ricerkid

My Feedback: (1)

Here are the pics of the progress of the aluminum upgrades
start

















finish

nitrosportsandrunner

i have the electric brushless version of the tornado, and that alum shock tower is a must. the stock shock towers are too thin.

are you gonna replace the rear shock tower as well?

i doubled 2 rear shock towers to make one thicker shock tower, then used 4 shocks on the rear of my tornado. i had to cut the body a fair bit to clear the extra shocks, but having shocks on both sides of the shock tower help keep it from bending(equal force on both sides)
i also modded a traxxas emaxx skid plate into a tough front bumper.
now its nice and bash worthy.

pic was taken after a bash at a sand pit, driving the buggy up a 30' tall sand pile.

ricerkid

My Feedback: (1)

If i had the money im sure i would do these things, but considering im 15 and dont have a job, i dont have any money. but i just tried driving the buggy and sure enough the rx/tx quit working when it got just for enough where i couldnt catch it before it wrapped itself ina tree. and ofcourse it did it when i went WOT when it got about 65 ft from me. if i hadnt of done those upgrades today, the buggy probly would have be trashed

Now on the other redcat, i want the lightning and vortex ss, are they any good? i just want basically 3 nitros for my set, a car, buggy, and truck.

nitrosportsandrunner

did your reciever batteries die? or did something come loose, causing your radio not to work?

i have the lightning epx pro(brushless version) and its really good. the drive train is shared with the tornado and volcano and vortex. they all have the same chassis tub, diffs, driveshaft. only the shock towers-a arms-dogbones and tires differ. the same is true of the nitro versions. so, one nice thing about if you get the lightning and vortex nitros is that alot of the parts are the same as your tornado and you can stock up on spare parts and they can work for all 3 nitros.
the vortex and tornado and lightning share many parts. basically, the shock towers, suspension arms and bumpers are different.

snag yourself one of the brushless versions. nothing wrong with nitro, but sometimes its nice to have a RC that all you need to do is plug in and GO! and the EPX PRO line are about the same speed as the nitro versions.

ricerkid

My Feedback: (1)

not sure, they might very well be dead but i took those batteries out of a lamp that was bright as F*** so i thought that those batteries were good 2 days ago when i put them in and havent driving much. Im thinking that its my rx but i dont have any money to buy another one. i wish someone could send me one lol.

nitrosportsandrunner

how old is the buggy? i know you got it used, but if you dont mention that there is a chance that redcat will send you a replacement.

also, is there any nicks or damage to the antenna? is the wire that goes from the battery pack to the RX OK? if it was damaged, or came loose from the Rx that will cause you to loose control.

ricerkid

My Feedback: (1)

Not sure if the antenna is damaged, i have it all packed away in the box basketballfan shipped it in because im going back to my moms in a few here now, so i will have to look either tonight or tommorrow and ill let you know. As far as how old it is, i do not know.

nitrosportsandrunner

is it a 2.4ghz radio, or a AM radio?
either way, if you decide that it needs replacing, i can get you one for $22. also, you could get a fail safe for $13. a fail safe engages the brakes if the RX stops working or something interferes with it.

buggyboy2010

Awesome!, I really want to get all the aluminum upgrades for My Tornado, I got a few so far, But You really need to find the upgrade for the thicker aluminum shock towers! I got a pair and they are saaaweeeet!

rchobbyunlimited

Sweet Rides!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ricerkid

My Feedback: (1)

ya thats true. but i dont know where to get the thicker shock towers. like one of the last flips frm the bad rx bent the rear support and i never noticed it until i went to put the body back on because i had it off for tuning and i went ***?? lol. im ganna ask for this stuff for xmas, especially the aluminum upper plate. I love my tornado, but id like somthing a little more durable like the vortex SS. Any opinions on the Vortex SS?


Also, where did you get those shocks? they look nice and look like nothing would get inside of them.

nitrosportsandrunner

i can get you the thicker shock towers.

also, im pretty sure that he has traxxas bandit shocks on his tornado. thats what they look like to me anyway.

buggyboy2010

They are actually T-Maxx shocks
I only have them on the front now because they dont have much travel, But you get 8 of them in a pack so Ya know you'll always have spares! lol
got them off ebay

buggyboy2010

http://cgi.ebay.ca/NEW-T-MAXX-3-3-49...item35ae483b92

here they are

JTPSTEALTH

nitrosportsandrunner, how did you get both of the shock mounts on there back-to-back? That is asweet setup! Might have to give it a try... I like the double plate idea as well.
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nitrosportsandrunner

its kinda a pain actually. the hop-up towers are thicker where they need to be, but the same thickness where they bolt to the diff housing.
what i did, is use a jigsaw and cut one of the plates where it would mount to the diff housing(so only one plate is actually bolted to the diff housing)
the weak point in the stock towers is where the shocks mount. that is there area that my 2 plates are bolted together.
i have already replaced the front double plates with the hop-up tower, and i will get the rear at some point.
my idea worked OK, but it looked ugly. the hop-up towers are even stronger than doubling up the plates and they look a whole lot better!

JTPSTEALTH

Actually what i was mainly trying to figure out is how are the actual ball mounts on there back to back in the same hole? did you just cut off a screw head and thread them together? But I do say I love the double shock. It looks amazing. As soon as i can afford a couple extra pieces (darn holidays) I will probably get the big plates and some shocks and try it out. I need the bigger plates anyways. Mine look like they've gone through hell and back. Missing lots of blue finishdue to pliers bending them back lol.

Edit: I think I figured out your trick.... is the mount on the rear shock a ball mount for the tie rod on the front knuckle? If I remember right, that has a bolt end on it.

nitrosportsandrunner

here are 2 more pics of the shock setup. hope they help show what i did.
the double shocks make the rear stronger, but i still managed to bend the rear shock tower alittle. i will be buying the upgraded rear tower soon.

JTPSTEALTH

That last pic helped a lot. Now I see they are in different holes in the tower. When I was looking at the pic you posted before, it looked like they were in the same hole and that's what made me run around in circles trying to figure it out lol. Thanks for the help!!! I will definately be trying this setup.

buggyboy2010

Yea, I've done the dual rear end shocks, It's a pain in the butt, And You have to set the shocks really loose, Cause if there tight You get the dog bones digging grooves into the hubs a lot quicker. It looks bad ass though

rchobbyunlimited

Could you please teel me whats makes the dogbone cut grooves into the diff cups? I have a avalance xp the front diif cups keeps getting deep grove cuts from the dogbone I have changed the diff cup 3 times and I can not stop it from happening. So are you saying its from the shocks?

buggyboy2010

I only have some assumptions why this happens, Yes the shocks might have something to do with it, If they are to tight then I find the dog bone arent able to move enough. Also they just don't seem to fit very well to begin with, Theres a lot of play in that tiny groove, when its to loose, So that means when You stop quick and accelerate quick it diggs in, And.. I found My Tornado anyways, That driving in My back yard which seemed smooth, Really isnt smooth enough, Theres a lot of strain on the cups from all the quick deceleration/acceleration on the bump ground and grass, You can actaully hear it slowing down and speeding up even if have the throttle at a set point.. When I stopped driving on grass and kept to more even flat surfaces, They damge on the cups was very minimal, hardly none.

rchobbyunlimited

Ok thanks for responding I only drive mine on the dirt track I am trying to figure out a way I can get rid of all of the play that is in the drive cups on the dog bone. Thanks once again for your reply.

buggyboy2010

No problem, I am to still trying to figure out the issue, Maybe somehow mod it.. No luck yet, But if I come up with something I'll let You know asap, And if You come up with something let Me know! lol

rchobbyunlimited

I sure will I have the truck broke down for the off season so I am trying to come up with something hard before I put it back together I will try a few things if anything that works I will gladly let you know. Thanks once again. Happy Holidays.