hpiguy

Currently I have cable brakes on the front of my Sportsline 04. They work great and can really stop this truck fast. Therefore I see no need to buy hydros and pay the extra cash.

I want to get a set of cable brakes for my MT5 and I think the same kit will fit. I see no reason why it wouldn't.

I emailed FGperformaceRC and they said the cable brakes are about $100 and the "tuning" brakes are $175.

What is the difference between the "tuning" and "cable"? Is the extra $75 worth it?

Thanks,
Chris

SELWA

My Feedback: (1)

The plastic parts you get are replaced with aluminum ones. Better cables/ cable holders. (They screw into the holders) Brake disks and pads are a different material as well.

hpiguy

Exactly what I was looking for.

I'll get the basic brakes. They work perfect for me.

Thanks.

fgbasher

My Feedback: (10)

make sure you get the specific ones for the MT. The regular brakes have a shorter cable brace causing them to limit steering.

hpiguy

^^^^ Ahh, good advice. Never though of that.

BTW I sent you a PM on the price of a part but you never got back to me.

How can I contact you about prices on parts? The stuff on the website isn't working. I tried thru PM and no replies......................

fgbasher

My Feedback: (10)

HPI guy, for best response email from the website or at [email protected].

I do not look at the pms too often because I get a million stupid questions on other items than the large scale. I usually have 20 a day that I look at when I can get to them.

chowderhead72

My Feedback: (4)

Friends don't let friends use cables with bigfoot tires. Don't do it. I run witha total of abot ten other FG vehicles all of which have the regular cable brakes in conjuction with a JR 811a servo(very powerful servo) and as you said with the sportline truck the work well but; with the rolling weight of the MT tires theese brakes have proven worthless in EVERY case. Maybe the tunning brake will work better but I don't think I wouldn't try it with my money.

hpiguy

Wow, that's something to consider. Thanks for the advice.

Chris

NeoMB

I have no problem stopping my FG Monster Beetle with a tuned pipe. I have the cable brakes. I had them put on the FG MB when i bought it from Mike with RCNuts.

jimbo1890

I have FG bigfoot tyres on my marder race and the cable brakes work fine for me. Mabe the hydraulics do work better but I see no need for what I do.

SELWA

My Feedback: (1)

I have both tunning ones and they work pretty good once they are set up right. Depends on how much you are willing to spend. If you bash hard the Hydro's might not stand up. The cable ones can be fixed easier too.

The wife bought me one set and I bought the other so it's like I got 2 for 1 kind of deal!! Can't get better that that!!

triton5150

so whats the verdict i also need brakes on my monster beetle. if i dont get them soon im gonna kill somebody with this thing... i almost took the dog out yesterday. i just wanna buy the best brakes the first time.

jimbo1890

The verdict is there is no verdict. Both the cables and the hydros will stop your vehicle a lot quicker than the stock rear layshaft brake. You're going to have to make up your own mind about what is best for you.

hpiguy

Update:

I got the basic cable brakes yesterday and installed them on the MT5. BTW the instructions say you can only use these with the alloy uprights. They are wrong. I bolted them to the stock truck just fine.

And do they work? Heck yes!

Adjusted correctly they really bring the truck to a stop. FAST. At full lock they are enough to squish the front tires down and raise the back end up almost to the point of the rear tires losing traction.

I'm using the 645MG for the brakes as well as throttle and rear brake. It is working fine. Took some fine tuning of the linkages but it all works good.

fourwheeler

Hey now that is some good news. I too have been thinking about putting some brakes on the front of my MT-5 and was considering that same brake set-up for mine. If I understand you correctly you are using one servo for throttle and all brakes?

Automan

The tuning wire brakes works good, but you need a strong servo for the front brakes, forget about using one servo for front and rear. And look over them from time to time and maybe adjust them sometimes.

I have modified my front wire brakes some, so they work little better now. They do lock the front monster tires on asphalt with no problem, and my truck is pretty heavy (1big bat pack for servos, 1 batt pack for lights, big samba tunepipe, four servos, some aluminum stuff like front and rear fender, aluminum bedlock rims, aluminum shocks etc) i have little problem with getting the rear wire brakes to work perfect, but I'm gonna fix something to hold it firm in place.

I will probably get hydraulics some day, but for now these wire brakes do work. Using the original rear break.... my good, that was a nightmare, totally not controllable what so ever, it's like driving on the highway and suddenly pull the hand-break... wow, spinning all night long So as soon as you can, put some front brakes on you bigscale monster, for your sake and others

Sometimes you need to adjust the wire brakes, and the hydraulics may leak. They both perform good if setup correctly, but for best break performance the hydralics are the top choice (kp design, collari, hellya's brakes, magura, these are the top line hydros.. please add if i forgot any good brand)

chowderhead72

My Feedback: (4)

Automan: Please post pics of your set-up. Apparently my friends have set their's up differently. What servo are you using? Alloy radio tray?

hpiguy

Hey now that is some good news. I too have been thinking about putting some brakes on the front of my MT-5 and was considering that same brake set-up for mine. If I understand you correctly you are using one servo for throttle and all brakes?
[/quote]

YES, I am using ONE servo for ALL brakes and throttle.

I have the same setup on my Sportsline Semi and it works JUST FINE FOR ME.

Plenty of braking power for anything I need to do.

Other people do not agree and that's fine. But this setup works perfect for me and has been working perfect in my Sportsline all Summer.

hpiguy

I have only used one servo for my Sportsline and now for my MT5. I only have the stock rear brake though. If you have rear cable brakes I could see using two servos.

But one servo for throttle, rear stock brake and front cables works perfect for me. And numerous others I might add.

FGmyzer

The best set up is 1 servo per each brake. I think hydros are much better than cable.
I have cable brakes. I have to adjust them after I bash around, 2-3 tanks of gas and then its adjustment time

Automan

hpiguy, I personally wouldn't go with that setup, to have only one servo for both rear and front breaks. It would probably put allot of unnecessary strain on the servo, and be very hard to adjust the front to the rear correctly, but thats my personal opinion... and even if you only use stock breaks on rear more so if you use wire brakes on rear to.

Use one servo (if you can avoid thinking of a servo failure, and much more tricky adjustments) would probably work, but you will not have the stopping power you could have had with two servos, specially on a monster truck etc.
On a road car the break-system is much easier on the servo.. and they lock very easy on those cars, cause they are not that heavy and do not have those big wheels.
But as i said... on these heavier monster trucks, with their big wheels it will be hard for just one servo to handle both front and rear. For a off road buggy... that will be similar thinking as for the road car, and can be used with only one, but i cannot recommend it for a heavy truck with monster wheels.

FGmyzer, wire brakes are enough to stop these cars if set up right, but there is adjustments from time to time. Hydros is better (don't know if they hold up in hard off road driving though), but they can start leak.

Nice looking setup there FGmyzer [sm=thumbup.gif]

gonsped69

My Feedback: (6)

Obviously different people have different opinions but it all comes down to cost in the end. You do pay for what you get and in a lot of instances, the lower end model works well enough.

Some folks with hydro brakes are spoiled with the quality and will not accept anything less, they also have the money to spend on it. Most of us are not that lucky. I have the standard FG front brakes with the optional fibre discs/aluminum pads and they work very well with the Smartech Bigfoot MT. Even with the 29cc upgrade, it stops the truck plenty quick even at high speeds.

The only reason I'd jump for hydro would be for onroad racing. I want to stop quick but also want the brakes to be as maintenance free as possible. Onroad racing requires fine tuning of the brakes much more so than cable brakes which require constant and endless adjustments

Also, everyone have different standards, whats plenty for some may not be enough for others

P.S. Automan - you might want to fix your spelling with Hellya's "breaks" to brakes It sounds like his disc brakes *breaks a lot*

Automan

He he... oups, thanks for the head's up [sm=thumbup.gif] I must have been very distracted, will correct it right away.


edit: done