378

My Feedback: (4)

Huh, glad to see it's not just a problem with my car. Turning radius is still excellent, I can spin a u-turn in the width of one lane/my driveway in both directions. It just bugs me that it turns farther one way than the other.


Maybe I'm slightly OCD? Have you ever pondered modifying the linkage to allow the necessary movement? I got to looking at mine and I think if I saw away at the radio tray in just the right spot I can get the lock to even out.

Jake C6R

Ithink you might be able to modify the radio tray to allow more movement, Iknow the servo horn will hit on one side if you go too far. But too much turning would be a certain crash at speed, Ithink! But why not try it, you can always change it back!

378

My Feedback: (4)

Well I'm using an aircraft transmitter to control my car(It's 2.4ghz so there's no FCC violation) so if I get too much throw I can just hit the rate switch and tame it right back down. Honestly, car radios need a low rate/high rate toggle as well. It's like a Sport! button in a modern supercar.

My current setup uses the elevator channel for throttle and brake(Right stick up/down), and the rudder channel for steering(Left stick left/right). Both of these channels are affected by the dual rates, so when I toggle to low I only get 80% throttle, 80% braking and 80% steering. Not only that, but the sticks move farther for each unit of servo movement. As a result, on low rates the car is much tamer, and on high rates I can carve donuts at 40MPH if I want to.

Since I don't race though, I rather like the idea of being able to throw it into wild spins on command.

I honestly believe the horn hitting the radio tray is why they have more lock in one direction than they do the other. Trays are cheap and mine's sort of ragged anyways, so I'll buy a new one here soon and see about modifying my old one. If the mods work I'll cut the new one and throw it in, as well as documenting with many pics.

MrBlargMan

Took a couple pictures yesterday. Just thought I would share.





BTW, how is the rally conversion going Jake C6R? Did your order come in yet?

Jake C6R

Hey Blargman!Nice Pix!The rally conversion is still the plan. The engine is rebuilt and I broke it in yesterday. Believe it or not it took me forever to get the damn circlip in the piston - that thing is so tiny on a .12!!! I also sealed it with Lucky 7.

Ialso received the shock parts but have not had time to do those yet - work keeps getting in the way of my fun time!

And, Imade a dumb mistake and ordered the wrong wheels so Iam sending them back. Iam going to order this combination next week:

Wheels:
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...4&I=LXAEEV&P=K
Tires:
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...4&I=LXNT48&P=K

I'll also need to fit the new body - just got a new stock body for bashing because Ithink with the rally set up its possible Imay spend some time upside down!

378

My Feedback: (4)

That's actually a different tire than what I run. I'm using these: http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXGG35 They slide hopelessly on pavement, but they're a godsend off road. Snow, mud, dirt, loose dusty stuff, gravel, they grip it all and they grip it well. They also don't require foams, and they fit any old touring car wheel.


Also, glad to hear you got the AE 12 going again. It may not have any power but it's a reliable little thing. I just bought a new one-way bearing for my 18 CV-RX, after three gallons the old one only grabs every other pull.

Jake C6R

Then maybe I will go with the soft rallys instead. Lots more wheel options anyway.

Yeah those OWBs are a pain. I ditched them long ago on both my NTC3s and went with the starter box. Even on the .12 Ijust rebuilt it took me all of 1 minute to grind the new crank with my dremel to use it with the non PSbacking plate. I have a AEstarter box and a Losi one for my truggy and those AE starter boxes are really well made! Iuse it with a 12V battery and the thing really cranks!

378

My Feedback: (4)

Eh, I got three gallons out of this one, and they're 32 bucks at my LHS. Tower lists them for 27.99, but shipping renders the price identical, and I'd rather get it locally and not wait for the mail.

As for starting my engines, I'll take the convenience of a pull start over having to lug a starter box around any day, and I don't have to worry about battery charges to crank my engines. I also keep my engines well tuned enough where they need no more than five pulls. I might buy one if I ever put a four stroke in my CEN, but that's only if I have to convert an aircraft engine and can't obtain the necessary parts to fit a pull start. Likely candidate is an OS FS30 Surpass, as I can buy the necessary bits(Crank, carb, backplate, cam, valve springs, start shaft, and No. 5 recoil start) to convert it into a recoil start car engine along the lines of the FS26S-CX.


On a somewhat related note, while I was there, I also picked up a 6V wall charger for my trainer's receiver battery. It came with a 5 cell hump pack for car use, so I'll be able to ditch the alkalines which like to pop out of the holder.

Jake C6R

I hear ya - the box is a pain to tote but it works for me. Especially when breaking in a tight new piston and sleeve. And the 12V gel battery goes forever without a charge, unlike a pair of 7.2s.

I'm still looking at the .18 as well for the rally conversion. I want to get everything going with the .12 to see how i like it first. The swap to the .18 should be cake based on what I have read.

378

My Feedback: (4)

It is. The first time I started mine it took just three pulls, the carb was only half a turn on the HSN from set properly from the getgo, and it's NEVER gone wrong. It always starts right up and, barring a worn out glow plug or old fuel lines, it stays running as long as I keep fuel in it.

Wonderful engine. It makes some full scale Hondas look unreliable.

I bought mine with a standard crank for the CEN, but when I installed it in the NTC3 I had to cut a chunk of the threads off the crank and install a crank nut AE sells specifically for this. OS does make it in a short crank configuration, which doesn't require cutting but does require the nut. No SG crank. You can also have it slide or rotary carb, mine's rotary. The (S) version does not have a pull start, either, only the standard crank ones do. But that's not a problem for you, seeing as you have bump boxes.

Jake C6R

Iam such an idiot! I just went to rebuild some shocks to the rally configuration. I just found that Iordered everything but the .56 shock shafts! DUH!That's what happens when I am in a hurry and I was rushing to get the order done.

Well that will have to wait. I need to order the wheels and tires and some other misc parts anyway.

378

My Feedback: (4)

lolololol, I'm quite curious as to what you can get clearance wise. I'm running about half an inch using just the spring perches from my CEN, though thick pre-load spacers would work as well, gold springs all 'round, stock shocks, and the droop screws set accordingly. Not too shabby at all for parts I just had lying around, eh?

Jake C6R

Amen to that, brother!I am all for making it work with what you have!Good God I have a supply of AE, Losi, Traxxas and Exceed/Redcat parts that you could build a couple of Frankenstein truck/car monster abortions with LOL. New parts, used parts, parts of parts, etc. LOL.

Not to mention the OFNA stuff and tires and wheels, HPI, JConcepts, ProLine, man now that Ithink about the boxes of stuff Irealize Ihave a serious problem!LOL

378

My Feedback: (4)

Yeah, I'm in a financial situation where my main source of upgrades is whatever I can find on my workbench. For a while I even ran the springs off the CEN, but they're MT springs and considerably longer and designed for a seven pound car. They uhh...they didn't help the bouncing problem. At all. MAtter of fact they made it quite bad. The spring perches from it, though, are just large enough in diameter where the AE touring car springs will sit on top instead of going around, and the bit that goes inside the spring and stabilizes it is about the thickness of a thick pre-load spacer and about half of a thin one.


If you can get a significant increase in clearance over what I get without problems with the outdrives, then I'll buy the shocks, pistons, softer springs and oils and rebuild my shocks to those specs. The on-road oil and pistons are much too thick for off-road use, my car bounces around a bit.

Jake C6R

Ordered the shock shafts and these wheels and tires for the conversion...hopefully this weekend I will get it put together and take some pix.

These wheels look pretty solid for rally use...

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXNV38

and going to try the tires recommended...

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXGG35

378

My Feedback: (4)

Jake, that is the EXACT wheel and tire package I run, and I haven't cracked or bent a wheel yet, let alone broken one. I bought those wheels under the same assumption, they'd be as strong as a solid dish but not look bland as hell.

You might want to ream the axle holes out a bit, mine were such a tight fit they would actually follow the threads on the axles like a nut.


Speaking of, ran mine yesterday. New one way bearing worked nicely, and the Rx pack makes the steering servo quite...authoritative. I'm still running the stock metal-gear AE servo too. Throttle servo was also quite perky. I spent about 35-40 minutes powersliding around in my driveway.

Edit: Because I don't race mine, I've been pondering putting a one-way in the front but installing it backwards. I want four wheel braking, but just two wheel drive. Is it possible or do I have to stay 4WD?

Jake C6R

Well the rally conversion is complete! Iconverted the shocks and springs per the TC3 rally specs. I 'm using the recommended shock preloads of 1/8" plus 1/16" in the front but a little bit more than is recommended in the back. I'll have to see how these work out.

Also, Imounted the Tamiya rally tires without foams but they were too soft for my liking so instead I installed some extra HPI foams I had before gluing them and now they are perfect.

As far as clearance goes there is quite a difference. As you can see in the photos there is 20mm with the shocks fully extended. When Ibounce it to get a realistic ride height Ihave about 16-17mm. I dropped it a few times to see where it settles and that is the lowest it ends up.

Ialso took a couple of photos with the body on. The first one shows it with the shocks fully extended and the other two show it at normal ride height. Tire clearance is not going to be a problem. I did end up having to grind a little off my bumper to clear the tires at all steering angles, but that was no big deal and took about a minute with the dremel.

I think it looks pretty good and Ican't wait to try it out! Ialready have a nice huge gravel and dirt parking lot in mind!

Without further ado, here are the pix!

378

My Feedback: (4)

Ooooh, that's WAY higher than I get. Ok. My next TC3 purchase will be some shock parts. I'll get the longer shafts to go along with a set of aluminum, threaded-bodied shocks. I have a set on the back of my CEN, absolutely love being able to infinitely adjust the pre-load, and they're smooth as butter.


Would I be correct to assume your chassis will still slap the ground when it bottoms out?

Jake C6R

Hey Bro, yes unfortunately you are correct - it will still hit the ground when it bottoms out. Oh I forgot to mention that Ichanged the bottom shock mounts to the inner holes as well.

I had a set of aluminum shocks on there before - you can see them in the background in the first photo. They are threaded body and worked great, but they are some chinese knock offs so Ididn't know if the AEshock shaft and pistons would fit and Ididn't try. Any idea if they will work? So anyway instead Iused some extra stock plastic AE shocks Ihad.

As far as bottoming out goes we will see. Ican drop it from a few inches up and it doesn't hit. But Iam sure it will if the height is enough!I think it should be OK for gravel and "smoothish"dirt but Iintend to find out what the limits are LOL!!!

378

My Feedback: (4)

Oh, good. I actually prefer this, means the suspension arms, shock shafts and shock towers don't take such a hit when you have a hard landing.

They should, the shock shafts, seals and the like all interchange according to Tower's catalog.


As for the mounting holes, I'm using the lower inner as well, gave me about 3-4mm of clearance.
Mine's able to handle gravel and smooth-ish dirt. You should be okay for grass up to an inch and a half.

MrBlargMan

Jake, that looks SICK! I really like how that turned out. The increased ground clearance and suspension travel looks substantial. I cant wait to see some photos or some video of it in action! *wink wink, nudge nudge*

Also, what was your total cost for the conversion?

Jake C6R

Thanks Blargman! Iagree it is a worthwhile conversion, should be fun! If Ican get it out this weekend Iwill let everyone know how it works out, and if I have a photographer I will get those action pix!

Total for the springs, pistons, shock oil and longer shock shafts was $25. Wheels and tires were $30. So $55 total for everything.

378

My Feedback: (4)

Here's the Factory Team aluminum threaded bodied shock kit. Contains enough goodies to do all four corners, all I'd have to do is order oil, pistons, springs, and the longer shafts to go with that.


Your thoughts, Jake? I'd like to keep my stock plastic shocks assembled and useable as spares if I can.

Jake C6R

Hey 378, Those are great for the price, Ihave them on my FTNTC3. So with the $25 in shock parts to lengthen them you will be at $78 - not bad because you can always change them back to standard length and sell them in a heartbeat or use them on a street version. I have used mine for a long time and no leaks, still good rebound.

By the way 378 I was showing off my conversion (thanks to your idea and info) on another site and someone asked what Idid about the spur hole in the chassis, which is a good point. Did you do anything to cover it?Any problems with gravel and crap getting in there and chewing up your spur gears? Even on the street Isometimes get little tiny rocks wedged in there that do some damage over time, even though Ipick them out when I see them.

Maybe a piece of lexan from an old body to cover it? It would be easy enough to either silicone, glue or screw something in place to cover it.

378

My Feedback: (4)

Yeah, that's a possiblity, but I was planning on keeping the stockers in case I bent one of the longer shafts. I wouldn't be DOA until I could rebuild those shocks, I could just throw the stockers back on and be back to carving donuts within minutes.

That has bugged me as well, but it's worth mentioning that A: I've driven mine on dirt and gravel for half a gallon now and there's no chips in the teeth, and B:, most off-road RCs have exposed spur gears as well. I know my CEN does, matter of fact it uses the same exact layout the NTC3 does right down to the holes in the chassis for spur clearance. I never had problems with debris stripping those spurs either. I have had leaves get between the spur and C/B and jam up the works, though. But that's simple, roll it backwards, then nail the gas, whatever was in there will pop out when it rolls backward.


It's also worth noting how much higher off the ground yours is compared to mine. Mine drags it's arse on the ground far more than yours will.