Mysterious

I know when I bought my helis other guys had a short list of common parts to have on hand for repair from crashes or general wear........or weak parts that should be upgraded immediately to lengthen the life of other parts......... is there anything like that for a Flux HP or am I basically good to go?

Freezetron

You'll likely break the stock A-arms and bumper support struts first along with the pinion wearing out or so has been my experience with two flux's.

sharkattack99

well for the most part you are good to go as the flux hp has all the super HD cups and bones. i would say if you want some spare parts i would get some upper and lower arms as i have broken many of those some at least a set of center dog bones, cause those arn't hd and from what i have read the silver hd bones suck, so just get a set or 2 of the stock ones you can get savage flux parts at http://www.tcscrawlers.com/By-Truck-...p-1-c-296.html they have the cheapest flux parts that i have seen anywhere even ebay. if your flux doesn't come with the bullet proof diffs i would recommend those as well. if you can't get them or your flux comes with them make sure you shim them for longer lasting gears. but other wise your pretty much set enjoy your truck

rc person 577

Loc-tite the wheels and red loc-tite the pinion. Put one or two zipties in the gap between the motor and the motor mount (the goal it to make sure the motor itself does not slide forward), and ziptie the bumper suports together to make sure the hingepins don't fall out.
Other then that... just have fun!

Freezetron

Haven't found it necassary to loctite wheels but yes, red loctite the pinion gear set screw as blue won't hold. Also, get velcro straps for the battery trays. I haven't bothered with shimming my diffs but my center diff was pretty loose so I did shim that a bit.

Oh and replace the main drive gear with the HD one, the stock one doesn't last worth crap and it leaves a helluva mess as it grinds away

http://www.tcscrawlers.com/HPI-HD-DR...4-p-17468.html


OH and Castle link or field link is a must to tweak the MMM to your liking, programming via the TX is nearly worthless and a PITA

http://www.tcscrawlers.com/Castle-Cr...r-p-16186.html

Freezetron

Oh and be sure to crank down on the slipper gear nut, or you'll literally toast the thing on the first run.

sharkattack99

yeah i learned that the hard way, lol

Brainanator

My Feedback: (1)

crank the slipper, locktite all the screws that go into metal (usually hex cap head style - I've lost 1, and 2 were really loose after 2 runs). If you're jumping big, you'll probably break the front A-arms (I did in the first 3 weeks), so get ready for RPM ones.
Pinion is wearing fast on mine, ordered a robinson racing xtra hard one to replace it to test out. I broke the cupjoint on the transmission somehow, and my wheelie bar....bent the shock mounting screw, broke the ESC ziptie and servo tape, rear bumper strut.
haha, bunch of little things.

Freezetron

Jesus Butte boy, how the hell did you break the ESC zip tie and sticky tape?

Brainanator

My Feedback: (1)

terrible landings from like 15' or so in the air......at top speed. How I broke the A-arm too, and bent the shock screw.

basketballfan60123

My Feedback: (2)

When you said crank down on the slipper gear nut do you mean tighten it really good; I am planning on picking a Flux in a few weeks and I am not really a hardcore basher yet because I am not a very good rc driver so any bashing I will do will be pretty moderate so do you think I will be okay for a while or would it be best to immediately get the upgrades like replacing the main drive gear with the HD one and the other that were mentioned on this thread ?

ThunderbirdJunkie

My Feedback: (3)

bball, basically get the spring on the slipper compressed as far as you can get it, and give it just a hair extra. There's no real reason to put any monster torque on that nut, since the shaft CAN be broken by cranking down too hard (ask ThunderbirdJunkie how he knows[:@]). The object is to keep the slipper from slipping, since the Savage slipper has always sucked monstrously.

Mysterious

Oh so much to learn... I feel like I did when I first got my heli with guys saying what to upgrade using the jargon and I'm like "do what to the what??"

Does the slipper need to be brought by a dog during tea time? (sarcasm)

Clearly when I get my flux I'm going to have to reread this thread with the manual beside me and learn the jargon and what does what. I'm likely not going to run hard immediately.... likely half throttle max in a field to get used to handling on the first 2 sets of batteries.

Keep the suggestions coming please.... they are much appreciated.......... I'm writing a short list of the parts/suggestions with URLs so I can buy the suggested parts to have on hand (maybe this weekend)... my Flux won't arrive for about a week or 2 so I can do some learning before then.

Are there any good maintenance videos out there? I know for helis a guy called FinlessBob has a tonne of how-to videos.... any good ones for the Flux specifically? Or MTs in general?

Freezetron

Yes and at the very least, get velcro straps for the battery trays as the clips are utter crap. You don't have to upgrade the drive gear but it will be one of the first parts to wear out fastest and it will leave a metal filing mess in the tranny case. If your new to bashing and rc driving with this much power in a truck, I highly recommend you get a castle link or field link so you can tone down the motors output or I have a feeling youll find your Flux on its roof more often and breaking parts due to the power this truck has, its really not for beginners unless its toned down

Freezetron

Because these are not complex or PITA nitro trucks, maintenance isn't as big of a ordeal, as such, maintenance on these is just more or less checking if anything broke or worked its way loose after running it. The big thing to remember is to get quality, high C rated Lipos to prevent damaging/smoking the ESC as many people have.

I recommend reading up on these links, this will keep you busy until the Flux gets here and then you will be more informed and prevent making an expensive mistake as others have.


http://robotwars.00server.com/tutorials.html

http://www.rchelisite.com/lipo_batte...fety_guide.php

http://www.rc-monster.com/forum/show...ighlight=zippy

http://www.rc-monster.com/forum/showthread.php?t=23741

http://www.rc-monster.com/forum/showthread.php?t=27042



You don't want this happening to your MMM

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91oQcK585eQ[/youtube]

basketballfan60123

My Feedback: (2)

I am really not new bashing and rc driving; I am just really not experienced in huge jumps stunts and trick maneuvers other than that I know what to expect from a brushless.
I guess I can order all the stuff you guys mentioned along with the truck; thanks for the help everyone.

Freezetron

Get whatever your comfortable with/afford, these are nothing more then experienced suggestions.

CR500rider

I wouldnt bother with the RPM arms. they dont fit and it takes lot of grinding and work to get them to fit. Just go on ebay and buy a set of 4 stockers for the same price as one RPM arm. I have bashed the living shiz out of mine and have only broken ONE stock arm, and i am actually still running it with that broken arm. I just cut the broken part off with a pair of dykes (the cutting tool, not the female) However over the last 8 months since i bought it i have broken ALL of the stock shock shafts. I replaced them as they broke with the ti-coated ones, they seem to be holding up so far. I toasted all of my trans gears including an RCM pinion but i think that was because the motor mount moved a little bit on the motor plate causing a bad mesh. the stock spur has held up so far. my rear bumper support is broke, as well is the wheelie bar. And of course the body is complete trash now, but i still use it I have also bent 3 of the super HD dogbones, but a quick trip to the vice straightened them right back out. The 2 rear dogbones have about a 1/4 turn twist to them....now thats some power right there!
All of my bashing is done on 5s, and occasionally on 6s. But since this is your first RC i would highly suggest only running 4s untill you feel comfortable with it. There is a HUGE difference in just the step up to 5s, and 6s is just all out insane.
Here is a pic i took this morning of my broken arm that i broke about 6 months ago. (i still drive my truck at least every weekend if that says anything)


Here is a pic of my dirty azz truck, it has never been cleaned (why bother right?) Besides as it gets driven the bigger pieces of dried up mud and gunk falls off anyway. Its like the USPS, it goes in the mud, sleet, snow, and rain


Here is a pic of the underside, yes the tranny is gouged a little from bashing and jumping in the rocks. The only casualty under here is the broken battery box mount that you see here, and i have no idea when that happened [sm=50_50.gif]


Here is my stock body. Its beat. It has been gorilla taped, shoe goo'd, and gorilla taped again. It really sucks that these flimsy plastic bodies are one of the most expensive things to replace, and unfortunately the very first thing that gets trashed. How much do you think it costs to make these? Like 75 cents? I will run this one untill there is no way for me to attatch it to the truck anymore. You can also see that the wheelie bar is broke in this pic. I guess i should really adjust the front toe on this thing, it looks just a little out! [sm=shades_smile.gif]


All in all, I would say that the things that are necessary upgrades are: get the HD tranny gears, RCM pinion, Ti-coated shock shafts, ummm cant think of anything else atm. Just have fun with it, after all it is just a toy.

Brainanator

My Feedback: (1)

I'd just replace things after you break them. I don't have a lot of money, so I try to get by as well as I can with spending as little as possible.
But if you want to go all out and get hop-ups that you might not need (you're driving style is different) then you sure can

sharkattack99

i would at least get a set of spare arms rpm is good but like cr500rider said there a pain to put on and are spendy if nothing else if you going to drive your first time in a parking lot mostly you will come in contact with a curb, it happens iv done it twice broke my upper arms both times, lol so if nothing else at least a set of arms both upper and lower and center dog bones those i would say you need to keep running if they brake just slap another on and continue you bashing.

Mysterious

Thanks for the replies guys... looks like what breaks really depends on how you drive.... so since I don't how I drive I think I'll start minimal with parts until I do my first real damage.

I think I'll get these 3 things:

HPI HD DRIVE GEAR 18-23 TOOTH (1M) #102514 seems everyone agrees this gear wears rapidly.....
http://www.tcscrawlers.com/HPI-HD-DR...4-p-17468.html

Castle Creations Castle Link USB Interface Adapter toning down throttle and stuff will be good for a newbie like me
http://www.tcscrawlers.com/Castle-Cr...r-p-16186.html

Savage Flux battery box strap - Also used for "The Stick" Battery Hold Down Strap (8") these seem handy/helpful....
http://www.tcscrawlers.com/Savage-Fl...8-p-16197.html


I think other than that I might buy another body as suggested on here ...

Freezetron

Awesome starting stuff bud, and getting it from the best place, thumbs up approval! [8D]

Brainanator

My Feedback: (1)

personally I'd go with this instead of the link you're looking at:
http://www.tcscrawlers.com/Castle-Cr...0-p-18116.html

it lets you change things in the field if you don't want to bring a laptop.
and get this, it has the standard castle link BUILT IN, so you can use a computer to program is as well! 2 birds with one stone. and only a couple bucks more.

Mysterious

cool, I'll check it out, thanks [8D]

Freezetron

Good point