ORIGINAL: Muskokarc
Just recently got a old well used LST figure would post as I do repairs and upgrades.
Ok its been a year since I got back into the RC hobby with any real time and money put into it. Had a local off road track open up so I dusted off my old E Rustler took it to the track and what I thought was a fast RC was not so any more. It is one of the originals that where released back int he day. Well over the year I have done a lot of upgrades from getting rid of the old mechanical speed control to beefing it up to take brushless and lipo power. So went from doing say 10km/h tops with the old stock motor setup to now getting 68 km/h. With that achieved my eyes began to wonder looking for the next RC to work on. Been looking at every thing from Crawlers to Helicopters. Was in my local swap shop and spotted this rather larg RC truck sitting on a shelf in the back. Asked the owner about it and found that it was due to come out.
He brought it out and showed me it; well I think it was love at first look. Even though I did not thing I would do anything with Nitro the truck was calling my name. I asked how much and he said make an offer so I did some research here on the forum and on Losi's site and other web sites. Came up with a price range and went back in. I offered him $100 cdn for it and he asked for $125. I dug out my rc savings and bought it.
The truck came with everything but more fuel and a fuel bottle. Took me a few tries to get it to go more things to have ready to fire up the motor than electric. Like charge the roto start and glow heater. I got it to fire up and it ran ok but would bog down when I tried to put full throttle and stall out. I was alright with that was just a test run to make sure all was working before I would tear it down and clean and replace some parts that where broken. Should have taken off the gear cover before starting it. Would have found that the low speed pinion gear was lose and worn out as much as it was. Well lesson learned there.
Now I have begun the tear down and cleaning. So-far I found I need to replace at least both the pinion and spur gear for the low gear. Since Losi offers a full package for both high and low will get that and start fresh there. Will replace the gear cover with a RPM setup. Have a new motor mount on the way to replace the one that was broken when I got it. Missing some screws so going to order a whole set,and lots of lock tight. Thinking of going with RC Screws stainless steel set. Will need a few gallons to of fresh shock oil those things are huge on it. Shock covers from Bad horse they are great at keeping the shocks clean and free of debris.
Any other suggestions on what should be done?
Here are some pics as it was when I purchased it and as far as I have done the break down.
The cylinder head is on sideways. The grooves on top should go front to back instead of sideways. Cooling fins are more efficient when air can go through them instead of over them.
Good upgrades to an LST1 is the LST2 conversion kit. Bigger axles, beefier suspension arms, 17mm wheel hexes (better than the 14 or 15mm that come on the LST1/AFT/MegaBaja, and beefier chassis rails. Its spendy at around $130USD, but well worth the extra beefiness.
Next would be the LST2 spec spur gear setup. Has bearings instead of bushings, the 2nd gear clutch hub is all aluminum instead of just an aluminum ring in a plastic spur gear, and I highly suggest dumping the Reverse and High/Low in the transmission in favor of the Losi Forward Only kit. The truck loses weight, rotating mass, and if you do the "gear flip mod" it'll go faster too. I did this to both of my LST2's. There are other upgrades that can be done but those are IMO the best ones to start with if you want a really tough basher.
I love Losi monster trucks.