Oregon mud

Got my new race truck set for its first day of summer racing. I thought I was going to run it more stock but figured that wasnt my style. So I went ahead and made a couple little changes to it from what I had been told were weak points from people. And I had a couple parts made just to look cool.
The ball studs were the only weak point I have heard of to date. thats a good thing so far, but its still fairly new to the market. And I switched over to Deans plugs so all you electric guys can lay off me about the crappy Tamiya plugs.

Upgrades:
Spektrum receiver
Custom carbon fiber battery, servo and bulkhead braces from Platinum RC Products
Lunsford titanium ball studs
RPM Punisher ball cups
Blue Bird 631MG servo
Robinson Racing 18 tooth pinion gear
T-Bone RC front and rear bumpers
Natedog's screws
Deans Ultra plugs

I will just start racing her from here and see what happens. I have a few spare parts ordered just in case. Here is some fresh pics with my newly acquired BH stickers...... Enjoy!

mog ruith

nice wiring its tidy i would say
anyway theres 2 same thread if you notice

Haulin Azz

looks great!!!!!!!!!!!!!

powerslider

You'll need tires in a softer rubber compound, Proline step pins on the rear at least. I installed Edges on the front and Lugnutz on the rear, big improvement over the hard stock tires.
Softer springs will help also with improved traction...

Oregon mud

Thanks guys!
I was figuring these tires wouldnt be the best tires to run because of the firmness of the rubber. I had a set of BTs or Hole Shots in mind I think, or maybe some Snake eyes. I was also going to get a set of lighter springs once they make them to ebay where I can get them a little cheaper. Thanks for the input. I wanna spank some XXXTs with this thing this summer.

ElectricGuy007

yeah, its kool as ever...cannot wait to get one..

Oregon mud

I saw this and just had to get it. I figured maybe it will keep the kids from asking a couple of the questions, we all know what they are.....

DARKWAV

Good to see the CF pieces finally mounted-up. They look nice. Didn''t seem to take too long for those things to get produced.

If you think you''ll be running the plastic shocks for a while than it probably is worth it to at least grab one package each of the softer springs which will run you $15.00 total so you have something to work with. That doesn''t get you enough to go all four corners on the same spring but it gives you some needed setup options. It''s too bad these springs cost more than Associated and Losi springs.

I guess we know Associated springs don''t match up so well with the HPI shocks. Haven''t heard if Losi springs work or not.

Definitely get a set of wheels and tires for the race track, use your stock set for bashing around at home. If It''s hard packed I''m thinking I would try out Hole Shots and Blades. For soft which is what the surface is like where I race at I''m trying out Step Pins and Edge tires. My friend is trying out the Lug Nut tires which is basically a newer step-pin tread.

Oregon mud

I was told the Losi''s wont work either. But they would if I just got some Losi shocks....... IDK I wouldnt be opposed to trying another companies shocks. I have LSTs on my savage. lol

our track is usualy dusty unless they water it before your heat. So to start with I will get something good for that. I will look at the combos your talking about. So the front tires arent any good either?
Thanks for the info BTW.

BigTb17

I love that sticker. It says it all.

RCtruckRacer

Ummm, you going to be racing at RC Supercross in P Hill?

rschoi_75

looks great! but I think the c.f. needs to be sanded and sealed.

Oregon mud

Yeppers! Thats the spot. thank goodness we still have it this year.

And the sticker should have started off with "Yes its expensive" and that would have cover all the questions. But its close enough.

DARKWAV

I would say the rear tires are your first priority, but once you get your hands on the soft compound Edge tires you can feel how they are much more grippy. I think you can try running the stock ones in front to see what that''s like, but if the truck feels like it has a really wide turn radius compared to your competitors then you know you''ll need to make a change up front.

The one thing about the Blade tires is you''ll notice they don''t have very much tread depth, so I wonder how long those will last.

I went from stock tires and springs to soft tires and soft springs in one shot. My friend just did the softer tires. He was doing pretty well on just the softer tires all around compared to the stock setup but it did appear that I had better overall control than he did. I could drive through the corners better.

If you can get a good deal on Losi or Associated aluminum shocks I say go for it, especially since they have more spring choices at a lower price than HPI. Someone here mentioned being able to get a pair of aluminum Associated shocks with aluminum caps at their LHS for around $30-35!

Oregon mud

I did seal it thats why it has the white around the edges. The carbon is CAD machined so all the edges are perfect. So should I sand the edges after I sealed them? It was my first job sealing so it isnt the best and I had no idea what I was doing. I was just told that chassis flex will seperate the layers after a while so I wanted to prevent that as much as possible.

RCtruckRacer

We are re-doing the track the weekend of the 26th & 27th, with our first race on May 4th (weather permitting). Did you get the email with my club meeting notes, or did you go to the meeting?

Anyway, the hope is that with the early track rebuild, the dust will be down this year. The trade off will be a harder pack track. At some point, you might be able to go with holeshots, but the first race or two bow ties or step pins might be the ticket. As summer goes along I expect there to be some blue groove in spots. You''ll want to change over to a harder compound tire as the season progresses. Tire wear will be an issue, but traction shouldn''t.

The dust was really bad last year, I''ll be very surprised if its even close to that this year.

Sealing those CF pieces is a good idea. You can sand the edge too if its rough. What I like to do is take a Sharpie and ''paint'' the edge. Then take a Q tip and apply CA glue. Not only does the CF look better afterwards, it is more resistant to chipping.

See you in May!
Rob

Oregon mud

What EA shocks would fit the E Firestorm? I know the Losi XXXT shocks are supposed to fit but not sure about any others. Thanks for letting me pick your brain BTW.[8D]

rschoi_75

it should be sanded before its sealed to smooth the sharp edges. but if its sealed already, then it should be fine. I was mainly concerned with the battery strap since your batteries could rub against the edges during running. You can still sand and re-seal it if you wanted too.

RCtruckRacer

I''m sorry to say I don''t know much about the HPI E-F. If you measure the shocks at full compression and extension you should be able to compare that to other brands... My best suggestion would be to call Richard Tunnel at Cottage Grove Yamaha and RC. He''s been doing this for like 30 years and probably even carries the parts you need. Plus if you plan on joining the club this year you get a 10% discount on parts. Richard''s knowledge is free, but worth a lot of $$. He''ll be there tomorrow at 9am.

If you want to do this on your own, most truck''s manuals can be found on line and you''ll be able to find shock measurements, and hopefully something that matches what you need!

Rob

Oregon mud

Oh yes. Im renewing my membership this year. Rich is a great guy and he was the one that told me no there springs will fit these shocks. I neglected to ask him about other shocks fitting this truck though. Thanks for the tip.

DARKWAV

Guess I''m stealing his thunder, but rbjeepthing has T4 shocks pictured here:

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=7293506