tommie!

I finally got the beast. I just wanted to post my initial experience. Pics will follow as soon as I can get them.

Radio and servos: The radio is basic AM fare. It has a nice hard rubber steering wheel and the trigger is decent. It works quite nicely. The throttle servo is basic and also does a good job of braking. The steering servo on the other hand was no good. It had ok torque but refused to center. It glitched and turned on its own when I tried to accelerate. I had to swap out this servo as it was defective. I installed a servo from my Redcat buggy. I have contacted Redcat about this issue and will report on the servo performance as soon as I have a replacement on hand.

Chassis and Suspension. Strong looking arms, both upper and lower. There is a little bit of play in the upper arms but nothing excessive. As the truggy came from the factory the front suspension was a little on the soft side and bottomed out on jumps. More preload is required up front than the back. Stiffer springs and heavier oil definitely would help on big air jumps. I dialed in more preload and that seemed to work. The suspension travel had pretty good range and there are plenty of suspension adjustments available. I should also mention that the suspension arms are longer and a all new design. No buggy arms here. The chassis and layout has also been stretched out to extend the wheelbase. Overall a good solid rehash of the buggy design. The monsoon has a slight rear weight bias. The wheel and tires that come on the Monsoon are low profile and dense foam inserts. The dished wheels are 17mm plastic chromed and look cool.

Engine. SH .28 P3. I used lTrinity 25% fuel. Breakin went ok.It stalled a few time so my arm got a good work out on the pull starter but nothing unusual. The heat sink is massive in diameter compared to my other big blocks and I gouged my finger on the cylinder head pulling the pull starter. Ouch. The glow plug burned out after I started tuning it for performance. I put a OS# 8 plug in and it works good.

The SH has been out two outings after breakin and I think it is just starting to come alive. I got good low end torque, its a bit soft in the midrange and pulls hard at the top end.

I think more tanks need to be burned off so I can tune it more accurately. The carb adjustments are decent and precise. 1/8 of a turn makes a big change. This engine likes to rev high and the sound reminds me of a F1 car. She screams. Top speed is about the same as my revo 3.3. But boy it sure SOUNDS faster!!

The exhaust is decent although the header bend could have been more gradual. It is slightly crimped.

Clutch looks identical to buggy and should be durable. 3 shoe composite. Engagement was good.

Not sure about the extended clutchbell and fewer teeth. I think the transmission gear is identical to the buggy so a lower tooth clutchbell is used to change gearing for the truggy wheels. I have not had any problems with this set up yet but I wonder how long it will last due to the lower number of teeth. No problems so far though.

Diffs. All 3 diffs must be filled with silicone oil and the perfect weight I might add. Very little ballooning of the front tires and I even caught the front wheels coming off the ground a few inches!!!
High marks to the monsoon in the diff department!

I did have a couple of issues with the Monsoon truggy. One was the steering servo alreadty mentioned. The other was the fuel tank which had a crack at the seam and leaked fuel. I swapped that out with a tank from my buggy and have also contacted Redcat about that as well.

I should also mention that a few screws backed out on me during the break in process but I guess I really should have gone over the truggy myself and checked for loose screws. The screws that backed out for me are: Right lower pivot ball screw, pull starter to engine screw and front diff / driveshaft set screw.

Overall the Monsoon is a very good design. It is a thorough rethink of the Redcat buggy and not just a buggy with big wheels slapped on. It has a killer engine, corners decent with a slight push(understeer, probably due to the diffs crammed with oil!) and flies on jumps like any proper truggy should...easily and quite neutral.



Positives:Killer Engine, Sound Chassis design, Wicked looking body, price!

Negatives: Why the funky clutchbell? Defective gas tank and servo from new?Torn silicone exhaust gasket(header/engine)

If redcat can influence the Quality Control at the factory and nudge it just a little bit higher, the Monsoon will be a true truggy contender at a outstanding price.

Tom

tommie!

Check it out! Not bad articulation eh?

ehroof

nice write up Tom. I love the body just not so crazy about that green/yellow wing, should have been white, red or blue.

tommie!

more pics...

tommie!

Thanks. You know I never even thought about the wing but I think it would look better if the colour was more in line with the body colours. I do think the chrome dish wheels look wicked though...

ehroof

it looks great, just the wing[:'(]

bowhunter7875

just ordered the monsoon it is my first gas powered rc.. any suggestions?

tommie!

Do a search on engine break in and tuning a engine after break in. Take your time and be patient and methodical...also learn about nitro fuel and its properties and nitro engine care.

Also get in the habit of checking for screws or nuts and bolts backing out due to vibration. If you are just starting out in rc, I would recommend driving around on ashphalt for the first bit until you get used to the car and if you ever have screws fall out, you have a better chance of retrieving it!

Screws that screw into metal should have loctite applied to CLEAN threads and screws that screw into plastic can use a little super glue. Loctite is not to be used on plastic as it reacts with the plastic and makes it brittle.

Its the basics really that should be covered by the hobbyist so there are no hidden surprises.

tommie!

Also you need a glow ignitor to start the engine. A 17mm deep socket wrench to remove and install the wheels, and various allen keys and screwdrivers to work on the truggy. Also a glow plug wrench . A extra glow plug or two is also good to have. I don't know what to recommend for spare parts yet as I have not broken anything...keep you posted on that.

zack221

Very nice write up man i have been thinking about getting one for sometime.I am gonna wait and order one in about 2 months.

lsurber

Are the hinge pins captured in this truck like the VTX or LOSI?

tommie!

A quick glance shows no e clips.

I would consider it a captured type but am not 100% sure.

Check out some of the pics I posted of the rear and decide for yourself.

By the way, the pieces that capture and support the hinge pins are alloy front and rear.

Tom

moonsoon

I bought 2 moonsoon truggys and had the servo problem,the screws falling out problem,the fuel tank getting melted by the pipe,the servo saver problem and the front diff that was not shimmed for the proper back lash and wiped out the gears and i lost the clutch set-up off one also and the set screw from the front drive-shaft fell out . If you buy one check all this stuff first so your truck works the way it should, it is still a great deal for around 300.00 bucks.ps locktite all metal to metal screws.

j_blaze

How is the c-hub front holding up? I had c-hub on my buggy and was buying knuckles every week, then I switched to pbs and have spent 0$ on parts since then. Thats why I prefer the vtx truggy over this one. The problem with the clutch bell is it needs a longer screw, I had it fall out many times and did the "walk" all over the track to find that tiny bushing that fits in there, also melted many clutch bells like that. For the diffs you have to add shims on the crown gear side 1 at a time until the gears start to bind, mine took 4. The gears stripped a bit but with the shims they have gone another 2 gallons problem free. For $700 no truggy is perfect, so this one for $300 will have some problems, but you won't spend $400 working them out. Looking at the pics it is very similar to the vtx truggy, I wish mine came with the SH 28 though, the vtx 26 had many problems and they are having to replace them.

tommie!

I'm not absolute on this but the monsoon is not a c hub front suspension like my Jammin CRT. From what I see the upper and lower arm have a pillow ball and the knuckle/hub is one alloy piece...there is no c type piece to speak of...am I incorrect on this?

My TNX and Savage do however use C Type suspension and I have never broken anything...well of course there was that time I was driving the TNX being chased by a pack of dogs and I got distracted and ran into a tree at full speed...and even at that it was only the lower control arm that broke.

What I am trying to get at is I think the design and/or materials used is more important than the type of suspension used.

I have both c type and pillow ball type front suspension and have broken suspension arms, bent driveshafts, even bent wheels...but never knuckles or hubs.

I have not had any issues yet with the clutch and front suspension but will post as soon as the breakages occur...hopefully not.

Please keep your experiences coming on how this truggy is...

Tom

lsurber

Well, I just bought one of these trucks on ebay for $279 and I can't wait to tear into it. Blaze is right about the offset kingpin design and the first thing I will do is order the pbs blocks for the VTX Truggy, they are way stronger! I will also make sure to move the pipe over just a bit to ensure no problems with the gas tank. Overall, I think this truck can't be beat for the price! What really sold me over the VTX was the engine and the price! It looks like they both use the long clutchbell which is about the only thing I don't care for with either of these trucks. Maybe a center dif from another Truggy,,,,,,, like an OFNA will work!

Everyone, keep your eyes open for center difs that would work please!

Chubbysdad

My Feedback: (1)

I have a couple coming also and will be running it on my track and looking to do mods. I will post what I come up with here.

ehroof

can i have one? I could be the official product tester!!!!!

Redcat Nick

lol good one. Product tester huh? It sounds like you just want to have a title and an excuse for the wife so she won't be mad that you are gone all the time. lol I should have thought of that a long time ago.

ehroof

nah, i let her buy her shoes and pocketbooks and she cant say anything about my purchases!!!!!

rclynx

Out of site out of mind & what they don't know won't hurt them

tommie!

A further detailed review of the monsoon is in the works...

So far though I have been very impressed with the service I have received from Redcat Support and namely a person named Nick who is quick with responding to my emails and seems to be on the ball with regards to knowledge and customer service...

ehroof

nick is a good guy, i like him

j_blaze

Isurber, there is a mod I read about before for the ST1 where you cut the hole on the bottom of the chassis for the fly wheel about 3/4 inch forward. Then you can mod the engine mount to let the engine slide forward another 1/2 inch or so. I just modded the 25 engine backplate about 2mm on the sides and its worked great so far. I lost the screws for the pull starter but who cares, starter box only anyways.

lsurber

Well, I finally got the Monsoon!

First thing I did was break in the engine! It showed no signs of particles at all during the breakin and temps did not go higher than 200 degrees. I believe this engine is gonna be another great mod project!

MECHANICAL DESIGN PROS:

The truck itself is is nicely designed! All the hinge pin braces, chassis braces, and motor mount are very nicely machined billet. The brake cams and steering bellcrank are ball bearing supported! All differentials are filled with silicone. All hinge pins are captured! The battery/reciever box is very nice and pretty much water tight! The manifold and pipe are very nice and highly polished! The wing mount is very heavy duty with aluminum cross-bracing and the wing is easily detached with body pin clips.

MECHANICAL DESIGN CONS:

The control arms are beefy but more flexible than I like. Minimal flex in suspension parts makes for better tuning! The best combination of durability and performance is the PBS system and I will change the suspension to that! The engine mount is nice but the engine sits so high that a starter box wheel could never contact the flywheel.

QUALITY CONTROL ISSUES:

The long trip from China caused surface rust on one of the tie-rods and 2 of the brake pad guide posts. This is no big deal and was removed no problems BUT a thin film of oil to prevent rust would be smart! Not a drop of loctite was used anywhere in the build, so check things over very carefully. Some of the bearings feel notchy and are probably going to need replacing but this is no big deal! I'll just go buy a whole sleeve of them for 2$ each at my LHS! The fuel tank actually touches the exhaust!!!!!!! A real NO NO! A simple adjustment will give enough clearance though! The differentials were all binding and needed shimming.

OVERALL IMPRESSION:

This truck is a bargain at $279 but needs to be totally gone through before you run it!