LST questions...
 

My Father In Law is looking at buying an LST to pull with and i have a couple questions.

What is the lowest gearing(clutch bell/spur) you can run on an LST? And also, is it possible to add the high and low range to the transmission if it doesent have it like some of the earlier LST's did? Thanks

Eric

RE: LST questions...
 

Eric you may consider the single speed conversion. I think it will have other benefits as weight loss also. with that setup though im not sure what the lowest gearing option would be

RE: LST questions...
 

Hadnt even thought of that. I figured the single speed might not be able to be geared low enough though? Maybe someone that has one can let me know.

My father in law decided he wanted to get into pulling too, so he made an offer on an LST on here. Just waiting to hear back from the guy about it. It has a newer Axial .28 in it and looks to be in good shape. I kind of wanted him to try the Losi so we could see how it was since I have never owned a Losi. I just like associated better, so I wanted an MGT. :D Ill be doing all the fab work setting his up for pulling too(if he gets this one), so ill take some pictures of them both once i get them set up. Gonna be a lot of fun!

Eric

RE: LST questions...
 

Honestly, Losi's are my favorite MT. I love, LOVE Savages too, but the XXL is just too cool. Out of all of the Savages and LSTs I have had, I have broken less on LSTs. The single speed conversion is for high range only; you would need to find an LST1 with the original transmission for the low range, which if you are pulling you will want. Nothing beyond the LST1 got the two range tranny. I think it was because it had to be manually transitioned between ratios that it just didn't catch on.

RE: LST questions...
 

I like the looks of the LST trucks, just never really liked losi that well. Guess its one of those ford and chevy rivalry things you know. lol I dont doubt they are good trucks though.

Anyways, i found an original LST in great shape on ebay and my father in law won the auction on it today. It has the high and low range, which is really what he needed for pulling. Especially since its hard to find many lower count clutch bells for the 2 speed setup the losi has. Im excited for him to get it so we can check it out. He was going to get an MGT like the 4.6 i just bought to pull, but i talked him into a losi since he liked the looks of them and the high and low range.

What driveline differences are there from the original LST to the newer LST2?

And Dale, id say you are right about the high and low not catching on because it was done manually. Most people probably didnt need it, but its something i think is really cool.

Eric

RE: LST questions...
 

The LST2 had the hi/low option...

I never really used it.. But then it's all flat as a pancake around here..

Have since switched both LST2's to XXL trannies - cuz the XXL tranny has better gearing for speed with faster engines and/or smaller wheels..

RE: LST questions...
 

What are the driveline differences in the LST and LST2? Im sure you know :) I never knew the LST2 came with the hi/low range transmissions.

Eric

RE: LST questions...
 

Guess I could search, huh?

http://hdrcvideos.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=11347

So im assuming the LST differentials are the same as the LST2. I see the shafts are smaller, but hopefully that wont be too much of a problem.

Eric

RE: LST questions...
 

Eric an LST 2 conversion kit would be the way to go and then ebay the diffs from an XXL. That would be a tough truck

http://www.amainhobbies.com/product_...rce=google_ext

RE: LST questions...
 

I think the LST2/XXL has beefier axles and cups - that would be it really..(but therefore maybe you need the beefier spindles and carriers too??.. Not sure...) For pulling I would just track down an LST2 tranny with hi-lo, and after that just spend everything else on a good engine and lots of clutches.... [X(]

Keep in mind too, that for parts an Aftershock I think is pretty much the same as the LST1. And jennysrcparts and some other chop shops have Aftershock parts on ebay for cheap.. LST2 and XXL parts too for that matter... Generally I find that to be a big advantage for Losi MT's - cheap parts on ebay chop-shops...

Another fantastic and not too expensive upgrade btw for any LST truck are the RC Raven dual-rate springs.. A New Era rollbar is not cheap, but it's a GREAT investment over the longrun... Makes a good handle too...

When I first considered getting an LST2, everybody started posting all these lists of supposedly "must-have" upgrade parts.. Was inititally overwhelmed - and irritated to be honest - cuz I thought I had to have all this stuff. I have found over time though that there aren't really that many things you have to change(Dynamite engine brace - I guess - if you want to jump.. Everybody says the stocker is junk - but I never found out, cuz I changed from the get-go..) Just get the truck, run it, and see what happens. And, following my philosophy anyway, if it ain't broke, don't fix it...

RE: LST questions...
 

Well, the truck he bought is an LST1 with the high and low, so he is good on the tranny. Im sure the clutches will take a little bit of a beating, but the other 2 guys we are pulling with are running the tranny without high and low and they are running stock gearing, so I know their clutches are taking a beating and they never get into the RPM good either. As long as the differentials are fairly strong, we'll just see what breaks and go from there. I did read that you have to change the bearing carriers if you swap the the LST2/XXL axles.

I have RC Raven dual rate springs on my MGT and like them pretty well, so ill keep that in mind if we need to mess with the suspension. Someone has upgraded his truck to aluminum shocks too.

He wont be real hard on it other than the driveline might take a little abuse from pulling, but if it breaks, we will fix it and try again:D

Thanks

Eric

RE: LST questions...
 

Well he got his truck today. Looks great and the engine looks almost new. No visible wear on anything. The gear mesh was too tight when he got it, so i fixed that before he took it out to try it. It was dark and i didnt have a tuning screwdriver, but the engine fired right up, however it was lean and the idle was too high and the transmission didnt seem to be shifting right because of it, so we only ran it a couple minutes.

He has to work tomorrow, but he wanted me to take it and tune it for him, so I should get to put a little bit of time in on it tomorrow. It is a nicely laid out truck that looks like it will hold up fairly well. Im anxious to try out the transmission to see how it does. I went ahead and installed aluminum clutch shoes on it for him tonight once i got it home. Ill post some pictures tomorrow, just too late right now[8D]

Eric

RE: LST questions...
 

Awesome Eric I cant wait to see it to. Sounds like you guys got a couple of real nice trucks for the money. Thats always a good feeling.

Dont foget to teach him how to tune also. You never know when you going to have to pull against eachother in the final

RE: LST questions...
 

Here are the pictures. I brought it home with me last night and took some pictures of it and went ahead and installed his Dynamite aluminum clutch shoes since im sure the stockers wouldnt last long pulling. ;) I checked out the 2 speed mechanism while I had it apart just to see how everything worked and went together. So today, I went to my parents house. My dad has a 40x30 shop with lots of tools, and so i built both of our pulling hitches, and a weight rack up front for mine. I think it all turned out well. He is just going to run weight behind his front bumper. We will also have a solid rear suspension when we go pulling. Im pretty excited about it since our first pull with these trucks is the 12th. He is going to run some smaller tires than what the truck has on it. Its about the same length as my MGT, and a little wider .The tires make it look a little bigger than it is though.

Anyways, here are the pictures:

RE: LST questions...
 

Might think about changing the braring in that Mach. Looks like the front bearing is leaking. They look great though

RE: LST questions...
 

Hopefully its just leaking some fuel and not sucking air. Havent gotten to run it much at all yet really. It seems to me like most engines I have owned have leaked some fuel out the front bearing, but havent had any air leaks. I may get to tune on it tomorrow since its supposed to be nicer so maybe Ill have a better idea how it will run then. [8D]

RE: LST questions...
 

You should be getting some oil seeping out the front bearing. No engine is air-tight and shouldnt be. If the front bearing doesnt leak any oil, its probably not getting enough lubrication.

good looking trucks..

RE: LST questions...
 

my mach 26 and my RB dont leak a drop and neither did my 4.6 with the bocas. Did the guy ship it clean or was that after 2 tanks that you have ran?

RE: LST questions...
 

It had the oil on it when the guy shipped it im pretty sure. We have only ran 1/3 tank through it at best. The first day he got it, it was dark and we just started it to make sure it ran and everything, so after about 3 or 4 minutes we brought it in since we didnt have any way to tune it. Then today i was going to try to tune it and I kept losing signal for some reason, even when i was right on top of the truck. There are some powerlines at my parents place where i was though and they could have been messing with it. The wind was also blowing about 30 mph and it was 32* today, so I just gave it up after about 4 minutes or so. Tomorrow it is supposed to be sun shine and 40* so after i get home from church, im going to see if i can get it tuned decent. Ill keep you guys updated[8D]

Eric

RE: LST questions...
 

Well, after a couple of issues, I finally got to tune it today after church. At first, it would only go 20 feet away or so and then start losing signal. So I swapped the AA's(until he buys a flat pack) and it seemed to fix that issue. So then i got it running and started tuning on it. I put it in reverse and gave it some throttle and noticed the front wheels werent pulling. So, I found out the grub screw was loose on the transmission output. I didnt have any loctite, so i just found the flat on the shaft and tightened it back down. Then after about 3 more minutes, the rear wheels quit pulling. lol Same thing to fix that. Finally i got to tune on it some. Seems to be running pretty well. Transmission shifts quite a bit too fast, and dang it handles awful. Seems sluggish to steer, and the big wheels and tires are killing it im sure, but it just doesent handle nearly like i had expected. My savage handles better than this thing. lol Anyways, aside from those things it is running well though. I got it tuned pretty good. It was pulling some wheelies and running the the gears good, high and low range both work well, and the engine doesent seem to have any air leaks, so i think the bearing should be ok.

Anyways, id say ill adjust the 2 speed to shift later, and loctite all the grub screws, and once he gets a receiver pack it should be ready to go. Not sure if the smaller tires will fix the handling or not, but hopefully.

Eric

RE: LST questions...
 

sometimes the servo saver isnt tight enough to turn the wheels during cornering(spl?)
all the force of the servo is wasted in the saver.
fix that by adding 1 or 2 springs over your servosavers.

you can get them pretty cheap on ebay.

hope it helps !

RE: LST questions...
 

Ill have to check into that. It has 2 servo's, so im assuming each servo would need an extra spring? I noticed on uneven ground that the wheels would turn and straighten some as the truck hit bumps and things. Thanks for the tip[8D]

RE: LST questions...
 

Loctite the entire truck...especiallt those grub screws. I had issues from day 1 with my screws on the entire truck coming lose. I disassembled the entire truck and loctite it. No problem since. Factory servo savers are junk

RE: LST questions...
 

factory servo savers are great, just add 1 or 2 on each of them(depending how tight you want your steering).

i have been running the same savers with 2 extra springs on each for a LOT of gallons, in fact they were on my aftershock that i converted to a LST2 2 years ago.
i got this aftershock used, so it has even more gallons on it ! and no slop in the savers.

RE: LST questions...
 

Yeah, im sure it needs some loctite on everything. I noticed one of the engine mount bolts coming a little loose. I have already loctited pretty much everything on my MGT.

I like the Losi, but I dont think that Mach .26 can handle the TT .28 in my MGT:D

Eric