I'm working on a Grasshopper

[proun 1]

Hi everyone. I'm working on modifying my Grasshopper (re-release) which I bought recently. I built it up stock except for ball bearings throughout (luckily the Hotshot and Grasshopper have the same size bearings!) and drove it around a bit and decided I wanted to amp it up a bit. Mainly I wanted to upgrade to a 540 motor, but the more looking around I did, the more potential upgrades I saw.

So the first thing I've done (so far... I'm waiting on more packages to come!) is attach a CRP FX-10 front suspension kit. I found a nice deal on Ebay from someone in Texas, so it arrived first. After more browsing, I saw that there are colored kits, specifically black ones, and wished I'd gotten black. But the white looks nice and my CRP kit came with dampers. Here are some photos.

I had to cut out a lot, as advertised by anyone on TC who talked about the kit. I had a very helpful email correspondence with TA-Mark and I'd like to thank him for that. I don't have a Dremel tool, so all of this work was done with a linoleum carving knife and a lighter. Hot, sharp metal cuts plastic very cleanly and easily!

A litlte bit of the body needs to be removed in order for fit around the new suspension arms.

There's more to do; like attaching a turnbuckle for additional support in lieu of the suspension arms that came with the kit. They don't seem to be compatible with the grasshopper. All of this will be done in the next wave of modifications (with the next package's arrival in the mailbox). I'll post more after the fact!

[TA-Mark 195]

Just so you know, the coloured CRP FX-10 kits are also white nylon the same as you have. They are dyed to the desired colour with clothes dye. You could dye this white set black to match the rest of the chassis quite easily. There are threads on the forum here that show you how to dye nylon wheels. The method is the same for any nylon part.

Glad to see you got it together. Looks good so far.

[mongoose1983 3335]

The mods look really good!

[proun 1]

A preview of things to come:

[proun 1]

The dyeing worked perfectly; it looks absolutely black. I rebuilt the dampers as well. They sounded grainy so I replaced the oil and two rubber washers and now they are smooth as can be. Other new arrivals include a RadshapeRC bumper (pointless splurge) and hex adapters for the rear wheels, as well as some high quality steering arms. Eventually I'll get some nice white 5 spoke rims with nicer tires. I am waiting on one more package, whose contents I don't really remember -- various JunFac parts.

Here it is for now:

[commiedoor 18]

looks horn dude ! ,i bought one of those bumpers for my baja frog .. yeah , pointless splurge but looks bling !

[proun 1]

So I got tired of waiting for my last package (which includes some aluminum knuckle arms and an 18T pinion gear) and put my 380 motor along with the remaining stock parts back on the Grasshopper and went out for a drive. What a disaster!

First, the 5mm balls I put into the top of the C-clamp all busted out. This didn't end the fun, though, since I could just push them back in and drive around more carefully. But at some point during the evening, the plastic bottom part of the CRP damper broke. So now I'm in a real pickle! Maybe I'll be able to pick four dampers that all match nicely.

All in all, it left me in a bad mood, though I plan to purchase some replacement parts and get back at it. The CRP suspension kit is a major upgrade though. It handled so nicely. I noticed that the rear is too light, as well, and will figure out a way of attaching some weights to make it have a little more traction. Another thing I'm going to replace is my radio -- which is a cheap Futaba AM radio -- because at various times during the drive tonight the car just took off on its own. I wasn't pressing the throttle. That's frustrating behavior for a car you so lovingly modified (especially since I was driving not too far from a road)

[TA-Mark 195]

I solved the light rear end problem by adding a spare wheel to the rollcage. Inside the spare wheel I put some lead weights. This helped the rear suspension work as all the weight of the rear is unsprung in the gearbox and motor. Having the weight up high I found added some roll to the buggy which made it look more realistic as it ran. Others have added the weight low in the chassis right where the gearbox pivots.

I forgot to mention in my email that I superglued the ball screws into the C-hubs. I could see no reason that I'd want to remove them again.

Sorry to hear about the damper.

[proun 1]

Actually, I had superglued the ball screws into the C-hubs; though I could've done a bit more of a thorough job, I admit. I'll be more liberal with the glue next time. I saw that you put a lead weighted tire on your rollcage and planned to copy you on that as well

In other news, I bought a Gmade R1 to do my "bashing" with. I figure it's a better fit for my driving style -- which includes going fast and forcing my car into the air off of staircases and impromptu jumps. I'll polish off the Grasshopper and drive it more sparingly. I'm very excited to put this new car together. I think i enjoy the construction of RC kits more than the driving. I have little interest in rock crawling, but I think the R1 buggy looks awesome and will do my bidding with fewer broken parts than the Grasshopper.

[Toykid 596]

Looking sweet. I recently made similar mods to my hornet. You GH looks really good, maybe I need to switch the body on mine

James.

[mongoose1983 3335]

Wonder if you ever finished this buggy?

I thought your work was very good with the tinted parts and mods!