hpistorm

I am trying to decide between a Firestorm Flux, and the Rustler VXL, I was decided soley on the HPI but my local hobby shop carries mainly traxxas, The guy said they could order me one if that is the route I dediced to go, Can yall give me an honest opnion on both, Pro's and cons of each? Thanks for any input that yall may have. 

RustlerTraxxas

I do not own a Firestorm flux so I will not give an opinion. I will tell you what I think about the Rustler VXL.
Pros
- $280 USD
- 60mph out of the box with 3S lipo and included pinion, 45mph with 7-cell nimh
- Wide wheelbase
- low center of gravity
- Great durability, just don't hit a tree at 30mph thinking it shouldn't break.
- In my opinion, it looks awesome.
Cons
-Stock tires wear out very fast on pavement.
-Stock steering isn't as tight as I would like.
If I were to buy a VXL again I would get the Stampede. It comes stock with talons, much better tires for road and off-road use. But if you are looking for a low, fast, durable and agile r/c car, you can't go wrong with the Rustler VXL.

bagxlee

N00b to RC's here. I got a Rustler XL-5 a month ago. Mostly stock other than a couple of RPM parts. I've got a quick question to those that know way more than me:

I busted a stock castor block. I purchased new ones from RPM (I know... alot of you say to go Aluminum... but that's not the issue...)

I can't get the old kingpin out and the new kingpin IN.

Any advice for taking off the king-pin clips and removing the king-pin itself? Maybe there is just a trick I'm missing.

Thanks in advance!

Scott Dilley

My Feedback: (3)

Is anyone running the EZRUN brushless setups? I have found mixed reviews. I am looking to upgrade my xl-5's to brushless. I would also be open to suggestions for a brushed upgrade.

93dabeast

My Feedback: (1)

just installed rpm front and rear arms on my rustler. soon to have pics. i changed the stock gears in my xl-5 to the optional ones that come in the bag and didnt notice much of a difference. was there supposed to be a big difference in the gearing change?

Scott Dilley

My Feedback: (3)

So...I just finished installing ball bearings in my son's and my rustler. I am in the process of changing the tires to Anacondas. From now on, I will spend the extra to buy the tires pre mounted. It's worth it. Boiling and ripping the old tire off...trying to get the new tire on correctly...definitely worth $10 or so per pair.

jbrobertsonjr

go with the vxl or the mamba max pro

bagxlee

Sorry, to be persistant, but I'm probably getting the new parts in the mail today, and would like to have a straight answer before I break something trying to get the old kingpins out.

Scott Dilley

My Feedback: (3)

First of all, I'm kinda new to r/c cars, but I work on medical equipment for a living, and sometimes we have to deal with e-clips. I normally use a sharp pick to pry the clip off. It might be good to have a couple of extras on hand, just in case you bend one.

warheadforever

O.K., since everyone is ignoring you guys, I'll answer. LOL
I use a pick to get the old E-clips off, they are a pain but they stay on there real well. To get them back on, I use a pair of needle nose pliers, but make sure to have a paper tower over it when you are taking them off, or putting them on, or elss they WILL fly to the hardest and darkest part of the room....... LOL

By the way, if you do use a pick, be very careful not to stick your self in the hand, because it will go in about a inch.......and believe me, THAT hurts.....

warheadforever

Oh yea... LOL besides that boiling rubber stinks....[:'(]

bagxlee

Thanks for the help. And yes, I stabed my hand with a small flathead last night trying to get the clip off. Yikes.

Also, while I've got your attention, is there a DIY guide or something Ican look at for general maintanance? I'm trying to pull the motor out so I can reach the rear A-arm screw (So Ican change them out.) and I can't for the life of me figure out how its in there, or if there is an easier way to get the rear A-arm off. Any guidence there?

Thanks for help, man.

warheadforever

Sure, just take the gear cover off ( I believe it is held on by 2 2.5mm screws) and under there should be the two screws for the motor, when you put the motor back in, make sure to check the mesh with a peace of paper. Um, the only "maintenance" guide I know of would be the instruction manual. LOL But really, the only thing you really need to do is clean it after you run it, and replace part as they brake.
If you like to put aluminum on, this is what you should get after about 8 years. LOL

bagxlee

Yeah, that looks pretty awesome. Geez.

I got as far as getting the gear cover off last evening. The problem I ran into was that the larger of the two gears (What is that called?) just BARELY covers the edge of one of the screws holding the motor in. After discovering this, it became an issue of taking the large gear off, and that just seemed like it was going to lead to MORE problems, so I just said "screw it", and put the cover back on.

Am I missing something?

warheadforever

No, you aren't missing a thing, the 87 tooth Spur (the big gear is called a Spur, and the small one coming off the motor is called the pinion) just covers the top screw, it's not that hard to get on and off, but I would sugest that you take the wheels off before you take the spur off, it makes life easier when you put it back on. By the way, do you have a VXL or a XL-5?

Never mind, you already said you have the XL-5. LOL

Scott Dilley

My Feedback: (3)

The spur comes off with 3 allen head screws. Just unscrew them and pop the gear off.

Scott Dilley

My Feedback: (3)

Any opinion on the Reedy brushed motors? I was thinking of the 15 turn. I know, I know, brushless is the way to go, but I am upgrading my son's and mine at the same time and $300 plus is a little much for a backyard basher.

93dabeast

My Feedback: (1)

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...9&I=LXWLW9&P=K

is this a good set up for the rustler?

dakotanut

This is the only pics I have of my Rustler. I have done a lot more to it than this. I had no idea this was here. Coool. I run the hell out of my Rustler.

RPM front and rear A arms
RPM bearing carriers and caster blocks
RPM front and rear shock tower braces
Lipo battery
Sidewinder 2700 System
Ball bearings at all 4 corners
Upgraded reciever
Installed steel diff.

go4the1

I guess it's about time to post this...

Started with a stock rustler VXL, and so far added the following:
Xtremeracing G-10 Chassis
Carbon Fiber Front Shock Tower
Carbon Fiber Rear Shock Tower
Aluminum Rear Bearing Carriers
Big Bore Shocks all around
RPM Dual-rate Shock Pistons
Tactic 2.4GHZ Tx/Rx
Hot Racing Aluminum Tranny Case
RPM A-arms all around
Full set of Talon tires
Pro-line Sand Paws mounted on HPI "Scorch" rims
+ other little stuff (rpm front bumper, ESC fan, etc)

Some pics have stock tires installed just because it'd been a while since I saw what the "correct size" tires look like on the rusty... so used to the Talon's that are pede size.

[link=http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/3481/dsc04745f.jpg][/link]
[link=http://img109.imageshack.us/img109/4427/dsc04739v.jpg][/link]
[link=http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/2680/dsc04716z.jpg][/link]
[link=http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/1797/dsc04695.jpg][/link]
[link=http://img44.imageshack.us/img44/8652/dsc04748n.jpg][/link]

Running on a MaxAmps 2S 6500mAh LiPo. Currently waiting on a few spur/pinion gears to arrive, and I'll probably end up getting a swami bar as well. Without it, the tranny case is getting scraped up on the back from wheelies. I have a 31/76 pair coming in for some GPS runs so we'll see how that goes.

dakotanut

I'm building one out of STRC, FLM, and some Traxxas stuff. I'm not ready to take pictures of it yet. Not any where close to being finished. It is going to be all aluminum. No plastic. Well, maybe some. So far it looks good. It will just be for running up and down the street. I'm going to put some serious motor and ESC in it. Not sure what though. I still need all the nuts and bolts and a tranny case. Little stuff like axles, pins, wheels, receiver, battery, bumpers and things of that nature. I can't finish it right now anyways.

neyou86

My Feedback: (2)

go4the1 very nice truck. what kind of speed do you get outa that. im jealous

go4the1

Thanks! Waiting on high-speed pinion & spur combo to come in... on 28/83 (basically stock), I got 43mph on GPS using a super cheap 7s NiMH. Now with the maxamps 2s lipo and 31/76 gearing, I'm guessing probably in the range of 50-55mph but I'll post the actual results in this thread when that time comes.

Anyone looking for a really good (cost-effective, to me at least) hop-up for your rusty, check out the aluminum tranny case I got here: http://www.hobbyetc.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?part_id=56899 it looks awesome and seriously helps with motor temps. Literally after running my entire 6500mAh LiPo up and down the street at full speed my motor was about 80° F (26° C). This was a colder day but still... the old tranny case in the same conditions would've been at least 20 degrees more.

For those that don't know, aluminum transmission cases basically act as a heatsink (like in a computer) that pulls heat off the motor. All aluminum tranny cases have this effect, but I went one step further with this one because it keeps the motor completely in the open AND has heatsinks built on. Assembly is nothing... if you can get the old one apart, you can get this one together. Just remember that as far as I can tell, you won't be able to use the stock motor guard, wheelie bar, etc that mount to the tranny. Instead you can get a swami bar that mounts to the chassis and protects everything, in addition to keeping you rubber-side-down as much as possible.

Oh also the stock gear cover doesn't fit properly. The holes are there but it rubs against my 83T spur so probably the smaller spur will fix that. If not, I'm sure I could modify the stock one. Worst case scenario, I'll get an aluminum one (or at least an RPM one).

Edit: The stock gear cover works with the new 76T spur but I had to make the famous hole in the gear cover even bigger by maybe an 8th of an inch.

You've probably seen this already, but just in case you haven't: http://www.rc-monster.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8442

It looks pretty but I'd love to know the weight differences... my truck as it stands right now (scroll up two posts) with stock tires and everything rtr except the battery weighs about 59 ounces (3.7 pounds), which is almost identical to stock weight.

93dabeast

My Feedback: (1)

can anyone help me out with this?

rustlerbuster

I have an old rustler with the XL-1 system but i am waiting on my XL-5 system which is on its way through the mail as i type lol. Other upgrades on my rusty are: blue RPM front a-arms, blue RPM transmission cover, RPM tires, and RPM wheels. More to come though for sure after i get and hook up my new XL-5 system. I'm so excited im finally upgrading my old rusty . I paid $40 for it bout a year ago, been driving it, and now its getting a new speed control and motor that i paid $10 for :P lol. So i should have a pretty decent bashing/light racing stadium truck for bout $50. I think its been a pretty good investment lol what do you guys think?