motorbikemikexb9

Well after seeing Mnkays build I decide to get one of these NewBright sleds this weekend. I've always wanted to build a good R/C sled so it looks like this skidoo is a good platform to start from.

I bought it on ebay Saturday Night, and picked it up locally Sunday. I gave it a go right away and was really impressed that it actually worked. Slow but it worked. Last night I started working on Mods around 7:30 and finished for the evening around 10:00 (finished off with a test run in the back yard) (lit by a flood light). Not bad for 3 hours of work. anyone could easily hop one of these things up.

I started by quickly gutting and disassembling it. I pulled the motor off the stock gear box and cut off the shell that was around the stick motor. I just mounted a Reedy Kryptonite 12-2 brushed motor to the box and reinstalled it. I placed a Novak Rooster under the foe fuel tank. I think that is the driest place on the sled. I installed a Hi-tech digital high torque metal gear servo via a zip tie through the belly pan. and mounted the receiver under the box under the headlight. Stuck a 3300 6 cell pack under the seat... and away we go.

Initial test run: Wow... huge improvement over stock. It will now run around 15mph in soft snow and around 20 on hardpack, And now it actually turns... and rolls sometimes lol. I'll need to work on a wider front suspension set up to improve it's cornering ability. I did notice a seizable difference in gear noise with the bigger motor. Ive checked my gear mesh several times and it looks fine. Ive run it through about 5 or 6 packs now and the gears still look good but it continues to be really loud, which leads me to believe that they will eventually give up at some point.

Plans for the sled:

This winter:
All aluminum front and rear suspension. Oil filled shocks. Custom gearbox/ drive system powered by a Novak hvmaxx brushless system. rewire the headlights and taillights to work again.

Over the summer:
.21 Nitro conversion, fabricate a aluminum tunnel/ chassis. Make molds and Vac form abs shrouds and belly pans.

Heres some pics of the sled and the 3 hour level one mod.

kdubbz

My Feedback: (2)

Hello, I was also looking into buying one of these and modding it. I have a 12x3 team birdman motor and a 8T and up duratrax ESC i can put on it. I have a radio system and a spare servo I can use. What parts did you use to put the servo on if any new parts were needed to complete the whole new electronics system? Thanks.

motorbikemikexb9

I just drilled a few holes through the belly to run a zip tie around the new servo to hold it in place. It's just a standard size servo. The belly pan has little molded in retainers around the servo that fit pretty close to keep it from moving around. I also replaced the servo arm/wheel. It's the bigh white eheel on the servo. I think the wheel is actually a futaba wheel even though I pressed it onto a hitech servo.

kdubbz

My Feedback: (2)

Ok im looking around to find some on ebay, theres not many but tower hobbies has it for $74.99. Im just curious how much yours cost. thanks I have a servo i can try to use now, it was a throttle servo on a duratrax monster truck, a hitec HS-303 standard servo. We will see how it works. Just another question, does water ever get into the servo/ESC/radio area? If sao I can water proof my servo with plasti-dip and baloon the servo for xtra protection. Thanks.

motorbikemikexb9

I got the red one off ebay for $81.00 last weekend (picked it up local) so there was no shipping charge. Yep tower has then for $74.99.... uh..um... or I should say had them. I checked their site every day for two weeks as they where listed to be in stock Mid Dec. Monday it payed off. they where in stock for a few hours. I nabbed 4 of them for future use. (I'm not selling them btw). Keep checking the site. They should have more in soon.

As far as water getting in... I have had no problem so far. I can get about 15 min per pack which is alot of rolling around in the snow and it always comes back dry inder the hood. their are a few tiny vents behind the windshield and one at the very front of the shroud. but I don't think it's a problem it is sealed up pretty well.

As far as the servo give what you have a try and see how it works for you, but you'll probably want a metal gear high torque servo eventually to really make it turn nice.

kdubbz

My Feedback: (2)

I just ordered one today, checked the site and it was in stock limited quantites and nabbed one. Now i have one coming and I am going to mod this thing. I probably wont ever go nitro with it as it is a lot of work and money, I will just keep it electric. I already have 2 nitro offroad , 1 stadium and 1 tmaxx monster. Thanks again! later. Also what pinion did you use? The stock one that was on the motor or a new one, if so how many teeth?

motorbikemikexb9

Excellent. Glad to hear you got one. I'd recomend trying to get at least two. those "toy" companies are known for running short runs of a particular Item. If you ever wipe out the track your done for good. You mentioned nitro being too expensive... I plan to put a Novak HVmaxx brushless system in it. That will set me back $275.00 plus two battery packs. This sled really needs that kind of power to be "fast". Or you could couple (2) 540 motors either way still more expensive than nitro. I myself prefer the electric because of the cleanlyness. Plus nitro and cold weather mix like oil and water lol. I'm still going to build a nitro one but I'll save that for later.

The pinion I used actually came fron a TT fm-1e motorcycle # of teeth? Unknown. I'll check later and post back tomarrow night.

when you get started modding it start a thread here. Lets get everyone interested in these things

mnkay

Check out this link http://media.putfile.com/New-Nitro-Video-2005

kwiktsi

Add another to the list . I did one up with a 19x1 Epic motor- much faster than stock, but still needs more . I am going to try an adjustable motor mount and larger pinion first. I am running a bigger pinion than what came on it, but it is still too small- I get just about 20 mins out of a 3000 pack! This thing is barely working and can afford to go up probably about 5-7 teeth still- that will probably wake it up nicely up top. Needs some serious suspension work though, especially out back- the rear is way too stiff and just wants to catapult it over on hard bumps. Broke a spindle last night too, but a replacement was easy to make. I used the shoulder (smooth) section from a bolt, ground the square on top with a dremel and on the bottom, I just drilled it through so that the ski pivot bolt holds it together. Oh yeah, I had to cut the ski end of this on about a 30 degree angle or so to get it in as deep as possible- you'll see what I mean if you ever have to do this.

I hooked the head and tail lights up also. I pulled the power from the "batt" plug on my reciever (not enough amps to hurt anything) and used the original power switch to turn them on and off.

Also- I see some of you are mounting all the electronics up front- I didn't want them "exposed" (although, I guess you aren't having issues with them getting wet) and this thing needs all the weight it can get in the tail, so I mounted them under the original battery holder where the original electronics board was and put the holder back on. I had to trim the front edge of the battery holder away so the battery would fit. It keeps the electronics safely covered and gets as much weight in the back as possible. I also used a smaller ESC than the rooster though, I was going to use my rooster but it wouldn't fit back there. I also had to use a servo extension to reach the receiver.

Hope this helps people in the future with this conversion.

mnkay- do you know if new brite still makes these? I looked on their site and they are not available. Are tehy just seasonal builds, or are they discontinued? Do you have spare parts like track, skis, etc? I'll probably be in touch with you shortly about your custom parts also.
Joe

kdubbz

My Feedback: (2)

Hey kwiktsi Good to hear your modding up. What size pinion would be ideal to use with a 13x3 motor? What are some good gearing on this thing? I also see your in albany, Im just north of you! Im at exit 8A on the northway only about 25 minutes from albany. Nice to see people in upstate ny come on this site! later

kwiktsi

To be honest, I am still toying with pinions on my 19 turn, so I can't tell you. I went from the 14 that was on there to a 18 tonight, but can't get a good run since the snow is frozen over- it won't stay straight with all the bumps and such. I had to cut the top off the gear box and make a plate to hold the motor with some room for adjustment so I can use different sized gears. Not the cleanest piece I've made, but works. I would like to go belt drive or something, but didn't have anything here so I used what I had to keep it simple. I'll have more info as I play with it more.

Anybody know where to get ribbed pinions for belts and such?
Joe

kwiktsi

Oh yeah, I should change that- I'm in Milford, PA now. Moved in June.
Joe

motorbikemikexb9

I havn't really had much time to do any more mods... (just order a bunch of stuff) but I got out today and ran it anyway. It really is a blast.

Here are a few pics... I found that the Radio shack Ricky (R/C dirt bike rider) fit pretty good too.

Newballz

Nice job on your level one mod! Very clean wiring, etc. That is exactly what I would like to do to mine. Did you happen to take any pics of the gearbox while you had it apart? I'd like to see how you mounted the motor.
-Josh

kwiktsi

Hey, I was just thinking- based on the fact that you have a lot of gear noise and how dark your spur looks where the pinion meshes- I wonder if your pinion is the wrong pitch. I seem to remember (maybe someone can verify) having an RC car (Tamiya maybe?) that had what looked to be a regular pitch gear, but nothing I got locally would work and my LHS at the time said it was a metric pitch. I wonder if that is what you are encountering here? I have no gear noise whatsoever with mine. Just thought I'd mention it in case it helps.
Joe

Newballz

That was going to be my next question, what pitch pinion gear are you guys using? Are you running your basic 32 pitch pinion that is common with most R/C models?
Joe, any idea what brand gear you are running?

- Josh

kwiktsi

Been so long since I needed to know pitch sizes, I forget what they are lol. It is the coarse pitch- is that 16 or 32? I am running robinson gears from my E Maxx in it with no noise issuse at all.
Joe

Newballz

According to the parts list on Traxxas's website EMAXX uses a 32 pitch gear.

kdubbz

My Feedback: (2)

OK Got my Sled today, I jus relized it comes with 2 battery packs! NOT that I Will be needing them much longer. Its charging up now but the snow outside is like a layer of ice on it. I can almost walk on top of it, not good for this sled. I need some light fluffy snow!

kwiktsi

That must be it then. Yeah, it goes 32, 48 and 64 I think right? Like I said, been a LONG time since I needed to know .
Joe

kwiktsi

Really? Mine only had one. Odd..
Joe

kdubbz

My Feedback: (2)

OK After usuing this, I am definitly gonna need a new servo and a get my motor installed and the radio. the radio doesnt respond sometimes and its kind of glitchy. The battery pack lasted about 25 minutes and I charged it for the first time for about 7 hours. I really need to start modding this thing soon! I think I am gonna put on a 27T birdman stocker and a 19T and up ESC, jus so I dont fry my good electronics. Also my good motor might be kind of fast for this thing and tear up the gears and trac. later.

motorbikemikexb9

I think you hit the nail on the head with that one. I actually pulled the pinion out of a Thunder tiget fm-1e motorcycle. I have heard in the past that the tt gear is close to a 32 pitch but not exact. this might be the problem. However... I have ran a good 20 or so packs through it and the gears still show no signs of wear... just the darkness and I think that was from grease on the pinion.

thanks for the heads up.

kwiktsi

Haha- pretty weak stock isn't it . How do you like that lightning quick steering response!!!!

As for tearing it up- I don't think you'll have any problems with a 27T stock motor. People are running much hotter setups than that. Good luck.
Joe

kwiktsi

That sounds like it could be the issue then. Won't hurt to go get a 32 pitch gear from your LHS. I don't think you'll kill it like this, but it will wear faster than it would with the correct gear and if it is causing excessive drag/friction, you could be losing prformance also.
Joe