QIK-RX4

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:

billzkustomz

that thing looks awesome, great review!

tom111

Thanks for the review! I have the Smartech F150 (2WD) and its has also its own issue – one thing I really complains about is the engine, I have also a 28.5cc Zenoah on my FG MT and this engine is much better, the Smartech stock 23cc engine did many problems in the past with its ignition, also the power of a Zenoah 23cc is much more than a Smartech 23cc… Although I don't know how the Titan's 28cc engine is.

sheograth

Thanks for the info. I have a 30.5cc one with a Jetpro in the mail

QIK-RX4

Happy to help out guys.

Anyone need info on how I did things or after some ideas, just drop me an email: [email protected] or pm me. I will try my best.



Cheers,
Rob.

KkaZza

Well that's a set back...... I was planning to buy this truck after long hesitation with the HPI Baja, now I don't know which one to buy, any help in deciding will be great. I fly planes and this is my first petrol r/c car.

Cheers

FGmyzer

the carson gas devil is the same truck but it comes with a 27cc CY engine and drive gear cover

Cal-Torque

How many times do I have to tell people that...
And, Ron at Krikke has a great price and is top notch to deal with!

magnum57

hey rob. that was awesome info for the titan. i wish i would have had this info a year ago when i bought one and sold it right away. i just bought another one and your review will help alot. thanks

QIK-RX4

After 7 and a bit months of owning it, im over it. I would feel bad even selling it to anyone because i know there is no upgrade parts or any real suport for the truck. It now sits in the shed collecting dust with a brand $285 engine.

Ahhhhhh well....

Smartechracing

We are sorry to hear this!

The true is, we do have all the spare parts and upgrade parts on our Titan.

Please visit our web site: www.smartechracing.com

Due to our web site is not finish yet, to find "ALL" the spare parts and upgrade parts, you would have to:

Select "PRODUCT" => "Gasloine" (on the left) => "1/5" (on the top) => 053410 (Titan) => "Replacement Part" or "Upgrade Part"

Sorry for all the trouble.

Once you find the part you need, if you cannot find the near hobby shop that carry our part, please contact us at: [email protected] or [email protected], we will handle your needs from our Main Office

QIK-RX4

Smartech,
I have sent an email to them and i will see what comes back. Sorry to sound negative but I'm not going to hold my breath.

Cheers,
Rob

magnum57

after 7 months of owning it. your over what. whats the problem. i guess i missed something. i would love to have the roll cage you built. regards joe

ozace

I too have sent emails to smartech trying to get the bits in need, i havent heard back [&:]

Foxy

The entire organisation are busy with the Shanghai model fair at the moment, give them a chance. And there's no need to post the same thing in multiple topics. They're also not the fastest respondees anyway. Be patient.

Foxy

I also wanted to say, I really like what you've done with your truck, it looks a lot better with the body lowered like that, and let me also say that a few of your issues have been addressed on the thunderbolt.

Shocks... yep, same issue, water for shock oil. Smartech have conceded this, and on the recommendation of the reviewers including myself and Hellya, will be putting 1k (euro wt) in the shocks of the production units, well done for listening Smartech. The coils...hm, yeh, basically, they are exactly the same coils on the TB, and they needed to be shorter. It's a legacy of the fact they were designed for the Titan, and as you rightly say, new springs should be high on Smartechs list of aftermarket bits.

Radio gear... I ran mine with all the stock electrics (I had to for an official review of an RTR, I will put Spektrum in later and use my 3pk probably), but I have to say, it's one of the best sets of electronics I've seen on an RTR. The servos are strong and fast, the TX comfortable, and the EPA and Dual Rate are welcome additions. Perhaps this is something that Smartech have changed?

Suspension/Drivetrain... C-clips... I have captured hingepins on my car. The lower outer hinges where the hub joins the arm are still c-clipped, but they are the only c-clips on the car. Another change for the better? Dogbones popping out... still an issue. Happened to me in the first 5 minutes of running. Diff, yeh, still an issue, I'm glad to hear that my suspicion that locking it would make a big difference was correct.

Drive gears, chassis etc... yep, still hilariously noisy. Everyone who sees it is like 'what's that jingling noise?' lol. As you correctly say though, the all metal drivetrain seems to hold up well, and I'm glad to hear that after fitting a 290, you still find that it's holding up well. I agree an alloy clutch bell carrier is a must for all gas cars, and you were lucky to be able to get one from Vertigo. I hope a few more of the hop up manufacturers can get on board with this kind of critical stuff. My chassis is very stiff, very little flex. But again I wonder if that would still be the case if I put a 4hp mill in it. I'll look out for it, thanks for the tip. Once again, I really like what you've done with the body.

Engine... You did well not to even bother with it, it's not the sharpest part of the car. I want to try with a decent pipe and filter, but I suspect I'll be following you down the 'upgrade engine' route pretty soon. Filter, yeh, not the best. It keeps the crap out of the carb (see pics in other thread), but it's small, and an enclosed filter like that is not the best thing for an offroader, I also don't like how it forces the air through angles before it gets to the carb. A big open filter with an outerwear will be better. I have already ordered an FG to put on, as I think they are the best out there. Fuel tank cap, yep, it's a joke. I'll see if I can get my DDM alloy one to fit.

Sum up... Yep, it has issues, and yep, it's still a good car. All gassers need some money thrown at them, and these two cars are still reasonably economical ways to get into the 4wd game.

Now lets keep on at them about the aftermarket supply.

magnum57

i should receive my titan friday. i bought the jetpro pipe and ddn pancake air filter i'll use my spektrum dx2 controll system with the sr3000 rx. i saw some pix of the on/off switch on the side and not behind the batt box is that a new design ? i was wonrering if the same chrome engine kit i use on my g260 or cy motors from ddm will fit on this stock 28cc motor, i like the chrome bling. also what did you do to keep the dogbones from comming out ?

magnum57

oh yea how do i stop the gears from being so noisy ? do they sell a plastic gear for this titan? this thread has been a big help

Foxy

You can't stop them being noisy, or at least, I haven't found a way yet. To change them for plastic would be a downgrade. Even though they are a bit noisy, it is still a 'good thing' to have an all metal drivetrain. If you're looking for somewhere to put your first few bucks, it has to be filter, pipe and center diff.

magnum57

ok but the noise reminds me of a cheap sounding loose set up. i have the pipe and filter and spektrum control system waiting to install when it gets here. whats up with the diif other then greasing it more. any idea on the dogbones comming out. maybe a washer behind the diff cups?

quarterscalelegends

I have tried to contact Smartech multiple times with no reply. I called their west coast office looking for parts for this truck and was told they dont stock them and that I can use Firehammer parts. He told me they are ALL interchangable??!?!??!?! When I told them they were not and I needed the part numbers I gave him, he told me he would get a quote and email me the prices... its been over a week. Be aware, if you buy one of these you may be on your own with parts and you dont know how much longer parts will even be available. They certainly dont seem to be in it for the long run.

Foxy

With only grease, the diff unloads all the power to the front wheels. There's a number of ongoing discussions about this, look at the other threads, particularly my Thunderbolt review thread. Dogbones just need a 2mm piece of fuel tubing in each rear diff outdrive, but some models are already being supplied with a couple of rubber o-rings. Yours might have them included.

magnum57

thanks foxy. as far as parts go for the titan LargescaleRC has alot of parts for this truck. call Scott great paople to work with. http://www.innovativehobby.com/ I also have the Rampage MT I put a 28.5cc motor spektrum control system. new hitec servos and a few other goodies. blows the titan away for alot less $$$

QIK-RX4

I never heard the gear noise over the sound of the x-can.... Then again, I only had 2 speeds. Stop and flat out.

Damit! I want my titan running again, this sucks......[>:]

Foxy

These might tide you over? This is the alloy part you're looking for right? I know they're plastic, but maybe they'll be ok for a bit longer than stock??

http://www.rc-car-online-shop.de/lsh..._gasdevil,.htm