pythonfan

My Feedback: (1)

Ok guys this will be the 3rd time i wright this as the others have just not covered what i need to ask and i think this might do it.

Ok Ive had my baja 7 months now i think something around there, and its time to do some massive repairs and upgrades as she has some breakages that needed mending that duct tape and superglue can't fix.

I think i have 5-6 tanks put threw it in those 7 months, not much out time do to a few things but i tend to brake something every outing.

A Lot of my repairs have been home made and are well ghetto since i don't have a hobby shop for miles that has any 1/5th scale parts so ive had to make do with what i have been able to get my hands on but now i've broken parts that i can't fix and needs replacing.

Now when i got the baja i was told to upgrade when something brakes, but here is my problem as well as others, money i have little no none and wondering if its worth upgrading the broken parts, or go 50/50 or 60/40 or even 70/30 on stock to upgrade.

The parts i have broken are, shown in the pictures below. I have also gone threw a set of tires, and 2 rims, and i lost a wheel nut, and stripped a spur gear so those things have been replaced but now its time for a overhaul as things are getting bad.

When looking at the baja this is the left side arm, nothing is broken but it is to show the difference to the right side.

This needs to be replaced

moderate shock damage

left rear arm

right rear arm/not missing but is separated

right rear axial

right rear axial missing pin

hard to tell but right rear axial has a nice slight bend in it/i bent it back from a nasty bend.

What your not seeing on one rear axial carrier the bearing is missing its shield.
______

Left front hex hub

two washers to replace left front hex hub bearing

washers and hub together

hostiles economy edition/stripped bead lock rings


Another thing not shown, my differential cup was chipped but not badly enough that i could not use, and it has not leaked yet so that's something else i might replace.


Pictures say a 1000 words so i thought they would do the talking for me, so is it better to replace those parts with stock or to upgrade them all?

So far i have in my cart fast eddy's pro bearings, and debating or not for dark souls axial kit.

jasrx

update them all if u can aford to .

sheograth

Those all seem like small and cheap parts to replace, I would just order them online. Also, I'll dig around in the basement and see if I have anything I can send you - I might have multiples of some of those parts and I'd be glad to give them to you.

pythonfan

My Feedback: (1)

thanks sheo, and i priced it up, but was thinking i should go maybe alum with some of it, and plastic with the rest, for the arms i think for the money i'm gonna go with rpm.

Also does anyone have a link to the brake kit for just the front brakes? I have been looking but prices keep throwing me, some places only 50-75 others 150-250 don't know what i need or will work, its a upgrade ive been thinking about.

speedy.d

a good set of axle extenders would help keep your wheels from cutting into your arms.

RCguru09

Didn't you read the fine print when buying a RTR largescale. (Ready To Replace) A big money pit. The price gets them every time. Bam!

sparky 25

Whats ready to run about a hpi baja ss kit?

wan6176

obviously from ur second pic the black spacer is replace by washer...where is the black spacer that looks like a v shape at the hub carrier?
and u have 2 nuts. it should have 1 nut.what happen around there?

Lars from Norway

I guess this is due to lack of locknuts,they are tightened against each other instead

46u

My Feedback: (3)

As far as the rear A arms rubbing on the wheels HPI has come out with a new style A arm which quires this problem.
original
http://www.davesmotors.com/s.nl/c.88...it.A/id.261/.f
New style
http://www.davesmotors.com/s.nl/c.88...t.A/id.5732/.f

Ballistic Lunacy

Quires? Like catholic singing quire?

Nice info though, wasn't aware of the revised arms - chances are soon as I order some I get the wrong ones...

SAVAGEJIM

Well considering that you come from a Savage background, and on the few vids I saw you post, you bash like a Savage basher, it is understandable that your Baja will see a whole lot more wear and tear.

Not saying to lighten up on it, I am down for some beat-your-truck style bashing, and I must say your vids are also entertaining! I guess what I am trying to say is that our gassers see MUCH more forces and stresses just form the simple fact that they can be anywhere to 2 to three times heavier than a Savage, but the forces and and stresses they see, especially when coming down from a jump, are very much considerably more, since falling acceleration is a sqaured function.

Listen to these guys, they know what upgrades to get, also, check out these threads as guys go into detail of what upgrade parts they bought to address the HPI's weaker plastic parts that bear high loads:

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_8549034/tm.htm
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_8292478/tm.htm
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_7606808/tm.htm

Check out their builds, ask them questions, and they will literally give you several parts solutions for one problem area! (The know theyr stuff!)

pythonfan

My Feedback: (1)

@ speedy D/ looking into them, for sure.

@RCguru09/ Theirs nothing rtr about this SS

@wan6176/ From doing a full tear down after the 3rd run parts were lost, and since i don't like to wait, and not enough money to buy the part at the time, so I'm a make do with what you got kinda guy, took several tries to get a correct combo to match the other spacer, and its not the stock bolt, and i only had little nuts for it.

@lars/ yes you are correct.

@46u/ thanks for the info i might look into these since there cheaper then what rpm would cost me.

@jimmy/ Really this kinda shocked me, i thought i took it easy on my baja, since it is twice the size and power, and weight and etc.... I have videos from a real good bash that i have yet to do anything with that shows me braking a rim, and other parts... I take my savage easy to, i really don't bash on them, i guess since I'm driving i don't see how bad I'm tearing the car up. Also the washers in the wheel are to replace a bearing i lost on its first brake in run, when it met the fence at wot do to not having the fail safe on... The road jumping is prob what caused the rear arms to brake there but there holding up, also the washers have held up to, its just now with the missing dog bone pin which i could fix, buy drilling a new whole down the middle and using a grub screw to hold the pin in, but i want to replace it with something stronger.

I would also like to get some more power but i got no clue what to look at, i know i want to one day spring for a new pipe, but these head kits seem to affordable to get more power but got 0 clue what i need to complete the job.

I know this hobby is expensive, ive been in it for 13 years and threw do many cars, but hpi has been my sticking brand, for my entire life of the hobby i wanted a savage i got my savage and moved on to the baja, and hpi has been a strong hold, and i don't really nor does my parents want to think about what can be spent on these 5th scales, a mear savage we thought was crazy when people put 1-3k in there trucks, but when you step back, you can put 10k in to these cars like its nothing, and really 10k could be spent on alot better things, so i try to buy in small steps so it does not look like alot but even the smallest things are a arm and a legg...


So with that said, i did not know if i should just save up and go all alum, or keep some stock or 50/50 etc... as i want to have a nice basher that's not gonna make me go bankrupt.

SAVAGEJIM

I understand, and it takes alot of discipline not to overspend lest you put yourself quickly under by tens of thousand of USD!).

Just upgrade what you can a little at a time, set a goal for your self, for example, no more than like $250 per month on upgrades, and eventually, you will have your Baja upgraded to where you want it. It is all about spending discipline, but you can do it without spending thousands all at once on all the great upgrade goodies.

46u

My Feedback: (3)

If I had what I put into my RC stuff just in the last 10 years I could buy a VERY NICE NEW 1 to 1 car. [X(] If I had what I spent in the last year I could put a heck of a down payment on one. [sm=lol.gif]

SAVAGEJIM

LOL, I know the feeling, I have no idea on just how much I have spent in RCs. I know I began like only a year before I found RCU, so about 5years worth of RC-ing, so, consider that times what one would normally spend in supplies, parts, tools, etc. and it must be alot.

Aside from bragging about how much we dump in our RCs, running one and acquiring quality and worthwhile upgrades can be done without breaking the bank. Like I said, if you cannot drop mucho bucks in one massive shot, pace yourself and buy one bit at a time and your money will go a LONG way, and so will your RC fun as well!

46u

My Feedback: (3)

With the way work is going I just hope I can keep what I have. []

pythonfan

My Feedback: (1)

well that's the thing, i got no job, was fired from my old job do to them going bankrupt, and no one is hiring in my area.

So my income consists of what my parents can spare which is not a whole hell of a lot, when you add up all the bills and what the make in 2 weeks i be lucky is i get 20-25 a month. I only get money on my bday and that's about a lump sum of 300-600 on the very and i do mean very rare occasion i get with my entire family 1k, so this is what i was talking about, when i buy my next parts if i should buy stock or stronger to prevent me having to drop even more cause its gonna brake again...

ive been in rc for 13 years, Ive got i i dunno how many rc's(look in my models) its also out dated, so i know this hobby can be costly, but when i upgrade i want to make sure its not something thats gonna brake the next time i go out to enjoy my car.

Also don't think i'm a lucky kid, i am and all but i had to work for and pay off those cars i have gotten that my parents have gotten me, but most of them less then half of them they got me, the rest i got myself with saving and working etc... so me dropping 10k is not gonna happen, i put money slow into my cars, but I'm coming from where 300 bucks puts a boat load of goodies into my truck, where as 300 is little to nothing with the baja.

I thank alot of you guys for your advice on this matter.


( i took a look back with my mother one day to just see how much we spent, we stopped when we hit 30k...)

SAVAGEJIM

Sorry to hear about your plight and loss of income, especially as your hobby goes, and worse, yourself as far as making a living.
I can relate to you, I too was in a time where I was jobless and looking for work, especially since I needed money badly for school and such. And that was even before I knew RCs existed (well I knew they were around, but I was in no position to even consider RCs).

Just a though, have you though about getting into driving a truck? Believe it or not, the transportation industry will always need truck drivers, recession or not. Food, clothes, and everyday essentials MUST be trucked in, so truck drivers will never go away. Though the trucking industry has seen a slow down, it is not hit as badly as other job sectors. You get to travel and virtually everywhere you go, you will always have a load to haul.
Moreover, you can bring an RC or two with you in the sleeper and wherever you see some sweet hills, bust them out and bash! Just a thought, if its totally not your thing, then forget I mentioned it.

RCguru09

Doesn't matter. Same parts same quality. The only difference was it wasn't assembled at the factory. Both are MONEY PITS.

46u

My Feedback: (3)

What RC vehicle is not a money pit and there is some difference between the SS kit and the RTR if you check.

SAVAGEJIM

I agree, RCs are damn great, but they are expensive. No matter WHAT the brand or how cheap the original RC it self, you will upgrade and you will spend mucho bucks on the upgrades. And as we all know from doing it, the compulsion to upgrade your RC is irresitable, and it is a natural course of advancing in the hobby.

Lars from Norway

As an example for upgrade is to go for aluminium steering knuckles (i guess these excists for Baja too?) and use stock A-arms,there must be a weak link somewhere and this is the place to have it in my opinion.You can buy many stock A-arms for the price of one aluminium A-armA lot (most) of the aluminium parts are just for bling and show,and not for strengt and functionality

SAVAGEJIM

I agree here too. Knowing where to upgrade is key; bling and a shlef queen is one thing, but upgrading for the sake of improving durability is another.

It's sad, because the useless bling pieces are just as expensive as the functional upgrade pieces.

I guess it simply boils down to cutting through the BS and spending your upgrade money only on the worthwhile parts. And honestly, I am glad threads exist on upgrading, and people actually come on and give good sound advice as to which parts are the real deal and which ones are the expensive useless bling.

I have been bitten by the bling bug some time before and learned the hard way that sadly, the stock pieces performed better, even when everyone told me to stay with the stock parts or go with a different part instead. And to those that I bashed on who gave me good advice to avoid these useless bling parts, I apologize to all you for being an ***** about it.