Well just as we all were once I am a newbie to drifting.

I got started with Crawlers and have built 3-2.2 crawlers 1-super crawler with one more super in the works. I race electric off-road during the season 1/10th stadium trucks and monster trucks as well as nitro in both classes. I like playing on the rocks and in the dirt.

I recently bought a used touring car to race and that just wasn't as much fun as I thought it was going to be.

Now I have a touring car I'm not excited about racing but have peaked my interest in drifting. A guy from my club let me drive his racer with drift tires. I'm hooked!

I think I have a fairly decent car in which to transform into a drifter.

I would like to know if the car I have would be a decent drift car and what it would take to transform it into a drift car.

It is a LOSI XXX-S with a Novak GTB and an SS3400 motor. I have some slick rubber tires. The tires on it now are foams for racing.

What would be the steps I should take to make it a drifter? It's a complete graphite chassis and came with about nine different sway bars and eleven sets of shock springs.

I'm pretty sure I can tune this puppy to pretty much anything with all the spare parts.

Enough talk. Where do I begin to make the transformations?

All help is greatly appreciated. One thing I don't want to hear is "You should have bought . . . . . " I have the XXX-S on hand will it work or no?

Thanks a bunch.

I'm just sorta a newbie as well, but the first thing you'll definately want to do is put the hard, slick rubber tires on it. I have heard people say to lock the diff, but some "pros" would have to confirm that. Hope this helps a little.

the xxx-s is a great platform. The only thing you need to do is tighten the front diff up, and put some drift tires on it. If you have a 1-way front diff, thats a plus. On Feb the 14th ans 15th, We(CO+D) are having our first drift comp @ E-team Hobbyplex in FT Collins, CO. I would be cool if you came. i could help set up your car if it isn't by then. Come check out the CO drift section, we have alot planned for this summer if your interested

locking the rear diff helps also. compliments a front 1-way by acting like an e-brake.

We might be at Ft collings hobbyplex this sunday for some practice also

Thanks for the quick replies.

Sounds like just a couple of settings to the diffs and putting on the other set of tires might do for initial setup.

I'd like to come to Ft. Collins this weekend but there's a crawler comp in Rock Springs I already committed to.

So let me get this straight:

Lock the rear diff.

Tighten the front diff but don't lock it.

Change out the tires.

Correct?

don't forget for the best result in power 15t motor is recommended

check to see if the wheels rotate in the same direction, if they don't you need to lock your diffs so that they do, second get yourself a set of low to no traction wheels and go from there.

if you are a noob dont use hard rubber slick get ABS/PVC PLASTIC WHEELS to practice
[link]http://cgi.ebay.com/12-RC-CAR-DRIFT-TIRE-TYRE-1-10-ABS-TC3-LOSI-TAMIYA-HPI_W0QQitemZ150319267978QQihZ005QQcategoryZ34061Q QssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem[/link]

I get my drifter out every winter, while the racing season has died down. It is extremely fun to do. I am working on it more than ever this year, and would like to get a setup sheet for others to use. I'm not going to guarantee anything, but I am working on it.

Couple tips-

Adjust your turnbuckles so that the tires wear evenly. Allow for some break-in time, before adjusting anything else. Luckily abs pipe is cheap.

A snug fit and a little ca glue on the inside of the rim is enough to hold the tire/pipe on.

Using a long servo arm will give the car maximum steering, and make it more responsive. I'm not using a servo saver, but I don't hit much if anything.

These are great, and cheap. I don't mind if my neighbors run over them in the street. It's surprising how many people try to.[:@] They only cost $6, and only a couple have cracked. http://www.losipartshouse.com/servle...2C-Neon/Detail

I have found that a 19t motor is probably best, although my dad's xxx-s is using a 27t with no problems at all now that we are working on setup.

I haven't done anything to the diffs yet. I just make sure they are operating smoothly, and I am currently running the front tighter than the rear. It has been working out great for me, but like I say, I haven't/ haven't needed to change setup much.

^ Just a few things off the top of my head. I should seriously get a video of our cars in action. The xxx-s is definitely capable.[sm=cool.gif] It takes a little while to get used to, but you should be drifting like this in no time. If only my street were this smooth! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zyh78...e=channel_page Here are a few pictures, just because. We also have cheap night lights and a heater for this time of year.

Thanks for the help. A setup sheet would be GREAT!!!

Coming into this I haven't got a clue how to set up a car.

Do you think the Brushless system I have is okay to use or should I go brushed?

Novak GTB with an SS3400 sensored motor.

As for the wheels to use with the ABS are they simply the wheels used for foam tires?

I have a set of rubber slick tires. They mount like a normal stadium truck tire in a slot on the edge of the rim.

Our club races on carpet. How does this change the scenario?

Also, right now the butt end of my car tries to pass the front end around a corner. Does this mean the front is too loose? The front doesn't seem to pull at all.

I have parts on order because I found some stripped bolts (what do you expect from buying used?) Should I lock the rear diff?

How do you lock the diff in a simple way when it is a friction type deal capturing the spool that the belt rides on? Do you remove the bearings and tighten it down?

Is there a thread on how to do this on this site or do you know of any sites that explain in great detail?

I know. All kinds of questions. Like I said I know nothing about touring cars or drifting cars. [sm=confused.gif]

My time has been spent in the dirt and on the rocks.

here is my car i lost my one of my front drive shaft to my wheel

Keep in mind, the following is with very low grip tires. Results will probably be different if you are going to be using tires with more grip than abs pipe. I also drift on asphalt, and smooth concrete. I have no idea what it’s like to drift on carpet. I'm working on setup out of my own curiosity, but yes, I am always happy to help another RC’er.

I have found that setup on a drift car is surprisingly easy. Any 4wd road car is ready out of the box; just add tires. The biggest thing is adjusting how much steering you want, and how responsive you want it to be. At this point I would say that any adjustments besides these are for fine tuning. The car will be sliding sideways, so there isn’t much setup needed.

Driving a drift car is like trying to drive on ice. The breaks are your friend, because that is the only traction you are going to get. Use the breaks if you want to get through a tight corner. Full throttle is going to get you nowhere. Use the throttle to keep the car sideways, and if you are coming into a corner too tight, you can use the throttle to extend the cars’ reach. Your throttle trigger will be somewhere in the middle most of the time, trying to balance things out. A lot of people might think that steering a drift car requires more skill, but it’s honestly pretty easy. The tires have very little traction and the car has very little speed (compared to on-road with rubber tires), so if you jerk the wheel to the left for example, the front end will gradually steer in that direction versus torque rolling and cart wheeling off the track and out of sight.

I haven’t tried a brushless system in mine, so I don’t know what it would be like. It’s obviously powerful enough to use with abs tires. I think the problem is that when a brushless motor goes to neutral, it spins freely instead of acting like a break. This is very important for drifting. You should check and see if your brushless system has a setting that would work for drifting. Just about any brushed system will work. The electronics I am using in mine are the cheapest I own. The only bummer part is that I don’t have reverse.

The wheels that are on my car right now are the stock Losi dish wheels. I think they are discontinued though. Any on-road wheel will work, you don’t need anything special. The inside and outside bead, that you would normally glue a rubber tire to, are the only parts that touch the abs pipe. Try to get a wheel that is a touch too big. Then sand the edges down until it has a very snug fit. I use ca glue on the inside of the rim only. That’s it. The tires/pipe don’t last forever, so when they wear down, you just cut a slot in the tires with a hack saw, and they break/peel off pretty easily. Then glue another onto the same rim. (pictures in my above post).

What is the setup on your car now? What tires? It is hard for me to suggest changes without being there to drive the car myself. If it were me, I would rebuild both diffs, and tighten them evenly. Don’t have them too loose, but don’t tighten them all the way down. I have been drifting mine without locking either diff and it is working beautifully. I don’t see why the diffs would need to be locked, although this will be one of the things I try as I test setup more. I would imagine there are many ways to setup a drift car (more than any RC with grip).

Sorry for such a long post. I hope this helps. If I didn’t answer something, or you have more questions, feel free to ask. Most of what I know is self taught. Don’t be afraid to try things. If you are a crawler guy, you should know this. I want a crawler really badly. I’m getting the Losi crawler as soon as it’s out. The only thing I have left to save for is the battery.