RE: OFFICIAL MINI E-REVO THREAD!!!
 

Me and a couple buddies raced at my new backyard track this weekend. We all have revo vxl's. My buddy with beadlocks and dirthawgs hooked up great on the loose stuff and on the grass, so I am thinking about getting these. My track is half dirt, half dead grass right now. I will be adding alot more dirt in the next month or so, along with another large jump. Eventually we will stake down all the tubing so the dirt isnt needed to hold it down. We also need a little more tubing. I'll get a video up after more racing this sunday. The track is at the back edge of my property, so my wife doesnt mind too much. Whoever has the least points after the first 5 races has to buy the beer for the day! Heres a shot.

RE: OFFICIAL MINI E-REVO THREAD!!!
 

Nice little track man

RE: OFFICIAL MINI E-REVO THREAD!!!
 

WOW, brian thats a nice setup. Where in VA are you?

RE: OFFICIAL MINI E-REVO THREAD!!!
 

NICE Brian! I like the beers idea too! Is it legal to drink and drive...... R/C's? :)

Wish i had a backyard to do that with!

So, here's another set of pics of my merv, but these are just focusing on the toelinks/pushrods and the new traxxas cvd's i installed...

Now, all i need to do is drive it in dirt! And Drive it ALOT!

RE: OFFICIAL MINI E-REVO THREAD!!!
 

Nice track!  I'd love to make one as well...if only I had a yard as well.  lol

Looks great Joecool!!!  My RPM Arms should be here tomorrow!  Plan to get the tie-rods and stuff later on.

Tonight I taped my Road Rage tires.  I first taped the fronts and ran the truck while holding it.  Big difference!!!  The taped ones didn't balloon at all.  The others stood straight up and that was just with one stock battery.  It usually is really bad when I run 2 batteries in series.  I taped the street tires first because of that reason...I only run my batteries in series on pavement.  Plus I still need to clean up my Dirt Hawg tires before taping them.  But,  it definitely helps and I plan to do that to all my tires.

RE: OFFICIAL MINI E-REVO THREAD!!!
 

Thanks guys.

Joe your setup looks so nice man! Are you staying away from aluminum knuckles? I went through so many on my car!

Are you guys just using high strength 2 sided tape for taping tires?

Im located in chester, a little south of Richmond

RE: OFFICIAL MINI E-REVO THREAD!!!
 

Yeah your track really looks nice. I doubt my landlord would appreciate me digging up the backyard to make a R/C track. lol

I plan to stick with the Traxxas upgrades but if Ihave any more problems I might get the aluminum knuckles. I had one destroy the bearings and make the knuckle oval inside...think that was a combination of heavier tires and speed that caused that. I haven't had another bad one yet, but I have some extra stock plastic ones left. If Igo through those I will get aluminum.

Yes, someone mentioned Gorilla tape, Ijust used what (gray) Duck tape I had in my utility room and it worked great. So, I think any high-strength tape will work. I compared a non-taped Road Rage tire to one I had taped. The entire is much firmer especially the sidewall. Has the feel of a low-profile performance tire you would find on a real car. Definitely looking forward to trying it on the street. Next up is my Dirt Hawg tires.

RE: OFFICIAL MINI E-REVO THREAD!!!
 

Brian & Gforce,

Thanks for the comments, though, i envy your R/C's more... since they are actually drove in the dirt and on race tracks!

The Tape: I used gorilla tape, but good ole' gray duct tape should be perfect! The gorilla tape is black, so that's why i went with it - even though you do not see it at all. Taping tires is easy, and i should have done it years ago!

As for Allum knuckles... I haven't decided yet. Are they truly worth the added weight? I have an extra plastic one too, so if another one breaks, i can always use it. I still think the cost of 4 replacement plastic ones vs 4 allum is alot cheaper. If you bend allum, it doesn't bend back! i can get 3 sets of plastic for one set of allum. I'll wait until Traxxas or a trusted aftermarket product name makes a good knuckle. Integy is horrible! Everything i have purchased from Integy has been crap... cheap bling at the cost of true performance.

As for necessary upgrades that "Rodent-Rod" suggests: I think it is truly up to the indidivual and his driving style... i kinda got suckered in and started buying all these "necessary" upgrades for my merv, when they truly weren't ncessary at all. So, to fix my mistake, i started over and decided to go strictly traxxas with everything. The items i upgraded aren't truly necessary, but are a nice performance enhancement that traxxas stands behind - plus they really don't add any weight that would effect the R/C negatively. The only added weight to my MERV is dual batteries and the beadlocks. .

So, in closing: I don't think the MERV really needs anything upgraded, aside from a decent set of dirt or road tires, heavy wt oil for diffs, and a second battery. Once something breaks, then i think you should replace it, but stick with traxxas, since they "own" the pattent on the car and their aftermarket products should be a perfect fit and design for the MERV, or any Traxxas for that matter. You can always stick to platic / stock replacement parts... we've all seen the videos of a stock MERV blowing away the competition - that's why we went out and bought these! Besides, If we can afford a 300$ R/C and 100$ batteries, i think we can afford the traxxas aftermarket hopups or minor replacement parts!

J0EC00L - The cleanest MERV around, with the biggest FROWN in town!

I need Dirt!

RE: OFFICIAL MINI E-REVO THREAD!!!
 

Joe- Yea I was a man of no aluminum either, but almost every time I went bashing, I broke a kunckle/hub, sometimes after just minutes. I dont drive carefully at all, but i dont want to either. Usually it would break when I tap a corner or just cartwheel after a crash. This is when i decided I had to get aluminum. I will be getting more aluminum stuff today, as I have broken my steering setup a handful of times on lame crashes, so I am going to see how aluminum does. I know it bends, but hopefully it wont break on these little crashes I sometimes have.
The weight doesnt effect me too much, as my car is always dirty haha.

RE: OFFICIAL MINI E-REVO THREAD!!!
 

Does anyone what weight diff fluid to use because i am putting is cvds and want to change diff fluid while im in there thanks!!

RE: OFFICIAL MINI E-REVO THREAD!!!
 

Pretty sure 30,000 or 30k is stock, and you can get 50k for a tighter dif or 10k for a looser dif.

This goes IN the dif though, not around it

RE: OFFICIAL MINI E-REVO THREAD!!!
 

I started to install my RPMA-Arms last night....first had problems removing my front and rear bumpers/skid plates, stupid screws are striped or so worn down and near impossible to take out.I thought these things had sealed differential boxes? I guess I was wrong, just the diff gear is sealed? Anyways I put it all a side for now. I might just get the rest of the suspension parts (tie-rods, cvds, etc..) I wanted to upgrade and do one big rebuild. What grease is used around the differential? I noticed in stock pictures it is smothered in it...I don't think mine looks like that anymore. I will probably not change the lube in the diffs themselves.

RE: OFFICIAL MINI E-REVO THREAD!!!
 

gforce,

I just put a small dab of 100K weight lube on the outside of the diff. Just enough to slightly cover the gears. I'm sure you could probably put regular diff grease on the gears and that will suffice, but nothing thin, as it will just seep out the "unsealed" housing / Bulkhead!

I am against alluminum unless it is truly needed! Things like shock towers, toe links and push rods i heard are a must, but wouldn't the shock towers just cause more stress on the plastic chassis as the alluminum transfers the force when pushed hard?

I want to make the MERV tough as nails; but at the same time i want it to flex enough to absorb simple "shock", if you know what i mean!

Think old school cars - they were floating tanks that could rip through a brick house; however, the human inside could not survive the shear "hit/collision" itself. Today's cars are lighter due to the enormouse amount of plastic; but they are also safer in that the cars are designed to absorb more in a crash and distribute the shock evenly throughout the car.

Who knows, i could be completely wrong, and if there was a completely alluminum version of our MERV... maybe that would be the killer R/C!!! Better pack some 4S Lipos though :)

RE: OFFICIAL MINI E-REVO THREAD!!!
 

Joecool, thanks!! I will add some grease when I dive into the differential housing.

I agree about the aluminum upgrades. Only upgrade to aluminum if it is absolutely necessary and will improve the performance and/or reliability of the R/C. My last R/C a 1/16 Sportwerks Chaos Buggy came with a broken front shock tower when I bought it used. Since the aluminum ones were only a couple dollars more than stock plastic I bought them. The first obstacle I hit bent the front aluminum shock tower right over. The aluminum didn't break but it bent very easy. Plastic will give and bend to a point at least before breaking. You can "pimp" a Merv totally out with all the aluminum upgrades and make it all shiny and cool. But I doubt it would perform or be any more indestructible.

RE: OFFICIAL MINI E-REVO THREAD!!!
 

True G Force, I think it's mainly a "bling" thing. I also don't beleive the Titan products are worth a d@mn either! I thought titan was stronger, lighter, and better than alum, but i guess not.

So, two stories to pass along:

1: I got my caster Racing 1/18 fusion f18T Brushless ready to run rc in today. Looks fairly decent and was very quick out the box. After a few passes, the rear end diff is now clicking when i drive it... it's very noticeable even pushing it !:( also, it won't go in reverse, and wouldn't right out of the package but once or twice... now it does nothing in reverse, but acts as a brake when i throw the throttle in reverse - so i know its not the transmitter! DANG THIS IS BRAND NEW ON ONLY A FEW PASSES ON THE ROAD!!!

I'm P1$$ED 0FF!

2: On a lighter and better note. I finished my ILLUZION Body for the MERV. Here it is installed with stickers and such. I kinda messed up the windows, tryinng to creater vents to allow air to move to the motor - oh well - adds character! :)

RE: OFFICIAL MINI E-REVO THREAD!!!
 

Here are some more!

RE: OFFICIAL MINI E-REVO THREAD!!!
 

:)

RE: OFFICIAL MINI E-REVO THREAD!!!
 

Just a few pics I took yesterday of Merv and his big brother.

RE: OFFICIAL MINI E-REVO THREAD!!!
 

Hey Z,

Is your Big MERV an Electric or Nitro? I couldn't see the exhaust or Nitro Motor sticking out, so i assume it is electric. I think you may have mentioned it before too... i guess i wasn't paying attention!

RE: OFFICIAL MINI E-REVO THREAD!!!
 

I have both, but that is the Electric brushless. The big nitro revos look more like a truck.

RE: OFFICIAL MINI E-REVO THREAD!!!
 

hey there, i own one of those awsome machines and im trying to set up for driffting. i was looking on hipracing.com and i saw a mini section but i dont know what size of tires and rimes will fit on the mini. so if u guys could help that would be awsome.

thanks,
cooper

RE: OFFICIAL MINI E-REVO THREAD!!!
 

sorry coop...

i don't know of any real setups for the MERV to do drifting, aside from driving on Ice or loose dirt! I think these MERVS are more for offroad driving, even though they do well on the asphalt, you need foams or road tires. I just think their design and build isn't aimed at the "drifting" scene. HPI tends to make the low profile R/C's that are best for drifting. Another thing, the MERV just has too much force and grip, that it will more likely flip before it induces sliding on the asphalt!

You can give it a shot though, let us know what you find. I would start with an offroad tire that doesn't grip well on asphalt (make sure its 12 mm hex and not too wide in the center to allow enough shaft to protrude from the rim so the lug nut can tighten)

Also, focus on setting your diffs up to give more wheel spin when hard cornering, vice grip! These are all things i am sure you're aware of, based on your experience with drifting.



Joe

RE: OFFICIAL MINI E-REVO THREAD!!!
 

Looks like a nice weekend ahead of us. I had a little track time in the yard today with the revo and vendetta. Its amazing how much I've improved in a week. The first day, I could barely go without hitting the sides, now I can fly (sometimes) Vendetta's got the vxl motor, esc, and servo, which makes it pretty fun!
I get my bonus at work next week so paying off some bills and making a BIG order!
Looking forward to Sunday for a full day of rc racing!

EDIT: you can see my ammo box in the bottom (for charging lipo's haha)

RE: OFFICIAL MINI E-REVO THREAD!!!
 

Yesterday after work I went to my LHS and dropped almost $150 on Traxxas upgrades. I could of easily spent another $100.  lol  After seeing they had the new P-L VW Bug body for the Merv along with lots of alternative tires and stuff.  But, I had self control and just got what I went for.

Later I went to the track since it was a nice day and because I knew this weekend I would be tearing my Merv down to install all the new upgrades.  They had just re-did the track and my Merv didn't handle as good as before, it had a lot of loose dirt and ruts.  I am looking forward to going back and trying out the new upgrades.

I was going to order everything online but after doing an availability and price check at my LHS they weren't very much more and had everything.  Also I didn't have to pay shipping and if something doesn't work, I can return it easier.

Upgrades:
Traxxas Aluminum Push-Rods
Traxxas Aluminum Toe-Links
Traxxas CVDs
Traxxas GTR Anodized Shocks

I also have the front RPM A-Arms to install and plan to tape my Dirt Hawg tires.  Will post pics and results once I am done.  Have a good weekend everyone!!!

RE: OFFICIAL MINI E-REVO THREAD!!!
 

holy crap i never thought of using an ammo box to charge in lol, i have like 4 of them, ive just been putting the lipo bag in the middle of my basement where there is nothing near it so far, right on great idea