
El Gecko
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Motors and quality of life, expenses et cetera
El Gecko replied to Rijkvv's topic in All things electric...
Amen, brother As mentioned above, LRP makes good solid rebuildable brushed motors, and I would also mention Team Brood and the Reedy Radon 3-slot series. They're all slightly better than the Super Stock on quality. I have a few of the cheapo no-name black can rebuildables, and they're honestly not terrible. The lower turn counts aren't as torquey as the better motors, but they still rev out decently with a smaller pinion. At least the black cans mostly come with ball bearings, vs. sealed cans which I've never seen with bearings. Even the Super Stock still comes with bushings. Unfortunately the bushings are usually the first thing to go bad, long before the brushes and comm. I wouldn't go out of my way to buy a sealed can motor unless it was for a specific race/event or something. For my bashers and regular runners, a rebuildable motor with ball bearings is pretty much a requirement. Brushless/lipo just seems unnecessary, especially in a vintage chassis. -
SRB has a higher center of gravity so will be more prone to rollovers on rough terrain, because of the more rudimentary suspension design. Frog is more planted on more types of surfaces, and tends to spin out more than flip over.
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My reasoning for multiple cars in a series has never been about collecting, more for driving. I've always concentrated on "chassis type" since I like to have spares and easy cross-compatibility. It's nice to be able to carry over parts, tuning methods, and general knowledge between them. After my first ORV, I found 2 more, and they're all built completely differently for different driving experiences. Same with my old 2WD Traxxas (3 of those as well). Later I stumbled into a pair of vintage Hoppers (GH1 and Hornet), which came with an extra body, so naturally I had to get another chassis to fill that series out. The chassis for that extra body started as a Grasshopper, eventually transformed into a Hornet, and has been modified even further to be robust enough for bashing. That car has seen a lot of use, whereas the old ones spend most of their time on the shelf in true vintage guise (silvercans, MSCs, AM radios). I also ended up with a GH2 recently, basically the same as the modified Hornet, which has become my new basher in that series. Is it the end of the series for me? Probably, but never say never. I'd most likely end up with another ORV first. My DT02 is the only real oddball, but it's a great car. I had considered getting another to modify into a Madcap, but realized that I'd rather focus on crawlers/trail trucks instead. I have two unprepared truck bodies awaiting chassis, and the CC02 seems like just the ticket for both. I may eventually get around to doing the Madcap/DT02 thing (or possibly DT04 if it takes NiMH batteries), but the CC02 series is next on my list.
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Frog vs Beetle. What is exchangeable?
El Gecko replied to Dreadneck's topic in Monster Trucks, 4x4, Wheelie Rigs and Crawlers
Wise words here. Should just leave the Frog as a Frog and buy a whole new monster kit. -
It's the ORV for me, too. The way it squats under acceleration, and three wheel drifting where it lifts the inner front tire is just... crazy perfection. A totally different driving experience than a solid axle buggy or standard wishbone-style racing layout, kind of like an old Cobra (not that I've ever driven a real one except on Gran Turismo). On a slippery surface, if you try to floor it from a stop it will just swap ends and continue to donut, so it requires a more gradual application of throttle to keep it in a straight line. It's like trying to tame the beast, which is probably why I keep coming back to it: every drive is a bit of a challenge, and it's always fun and satisfying when you get it right. Don't get me wrong, solid axle buggies and wishbone racers are fun in their own ways, and the solid axle cars especially can get a little crazy since they're so lightweight, but there's just something special about the ORV.
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Not 100% sure, but these Kyosho Optima tires are listed as 43mm/1.7" and they fit the GH2 rear wheels perfectly. https://www.amainhobbies.com/kyosho-optima-rear-pin-tires-2-m-kyoott243mb/p512316 Whatever the exact measurement is, the rear GH2 rims and tire beads are definitely smaller than the fronts.
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hump back batteries - what's the difference?
El Gecko replied to jonboy1's topic in Vintage Tamiya Discussion
What does the label say? Could be a different MAH than the beige which I believe were 1200? Still NiCd? When you gut it would you put NiCds back in or switch up to NiMH? Could be confusing if the label still says NiCd. -
Exactly the type of surface I've been running on the last few months, and can confirm it's perfect for drifting I think about snow depth in scaled-down terms. If my 1:1 car can drive ok in 10cm of snow, then my 1:10 cars should be able to handle at least 10mm. And as in 1:1 scale, bigger tires are always better, especially for the deeper stuff. I only use 2WD, even my monster truck, so it's just a matter of driving in snow that's lower than the bottom of the axles or skid plates so it doesn't get hung up.
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Trick to smooth out stiff ball links
El Gecko replied to OnTheTrail's topic in Build Tips and Techniques
Seems a bit overkill and potentially risky. I just drip a drop of lube in there and everything loosens right up, quick and easy. -
I think it's cool in theory, but may fail in unexpected ways in its application. For instance, adding more pivot points introduces more places for slop to develop. Then, if things get sloppy, it's not just a matter of simply replacing a shock eyelet, but perhaps also replacing a whole special rocker arm that's unique to the chassis and may be hard to find or expensive. Paraphrasing from an old engineering saying: As a thing gets more complex, there is more that can go wrong with any little part of it. There will also be flex in different parts of the system, which is basically nonexistent with the more direct standard shock setup. I'd be curious to hear from TD2/TD4/TC01 owners after running their cars for a bit, just how much slop ends up finding its way in, especially since the TDs use rocker arms for both suspension and steering.
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Holy cow, what a list! I want it all! (but of course due to bad timing, cannot afford anything at the moment)
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Sounds like everyone is getting into some good things this year! Like some of you, my RC budget has dropped to basically zero since late 2023 and I've been concentrating on the stuff I already have. Thankfully I was able to buy enough parts earlier to get all 9 of my old cars running again, this time simultaneously with their own radios and ESCs rather than swapping servos/Rx/MSC between 2 or 3 runners. Even managed to pick up a new-to-me GH2 and DT02 (thanks @Saito2!) and get those running solidly as well. So things are finally getting fairly sorted mechanically on all the cars, and they're as reliable and fun as ever. 2025 will be probably more of the same, tweaking and tuning and driving, and finishing what's here instead of buying anything new. If fortune smiles upon me, perhaps I'll be able to start on a scaler/trail chassis for the 90s Chevy pickup body (TBG Sledgehammer), as well as starting to figure out a chassis for the RJSpeed Jeep Scrambler crawler (both also need paint and trimming/detailing). The DT02 could also benefit from some decent shocks and tires, and I'd like to get a couple fast and efficient (low amp draw) ball bearing servos for the lightweight buggies, which would allow me to repurpose the slower/stronger ones to use in the crawlers. In the meantime, there's lots of bodywork... I'll be trying to finish fabricating the custom body for my Frog, and once the weather warms up, finish the paint/detailing on my vintage Grasshopper. I also need to repair the Brat body after its vicious highspeed rollover, and possibly fabricate some sort of interior for it, but before that I need to do some nip/tuck surgery to modify my homemade hot rod as an alternate runner body for that chassis. And if I get around to it, possibly attempt repairs and repaint the old lexan body for my Traxxas Hawk. If I somehow manage to get all that done, maybe I'll finally concentrate on the new suspension design for the Nikko Big Bubba, as well as the adapters for grafting the Traxxas gearbox in. Still lots to do, and I'm not putting any pressure on myself to get it done, just going my own speed whenever I have time and trying to have fun along the way. Happy new year!
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One more thing I forgot to mention about EPA: it keeps your servos alive. With the I4, I burned out 2 of the cheapo MG996 servos in short order, because they were always pushing against the servo saver at the limits. I haven't killed a servo since I switched to the I6 and was able to set the steering EPA to stop before everything binds up mechanically.
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It's all because of the low-turn motor and the way it gets driven. Lots of full-throttle rips and high speed drifting requires a lot of energy from the motor and steering servo, especially if I'm on the brakes a lot. By contrast I typically get over an hour with the same batteries in my old Sledgehammer, which weighs more than double what the DT02 weighs and even has a full front/rear 8-LED light kit. But it's using a 27t stock motor with really low gearing, and just puttering around on the trails I rarely need to push the throttle to 100% (mostly below 50%). If I hoon around with the Sledge the same way as the DT, I still get slightly longer runtimes just because of the motor and gearing, but it can't reach the same top speeds either, so there is always a tradeoff.