I would have just got the preinstalled motor that comes with the pro model since I would not have been spending big money on I high end motor. I have already bought an extra pair of mugen shoes with 2 sets of 1.0 springs, so I will be good there. I have stayed with the stock clutchbell for now, until I get some time to practice on my track once the weather gets nicer. If I get a new clutchbell it will be one of the OFNA vented ones. I already own a LST, so I have many of the basic setup things like high end tools, shock oil, afterrun oil, filter oil, temp gun, diff silicone, etc. I have just found that I now need a new toolbox to keep all my extra Mayhem stuff in

Well gang, after a few minor hurdles in the setup process, I finally got to break in my Pro last night.

A few things worthy of note:

1) That statement they make on the first page of the manual that you don't have to worry about any screws being loose in the car? TOTAL BS. I'm probably going to contact someone in charge of producing their literature asking to have that taken out because it is a TOTAL LIE. Now, anyone who's done this for any amount of time knows this already, but if you're a first timer and read something like that, it's gonna lead to problems down the road. Having said that.....

2) Go over every single screw on the vehicle and make sure it's tight. If it's a screw connecting to something metal, use threadlock on it. The ONLY screws I found threadlock on were the screws that hold the motor mount to the chassis.

3) Check the brake adjustors. I've only lost one screw after 7 tanks, and that was the screw that held the front brake adjustor in place. I don't know how rare a thing this is, but if it'll save somebody from losing theirs, it's worth mentioning.

I got the Pro version with the motor and pipe, and after a couple of tanks to get everything seated and moving smoothly, the .21 is really cranking out the juice. Our local track doesn't have a lot of straights to really hammer down on, but when you do, the power is really there. If you're willing to put your own radio gear in , and don't wanna drop a lot of cash on another motor, you cant go wrong with the Sportwerks .21. I'm pretty pleased with it.

About my radio gear:

I went with the Spektrum DX3, and it's a good thing they send two receivers. There are two receivers: 1 that's packed in the styrofoam packaging with the radio, and an additional "free" receiver which comes packaged in a plastic bag. I installed the first receiver and bound it to the radio, and a few minutes later began to get some very strange behavior out of the throttle servo. It would glitch, then revert to the "panic" settings, and at times the receiver would completely cut out. Eventually it just died and wouldn't work at all. The receiver that came packaged in the plastic bag worked like a champ. I was speaking with another one of the locals at the track who relates that the exact same thing happened with his, so it's not a completely isolated incident.

I was lucky in that I had a friend with me who knew about breaking engines in, because the initial needle settings in the manual simply didn't work. It wasn't even enough to keep the engine at idle to start the break in. I thought it was going to be a tedious process, but I actually enjoyed going through the break in process, adjusting it a bit after every lap or two, and before I knew it, we'd gone through 5 tanks and starting to open it up a little and have some real fun. There's nothing quite clearing the big tabletop jump for the first time and catching "big air". It's easy to see how you can become addicted to this stuff!

Overall I'm really pleased with the buggy so far. I know that it's only gonna get better over time as well. I'll try to post some pics once I get the body painted up.

Does anyone have a picture with the Ackerman Steering plate installed on the Mayhem. I have been trying to follow the instuctions that were posted.
Thanks

I just got a used RTR Mayhem Buggy. I it said to only have 6 tanks ran through it. Anyways, I started it up today and right off it really rips. I have other Nitro On and OffRoad vehicles but thiws is my 1st 1/8 buggy. After just a minute or so of driving (on street) it seems the thing really takes off at the crack of the throttle but then it will let the clutch slip it sounds like and not take off nearly as hard from a dead stop. Would this be a clutch problem? Or a brake dragging problem? thanks

Just loosen the brake adjustments to find out for sure but it sounds as if it still has factory plastic clutch shoes. Ditch these and get aluminum shoes. You won't need any fancy dancy anything. Just the standard aluminum shoes. You'll see all grades of improvement.

OK I will pick some up tomorrow, thanks a bunch

NEED ASSISTANCE: My son just purchased a Mayhem ST RTR. He has run about a tank thru it, so far. It wouldn't start yesterday. I am into RC planes, but know nithing about RC trucks and my son is brand new, too.

In reading the manual it says: "When checking the adjustment of the low speed needle, it is crucial that the throttle
slide is closed completely and that you do not over-tighten the needles."

The carb slide is open approx. 2 mm, which I assume would be about "idle" position. Does the slide have to be "completely"
closed with no gap showing before you adjust the needle? On air engines you adjust with idle setting about 2 mm open.

For my planes, when I bring throttle stick to "0" this is idle. I use my throttle trim to "kill" the engine. Stick at zero is idle psoition
approx. 2mm, then trim closes the barrel completely. How do you set for this truck?

We would certainly appreciate your input for a couple of real beginners.

Thank You

Jim
AMA 821369

The gap is normal and that would be considered closed. Make sure the gap is about width of a dime or nickel. From there youd can adjust your low speed needle
You don't use the trims to shut down an engine in trucks as compared to planes. You can shut down an engine by covering the exhaust hole on your pipe.
You may want to further explain the symptons of trying to restart so we can help.
Rockman

Rockman:

I set everything back to factory settings, made sure I had a fully charged glow ignitor, and we got it started without much trouble.

We ran it for about 3 mintues at 1/4 to 1/2 throttle, took the temp with infared. The first temp was only about 180, let the engine cool to 95. I leaned it just a tad.
Ran it aagain, temp 196. let it cool to 95. Leaned just a tad, ran it, temp 214. Leaned just a tad more and temps ran consistently between 215 and 225. On one
run temp went to 237. Richened LSN just a tweak, temps went back to 220.

It has nice idle, not engaging clutches, and when you give it a good shot of throttle you can see nice slight blue smoke trail.

I haven't begun to lean the HSN. I think should run another tank or two thru like this. What do you think? We are new so, we appreciate constructive input.

Thanks for responding.

Jim V and Cory V

Which needle were you leaning out? It sounds like you were working the low speed needle by your description. I don't usually mess with low speed needle much after I set it unless the outside temperature changes our humidity changes.
I pretty much set the low speed needle to allow for a good idle that almost loads up the engine but not quite.
I tune for speed with the high speed needle. You want some smoke coming out of the pipe even on speed runs.
Your temps seem fine to me. You may even have a little more to work with by temperatures you stated. I seem to run mine mostly around 235.
Have fun.

i see this thread is still going strong.thats great to see.

same thing I was thinking, I have become quite competitive in my states expert series, nowhere near A main material for statewide championship series but at my local club races Ive been nailing the A mains every weekend[8D]

Okay MorganSS - Way to go!!
Now you have to share all of your setup information. shock and diff oils and hole placement for all turnbuckles, shock position and hubs. Also, all shim placement.
Now we're talking.
Rockman

Rockman:

We did lean the HSN maybe two times (probably 1/4 turn) during the runs. I think this help with the temps, to get them up from below 200 to above 200.
We do have blue smoke coming out during acceleration and high throttle application. You can just see a trail and it lessens as it gains RPM. When I say
high throttle, I don't mean firewall for any length of time. After about the third tank, Cory would get on it for short bursts. This sucker moves and we
don't have a lot of straightway.

Sounds to me that you are on the right track. You will continue to see speed gains as the engine settles in.
You will want to use the temp gun as a reference point but don't always tune to the temp gun. Your experience with plane engines will help in letting you "hear" and "observe" a correct tune for car engines.
Rockman

I have to ask (because it seems like part of your problem) what nitro % and what type of fuel are you running?

Billyman: We are using Blue Thunder, 20%. It's what Sportwerks recommends for their .26.

Jim

Hey Everyone, I have had a Mayhem with a .26C for a couple of weeks now and I love it! The only thing I have done is changed the bell gear to a 12 tooth and now it accelerates very fast. I have Proline Road Rage street tires and do a lot of parking lot driving with this thing. I have noticed that the front tires seem to be donuting out pretty much all the time during full throttle. The very centers of the tires are showing some agressive wear. I also think that this car tends to push while making high speed turns. What is the best way to get more power to the rear wheels and get rid of this understeer? Does changing the diff viscosity really make any difference? Also if I wanted to get a $200 engine that would be mainly for pavement driving and a lot of top speed, basically I think the .26 is awsome but I want something that will make this thing scream, what engine would I want to get? Or would it put too much stress on the car if I added more power?

dont use bluethunder! it doesnt have enough oil in it.. use odonnel 20%

Hey Guys, Sortwerks says right in their literature use Blue Thunder which is formulated by Dynamite. Dynamite is the manufacturer
of the .26.

We don't want to void the warranty if anything happens. So far, it is running really sweet, no problemns starting, etc. It seems
to really scream. We have not tuned for max power, yet. Only about 5 or 6 tanks tru it so far. Nice slight blue trail, more so during acceleration, but still slightly blue emission at high speed. Never misses a beat.

I am not disputing, but sincerely concerned.

More input please. Convince me.

in the manuel it says to run white lightning, bluethunder doesnt have enough lubrication for offroad use because when the tires are off the ground and in the air spinning theres not enough oil in the fuel to protect the engine from an over rev, causing the rod to stretch or break.. odonnel has a race fomulated fuel used by evryone in the professional league.. im just telling you what the pro's tell me at my track.. by the way u wont void your warrenty, ive already broke an engine and sent it back and they sent me a brand new one, no questions asked

If you’re wanting top speed performance and still maintain some low-end power.........first off change your clutch bell from that 12 tooth to a 14. Then, still using the .26 change the pipe to a mid-high tuned pipe (Ofna offers some of the best pipes for the money). The factory pipe for the .26 is for low-mid torque and changing just the pipe alone will make you think you have a totally different truck altogether.

If you still want more “umph” then go with an Ofna .27. They’re relatively cheap @ about $160.00. And you’ll want to run the mid-high torque pipe with this engine anyway. Don’t let the price fool you either. “Out of the box” these engines are awesome and very reliable.

One thing people don’t understand about the Sportworks .26 is it’s potential and what it actually already can do without mods. The factory crank is already turbo ported and has 3 turbo slots. With just a little porting on the sleeve all by itself this engine makes SERIOUS power. The blocks passage ways are fairly clean from the start and just a little deburring is all it takes to clean these up. But without even going through any of that, the engine will SCREAM as it is with just a pipe change. You’re truck will absolutely haul arse with going to a 14 tooth clutch bell as well.

You will not void the warranty by using a different fuel unless the fuel being used has less oil content than that which is being recommended by the manufacturer. If something happened to the engine and a question was asked about the brand and nitro percentage of the fuel was being used and you said Traxxas Top Fuel 20%, they would say “well, that isn’t the problem then”. Too much oil will not harm an engine, it’ll only eat glow plugs and cause sluggishness in the engine.

Another thing is it almost impossible (didn’t say it was impossible) but very, very, very difficult to get an engine “warranted”. The manufacturer virtually always says (depending on failure) that it wasn’t broken in correctly, over revved, too lean, blah, blah, blah.......all of which pointing to operators error.

From reading what you said about your temps during break-in and you saying you hadn’t touched the HSN I was taken aback. I recently broke-in my .26 myself (a few weeks ago). Just after the first tank I started leaning it out little by little and short WOT bursts were growing longer and longer to where there were really long WOT bursts. I couldn’t get heat in my engine to save my life. I was into my 9th tank before I started getting aggressive with the tune and I still couldn’t get the head temps above 200. I strapped the truck down on our chassis dyno and after the tuning was done, my HSN is approximately 1/4 from being turned all the way in. Good gawd at the power and I can run the living padooky out of it for a full tank and the head still won’t read but about 220 degrees. This is which running Traxxas 20%. If I run Trinity 25% my head temps drop to about 210-212 with the same tune. If I run Trinity 30% it’s difficult to get a head temp reading more than 200.

yeah i was luckly they replaced it, i over reved it and snaped the rod, which sized the piston in the sleve.. i sent the engine in all cleaned up and told them i was running odonnel 30, used a sportwerks #3 plug, which i dident, and explained that i broke it in properly and on the 8th tank the faliure occured, it accually happened on the 15th.. it was totaly my fault becasue i ahd a run away and it reved very high, and then i was running it in wet grass, when my tires were bald.. it was fun though lol anyways thats my story

I have a Mayhem Buggy .26 RTR. I put a venom fail safe / on board temp gauge on it before I started it for the 1st time. I can not let it get a quarter of the length away with this that I can with my Traxxas Nitro vehicles. I have full charged batteries, the antenna on the remote is all the way up and the antenna on the reciever is not damaged. I can only get 100 foot or so away and the fail safe kicks in and locks the brakes. Any clues?