given the chance and it is. That is what I see going on.

[JDT]

the 1/8 appeals to me but its about 2-3 times the cost I would do
$599.99 mbx5t
good neu motor $285
mm esc $115
ubec $40
I would need 2 2s and want two spairs so at $125 each for batteries it becomes a $1500 project, then you realize you want a massive power supply to run 2 ice chargers and its $2000 in a minute lol. more like $500-700 in a bl 10th kit unless you get real nutty them maybe you would only save the $300 of the kit but 4s and one of the neu 1515s would be retarded, its enough for 1/8 truggies so at half the weight with any of the current nirto 10th trucks it would be hard to handle to say the least.

[Ed237]

If its about getting the most for your money there is nothing better than a 2wd stadium truck. Simple and fast and inexpense. But that's never good enough. Everybody wants more.

Once you start adding diffs and weight and complexity the costs go up. Pretty soon, its almost as much as one of the better RTR Truggies currently on the market. People see it says 40mph on the box with big tires and a .28 motor and its sold.

It's hard for 1/10 4wd to compete against something like that. Especially when they can be bought all day long for under $600.

I too used to think 1/8 scale electric was out of the question until I saw a lipo powered brushless 1/8 truggy conversion doing things that no nitro powered vehicle can even approach. It was truly amazing.

[JDT]

Rob, I actually talked with a guy Kevin from ultimate today, he said they only have one, I will pass, call 7145383111 asap, he said he didn't think they had any other orders for a single?? he said discontinued no reorder as I volunteered backorder but he did offer one so it might be available.

[JDT]

If its about getting the most for your money there is nothing better than a 2wd stadium truck. Simple and fast and inexpense. But that's never good enough. Everybody wants more.

Once you start adding diffs and weight and complexity the costs go up. Pretty soon, its almost as much as one of the better RTR Truggies currently on the market. People see it says 40mph on the box with big tires and a .28 motor and its sold.

It's hard for 1/10 4wd to compete against something like that. Especially when they can be bought all day long for under $600.

I too used to think 1/8 scale electric was out of the question until I saw a lipo powered brushless 1/8 truggy conversion doing things that no nitro powered vehicle can even approach. It was truly amazing.


wash your mouth out for talking about a .28 in the electric forum lol
glassdoctor from the brushless forum races at the LHS with a couple bl 1/8 machines, incredible to say the least, I am not a racer so I rarely see them in action but I usually show up periodically over the summer season to do a shop run when they are racing just in case he has something cool to look at, I don't know him personally and haven't ever raced with him but he is cool and answers questions and shows off his 1/8th stuff even the nights real racing is only 10th, he has been racing some with the nirtos on saturday at the lhs and some other times at out of town tracks, touch and go really, some of the nitro guys are scared especially when he will come with 12000 mah and run 30 minutes nonstop no pit no problems, stopping every once it a while to make it even and such, it used to be the brushed could not make enough power to hang with a nitro, now it can go either way depending on combo and setup, the run time thing is now in the electrics advantage if you want to spend money on lipos

[Ed237]

I didnt know what all the buzz was about until I saw one in person. You can see more and more do it yourself 1/8 conversions right here in the RCCA 'brushless' forums. There is little doubt that just like in 1/10 scale, a properly engineered and designed and built 1/8 vehicle should perform better than their nitro counterparts.

The potential for 1/8 electric is huge. I wonder what a top notch RC Manufacturer could do with the idea?

[JDT]

traxxas has been in bed with novak before, its time for the hv 4.5 e revo half the bashers in the world would like to see.

[Cain]

Just need the demand to be there. Price may not even been an issue as when guys are serious about racing 1/8, they drop big dollars on them. Going with a brushless 1/8 would be something pretty cool.

[rob_s]

So I get home tonight, and I'm cleaning out some stuff in the garage, when I see the big brown truck pull up out front, and the little brown man walks up and hands me a box. Guess what's inside?

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q111/rob_s/0402071801-00-01.jpg

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q111/rob_s/0402071801-01.jpg

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q111/rob_s/0402071801-02.jpg

[rob_s]

So I guess now I have to call up and figure out how to turn this into an electric. :D

[Davey G]

Little brown man huh? Better be careful what you say here. :D

[SCHMACH]

hey rob, you have any access to a scroll saw and metal bender ? that's what i used on mine...here's some pics http://forums.radiocontrolzone.com/showthread.php?t=233847&page=2

[Old_School_RC_1]

wow - glad to see this post is around! i am jonesing for a 1/10 scale truck - 1 motor, 4wd - they just don't exist. Either monster or racer, i'm not picky. E-maxx was fun, but charging 2 3300 packs just took too long. Today's power can easily move a 1/10 4wd truck no problem with a single engine...

I'm glad to see i'm not the only one out there with asperations of going custom. just ordered a DI that may end up as a truggy, and i have an mt2ss chassis, jato tranny (2speed!!) with a rustler spur gear bolted on, and a novak brushless system sitting on my workbench as we speak....debating on creating a frankenstein.

[SCHMACH]

the way i look at it...if a company doesn't make an electric version of something you like, buy the nitro version and make it electric yourself...i've converted the academy truck,revo,lst, and a jato to electric.

[Old_School_RC_1]

how does the elec jato do with the 2sp?

[rob_s]

hey rob, you have any access to a scroll saw and metal bender ? that's what i used on mine...here's some pics http://forums.radiocontrolzone.com/showthread.php?t=233847&page=2
Cool, you made that pan yourself?

Is there anything that keeps me from using the stock pan that's in the truck now?

Hopefully this weekend I'm going to have some time to take a close look at the truck and see what's what. From first glance it looks like all I really have to do is fab a motor mount to get the motor in the right orientation with the spur gear that's already in the truck. I believe that stock it's a 46t or 49t, anyone have any suggestions for a pinion gear size to mate up to this?

[SCHMACH]

never finished the jato..i screwed up the two speed...was always going to put the single speed in it

[rob_s]

I got everything stripped off tonight that was for the gas. Took off the radio box, the gas tank, and the exhaust. I figure I can attach things to the aluminum pan by either drilling through it (motor mount) or with velcro (radio/ESC).

I'm going to order the motor mount for the buggy (V2?) and see if I can't drill through the plate on the truggy to mount it.

[SCHMACH]

you should be able to use the stock chassis...when i do a project car/truck, i make a new chassis so it looks better and mounting battery tray is easier.

[rob_s]

Mounting the battery is proving to be a bit of an issue. There is a ton of room under the body though, so I think I will be able to just keep the electronics box and mount the battery on top of it with some straps or something. It may make it a bit unbalanced though as everything but the motor will then be on the left side.

Still need to order the buggy motor mount so I can get a better idea of what works. I'm also obviously going to have to ditch the stock 40-something tooth spur. Hopefully the buggy spur gear will swap in.

[Helgaiden]

ive seen an HPI Nitro MT with a brushless setup...

it was fast.

[redbarton]

I'd like to see something decent in the 1/10 scale. It's the perfect size. This will help to keep the prices down.

I think 1/8 scale is too big. Usually it needs two brushed motors and 2 batteries or an enormously expensive brushless system (not including the 1/10 Castle or Novak offerings here) and LIPO batteries. You would normally need a more expensive charger for these configurations too.

Bring back the HPI RS4 MT! With obvious improvements of course! Shaft drive, tougher diffs, etc.

[EDS]

http://forums.radiocontrolzone.com/showthread.php?p=2223781#post2223781 Doing my own 1/10th 4wd truck idea. Shaft crive,steel diffs,servo saver steering,slipper clutch etc. Peace Ethan

[rob_s]

so modelctifier.com was selling the SB Sport V2 Buggy for $110 so I ordered one to get the parts I needed.
http://www.modelrectifier.com/search/product-view.asp?ID=6451

[kylelucas]

...Don't forget the YOKOMO MR4MT - it was the same as the MR4BC (4wd Buggy), but with Stadium Wheels/Tires. Great Truck. It was Yokomo's answer to the RS4MT from HPI. I see a MR4BC New Kit on ebay now.... so you can still get them. The Latest MR4BC-Special is the 2003 upgraded buggy, but does not accomodate the ST Wheels/Tires. FYI.

[rob_s]

Looks like the charges to model rectifier went through, so I imagine I'll be seeing that SB V2 at the house here shortly. Now that I have nearly $300 sunk in this thing, I'm starting to get a little antsy. $110 for the truck, $120 for the buggy, and $60 in motor, servo, and battery from the LHS.

[JDT]

but really you are getting two cars out of the deal, although they will both be in altered states, I take it you are going to use the diffs,arms, hubs, knuckles, cvds, shocks and towers from the truck and put them onto the buggy chassis using the buggy motor/spur setup, there should be no reason you can't put the buggy diffs arms and cvds, shocks and towers onto the metal truck chassis with its original running gear and whatever spur mod you pick thus having a slightly short wheelbase truggy and a slightly long wheelbase old school style buggy.

[rob_s]

The plan right now is to put the gear from the buggy, along with the motor and servo mount, into the truck and see how that works out. I suppose I could go the other way and put the suspension components frm the truck on the buggy, and in that case I'd still wind up with two cars.

My goal is to not have to overly trim anything so that if need be I can put all the parts back to stock and at least wind up with two cars that way. Drilling a couple of holes in the truck chasis for the electric motor mount shouldn't affect anything.

[JDT]

cool, I thought you were going to go for more like what Dave from mrc had built, you may be able to use the buggy motor mount and attach it to the center gearbox and mount it through the chassis and the gearbox half, I guess it depends on where you want to place the motor, I was thinking I would have used the original nitro motor mounting spot, I got a cheap little duratrax mini quake 540 mount for $16.99 of ebay that just has two bolts in the bottom and is fully adjustable for pinion mesh but I can't seem to find a link for it now, if worse comes to worse you can make a motor mount out of aluminum angle, either bolted through the chassis or mounted to the top of the center gearbox with the four bracing screws so you don't have to drill the chassis if you are worried about that.

[rob_s]

I thought I was going to wind up making the servo and motor mounts out of scabbed parts from Home Depot, but when I looked at the buggy parts I think I can make them work. We'll see what happens when I get the two cars on the workbench and in front of me.

[JDT]

yeah thats your best bet keep posting.

[rob_s]

Any thoughts on a motor for this thing? I just realized that the LHS sold me an Emaxx motor which is supposed to have 14 volts and I'm only going to be running 7-8. Hope I kept that receipt.

I have no idea what I should be looking for in terms of #of turns etc.

I'm looking for something inexpensive for now with plans to upgrade later on if the project works out.

[JDT]

I ran this motor on 7 cells in an truggy wantabe and it was a sweet little motor

http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXJAJ2&P=7

in a motor shootout it had over 200 watts and 200 inch oz so its pretty dang good

I take it you got a old style titan 550 27 turn, you should see if the LHS will trade it for one of the newer 12 turn titans from traxxas

http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXNMM6&P=ML

they should have these in stock also.

[rob_s]

What ESC did you use with that motor?

[JDT]

lrp 83250

http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXHSV7&P=7

I would just drop the $112 on a mamba as its a good brushed controller then when you have the $80 get a brushless motor of choice

if thats just to much cash for $55

http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXHSV8&P=7

it will take seven cells also and lists a thirteen turn limit

the super cheap is $34.99

http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXD523&P=ML

up to 10 cells! 12 turn limit, some guys love them and some guys hate them I never wanted to "risk" it but a buddy runs them with 6 cells for his kids and 8 cells for him, he thinks staying away from the 10 cells is a good idea

[rob_s]

Got the motor mocked up, and got the wheels to spin with it mocked up and by hooking the battery directly to the motor. Yeah, granted, the motor mount is held in with a pair of vice grips, and yeah I still need another $100 worth of parts to get it rolling (motor, ESC, radio), but it's progress.

Also, the motor mount lines up exactly with a hole in the truggy chasis, meaning I'll have to figure a way to fill in that hole so I can attach the screw. I was afraid that was going to happen, but at least it wasn't unexpected.

I think I've also come up with a relatively easy way to convert the SB. The drive shaft for the SB is just an aluminum tube with cross pins holding the ends on. I should be able to go to Home Depot and get the same sized tubing and just make it longer. Then all I have to do is make a new chasis plate out of something (kydex, aluminum, etc.) and make it slightly longer to match the wheelbase of the truggy. If I mount up the suspension parts from the truggy to the longer SB chasis/driveshaft I should be good to go.

This is fun!

[rob_s]

I decided to just spend the rest of the day building up the buggy to a roller and figure out what I want to do with two rollers in front of me.

I did manage to use the buggy to figure out how I'd convert the truggy. Basically all I need is the motor mount and the pinion and spur gears and I can rig the rest of it up. As annoyed as I am with the buggy right now though, I'm not sure I want to continue this project. I don't think that having an electric truggy is that important to me, and I think we may just stick with having the two POS cars as is.

I should have known, as I'm always the guy saying "you get what you pay for".

[JDT]

can't you just put the buggy spur on the truck center gearbox and go from there with the metal chassis and stuff? If not just take the truck spur to the lhs and see if they can find anything that may work in 32, 48 or even mod one pitch, pinions are hella expensive in mod one though so get 32 or 48 pitch if you can.

[rob_s]

can't you just put the buggy spur on the truck center gearbox and go from there with the metal chassis and stuff?
That's exactly what I did, and it appears that it will work fine. The problem comes in that there is a slot in the aluminum chasis on the truck and it lines up exactly with the only place that the motor mount can possibly fit, meaning I'd have to either rig up some kind of big washer or some kind of bracket to spand across.

Then comes the issue of the battery. The motor has to sit on the right side of the truck, and the servo has to sit on the left. There isn't enough room on the right side for the servo to clear the driveshaft. This leaves no space for a standard battery. Yes, I could put three cells in front of the motor and three cells behind the servo, but I'm not really interested in getting into anything other than standard batery packs.

It's not that any of these challenges are insurmountable, and it's not that I don't already have plans in my head for how I'd overcome them, it's just that at the end of the day when I consider time and money invested I don't think the end product will be worthwhile.

[JDT]

I guess I was thinking
front

servo ] S [ rx ]
] H [ ]
] A
F [battery]
motor ] T [ ]
] [ ]
] GB [ ]
] EO [ ]
] AX [ ]
SPU R [ ]
[ ]
ESC ] S [ ]
] H [ ]
] A [ ]
] F
T

[JDT]

well it screwed that up by taking out the spaces
once again
servo............s.........rx
servo............h.........rx
servo............a.........rx
...................f.............
motor...........t.......battery
motor...................battery
motor...........g......battery
motor...........e......battery
motor...........a......battery
.........spur....r.......battery
..........................battery
esc.............s.......battery
esc.............h.......battery
esc.............a.......battery
esc.............f........battery
..................t.......battery

[rob_s]

The motor won't fit there. Ignoring the top chasis plate, the housing for the spur gear and slipper won't let the motor get close enough for the pinion to make contact, even when running the largest spur that came with the SBV2. I'lll try to get some better pictures of what's happening later this week, probably wednesday or so. I'd already have a ton of pics but my compact digicam went in the pool with me and my SLR is at a different house than my cars. :(

[JDT]

ok, I guess I didn't take into account any offset the upper plate has, the hpi uses the radio box as a top plate so I am going to need to do something there. Well keep us posted as it progresses.

[nitro_newbie]

could i use any 2.2 truck tire on this buggy to make it into a truggy or do i have to get the truck componenets? thanx alot.
nitr0_newbie

[rob_s]

We finally got the stock buggy built up and all the electronics installed. Today or tomorrow I'm going to put the truggy wheels/tires on it and see how it does. It may put too much strain on the motor and drivetrain though because of the larger rotating mass, but we'll see.

Obviously, you can do whatever you want, but typicall true "truggies" are longer and have a wider stance in addition to having the larger tires.

[JDT]

I went ahead and ordered the newest version of the hpi mt2

http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/WTI0095P?FVSEARCH=10445&FVPROFIL=++

it includes a metal tuned pipe as where the older 18ss kits had a composite plastic one, this will make it a little easier to sell the motor and such, the hpi uses the radio box as an upper deck so I will need to figure that out, keep brainstorming on the truck as you beat on the buggy, at least one will be running, if you can't get the truck going and the bigger tires smoke the sv2 diffs you can always put the diffs,arms and cvds from the truck right onto the buggy chassis from what I understand

[chilledoutuk]

rob are you putting truck wheels on the academy sb v2 ?

On my original sb one of the most anoying parts is the very crap ring gear and pinion which needs to be spaced tight to not skip. Of all the cars i have used its the worst just compare it to a tc3 with its big exagerated teeth and its obvious why there are problems with the academy with high torque situations when you look at the ring gear.

[rob_s]

I have the STR-4 Pro wheels mounted to my SBV2 right now, but I haven't driven it that way yet.

[Davey G]

rob are you putting truck wheels on the academy sb v2 ?

On my original sb one of the most anoying parts is the very crap ring gear and pinion which needs to be spaced tight to not skip. Of all the cars i have used its the worst just compare it to a tc3 with its big exagerated teeth and its obvious why there are problems with the academy with high torque situations when you look at the ring gear.

Your correct the sb series of vehicles did have issues with mega power being put into them, hence the release of the SBV2. Stronger tranny cases for less flex, and WAY more tooth to tooth surface area on the way the gears are molded. The slipper should slip 1-2 feet on whatever driving surface you are running on, back in the day the slipper was used as a traction control device, these days its used to aid in drivetrain longevity with todays high powered motors and batterries.

[rob_s]

I ran one pack through the SBV2 with the truggy wheels on it yesterday. I mostly just kept doing laps in the street in front of the house to see how it held up to pretty constant WOT. The motor and battery definately heated up more than they do when the buggy wheels are on it, but there didn't appear to be any sort of failure.

I definately am sold on the longer wheelbase and wider stance for something like this though. It was VERY easy to flip this thing and I had to take the turns much slower than I do with the buggy wheels. I'll have to get it to the track where it won't bite as much and see if it's an issue there too.

I am now absolutely not a fan of the screws to mount the wheels. No matter how hard I tighten them they always come loose very quickly. I've also pretty well had it with the collars that fit on the diff outdrives as they won't stay in place and I see them bouncing around on the axles as I drive the buggy away from me down the street. I'm thinking I'm just going to use some heat-shrink in place of them.

[rob_s]

well it screwed that up by taking out the spaces
once again
servo............s.........rx
servo............h.........rx
servo............a.........rx
...................f.............
motor...........t.......battery
motor...................battery
motor...........g......battery
motor...........e......battery
motor...........a......battery
.........spur....r.......battery
..........................battery
esc.............s.......battery
esc.............h.......battery
esc.............a.......battery
esc.............f........battery
..................t.......battery

Tried again yesterday, and I think there may be a way to do it. I took some pix but will have to wait 'till later to post them

servo............s.........rx
servo............h.........rx
servo............a.........rx
...................f........esc
battery.........t........esc
battery..................esc
battery.........g...........
battery.........e...........
battery.........a......spur
battery.........r........
battery.................motor
battery.........s.......motor
battery.........h.......motor
battery.........a.......motor
battery.........f........motor
...................t.......

[rob_s]

OK, got some photos uploaded.

Here's the one of the only way I think the layout can work. Note that the pinion gear on the motor wouldn't be able to slide all the way on.
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q111/rob_s/RC/IMG_0562Medium.jpg

And here's a couple of shots just to show the increased ground clearance with the larger wheels/tires.
Buggy wheels
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q111/rob_s/RC/IMG_0569Medium.jpg


Truggy wheels
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q111/rob_s/RC/IMG_0568Medium.jpg

[rob_s]

Here's an idea of the overall stance of the car right now (disregard my crummy paint job)
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q111/rob_s/RC/IMG_0564Medium.jpg