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Maverick74

Monster Beetle Brushless

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So as I’ve mentioned before I’ve always been a brushed kind of guy and recently broke out of my collection my never used Reedy 7X2 Krypton which is a really hot motor  and totally forgot that these modern ESCs are good for about 10T motors.  My old Novak Cyclone is burnt and rare so instead of Ebaying this little problem I decided to get my 2nd Brushless Castle.  I dropped one in my Fox and it’s a rocket but had to totally upgrade my transmission to support the power of this brushless.  I was originally going to drop that Reedy in my Monster Beetle but before I put such a hot motor in it I upgraded the Fox with a Thorp diff and counter which works great and the Beetle with MIP diff and Thorp counter.  I thought I did my research and remember the problems I had when I was 10 with those transmission with just stock motors. It seems it’s doing the same thing as my Frog with the rear Axles popping out when I land a jump or flip.  Really irritating to say the least. Does anyone have a fix for this besides  modifying to a double wishbone suspension which I want to stay true to the design the best I can.  Any help would be appreciated.   

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Did you say you installed the MIP ball diff in your beetle? You can try the monster beetle re re universal shafts. I also added the team  crp rear suspension support to hold the universals in but mine still pops out after strong bumps or flips. I am only using a 13.5 brushless, i just deal with it now. Supposedly someone mentioned mip was going to do a mod like thorp had and use telescopic shafts. Hope they do, but i doubt it

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Yes I installed MIP difs with a Thorp counter so the transmission is solid.  Just like u said I’ve had to deal with it. I have taken great care of it since purchase in 86 and have heard of the ReRes doing the same thing so I don’t think age is the issue nothing more but design flaw but that’s part of its charm I guess. Thank you for the info I will be on the lookout for MIP products. Have a great weekend

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Well before i added the mip ball diff the universals never popped out. Before the mip diff i had various brushed motors in it too. I blame the mip diff, others have said the same. I had an original monster beetle as a kid and never had that issue. I had it stock and later on had a thorp diff in it which solved everything. 

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Hmm that may be it.  Thanks.  I’m looking into Thorp’s axle kit which is going to be a bit cheaper than their diffs.  If it doesn’t work then I’ll have to switch diffs.  Good catch thanks

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On 4/26/2018 at 9:54 PM, Maverick74 said:

Really irritating to say the least. Does anyone have a fix for this besides  modifying to a double wishbone suspension which I want to stay true to the design the best I can.  Any help would be appreciated.   

The issue with the ORV vehicles (Frog, Blackfoot, Monster Beetle, etc) is that the rear swing arms will splay outward under duress.  This causes the drive shafts to become too short for a brief second and that's when they pop out.  The telescopic drive shaft from Thorp is the easy answer, but its expensive.  Many have tried various fixes, for example Hot Trick.  They combined a wing mount with a set of steel cables that connected from the rear of the tranny box to the ends of each swing arm.  The best solution was a DIY job by .50 Caliber.  They made aluminum swing arms that eliminated the splay problem.  Here's a Hot Trick Frog with both the HT wing/cable thing and the 50cal AL swing arms:  56018a96491497d38d429d2ffcad0c08.jpg

 

But all that doesn't really help you with your present problem...

IMO, you should think about it you want to make your MB a daily runner or if you just want it for an occasional drive...  And how much money you want to invest it it...

If you want the occasional driver, live with the MIP problem and do nothing.  Hopefully they will develop the telescopic drive shafts that truly fix the issue and we can all live happily ever after!

But if you want a hard basher, I think you need to invest in a Thorp system.  I have one in my Frog and it is flawless.  I drive that car hard and the Thorp has only gotten better as I've broken it in over time.  I bought an MIP diff, but I didn't install it.  I really wanted to do it, but the issues with the drive shafts kept me from doing it...

My Thorp system started off as a beat-up used Diff that I mined from a used BF from ebay.  Over the next couple of years, and for the cost of a lunch or two at a time, I acquired NIB replacement parts for it.  I'd get a few parts saved up over a few months, then I would tear it down and rebuild it with the new parts.  Now its practically brand new and it runs like a dream...  

Another solution is to mine a Super Blackfoot tranny from a used ebay rig.  My Bush Devil (Super Blackfoot) has no issues with brushless and runs lights out...

A third solution is the AmPro setup.  PintoPower (a member here) designed and produce a replacement setup for rear arms.  Since he was the Impetus behind the MIP Diff, his solution ultimately works best.  https://www.shapeways.com/shops/AmPro?section=Tamiya+Monster+Beetle&s=0

Terry

 

 

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I hear you L AND C!  My Thorp diff for my Fox is flawless. Spent some cash on that one.  I now have my boys in it and we stress some plastic every weekend so thanks for the great ideas.  I’m going to try the wire trick and go from there.  If that doesn’t work the Thorping I will go.. thanks boss

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Not sure I'm of any help (as pr. usual) - but going along with AMPRO Engineering, I installed a set of Frog Universals (part# 53908) with my MIP diff. Mind you, I'm only running an old Technipower (keeping it oldskool ;) ), but it hasn't popped so far.

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