Static Age

Thanks alot. I have been racking my brains as how to carry out that mod, you have saved me alot of time.

The Mav axle looks like a clone of the Axial. The option in the second pics looks best for me as I wont have to buy new cells or butcher my stick packs. I understand how the battery pack is attached at the axle end but how's it fixed at the top end? I appreciate the help.

Thanks for the tips. I didnt remove the tyre foams from mine, a mate did it on his. I thought it would be best to compare before I took mine out.

Finnally got a Maverick Scout. First impressions are... The build quality seems to be very good, though I have not taken it appart yet it does seem to be a pretty solid truck. We set up a course made of old 1:1 off road truck tyres & concrete blocks & the Scout was pretty capable. Run time was about an hour & I have no idea how well charged the kit battery was. In terms of improvement I think the battery would be better placed over the front axle, this would also lower the COG. We are going to run one of them minus the tyre foams to see if the grip level improves. Overall for £125 RTR delivered its very good value, the radio set seems pretty good & has trims to adjust the amount of foward & reverse speed. I was also suprised at the inclusion of a 3000mh battery, thought the supplied one would have been much lower amps. We'll see how thing progress I guess, I think I now have the crawling bug. Pics & maybe a video to follow.

The mounts for the front shocks are diffent. The lunchbox chassis is better if you wish to upgrade the pajero to oil filled dampers on the front, more room. There might be other small differences. I'm in the middle of dropping a Midnight Pumpkin down to a pajero style chassis with brat wheels. The problem I have is that the wheelbase is now a bit too short for the Pumpkin body.

http://50calibercustoms.com/default.aspx

Thanks. I have some time off work next week. I'll probably tackle the nerf bars then, I'll get some pics up of the results.

Here's some pics of my upgraded Baja Frog. Home built front shock tower & unknown dampers from the bay, CRP front bumper & heavy duty rear shock mounts, Yeah racing rear dampers with the softest spring set, .50 cal alloy rear arms & Super stock RZ with a steel pinion. I moved the steering servo into a more central position & fitted some thicker steering rods. Also fitted the 12mm hex adaptors to alow a greater choice of wheels. I'm going to have a go at making my own allot nerf bars & maybe rear cage, just to finish it off.

I have a small pipe bender & some 6mm alloy bar, think i'll have a go at making some too. Been searching for a set on & off for the last year.

A steel pinion is a must. My TL01 drift car eats the alloy ones running the lowest ratio with a sport tuned motor.

I have also been searching for alloy nerf bars for the Frog/Brat. Scouring ebay & nothing turns up.

Thanks. I cant recomend the bearings enough, It made more difference on this model than any other that I have had. The stock slick tyres are so hard they offer next to no grip what so ever, it slides all over the place on tarmac. By the way I dont work for RCbearings, I have helped out in the past with bearing sizes for models not listed. This is how my RS500 came to be on the site.

That Tamiya MSC conversion is comical, I wonder why they moved it so far away from the original position? If you intend to use it as a runner I strongly recomend changing the bushes for proper bearings. Made a huge difference on mine. http://www.rcbearings.co.uk/index.php?main...db18590e192d1c9 Thats my RS500 in the pic.

That is the RS500 chassis. Seems to have had an interesting mod with the MSC & some different body mounts have beed added to the rear.

I recently bought a couple of Super Stock RZ's from China. They came via the post as mentioned above, it did take a couple of weeks for them to arrive but I didnt pay any extra duty.

I own a 1:1 Celica GT-Four so I'm also looking forward to the availability of the body set.

Yep you just described the exact diff problem. As soon as you cure the diff you realise that the slipper is pretty good & actually very sensitive to adjustment.

A ball diff would be awesome, just think of how many aplications it would have. I know I would buy one for my frog & wild one. I bet just about everyone that owns a monster truck with that gearbox would want one.

I did have bolts on stand by but the motor plates held up. The thrust bearing on the diff packed up on them. As you probaly know its a aluminium washer shaped like a thrust bearing. I dont know if ansmann have addressed this now. I have heard people talk about problems with the slipper clutch constantly slipping, I believe that it s actually the ball diff & the more that you tighten up the slipper clutch the more strain is placed on the diff. The "thrust bearing" breaks down & the bolt through the centrer of the diff unwinds its itself. All of this could be avoided if there was a propper thrust bearing in the kit. I was actually going to give up on my mad rat before I realised this, thought the gearbox was junk. I'm glad I looked into it. Kind of got off topic but I hope this is usefull info to anyone who owns a mad rat/ macnum or is considering buying one.

They do seem to vary a bit. Three out of the four we bought needed work but one of them has been perfect in stock form. Edit: All of the stock motors failed

I have a mad rat, its very good value for money but it does need a few mods to enjoy running it. As said above bearings are a must. The only problem with the gearbox is the aluminium thrust bearing on the diff, this quickly dissintergrates & you loose pressure on the diff balls & loose drive. A proper steel thrust bearing solves this problem The stock shocks are better now but I replaced mine with aftermarket ones. The ansmann clash motor doesnt last very long in dusty conditions. I fitted the macnum spur gear on mine to alow for more gearing options. I'm really pleasd with mine now.

Its the Toyota Hilux Monster Racer http://tamiyaclub.com/car.asp?id=86 Thats really good of your mate to give that to you, buy him a pint. I'm no expert on these trucks but no doubt someone who is will post shortly.

There are a few mods that can be done to improve the lunchbox. I carried out most of the popular ones here: http://www.tamiyaclub.com/forum/index.php?...mp;#entry405846 More lunchbox info http://www.tamiyaclub.com/forum/index.php?...x+mods&st=0

I think I would improve the dampers then leave it as it is. You say it goes pretty quickly & I think you are right looking at that shell damage. You can go faster but I think you are already at the limit of this buggy's handling. I did a similar thing with my Lunchbox (also solid axle), It could go very quickly but the handling wasnt good enough, every time I used it I ended up having to replace broken parts. I did a few handling mods & toned down the motor, its still great fun to drive but now I dont keep breaking it. My advice is this. Get softer dampers & fix/ replace the shell. Dont spend money upgrading the ESC or motor, instead save this cash toward a new buggy with fully independent double wishbone suspension capable of handling more speed. Enjoy the DT01 in the mean time.

Try & keep the rear dampers as soft as possible, the handling will be better. The 3 Racing dampers are good & come with two sets of springs, the red ones are the softest. If you are using the Tamiya ESC then any motor hotter than your ansmann clash is going to cause it to cut out from over heating or probably die. Regarding the shell, do you want to repair it or replace it?