QIK-RX4
Posts: 28
Joined: 2/25/2008
From: Townsville, AUSTRALIA
Status: offline
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Hello peoples,
Just joined the forums and i thought you all might like to know a little about the Titan. I bought one late Nov 07 from Powerslideracing here in Aust.
At the same time I got the Titan I also bought a CY GP290 engine and 2 x Hitech didgital servo's and a X-can for the truck.
As the truck has been here in Aust for a little time I had some sort of insight to a few little problems with it. As any new toy that comes out there will alway be some bugs. Here is a little run down for you all.
1. Shocks.
The shocks are very much a copy of the LST one's, only bigger! Out of the box the shocks were leaking on the front. Over all for my style of driving they were way to soft and the oil in them was like water. I pulled all the shocks off and then stripped them down to find the piston with 4 very large holes in them. I used some plastic antenna tube and cut off little lengths to super glue in 3 of the 4 holes. I then replaced the "O" rings with better fitting ones to make them seal. I also put 60wt silicon oil in all 4 shocks. End result they worked, but the coil springs were and still are a let down. So far only one company offers diffrent rate coils and they cost an arm and a leg to buy a set and get them posted to Aust. I will come up with something soon enough. For those with a good spare parts collection, Baja 5B front shocks fit on well. The front tower needs to be modded a little , but they bolt on the rear just fine. I am yet to do this mod, but am looking at it very soone if nothing better comes out.
2. Radio Gear.
I pulled the radio gear out of the truck and added it the parts box. I fitted the reciver that came with my Baja as it is a better set up than what the truck comes with. I have heard a few people having a small problem of trucks heading off in there own direction at full noise. I also moved the on/off switch from the back of the radio box to the front as i have large hands I kept having to use a screw driver to reach the switch. I fitted 2 x Hitech 15kg didgital servo's. To date the only problem I have had is one Hitech having a bad death with some water. I also put some washers under the steering servo mounts as to lift the servo off the deck, made it easier for cleaning and stopped small rocks / crap getting stuck under the servo. Bigger batt pack would be good as well.
3. Suspention / Driveshafts.
Not being a fan of "C" clips and pins I went out and got some H/T bolts and nylock nuts for all the hinge points with the arms. Past experience with loosing clips and not having spares. Something to think about for people that like to bash. Also make sure you have some damn good threadlock as the front hubs like to loose the little bolts and spacers. pain in the but when you have to mail order parts in.
Yes the dog bone's are a small problem. Easy and cost effective way to fix this is by using some S/S washers as spacers on the hub axles. Or you can go buy those flash little springs. I went the washers so i dont have to worry about loosing a spring in case of a strip down in the middle of bashing.
The std BEARINGS are crap!!! I cannot make this clearer!!!!!! ( Sorry Smartech, a big letdown!) You will get a very short life out of them. Shop around and find some good ones for it! The harder you drive the faster they wear out and they have this nastey habbit of locking up and they wearing out the plastic that is holding them. I know this because my rear diff centre just got a new one fitted.
With fitting a better motor a big problem found is it off loads all the power to the front diff. The centre diff is locked solid now and has made a big diffrence.
There is better diff centre's kicking around atm with "O" ring seals for them so the oil/grease doesnt leak out. Something worth while if you plan to use the truck alot.
4.Drive Gears, Chassis etc.
The drive gears make some noise. You get this with strait cut gears that are not inclosed in a housing. All in all the gears seem to hold up well. But....... Some good thread lock is needed for all the little grub screws as they like to come undone. Also the clutch bell is made of crap metal and seems to wear were the bearings sit. I was lucky two very nice gents at Vertigo Performance happen to buy 2 titans and set about making there own alloy parts and got my hands on a ver , very nice billit alloy clutch carrier. (Company plug?)
Another thing to keep an eye on is the throttle linkages, they seem to wear / become stiff and lock up every now and then. But this also depends on were it is you are bashing. A good idea is to get a return spring fitted as a small safety thing and peice of mind when hard bashing.
These trucks wiegh in at 12.5 kg's so the main chassis plate seems to have some good flex in it. I fixed this by making my own S/S rool cage. the plastic one is ok, but steel is damn nice and strong.
The front bumper seems to like breaking the mount were it attaches to the diff, something to keep in mind if playing near trees or large rocks. infact anything large that you think you might hit!!!!!!!
The body sits very high on the titan and this is something i didnt like, so out came the dremal and it all got chopped and cleaned up and lowered as far down as it could go. This also fixed the problem of the front wheels throwing rocks up into the centre diff area were the gears are. Also I think it looks a hell of alot better.
5. Engine, etc.
Havent got much to say about the stock 28cc as i never drove mine with it. From what I have seen/found out the 28cc has smaller porting in it than a CY23cc found in a Baja 5B. Hence why I got a better engine to start with. I have seen a few clips getting around on YouTube of the truck running with the 28cc and I guess it doesnt got to bad. But for someone that expects this truck to go fast, it wont. The X-can will fit under the roll cage and makes a big diffrence. there is also a Jetpro pipe that is made for the titan and it seems to run good with it fitted. You can also get a factoy tunepipe as well, a little cheaper than the jetpro. Powerslide is the only web sight I have seen selling these pipes.
The stock air cleaner is rubbish, dont even waste your time with it as it does nothing unless you want to stay onroad. Go buy yourself a good one before you even thing of thrashing in dust!!!!! I have fitted a HPI Baja aircleaner to mine and the motor breaths heaps better.
Grab yourself a Outerwears engine side cover as well, anyone that has played with 1/5 off road know these are worth the money when it comes to grass, rocks getting into the flywheel area.
The fuel tank cap is crap, shop around for something better. I fitted one off an old whipper snipper tank i had in the shed. Doesnt leak now and has its own breather built in so you can remove the breather hose that runs over the engine and block it off. Found out that fuel like to leak out when traveling in a car to the bash spot. Doesnt smell the best, but seems to make you high.....
I cant think of much more I have done to the truck for the momnet. Here are a few pics of what it looks like now.
Sum up.
All in all i am happy with the Titan. I think it will go a long way and is damn fun to drive. For those that like to tinker and mod there trucks a little then this is a damn good truck to work with.
Down side is I should have waited a little longer before buying one. But i am still happy with it.
For those wondering how fast it goes, all i can say is that a Baja 5B cant keep up now and will run rings around one on a track.
Cheers,
Rob.
Here are some pics:
< Message edited by QIK-RX4 -- 2/25/2008 10:20:49 AM >
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Smartech Titan/ owners review - 
