critrmac

HI, guy just introducing myself and letting you now i'm a newbie on board, and jsut purchased a fh for my son and me for x-mas,
and man i can't wait. could not resist taking it out of the box to have a look and was pleasantly shocked at the size of this buggie
so i am exicited to say the least, as this is my first gas(never had a nitro) car. i'm converting from flying rc aircraft. it was a toss
up as to which to get the fh or the newest baja, so i've been trying to do alot of research on bothas for me when i and my son
first saw the baja, we said we had to have it but then there was the price(i'm married-two kids!) so i said get somthing a little
cheaper and here comes to the fh and man it x-mas yet but i can't wait to see what this thing will do(it's already my baby) so
at any rate i'm new and will have lots of questions so i hope i have you guys help thanks and hello.[8D]

IONIC-M

Welcome to the club. The firehamer is a nice buggy.[8D] I own one too with lots of alloy and hope ups. If you need help just ask. Im glade tha Large scale is growing!

swatlien

Welcome Critrmac! If you like to tinker, you will be in paradise! LOL. Having some one to bash with or a track in your area tremendously kicks the fun up a notch. One thing I enjoy most is cleaning my cars after I run them and giving them a good look over to ensure everythings working properly. I got my first large scale RC the BAJA 5B about four months ago. Now I own the Baja, the MCD Buggy, and I just purchased a FG Leopard. Gas is definitely the way to go. Enjoy that thing!

kinggeordie

nice buggy hope you have loadsa fun

34Ford

My Feedback: (2)

You will like the Hammer I like them vs the nitros because this gasser will run thru pretty much anyhing that gets in its way. So do be carefull.
I ran the camper fuel in mine that way it didn't stink up my computer room.

critrmac

Hey, thks for the welcome,don't know if you receieved my first response , the site
went down for maint. as i was typing. i'm very new and very excited about this
hobby so thanks.

critrmac

hey thanks fot the help offer as i'm sure i will be needing it.

critrmac

Okay thanks for the help offer, by the way i keep getting a error upon sending
my reply's could you respond back so that i can make sure it's going through ?

Timmahh

yup they are thru.
Timmahh

huw4027

Welcome Critrmac, the Firehammer is pretty nice but there are some hop-ups
that you have to buy to enjoy trouble free running.

hellya

Beef up your drive train and you will run pretty much problem free.

Steel pinion
Alloy rear upper A-arms

Optional items that I would replace with upgrades when they are needed

Alloy motor mounts
Alloy diff housing and the hardned Diff gear ring, FG diff
Ball drive system

You can get alot of your hop ups here http://www.fg-hopups.com/photo_album.html

kengentry5000

My Feedback: (2)

Yeah, what hellya said about bullet proofing upgrades. Definitely get the steel pinion gear right away (the gear mounted to the clutch bell on the side of the engine). fg-hopups.com sells the Firehammer-sized steel pinion for $35.

I melted and stripped 5 or 6 pinions in a matter of months. It is definitely the weakest part of the buggy. If you can't get the steel pinion pick up a couple of spare plastic ones and the E-Clip that holds them on. You can pick up 5mm and 7mm E-Clips at any place that sells fasteners. I bought a box of 100 for $4 from an automotive fastener company.

After 3 - 4 tank breakin, if you want to avoid the gasoline smell you can run Coleman Camp fuel (about $3.75/gallon) with 2-stroke oil at 25:1 ratio. It runs strong and has almost no fume smell an hour after running.

Welcome to the club!

kengentry5000

My Feedback: (2)

critrmac, you probably already know this because you are an RC'er but THROW AWAY that piece of junk trickle charger for the receiver pack. Use a good delta-V peak charger.

The included battery pack is good (not as good as NiMH) and will go for 2- 3 tanks before needing recharging.

Ken

critrmac

Aye fella's i've saved all you guys replies into my favorite folder sec.
gonna use all of the advice. thanks a big bunch, by the way on my
FH, do i take the blue aluminnum air filter cover off to run or no ?

hellya

Nope...thats one of the better airfilters on the market for the price.......Leave the cover on

critrmac

Okay, so you say for me to leave the blue aluminun cover covering the
air filter in place over the air filter itself right.?

critrmac

Mann!! i already see that i'm gonna have a kazillion questions, so
i hope you guys are ready to bare with me and lead me thru ! some
may be obviuos, some dum, but hey.what the hay.

badz

My Feedback: (1)

Only thing I'd add is alloy motor mounts and steel pinion those are a must have. The cost of alloy arms is pricey and the plastic ones don't hit the spur like the fg's do. I've never had a rear a-arm hit my gear ever.
The stock air filter is the best out there just use foam air filter oil on it, you can buy that at any dirt bike shop real cheap. Everything else seems to hold up pretty well on them.

sneff

The Baja 5B does cost a bit more than the Firehammer but you dont have to buy any aftermarket parts to make it run reliably. So its a toss up. I dont know what you paid for the FH but Tower has it right now for 899.99. Recently I've seen the Baja 5b as cheap as 949.99!! For what your gonna spend in the long run with the FH you could have bought the Baja 5B

critrmac

I got the FH for 705$ shipped to me. i prefer the looks of the FH over the Baja.
the hop-ups will make it just as rugged as the Baja, but i don't plan on doing
the bashing, just some good lateral runs with maybe very small jumps at maybe
a grade of an 2 or 3 degree incline.

radio_controlled_mad

the all have problems,there aint a bullet proof model out there from stock - the only difference is some models have part support to make them bullet proof and others dont

critrmac

Although im new to gas rc cars ( really jumpin in thick with a giant scale ) i
agree they all take on some damage, it just depends on what style driving
and whats the intentions of the driver. can't wait to test the FH's first run, have
to wait until after x-mas though as it is suppose to be a gift for the son as that
was kinda how i justified gettin it. (married-2 kids!)

radio_controlled_mad

buying the model is only the start of the money pit - you will sharp find parts you want (not out of need) - give it a few weeks running you will be wanting a tuned pipe,bore up,alloy,hydros,2 speed+++++++£££££££££$$$$$$$$$$

kengentry5000

My Feedback: (2)

That's a sweet price for your FH. You can't even get a Smartech clone for that much. There's a guy in the RCU marketplace hawking Smartech Spider buggies for $750.

I paid $575 for a gently used FH back in May 2004.

badz

My Feedback: (1)

That's so true....I don't think anything in this hobby is fine right out the box they all need something added. Budget's are just impossible to keep in a hobby like this, there's always that bling addon or power addon ya will want.