i ran it with as tight a mesh as i dared, wasnt quite binding. the clutch slip has backed off loads with this 11t 1st gear. its definately the right ratio for 1st - instant takeoff, wheelies when u want to show off etc. just frustrating.

spoke to the guys i got the bits from tonight, they said to send in the gears and bearings and theyd have a look. dunno what they expect to see... but the bits are posted. i ordered some new 11/15 and 12/16 sets from ho bao. the 12 might do me as a single speed setup... really am sick of messin about with it now tho.

the gen spurs are fine for what its worth, still not a mark on them.

There is also the possibility that an 11T first gear is to low. Try the 12T before you go back to the 11T. That engine does produce alot of low end torque.

How are the diff's holding up?


rolland

too low? hmmm, not something i thought about tbh. im guessing that top speed is about mid 20s mph with the 11t if that helps. it is still running on the rich side tho, just to keep the throttle in check, it gets a bit bloody lively... tuned right id say 30 is realistic with the 11t

too low wouldnt damage the clutch bell bearings tho would it? remember the gen spurs are 43/39, which are only 1t off the ct4s spurs, and of course the bigger & heavier wheels. the clutch was warm tho, nothing like as hot as the cen one got, which was on some other (cheap) bearings with no bearing probs running 11 and 14t 1st gear.

i will try the 12t first tho, see how it goes.

amazingly the diffs are fine rolland, not a mark on them. they are the optional heavy duty ones. maybe they are made from the same stuff as the genesis spurs... i can get pics if u like! i was expecting them to die straight away too mate. i even have a spare hd set here!

I know that I go through 11T pinions faster that 12T pinions with my OS .18 and I really don't notice a speed difference between the 11T and the 12T. I had assumed it was caused from the increased torque of the OS engine.
The bearings could have been faulty or they just couldn't handle the instant torque that was hitting them with the .28 and the 11T.
As far as how fast it should go I have no idea, you are doing something that few people have done and the ones that have done it have moved onto something else.

Thats good to hear about the diffs. I really didn't want to deal with trying to fit T-Maxx diffs in my truck. Which I am pretty sure could be done, there is that much of a size difference.


rolland

Here is a list of parts that I used.
Diff cups, http://www.acehardwarehobbies.com/2....oducts_id=6652
These need to be shortened 1.5mm and flats ground to slide into diff. Taper ends in for clearance and clearance the underside of the arm a little bit.

Nuckles, http://www.acehardwarehobbies.com/2....oducts_id=6607

Axles you will need 2 of these, http://www.acehardwarehobbies.com/2....oducts_id=6659 and the pins need to be filed down so that they do not protrude out of the diff cups.

Traxxas pivot balls, http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...33&FVPROFIL=++

Traxxas piviot ball caps, http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...=++&search3=Go
The spacers that Traxxas uses on their pivot balls is not long enough so I used some extra shock pistons as spacer, 2 on the top and 1 on the bottom.

So far every thing is working great but I need to get some longer turnbuckles to hook up the steering.

I found my camera but I keep getting DNS errors every time I try to upload. Even if I try to upload to my gallery.



rolland

try editing an existing post to upload ur pics. oh, they arent too large are they? editing worked for me, i had the same prob.

dying to see some pics man! thanks for the part numbers too, and be sure to give it a good thrash test mate... does this mean a big block is coming...?

re my clutch bearings... should have mentioned that they are/were plastic sealed. after one went on me i swapped it out for my only spare, which is steel sealed, that one seems ok, but the other plastic one then failed too. would it maybe be worth trying lighter clutch springs along with some steel sealed bearings? try to get the clutch to bite sooner and therefore reduce slip... thinkin out loud here, not sure if it will make much difference.

oh yea, spurs are lookin great, but 1st doesnt like to be turned... another bearing by the looks of it. maybe the engine is taking its toll now...

any suggestions on bearings that would take it? ive seen some nice ceramic ball ones, but they are a bit pricey, nice tho. maybe steel sleeved would be enough.. sigh... i just dunno anymore!!!!

cmon rolland lets see these shafts man!

Trying again

rolland

lookin very nice!! i especially like the truck stand!

what wheels and tyres are they? hope they dont give u the spur eating trouble that i had... should be ok with the 18 tho.

oh one thing i noticed looking back at mine was that the plastic shafts are now quite twisted, can twist them by hand... a lot... it could well be acting as a good shock absorber for my diffs... are u on the standard diffs rolland?

The OS box is the perfect size for a truck stand.
I am not going to run those tires I took them off of my X-Factor for fitment. They are Imex Romulins with Losi LST tires with shaved foams for rock crawling.
I am going to run buggy tires first (they are cheap) and then order another set of the Romulins. Mainly because I have to do the rear first and I can get buggy tires that are about the same height.

I am running the machined cross shaft and the standard gears in the diffs.

I think I figured out the pic posting prob.

rolland

lol, wow man couldnt u find any bigger tyres? and im not so sure u should plug it into the mains either!!

im having a rummage around in the uk for those shaft parts, bearings are just plain boring! prices are scary here tho...

what tyres are u looking at out of interest? and hows ur brake? mine took a bit more stopping with the bigger wheels... alloy brake helped, uprated servo sorted it.

I need to get the buggy tires and longer turnbuckles for the steering before I really thrash it but so far the brake is holding up fine. I also have the aluminum brake seat and the metal disc and plug.
I never really thought about tire choices for my MT2 but I really like the looks of those Ofna Brick Pins but I am also thinking about the Zombiemaxx (real soft and sticky with a low profile). I also found asphalt tires (slicks) on buggy wheels. When I get tired of the buggy wheels or when the LHS has the parts in stock to finish my conversion I will probably go with the larger tire.


The link Scouser posted on the Hyper 7 uses the same length CVJ's as the Swift the only thing I am not sure about on the Hyper 7 parts is the shaft diameter of the diff cups. The Swifts are the same size at the MT2's.
Power Racing is no longer making the Swift but they sold the design rights to Rdlogics and they are re-introducing it as the SHO Buggy.

When you figure out the bearing problem let us know. I have know idea what the problem is.

rolland

all looking and sounding good rolland, keep it going mate!

clutch bearing is heat, and the spur is just rubbing on the diff casing for some reason... feels smooth, just stiff, think its straight forward.

might just go with ceramic bearings to be sure... have to get 10 at a time tho, so will sell some on i think, cant see those failing quickly... i hope... theyre from the US tho, so gonna take a while to sort it out im afraid[&o]

Is there a possibility that the clutch is shimmed a little too tight causing extra pressure on the bearings when the clutch bell is bolted on? I was thinking if the bearings are "pinched", even a little when the clutch bell is installed it will not allow them to rotate freely causing excess resistance which might be causing them to overheat. Just a thought.

I should be able to get the wheels and turn buckles this weekend. If I do I will give it a good thrashing and post the results. I am going to have to use adapters on the rear until my LHS gets the parts that I need to do the conversion.


rolland

thanks for the thought mate, but no, i left a tiny bit of play in the bell. its the first time that i have used plastic sealed bearings in the clutch - they came with the bell, and i was told that they would be fine with my setup by the people i got them from. steel sealed bearings have been my choice in previous runs with no probs.

nearly there then mate with ur shafts! u are running 17mm hexes i guess? i realise u will be trying the buggy wheels first, but do the 17s leave many mt wheels available that will work? or do u just want rid of the romulins adapters? hmm that would make sense i guess...

as for tyres, i really cant fault the brick pins, but then they are all i have run in an mt setup on this truck. they are wearing very well tho, better than any of my rally tyres.

good luck with the parts rolland!

Yes I am running 17mm hexes on the front and will have to run the adapters on the rear until my LHS gets the parts I need for the rear which, is the main reason why I am going to use buggy wheels first. I want to keep the rotating mass down until I do the rear.

As far as wheel selection Ofna makes the hex portion that slides and pins onto the cv in allot of different lengths, I have seen them for standard offset all of the way to 3 inches of offset (im not sure I need a 6 inch wider MT2) if this makes sense. I should be able to run any wheel with a 17mm hex or use 23mm Proline hexes and wheels with the 23mm Ofna conversion.
I had pretty much decide against the T-Maxx hubs because of the number of wheels that I will be limited to. What is realy cool about this swap is that I can use any tire/wheel combo that will work on a buggy or truggy.

The only thing that concerns me about the swap is the pin that runs between the diff cups is no longer used I don't know how critical the pin is but if it cuts down on the life of the diff I will have to drill and install a pin in the modded cups. Which, I have a feeling will be the hardest part of this swap.

I have never really seen plastic sealed clutch bell bearings before. If they can't handle the heat I understand why.

Why is the spur hitting the diff case? It seems that that would be an impossibility but I don't have the Genesis gears yet.


rolland

i hear u re the hexes, makes sense mate.

i also am without the pin that sits in the 2 diff cups, havent had a failure so far... im guessing they just help the cups stay in place and generally locate a bit better, rather than twisting about etc.

the spurs i have need to be set in position by a couple of shims behind them, in front of the topshaft bearing. i used glow plug washers, seems to work ok.

bit of advice guys... do not run a 3mm drill bit into ur finger and then allow it to travel about an inch along the length of said finger cos it really hurts and bleeds like buggery! ouch!!!!!!

Thanks for the info on the pins and all I can say about the drill bit is yikes!.



rolland

Poor Judgement, did you get your .28 funfactor running again after the crash? What speeds are you getting with it?

yea its been running again, stil havent got 2nd adjusted yet, getting mid 20s mph i think with this 1st 11t pinion gear. im waiting on some more pinions at the mo.

oh i snapped another driveshaft too. did it while braking hard on grass... to much traction for them. i got 1 spare tmaxx shaft left to keep it going for now - gonna look into rollands shaft mod in the meantime.

Just out of interest, have you looked at the centre dogbone and the diffs, to see how they are coping with the .28? Considering that the motor puts out nearly three times the power, I am interested to see whats going on in the diff cases.

centre dogbone has a very slight twist, and the diffs (cens heavy duty gears) are fine too. yea, im surprised too.

That's really impressive. If you compare them to the Savage diffs which, although they only had two planetary gears, needed to be upgraded if you ran anything bigger or more powerful than the .25. These little suckers are tougher than you think.

Ran the truck with the buggy tires today and all I can say is "why didn't I do this sooner".
Handling is far better than stock and the turning radius is unbelievable.
The only thing that needs to be done that I didn't do is to put some fuel tubing behind the CVJ's on the diff cup side to hold the cups in place because they slide out a little bit due to how the axles have to be adjusted to get full articulation. Other than that no problems at all.
Now that I broke a rear dogbone the truck is on the shelf until the LHS gets the parts that I need to do the rears.
This weekend I will see if I can find the Ofna parts to do the swap. I know that the CVJ's are the same but I do not know about the diff cups and the knuckles.


rolland

Hello People,

I have to take my hat off for you guys who are continusouly trying to make the FF better.

However, while checking out the prices for parts to do the buggy drive shafts mods, I realized that I could get a brand new Swift buggy here in Hong Kong for less than 100UK pounds. OK, the buggy is in the middle of being replaced, hence the discount.

In any case, how much do you think the full Buggy drive shafts mods will cost? I can either buy the whole buggy and take parts off it or, just forget the FF & have myself a new Buggy(Not the most popular option here I am sure! But seems to make more sense!).

No matter what, keep up the good work.

Regards
Normanski

Yes you are correct, I can get the Ofna Ultra MBX R2 80% built buggy or a Swift Pro for 180.00 US and have all of the necessary parts to do the conversion or a really nice buggy, or just get rid of the MT2 and get something that doesn't require any work, but that really isn't the point.
I like the truck and enjoy working on it. Out of all of my RC trucks this one is by far the favorite of the group and will never be replaced and is the first one I grab when I go to the track or out to bash.

As far as total cost involved I really have no idea. I usually by my parts from my LHS with cash and I deliberately through out the receipts. The reason that I do this is so I don't have an idea. The CVJ's are the most expensive part at around 50.00 US a pair but the stock replacements for the MT2's are around 40.00 a pair, diff cups are about the same price as the CEN ones as well as the knuckles. So I am not really above what it costs to replace the stock parts, and I will have to replace them less often.


rolland