Snowmobile Hop ups?
 

I just got one of the New Bright 28" snowmobiles. It is OK, but not fast enough! Does anyone have one of these? Any performance mods that speed it up?

Thanks

RE: Snowmobile Hop ups?
 

My wife got me one for christmas, but I haven't used it yet. I did pull it out of the box to see what it had in it and decided that I am replacing the stock electronics immediately. In place of the 19V system I am going to use a high torque servo, ESC, and my futaba 3PM system. I didn't get a close look at the motor, but it appeared to be a 540 size can, so if I can, I'm going to put in a 17 or 19 turn to pump her up some more. I like the model as the chassis is great looking and seems well suited to upgrades. Let me know if anyone has more info on it.

RE: Snowmobile Hop ups?
 

Did you ever do anything with these?? I just got one for Christmas.

Steve

RE: Snowmobile Hop ups?
 

Hey there, I just completed a complete gutting and reconstruction of mine. I took out the electronics and motor, and rigged up a new modern system from parts of various kits. I used a great planes gear box (3:1 reduction) with a stock 20 turn motor to drive a belt system out of a HPI Pro3 (39tooth spur, 16 tooth pinion). I used a bunch of old stuff I had and a few parts from tower, but I'm happy to say, it runs like a champ. WAY FASTER than before. It will spin the track and donut around now, and jumps over snow banks well too. Only tough part is keeping it upright, as it has a tendency to dig in the track and roll... just like a real sled without the rider to counter balance it. I have a bunch of pictures of the build up if anyone wants to get an idea of what can be done.

RE: Snowmobile Hop ups?
 

A few notes. The toughest part was mounting the spur pulley to the hex shaped jackshaft that drives the track pulleys. I basically destroyed the stock gears to do it, including lathing down the stock spur gear with the hex center until it would fit inside a 1/4inch ID spur gear mount I had from a bolink digger. The lights I wired to an old reciever battery plug, so they light up off the reciever BEC power (this might be too much for them as one marker light already bit the dust). I used a LRP runner plus ESC for power, and mounted the battery in the back for weight. Just needed to make a battery extension to run from the rear to the front.

I was concerned while building that a belt drive wouldn't be up to the task of handling the torque needed to spin the track. Not the case at all. I can run it as hard as I want without the belt skipping or coming off. I had my gear box slide down in the adjustment track and the belt got very loose, but it still transfered power up to a certain point.

I calculated my final drive ratio to be 6.75:1. This is ok, but I am probably going to drop it even lower for better torque and less strain on the motor. I would reccommend a 13 or 14 tooth pinion for the gear box.

Overall, I am thrilled with how well my project turned out. The sled moves now like a real RC vehicle should. If I can just keep it on the track, it will be perfect!

RE: Snowmobile Hop ups?
 

I went the easy route and just put a bigger heat sink on the fets, were the steering rods hook on the skis I drilled the holes in closer to the screw for a little better steering. Any more and it spends most of its time on its side(rolls real easy). I put a good RS380 motor with a 3300Muf capacitor about an inch from the motor. I took the stock battery apart and removed the stupid thermal fuse and replaced it with wire. The battery died the first day I had the thing. I remaved the for show only rear suspension and added a couple of oil shocks so there is really some travel in the rear. If I can get pics I will post them. I like the belt drive Idea,I think I will do that when time and money permits. In all the sled is pretty fun. The 380 motor draws current from the steering so I have to let off the forward stick to get it to turn. Good Luck and have fun

RE: Snowmobile Hop ups?
 

Sounds cool.

My biggest priority was getting the steering and electrical systems working right, which meant a conversion from 19.2 to 7.2 volts. The steering servo I put in fit perfect with just some double sided foam tape on the bottom and top of it (there is a protrusion on the bottom of the black upper deck that holds the servo down when installed. The stock steering was so pathetic that I couldn't get it to turn around in my back yard. Now it turns as much as you could want. Having proportional steering and throttle is especially useful, as I felt with one speed it was very prone to digging a whole with the track if you tried to stop and start again. Now I can feather the throttle as needed to get it across a lot more stuff.

I am very curious what you did in the rear. The stock suspension is pretty useless, as it only compresses under tons of load. The front is too stiff as well, but as least it works from time to time. I'm thinking about making some discrete outriggers for the back end to help prevent it from rolling so much. I did notice though that the more I drive it the better I get as predicting its behavior and reacting. Having very fast steering helps a lot as I can turn into a slide or down a hill to prevent it from rolling sometimes.

RE: Snowmobile Hop ups?
 

hello... i'm new..... i have an electric snowmobile from radioshack.... it wont go fast.. i want it to hit good jumps and do a wheely on take off..... wut do i need?... i'm 14 so i don't go very much money..... i just bought a 1600 mah battery for it.....

RE: Snowmobile Hop ups?
 

hello... i'm new..... i have an electric snowmobile from radioshack.... it wont go fast.. i want it to hit good jumps and do a wheely on take off..... wut do i need?... i'm 14 so i don't go very much money..... i just bought a 1600 mah battery for it....

RE: Snowmobile Hop ups?
 

when i got thought deep snow.. snow that is like 2-3 inches deep... the gears start to grind.. like the motor is spining but the track isn't.... you should know wut i mean if you look at the pic

RE: Snowmobile Hop ups?
 

Hi Derric,

Without examining that model closely, it's imposible to say what you would need. Take a look at the motor size, and whether you can swap the motor's pinion gear onto a different one. If you can do that, you may be able to buy a faster motor for it. Without seeing it I can't help you too much.

RE: Snowmobile Hop ups?
 

ok then i will get one soon..the motor fits in the metal casing just barly..... i don't know if i could get a bigger motor

RE: Snowmobile Hop ups?
 

wut kind, size, and where can i get a bigger motor.... if it don't fit then o well..... i want it to go fast...... can you answer me why it grinds when it goes through snow..... it doesn't grind when i go on carpet or on ice.... just in snow..

RE: Snowmobile Hop ups?
 

is all you need is a picture of the motor?

RE: Snowmobile Hop ups?
 

Hi, I'm a little late but I just found this site and wanted to show you what I did with my New Bright snowmobile. First off, nice job on your modification niceorange. I wanted to try to save the original gear drive to keep everything as simple as possible. For power I went with a Traxxas Stinger 21 turn stock motor. I re-drilled the motor mount holes so I could put in a fifteen tooth pinion gear. I was kind of surprised, but it is actually holding up very well. I've been running it for about a month with no problems. As you can see in the picture I rotated the drive forward to position the motor in front of the tunnel, for a lower center of gravity. This helped quite a bit and it fit like a glove with only slight mod. to the tunnel and the black headlight mount plate. Yes of course I changed out the radio system with all futaba and a LRP F1 super reverse ESC. I get a little more go juice out of a seven cell hump pack, instead of a six stick. Next was the suspension. I replaced the rear shocks with some old oil units I had lying around. The front track shock I attached in the same spots as the original. The rear track shock was mounted the same as the original (pretty good performance) until the C shaped swing arm at the bottom end snapped to much air, Ouch!. So I repositioned it (better performance), top end where the fake top out straps were and for the bottom, there is a hole in each slide kind of behind the "dummy" wheels. I ran a piece of piano wire through with some wheel collars on each end, and some heat shrink tube slid on to keep the shock centered. For the front suspension I added some aluminum strap "shock towers" riveted into the belly pan. The shocks came off of a duratrax MT. I Also tried to lower the weight of the battery by removing the circuit board cover and getting a little crazy with my dremel. I created a perfect size pocket so the battery lays flat on what used to be the floor of the radio compartment. All of the holes I made in the tunnel are sealed on the underside with polycarb pieces and epoxy. So yes everything still stays dry. Overall it runs very well. It could be geared up just a little more, But I like the extra drift ripping torque.

RE: Snowmobile Hop ups?
 

hey guys.. wondering were i can pick one of these up online... could use some fun in the snow up here.. thanks.:D

RE: Snowmobile Hop ups?
 

Hey entity, there are a handfull of the ski doos' on Ebay right now. Bid or buy it now, watch out for the shipping though if you check them out it could be kinda high cause they are so big. Just search for "radio controlled snowmobile" and it'll take you right to them.

RE: Snowmobile Hop ups?
 

How about conversion to nitro? Looks like there's a fair bit of room under the shroud and the seat. Do the guys who've already done electric upgrades think it would be feasible?

Dave

RE: Snowmobile Hop ups?
 

Huttcraft, anything is possible. I actually thought about going nitro, my main hold ups were that this snowmobile is made of "cheap plastic". Bolting in the horsepower of a .21 engine may work fine I just don't know how well the chassis and drive would hold up. The belt drive wheel sometimes slips a bit as it is with my electric set up. My other reason was simplicity. With the heat build up from the engine you may also want to mount a aluminum plate in the belly pan so you have something solid to mount to. As you can see in the photos I set my .21 in for a size reference. yes it will fit. You will have to find a new way to secure the hood as the mounts are on the headlight plate,which will have to be left off. The headlight holes however, if you can tell in the picture, Will make perfect cooling holes for the head. You will also have to move the servo, I tried one option as shown in the photo. It should work but would require new custom bent steering rods. If and or when you finished this project, you would have one WILD ANIMAL of a machine. If you do it post some photos and let us know how it worked!

RE: Snowmobile Hop ups?
 

Hey Guys,

I sell parts, motors, tranny gears and complete New Brite Ski Doo's. I currently have 4 sleds left. I have found a motor that turns 23000 Rpm that fits in the same casing and pushes the sled much faster for only $15 bucks. Stock motors run 13-15000 Rpm. It is simple and only takes 10 minutes and some slight soldering skills. I am an electronic wholesaler in Ontario Canada and buy large quantities of these type of motors. Also I have a .12 O.S. Engine running existing gearing and flies!! I clocked it last with radar at 29MPH. The current gear ratio is perfect and will give you the necessary speed but is a torque monster. The difficulties are keeping it straight. I have 4lbs on the rear end right now with the original rear end. I am currently making a metal real active suspension for the rear end. I used the original tranny and gears when I began but soon learned that the heat destroys the plastic. I built another tranny housing out of light steel and mounted the gears, lined it up and a tranny and still runs strong. To this day, I still have not run my sled wide open for any extended period of time and is capable of more speed but it all comes down to replacing everything that is weak. Steering and traction are my biggest concern.
The design for the tranny and engine mount are in the same position as the original sled and the tranny will be pushed up to the motor and mounted that way. It works and allows you to fine tune the friction between motor and gears. Email me if you would like to see some videos of modified ski doo's in action.

RE: Snowmobile Hop ups?
 

Hi Kevin,

I am interested in using a belt drive in my New Brite gas sled. How would I do this? What parts would I need and where to get them.

RE: Snowmobile Hop ups?
 

Yellowdart, thanks so much for your reply and pictures. Right now I'm interested in rc snowmobiles but haven't taken any other steps, so it may be a while before I start cutting and modifying.

I used to have a '73 Arctic Cat El Tigre. It was a free-air, meaning there was no cooling of any sort other than the fins on the heads. The shroud had huge holes like a sabre jet -- as long as you kept it above 60 mph it wouldn't overheat (although the 1973 suspension made controlling the thing at that speed another story all together). I would be inclined to really have-at the shroud with the Dremel if installing a nitro engine in one of these models. From your comments and MNKay's experience, though, it sounds like much of the model would need to be upgraded part-by-part to handle the power and heat.

I still think I'd get more satisfaction from doing the mods than just buying the [link=http://www.snowmobiletrinkets.com/gaspoweredrc.html]Art Attack[/link] model.

Dave

RE: Snowmobile Hop ups?
 

Here is my nitro setup. It takes alot of modifications but is worth it in the end. I have destryed many tranny gears and clutch bells to get to this point. I am still tweaking it and run into the odd snag but overall is a monster. Donuts and jumps are easy and speed with my new tranny is 24 mph. I have had it up to 29 mph but was not very manageable at higher speeds. Servos are Futuba and a O.S. .12 engine. It has taken about 75hrs to get to this point and would not do it again. I have built other electronic devices but never Nitro. The nitro has much much more torque than the electric and parts are easily destroyed before you notice the problem exist. I have sank about $400 cdn into mine plus time. It is not an easy project but looking at my setup you can devise your own way. Metal has to be placed along top and bottom of plastic. Plastic will crack away if you do not.

As for the original drive track and suspension it is holding up fine. I do not do anymore jumps or crazy stuff because of the much higher costs of running at higher speeds and crashing. This is the second nitro sled I have built. The first housed a .10 O.S. and shredded it's gears and became my inspiration to try sled #2. The system I use DOES work. But again, this is a prototype that needs more TLC than a Hobby Shop Purchase or a RTR. Once it is fine tuned, it is just normal maintenance. I encourage you guys to try it but be forwarned, you have to build your own transmission from scratch. I am thinking about making a couple more to sell that wil fit .12-.15 nitro engines and will fit perfectly in your sled. I am thinking so do not quote me on it.

The tranny is tough to build and can be costly if you screw it up. Just today I shredded another clutch bell drive gear and set me back $30. I will not make the same mistake again. Lining things up perfectly are a must for everything to run smoothly. There are so many variables to cover and would be impossible to cover in one sitting so if anybody is interested in some help I will GUIDE you in the right direction. Please do not email me asking how to do it. Email me if you are stuck on a building stage and are not sure what to do.

I have never even touched a Nitro engine until 3 weeks ago and am impressed with the performance. There are however a little messier than your typical electric. The climbing revs and power and how this sled hooks up is awesome. I smile evertime I take it out and let her rip. I have only ran it full throttle for about 75 ft only and still was picking up speed as I let off and clocked with radar. I know for a fact with a .15 nitro engine you could send this sled 40mph if you could maintain steering control and have the right gearing. The track system would hold up for awhile but not long. The artattack ski doo comes with a .15 engine.

These are fun but take alot of work to complete. Check out my pics and you can see the detail.

Also my steering servo is hidden completely and leaves a ton of room under the hood. I am going to cut out the sair intake slots fro even better cooling. I will update frequently and will have a video ready to post in a couple of days.

RE: Snowmobile Hop ups?
 

hey.. this is my main motor on the red thing.. and my stearing motor

RE: Snowmobile Hop ups?
 

what size and where can i buy a bigger or better main motor?... and how and wut do i need to improve my turning?