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El Gecko

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About El Gecko

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  1. I picked up a used Sport Tuned awhile back that does the same thing. It looks brand new from the outside, but at slow speeds it screeches and wails like a banshee. I tried some Tri-Flow bicycle lubricant because it has Teflon, and the squeak came back within a few runs, so I'm guessing it evaporated rather quickly. Same when I tried 3-in-1 oil. Never had any issues with my normal silvercans, so I'm not sure what's different about the ST. Different bushing material maybe?
  2. All of this is sound advice, and it might be that both things are true. As others have said, it seems like the grub screw on the pinion gear is not installed tight enough, or has no threadlock, so by the end of the run it has worked its way loose and is spinning around on the motor axle. Pinion gears are one of the few places on an RC that I tend to over-torque for peace of mind. The other issue is the battery. As ChrisRx mentioned, 10-15mins is a totally normal runtime for a NiCd battery. If you move up to NiMH you can get 3000-5000mAh batteries which will allow you to drive for double or triple the time as the NiCd (or more!). Assuming the pinion gear stays attached One question I just thought of: what happened to the old motors, have they been tested outside the car and 100% confirmed not to work? Also curious what happened during testing, did you get just a click and hum but the motor doesn't move? Or does the motor still run, just slowly?
  3. @Verskis What Ziddan said above is the only way to achieve 4WD-type braking in a 2WD car, but then that would make it not truly 2WD As others have mentioned, 2WD needs a totally different driving style than 4WD. Brakes on a 4WD car are like having ABS in a 1:1 vehicle: you can brake a lot harder, even slam on the brake pedal while turning, and you will just slow down in control. Brakes on a 2WD are the same as the e-brake/parking brake in a 1:1, you have to brake a lot earlier and a lot softer, otherwise yes, the rear end will spin. 2WD also needs nearly instant countersteer if the rear end kicks out, which sometimes happens faster than our slow human reflexes can react to, so a 2WD will be a lot easier to drive with a gyro, including keeping it in a straight line during braking. A stiffer rear diff will help keep it straighter too. As you mentioned, the XV01 is more twitchy than the Slash, which makes sense. They have similar motors (maybe 540 vs. 550 but still in the ballpark) however compared to a Slash, the XV is a lot smaller and lighter, so the motor has more of an effect on the handling of the car, particularly braking. So the trigger position for brakes on the Slash would not be the same for the XV. The XV would need lighter brakes throughout the whole range.
  4. I've done that conversion with mine, although I left out the axle springs in favor of my own center pivot modification. No axle slap, but rough-road handling is greatly improved, and it's a tornado of fun with a 21t motor and NiMHs. It's not a wheelie machine, but it will throw rooster tails on loose dirt and has a top speed around 24mph, which is plenty enough to get into trouble. The pivot mod was the best mod I've done for handling, but the 2nd best mod was the stronger servo saver spring. Now it actually goes where I point it! With the lexan shell, it's basically a Grasshopper in looks only, since now mechanically it's a full-on Hornet. As mentioned, the wheels stay in contact better over rough ground with the rear axle freed up in the Hornet config. I used to drive my vintage Grasshopper in the early Postal Racing, and it actually wasn't terrible with the original single-pivot rear suspension. It just ate front tires so fast on tarmac! As others have mentioned, setting the suspension as loose as possible and adding weight definitely helps with handling, especially with today's lightweight ESCs. My vintage GH runs an MSC/extra servo and 4AA battery box, which also helps tame its handling (notice the sag on the front shocks in the pic below). The lexan version feels like a rocketship on a razor's edge compared to the vintage hardbody car (although it's got an original 540 silvercan, it's not exactly a fire breather). All of mine are still running the standard open diffs, although I have considered trying to make a locked diff from spare gears, but haven't got around to it yet. The locked diff in my Brat doesn't seem to help handling all that much. They've also all had their tubs trimmed and steering rods "massaged" to reduce binding through as much of the usable suspension/steering range as possible. In stock form, the steering rods impact the chassis at full lock, as well as at full compression (depending on setup, impact can start as soon as half compression). About 8-10mm of bumpstops are necessary in the front shocks to help minimize the contact. Yes, it transfers some of the forces to the shock towers, which some people (who jump RCs off houses) will say are weak, and it reduces available suspension movement, but I feel like I drive mine pretty hard, and I can only say from my experience that I've never broken one. I've had the steering rods pop off in crashes, but not during normal driving. I did replace some of the rods on mine with spare stainless steel bicycle spokes, which don't seem to get bent as easily. Same as what the pivot mod rod is made of. But the ball ends are all stock. Seems like such a simple car, yet there's so many things that can be improved! And many more that can't some of it you just have to accept as part of the charm
  5. Excellent proportions, that digger style is exactly what I thought when I saw the pic! Some of the Altered style thrown in too for a quirky hot rod Possibly have a look at McAllister bodies, I believe they still make some in hot rod style (not sure of scale though)
  6. Yes, there are many different "flavors" of i6, but they should all have memory for 20 models. I had some trouble with this when I got mine too, as the procedure is either different from the instructions or not there at all. Mine is an i6X with the 10 channel upgraded firmware, but the process should be identical for this part, hopefully it's helpful. If you hold the OK button to go into the settings menu, then into the System section, there is a setting called Model Select where you can scroll through the 20 models stored on the transmitter. When you've landed on the one you want, hold the Cancel button until it beeps to select it for driving (or further adjustment of the settings). The model's name is displayed on the "home" screen when it's active, and all the settings (including the specific receiver in each car) are bound to that model in the memory. If you have a second car, you would go in and select the second entry from the Model Select list the same way, and then you will be able to bind its receiver and adjust it's settings, independently of car 1. It can technically bind to any of the spots for model entries in the list, but if you only have two cars, it would make sense to put them right next to each other. It's the same process for any other cars you might add later (3rd spot, 4th spot, etc.) And once the receivers are both bound, you can easily switch between the cars through the same menu. So you'd just select which car you want to drive in Model Select, then turn that car on and go. I also usually cancel out to the home screen before I start driving, but that's really just for my own OCD. The car should start working as soon as it's activated in Model Select. You can also rename them in the menu to match your cars, so it's easier to identify which car is active from the home screen. The default model names are pretty generic (FlySky01, FlySky02, etc.)
  7. My cousin had one of those 90s twinplate Diggers and that was my thought exactly on seeing it for the first time: "that's it?" And then "this is supposed to be an offroad car? Where's the suspension?!" Then we went outside to run it, and I saw one of the fastest onroad RCs in my life
  8. Ouch, that's my bread and butter! I've given this a lot of thought over the last few years too, and maybe eventually I'll build a dedicated truck just for the trails, but so far my old Sledgehammer is serving the purpose just fine! I've said this before, but somehow even with its open diff, 2WD, 27t motor, NiMH batteries, and what's left of the original lexan body, it has gone places and done things that have surprised and shocked me. I think a lot of these ideas are good to have, and will improve your experience, but I wouldn't say they're all totally necessary. Just about any truck will work fine on most trails, even better if it has big squishy tires and soft squishy suspension, a low enough gear to climb decently, and a little waterproofing. Heck, I tried a Grasshopper once and it wasn't totally terrible! (the worst part was the bald tires) Easy-change battery. Same as @OldSchoolRC1, I take a bag with me every time, and I keep the batteries in there until needed. It also helps to keep the NiMH cells warmer during cold walks. I'm not much of a night walker (most public areas here close at dusk) so there's usually no worry about changing batteries somewhere on the trail. Some twist ties between two body pins works well to keep them in order. The Sledge has 6 pins to remove the battery (4 on the body and 2 on the battery hold-down) and I haven't lost one yet. It's not scale, or "easy-change", but it's functional. Powerful roof light. I would agree with this, however the Sledge has gone over on its roof more than a few times, and I know if there were lights on the rollbar, they would have probably been destroyed. So far my homemade lightbar behind the front bumper/skidplate is holding strong, and with 4 lamps it's quite bright. Rear-facing light. I can see how this might be beneficial, but the quad red rear lamps on the Sledge have been fine for showing me the way. Light Controller. This is definitely a cool thing, and a great simple addition to any car with lights. Being able to turn the lights on and off from the controller is great. Mine are all run from the "full voltage" line out of the XL-5 ESC through a single remote switch, so they all turn on and off at the same time, but a full-on light controller would be cool for a scale rig. I usually keep them off while driving unless it's a dark overcast day, to save the batteries, and I'll just turn them on when we encounter others on the trail, for visibility. Scale appearance. Yes, it would be great if the truck was scale in appearance, but all I have is a lexan bodied monster truck, so I try not to focus too much on the "scale" aspect of it. And I would also say that if someone is just getting into this type of thing, and wants to drive on trails, just get out there with whatever RC you have, and don't get too hung up on how it looks. It's probably going to get wrecked a bit anyway. Big tyres. Yes, an absolute must. I joked about 2.2 monster wheels above, but they're really pretty great. Monster Beetle tires are a perfect balance for those wheels too, they're softer than my old dry-rotted Traxxas tires, but not as soft as modern crawling rubber, so they can still support the heavy truck without foams, and they have decent traction in most situations. I've also put small dabs of superglue on my tires to hold them on the rims, no beadlock or any special wheels, and they're holding fine. Haven't had to reglue yet. Winch and towing points. This seems more like a personal preference thing. As I said above, the Sledge is constantly surprising me with its agility and ability, but whenever it does get hung up, I'm not too proud to pick the truck up or give it a shove with my foot. I'd rather just keep cruising the trail than do all that finicky stuff, which to me is just totally unnecessary if you're not competing. Plus if you're walking with someone else who maybe isn't driving an RC, they would probably get bored and restless waiting around. Cruise control. This has been great for long flat sections, but as you said, it would be good if it was adjustable since the terrain varies so much. I'm wondering if there's a way to switch the channel assignments on the fly, so we could swap the control of the throttle to one of the little knobs on the top of the i6, which would then provide adjustable cruise without using the throttle hold function? Waterproof. Yeah, pretty much goes without saying, but in my case "mostly waterproof" works well enough. The servo and ESC are waterproof, and I have a plastic bag around the Rx which is not totally sealed, but does a good enough job in every situation so far. Trailer hitch. Again personal preference, but I've also considered trying to tow a trailer with my tools in it, or even a flat trailer with a buggy on it like one of the videos I saw on Youtube. However there is a lot more complexity and you have to drive a lot different with a trailer, so I don't think I'd have it for normal trail walks. My tools are usually in the bag with the batteries. Reliable. This I can totally agree with. As others have mentioned a good handle goes a long way, but some way to attach it to the bag on your back would be even better. I've made the long cold walk back to the parking lot carrying the truck, which of course gets heavier with mud or snow slush caked on it, and it was not easy. I could barely lift both my arms afterward. Haven't had a breakdown in a long time, but when I first started doing this it seemed that I broke something just about every time out. Fast gearing. I'm not sure what the gearing works out to, but I think I've got a 10t pinion on the Sledge right now (stock was 12t, and the high speed option was 14t). With a 27t motor it will still do 18mph+ at full tilt, and just chugging along at walking pace on most surfaces (3-5mph) it's less than 25% throttle. I would like to try a 55t motor though, for even longer runtimes and more torque. I've found the 27t a bit underwhelming in some situations, and I probably don't need that much wheelspeed anyway (although it's great for drifting).
  9. Mine are more "junkyard queens" than shelf queens and they've all been driven, some just get driven more frequently or more carefully than others. For me, I think I like winter and spring the best because of a lack of annoying insects. We're kind of surrounded by lakes and swamps here, so summertime is too buggy to stand in one spot for too long, and it's definitely way too buggy to walk slowly through the woods. Fall is better, but can be tough with leaves getting caught in the driveshafts etc. Only two of my cars are "winterized" but that's enough for long challenging trail walks and drifting in fresh powder
  10. I know this is an old post, but "taper" and "tapper" are totally unrelated words and meanings: - to "taper down" means that the diameter is larger at one end than the other, so the screw is referred to as "tapered" - this can also apply to many other objects, tapered drill bits for example - "self-tapper" means that the screw taps its own threads as it screws into the hole
  11. El Gecko

    Main drive belt

    @NateB Not sure if this will help, but I did some more digging and found a Tower catalog from 1993. I still can't post pics here, so here's the transcript: The Optima version is listed as part number HY1009 Mid Hyperdrive Belt Kit (Tower number HYPC4031) There are also a number of things listed under HYPERDRIVE CAR ACCESSORIES that might be of interest to you, if you're trying to find different drive ratios: First, from the description: Then, some part numbers that might be useful in your searches, firstly pinion/motor pulleys (not sure if there are other ratios available, this is just what's listed): MP10 Motor Pulley 10 Teeth (Tower #HYPC1010) MP15 Motor Pulley 15 Teeth (Tower #HYPC1015) MP18 Motor Pulley 18 Teeth (Tower #HYPC1018) MP22 Motor Pulley 22 Teeth (Tower #HYPC1022) Differential Pulleys: DP56 Differential Pulley 56 Teeth (Tower #HYPC2056) DP60 Differential Pulley 60 Teeth (Tower #HYPC2060) DP80 Differential Pulley 80 Teeth (Tower #HYPC2080) Belts: BT65 Belt 65 Teeth (Tower #HYPC3065) BT70 Belt 70 Teeth (Tower #HYPC3070) BT72 Belt 72 Teeth (Tower #HYPC3072) BT74 Belt 74 Teeth (Tower #HYPC3074) Other: DB0901 Hyperballs Diff Balls (Tower #HYPC4060) DR1001 Hyperrings (1pair) (Tower #HYPC4060)
  12. Sounds like a blast! It would be cool to have something like that over here, but I think we're too spread out geographically. As for my winter plans, just lots of little things, and the big project of cleaning up and organizing everything (work area, storage, etc.) Currently making an alternate bodyshell for my Brat, so I can still drive the chassis while I work on the broken Brat body. I also need to finish painting "my wife's" Grasshopper 2, it's ready to drive otherwise. If I get those done, maybe I'll finish priming/painting and restoring my old Grasshopper, but I'm in no rush. Got a few other old long-term projects besides that, and I'm always tinkering with the others. And of course, drive as many of them as often as I can
  13. Does anyone know if these will be paintable or if they'll have to be dyed? Also is anyone aware of a release date? I see them listed in various online stores but they're all backorder/preorder or not in stock yet, at least here in the US.
  14. Dunno about boiling, but just hot tap water and an old tooth brush seems to work fine for me. I always wipe off all the excess "goo" from the parts first with paper towel or an old greasy rag, so there's only a thin film of grease left for the dish soap to remove. WD40 can melt polycarbonate body shells and other things, so I try to keep it away from my RC stuff in general. I'd only consider using it if the parts were 100% metal and the gunk was so stuck that dish soap wouldn't work. Dish soap is a degreaser, especially the types that are more focused on degreasing than general usage.
  15. I'm not sure if any further info is needed at this point, but I just wanted to throw in the "dish soap" suggestion since I don't trust brake cleaner or WD40 on RC parts. It's also safe for your hands
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