Feiyue FY-03 Mod Log.

[Granddad Stinky 975]

I've been Hmmm-ing and Aaah-ing  for a while, and I've taken the plunge on one of these. It's the kit version, so I can make any upgrades as I go. I've got a spare Torque Tuned brushed spare, so that'll give smooth rock climbing.

I sense a future build thread.

[yogi-bear 2322]

I'd be keen to see how you go with this.

[mastino 1085]

Before starting, check the gears and the differentials, after, double check and double-double.

The shocks are ridiculous, the springs are too hard, the Eagle is too fast for crawling.

This is mine, before I sell it. 380 original vintage motor from Grasshopper, damper from DT-03 kit, scaler tires on cc01 wrangler rim.

 

 

[Granddad Stinky 975]

I bought the kit for a couple of reasons, I can inspect it as I go and upgrade. I have about three or four sets of shocks, including a set of unused yellow Neo Scorcher ones. I'll can make new damper rods with e clip grooves and Kyosho style damper plates. It's really converting pogo sticks to CVAs.

I already have ground stainless rod, various sizes of delrin/acetal, aluminium bar and tube. that should cover most things. 

I'm sure there's scope to fit a reduction gear plate, instead of the slipper, if I want to go that way. 

I've done all my YouTube homework about weak points, such as the differentials, I think I can design a solution into most of them. If I can't I'll either adapt something else or throw a wobbly and stamp my feet until I get sherbet dib-dabs and Eccles cakes. 😂

[Granddad Stinky 975]

It's arrived!

I bought the 'kit' model. Than means that the wheels are loose, the body is only attached with two screws and no motor or electronics.

First stage is to methodically remove, check and refit everything.

I've found a 390 brushed motor from a boat water jet. It's 10mm longer than the 380 and fills the gap nicely. That should give me a bit more torque. I'm not bothered about top speed on this truck, I want to drive over things rather than jump.

[Granddad Stinky 975]

Catch up time.

This has been stripped and rebuilt right down to the last misshaped thrust washer in the diffs.

The rear one just needed tarting up a bit but the front one was a mess. The brass thrust washers were distorted as the seat was a different size. I had to machine the backs of the planet gears as the diff was locked solid. It all spins nicely now, with just a hit of play in the mesh. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find a full set of bearings inside.

Here's the 390 jet drive motor in situ with the middle of the steel pinions, I did count the teeth and forgot. The extra brass pinion is ever bigger than the steel ones.

 

I haven't ordered all of the upgrades, but I'll wait until they all arrive before fitting. I've started with shimming and the stainless fittings exchange. 😁

[Granddad Stinky 975]

Reinforcing the body panels with cricket bat tape.

[Granddad Stinky 975]

The standard front shocks, as well as not using oil, are way, way too strong. There's no way they would even move except from a jump. These are left over from my truck build, they're a lot softer and even have a little droop.

I think they look pretty good with the red and more stainless fittings of course.

[nowinaminute 2815]

I got one a while back, someone was selling the RTR on ebay for £34, I just couldn't say no at that price. For what it cost it's a decent car, maybe a little rough around the edges but compare it's sophistication to what you would get from a Rising Fighter and it's on a different planet. Definitely the most complete RC vehicle I have got for that much money, especially when you factor in that it comes with battery/charger/2.4ghz radio and even a selection of pinions.

The stock 390 motor isn't bad at all, lacking a little in low down grunt so sometimes when you try to rock crawl you have that thing where you have to give it a load of throttle to get over an obstacle and then suddenly it shoots off once the strain comes off but it's not bad, locking the diffs would help but at the end of the day that can happen to any crawler, it's just that most of them have more low RPM torque and it takes a lot for them to get into that situation. For general off roading though it's brilliant, it's a good all rounder with a fair turn of speed yet it will take on obstacles that you'd only expect dedicated crawlers to cope with.

The handling is pretty good in a straightish line for what it is but it tips over like a drunk person if you try to corner hard or with much speed. I have put 25mm axle extenders on mine which helped a lot in that department. The stock shocks as you say are too firm, the rear aren't as bad but the fronts are practically immobile. I did the unspeakable and cut a few coils out of the springs as they were under quite a lot of preload as stock, this has helped significantly although it's still a far cry from decent oil dampers which I intend to fit soon.

Not sure where I want to go with the motor yet, many people go for brushless 380 size motors with a relatively high KV and even 3s but I don't think the chassis is well suited to such speed. I want it to be pretty fast but not the kind of thing were you can only drive it up and down the street with a GPS attached. Perhaps a moderate KV outrunner would give decent crawling torque and accelerate like a bullet up to a pretty quite but not stupidly quick top speed.

Those shocks really do go well with the colour scheme, especially as there are a couple of yellow accents already in the artwork.

I look forward to seeing where you go with this.

[Granddad Stinky 975]

I still couldn't work out why the suspension movement remained so stiff and notchy at the front. Then I noticed the linkage. Especially with the standard shocks, the pivot points are virtually lined up, so the first bit of suspension movement results in a jolt and no sag/droop. Thus....

 

Spacer and two O rings to limit the downward stroke of the shock. O rings to make a soft end to the travel.

 

Now, with no servo or battery, it's just starting to droop, and no stiff start to the travel. The difference with the pivot points not being in line is amazing, it's gone soft and floaty, just right for crawling.

 

The steering and shock pushrods are now adjustable and look quite pretty? Just waiting on some more rod ends to to the suspension link. (More stainless crept in when I wasn't looking) 😁 

 

[TeaMonster 506]

Liking the mods you are doing on this buggy and look forward to seeing it running👍

[Granddad Stinky 975]

Stainless OCD attacked this evening.

Horrible, nasty, yeuchy black screws.

 

M2 screws and washers.

 

Panels trimmed to fit properly. The mounting points are slightly depressed below the frame bars, hence the inside washer.

 

Mmmmm, shiny. 👍

[Granddad Stinky 975]

Started work on the lighting. There's still lots of bits around from the Holiday Buggy (RIP), so I'll make it up as I go along.

[Country Mike 120]

I came across a Tonka bronco and the body is too heavy for the or, so, seeing how cheap these are on ebay, im having one in next couple of weeks.

[Granddad Stinky 975]

Ready to be stripped for paint.

 

Not happy. Back in my working life, it was customary to de-burr the insides of holes and remove congealed dirt and swarf. 😤

[sellig 62]

I own one since 3 years, It's an amazing "little crawling machine". He has no particular point of weakness, the gears are strong, including plastic gears, differentials make the job too, if correctly lubricated (I filled them  with 1 million Cst silicone oil to improve traction). The only three points to improve are : Electronics, in particular the ESC (and then the 390 becomes smooth . I use the smallest gearing), the shock absorbers, And I changed the shafts for steel ones (the only parts  worn to  death :D). In short : Bravo it's a great deal. 👍

[sellig 62]

I forgot : If you want to use it as a rock crawler (that's what i do) One useful thing that you can do cheaply  is to  remove foam from tires ,and to  ballast your rims with some  lead wire (fishing shop)  😉

[Granddad Stinky 975]

The upgrade servo FINALLY arrived. 🎺🎺

[Granddad Stinky 975]

Finished the front, with turnbuckles for adjustable ride height as well as camber and steering.

[TurnipJF 9192]

On 07/08/2017 at 10:57 PM, Granddad Stinky said:

Not happy. Back in my working life, it was customary to de-burr the insides of holes and remove congealed dirt and swarf. 😤

Clearly you didn't work in a Far Eastern sweat shop then...

[martinjpayne 273]

Hey Grandad, are those turnbuckles the spring steel ones you bought cheap from Hobbyking last month?

V/R,

Martin.

[Granddad Stinky 975]

Hey Dude 👋

Yes, they're TrackStar items.

[martinjpayne 273]

Thanks mate, will get some on order pronto!👍

[Granddad Stinky 975]

The diffs have been re-machined and good to go. The upgrade drive shafts can wait a while until I can skim and paint them. I've done away with the spare tyre, too much weight, too high. I added a bulkhead behind the driver as well, I do like blue interior lighting. 😁

Here's a few "beauty" shots before a trip to the beach.

[Country Mike 120]

So far i've ordered the drive shafts from Banggood as I took it too the beach and honestly expected death of some sort from the plastic ones and they survived well. The electronics are budget, but they work well for what they are. I stripped the body panels off and have a sandscorcher on top for now. The only bad points are flex, in the shock mounts at the rear and a lack of front bumper. I hammered mine on cromer beach and its took it well. No failures, nothing loose, i'm even a LIPO convert now. Me n lad made a crude rock crawler course and it does work well. Yeah the foams need to come out so a spare set of wheels and tyres prob best and new dampers so theres less roll over. For the mnoney tho, bang on the buck imho.