Hwa224

LOL. I hope the door frame's doing good.

I'm using a Venom VSC240 ESC for brushed motors only. It's waterproof, can ouput 240 amps forward.Has a built-in BEC,It handles 8t - 23t motors, and can also handle lipos.

They have those on ebay for about 20 bucks. I got mine for 18 and had it shipped from HK. I hesitate to recommend it, despite its price, only because of its short on/off switch. There's also a 320 version of the Venom which costs about 5 dollars more or so.

Anyway, the Venom Racing 13t motor is working great so far. It's considerably and noticeably faster than the BZ, especially on asphalt. I love that higher-pitched, almost whiffle whistling sound I get at top speed. It's oh so good. Without load, the motor can get the back tires to balloon quite a bit, even though they are glued on.

I've read a lot of bad stuff about Venom motors, about how they crap out and so on, but then again, I've read some good recommendations for them by people who've had them for years. I figure if this motor eats up its brushes, then that's not a problem. I've got a spare set. Or if something else goes wrong, then, that's not a problem I've got a Tamiya BZ as a back up and 20 dollars isn't a whole lot anyway; and then I can stop wondering what a 13t motor is lilke in a LB. Of course brushless is the next step but I have no desire for that setup considering how ridiculously undriveable LBs seem to be with them.

- -

magic2002 - that's a nice LB. Black is always good. I like the color scheme of the shocks and coils.

MONSTERTRUCKRALLY

The Lunchbox hath arrived . . .

FRIDAY, FRIDAY, FRIDAY. . . MONSTER TRUCK RALLY!

One man's road to glory.

Bootnut

nice one monstertruckrally,  now get building!

Hwa224

I got a little arrogant with the LB and wasn't being careful about the carthweels of death with the resuilt being that myfront wheel broke. Or, the collar part of it that spaces out the wheel to give it clearance from the Lunchbox chassis/steering knuckle broke, and now I'm looking for new wheels.

What's I've discovered is that they are expensive everywhere you look. If the cheapest pair of wheels is about 20 dollars, I find that for other brands, such as Traxxas, very nice pair of wheels cost 8.

So now I'm going to look for some non-Tamiya wheels to spiff up my LB.

This thread is too bulky to search through again, but I have googled the subject elsewhere. Seems like any HPI wheel would fit as long as they come with the adaptors for the rear and the collars for the front?

The subject of wheels for the LB is not an easy one. In order to maintain gearing, 2x2.2s wheels and then any set of tires for them are good, correct?

Hwa224

I collected a few pics for my favorite LBs here:

http://imageshack.us/g/818/bdxkfyox.jpg/

I love this one:

MONSTERTRUCKRALLY

That gallery brought a tear to my eye.

Hwa224

I purchased HPI hex adapters and HPI collars for a few dollars each. And I went ahead and purchased the stock wheels and tires for the Traxxas Jato, the same as pictured above. These wheels are 2.8 inches in diameter, but with the tires the overall diameter is something like 4 inches, which is about the same as the stock Tamiya Lunchbox. The only thing I'm worried about is the fact that LB tire are so huge and puffy relative to the wheels, that they had a good protective and shock-absorption function for the chassis and steering components. Without that, I'm afraid I'll be breaking some heavy duty stuff while bashing around with the Traxxas Jato tires.

Anyway, I'm pretty sure now that any HPI 2.2 wheel is good and any tire (there are lots) that can fit 2x2.2 wheels is good. The important thing is to mind overall diameter, which varies from tire to tire, in order to maintain gearing. I hope the Jato tires fit without a problem on the LB.

I've got an excellent theme/custom paintjob in mind for the Parma. And it's going to be a combination of the few LBs below:




(Posted by a few pages back by another user here)

More pics of the LB above:

kistner

My Feedback: (10)

I am digging the Jato tires on there. I like the tires on the 'real flames' box too.

Hwa224

Here's a tip: If you have RTV silicone sealant, you can use that to create bushings for your Lunch Box.

I noticed some play coming from the lower control arms due to a tiny bit of movement that is possible there. So I applied a few dabs of sealant where the arms rest or poke into the chassis. The result is no more play and no more chassis noise - and no more wear, considering that you eliminate the plastic-to-plastic contact that occurs there. It's an instant bushing.

Quote:

Venom VSC240 ESC...I hesitate to recommend it, despite its price, only because of its short on/off switch.

Hobby King sells on/off switches that connects in between the receivers and esc, for 2 dollars. I just made a purchase for one. Now I won't have to take the cover off to turn off the LB.

A cool LB video, which, BTW, makes me want to buy a Tamiya Tshirt:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEcd5O5USNc[/youtube]


MonsterTruckRally,

I'm glad you like the LBs and I hope you'll enjoy fine-tuning and 'blingin' out your LB.

One of the best things about the LB in addition to all the home-made and other mods that are possible on it, is how extremely customizable the LB is. The van design gives a great deal of canvas space . And it's a classic look.

mechplas

Finally I have gotten around doing the mods on my LB....LOL.

shenlonco

My Feedback: (2)

Hi here is even a better way to take the front A arm slop out go find some thin walled heat shrink and push it over the ends and the play will be a thing of the past!

lbshelfqueen

i used to use the little rubber caps that come on the end of the antena tubes.. they are a stretch but fit well...

now i have double wishbone front arms it seems to not have any play at all.

Hwa224

I considered the endcaps for the antennas, but I didn't think they'd be big enough. But that and the heat shrink are both great ideas, and both have the added potential of being aesthetically appealing in some way since they are available in different colors.

Anyway, the HPI hex adaptors do not directly fit on the Traxxas wheels. There is a center portion of them that probably fits into HPI wheels and has to be cutdown flat in order for the Traxxas wheels to fit. So I did that using my parts tree cutter. No big deal.

As expected, the wheels with the Victory tire set up seem to take away from handling and performance. The van seems to steer better but its corners now tend to jump more from bumps and impact. And also they are obviously smaller than the LB tires. So in one way or another the LB's top speed is slower. I tested in the snow in my backyard. I haven't tested the speed yet on dry asphalt.

I'm not sure if my LBlooks any better either considering how diminuitive the tires are in comparison to the stock. It's no longer a monster van!

Bootnut

Part 2 of the wheelie kit is up if anyone is interested 

lbshelfqueen

i put a msc in my lunchbox, and ran a 2400 (7.2v) pack through it.. with the madbull gearbox, 15t motor and instant punch it tries to wheelie, not the best at cornering still even with fx10 front suspension. too top heavy.

not been brave enough to run a 9.6v pack yet. but it should fly!!!

and catch fire probably.

northbrooksiii

If i new how to get pics on here, id show you guys how im building a 4x4 lb. Im using crawler king tranny and axles.

Hwa224

You can either attach pics or post them here directly in the context of a post if you have pics hosted on an external website (such as imageshack).

Basically, just upload a few pics at imageshack, and get the url of that .jpg or image file and then follow this syntax:

[ img ] http://whereyourimagefileis.jpg [ /img]

(without spaces above)

Hwa224

lbshelfqueen,

Post a video if you ever strap a 9.6v on it.

A 4x4 LB and an LBwith double wishbone suspensions sound crazy to me but awesome.

Guys, definitely don't ever put Traxxas Victory tires on an LB. It makes the LB look small and because of the lack of rubbery volume on them, bumps and pebbles will be harsh. I've never seen so many cartwheels and so much chaos from running an LBbefore.

On a brighter note, I finished painting the parma body and putting up some decals. I'll need to redo the decals with proper and thinner decal paper. And I'll need to touch up the grill. I like the overall design or the concept, anyway. But the execution is a bit lacking, even though it is my first try. I'm still waiting for the reamer to come in for the body mount holes.

Postedit:Got the reamer in and a Decepticon chrome 3d decal in. Wasn't intending on putting on the body but tried it on anyway:

lbshelfqueen

to HWA224..

my lunchbox started out as a gold edition, but it took a couple of hard bashes and i decided to rebuild it. but i wanted to try to make it different, i fitted the fx10 front arms to give it the double wishbones at the front... no more silly camber. but the front was wider than the rear, i had a spare madbull gearbox that is wider than the lunchbox's but a very similar design.. a bit of cutting here and a tweak there and it fits perfectly. the suspension is a bit of a mix using shortened blackfoot springs and fighter buggy shock towers.

kinda works, very fast with a 15t motor and the higher gear ratio.. front wheels stay on the ground but corners hurt..

my 9.6v battery will be going on charge soon but takes up to 4 days

Hwa224

^ I can recall your Madbull gearbox on the LB; it is transparent with colored gears. That's as cool an item as one can get. One thing I wish I had purchased while it was available a few days ago on flebay was that of an aluminum gear box cap (the cap that mounts the motor). Looked hella nice and not bad at 16 US dollars, free shipping.

Anyway, just for the looks of it, I got my Jato tires back on:

I'll be putting on Proline Trenchers on 2.8 Desperados soon. These tires should look OK on the LB, very much like the stock. And they are large and squishy, with a lot of bite, so performance should be pretty good on surfaces where the stock utterly fails.

lbshelfqueen

well i know now that the lunchbox gearbox is the best...

i put the 8 cell battery in my lunchbox (using madbull gearbox) and it lasted about 2 mins before stripping the gears.. but it flies !!

video is on its way!

lbshelfqueen

here is the video..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aR1dL...ature=youtu.be

one dead gearbox.. i kept driving untill it stopped.. about 30 seconds later

Hwa224

Hwa224

I've got the Proline Trenchers on Proline 2.8 inch Desperado wheels now. They are way too big, but I like the aggressive looks. There are a few minor clearances issues the tires can rub against the body and springs when the shocks are compressed. The rears were rubbing against the motor wires but I pushed them out of the way so they're clear now. The car handles like crap though. Lots of tip overs due to the height of the tires (nearly 5 inches) but the Trenchers seem to be great on very rough terrain, and, I imagine, would do much better on deeper snows. One has to drive carefully when the Trenchers are on. Despite everything, I'm glad I got them. But I have reached the same conclusion I've reached a few posts ago: The best LB tires and wheels are the LB stock! I'm now a proud owner of three sets of different tires and wheels. BTW, the Jato Victory's aren't bad with a proper shock upgrade. They're predictable with better dampeners. And I'm also convinced that 80mm is the proper shock length (center eye to center eye) and that 85mm is too long, in case there's a confusion about that (and in case anyone from the google sky is reading this).Pictures of my LB w/ Trenchers after a dirty backyard bash:

Timmy2Tracks