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Saito2

Losi LMT Monster Truck

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On 1/4/2021 at 3:13 AM, 87lc2 said:

That's a pretty loaded question to be honest as far as making a Clod or SMT10 rock solid.  First you have to ask yourself what expectations you have and more importantly, how will you be using it?  You also have to ask how much $ you want to put into it.  If you were looking to race in scale monster truck events you actually can make both pretty reliable, but if you're looking for an all out basher that's where it gets tricky.  

Hope this is helpful.

All of this has been very helpful, based on what you and others have said above about the Losi, I’ve decided not to go for the LMT... I’m not looking to race, just bash in the back garden, local fields and bmx tracks... There aren’t many places in the UK to get Losi stuff, so spares could be an issue, so, I’ve just ordered a Super Clod Buster - after looking around, I see so much stuff available for the Clod, I plan to build it stock out of the box then upgrade as I go... And... you never know if our local RC club starts doing some monster truck stuff, perhaps I’ll get into a bit of racing!

Thanks for your post - it led me down an interesting path, and I’m quite excited now, looking forward to getting the Clod in a couple of weeks!

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28 minutes ago, paullyjay said:

All of this has been very helpful, based on what you and others have said above about the Losi, I’ve decided not to go for the LMT... I’m not looking to race, just bash in the back garden, local fields and bmx tracks... There aren’t many places in the UK to get Losi stuff, so spares could be an issue, so, I’ve just ordered a Super Clod Buster - after looking around, I see so much stuff available for the Clod, I plan to build it stock out of the box then upgrade as I go... And... you never know if our local RC club starts doing some monster truck stuff, perhaps I’ll get into a bit of racing!

Thanks for your post - it led me down an interesting path, and I’m quite excited now, looking forward to getting the Clod in a couple of weeks!

Glad we could help.  You really can't go wrong with a Clod, they will (hopefully) always be around and honestly even if they're not there will always be parts available.  As you already know they're not the best performers stock, but definitely build it stock and upgrade as you go.  I see a lot of people go directly to the all out mod-Clod and I definitely feel like they're missing out on the original charm of the truck and what makes it great.  I'm sure you'll want to do at least some subtle upgrades, but run it stock first and go from there.  It doesnt take a lot to make them good reliable performers and some upgrades are just not necessary.  It's best you find this out on your own rather than dumping hundreds into aftermarket parts right off the bat, no reason for that in my opinion.

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Just got a notification from Tower that my LMT Roller shipped and is arriving Sunday the 10th.  Probably wont get it done for a little bit as I may want to order a new motor and definitely have to get a body, but will be neat to finally see the truck in person. Might consider coverting it to 4WS as well, apparently they are going to be selling a kit to make the conversion.

Also ended up ordering a Tamiya Holiday Buggy DT02.  Not sure why as I' always thought it was a weird model, but Tower had them 20% off (total ended up being just under $90) and I just couldn't pass up a new Tamiya kit for under $100.  I can honestly say it was the first time one of their email ads ever convinced me to buy something...Really covered both ends of the spectrum on that, a Lost LMT and a Holiday Buggy :)   

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On 1/8/2021 at 11:18 AM, 87lc2 said:

I' always thought it was a weird model, but Tower had them 20% off (total ended up being just under $90) and I just couldn't pass up a new Tamiya kit for under $100

I need to beck Tower to see if they still have that sale . Not specifically in the market for a new kit but that’s hard to pass up . 

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4 hours ago, Dakratfink said:

I need to beck Tower to see if they still have that sale . Not specifically in the market for a new kit but that’s hard to pass up . 

Just checked and the sale is over, it was 20% off certain items for 48 hours.  I feel like I've seen it on sale before and they send me emails all the time, if I see it go on sale again I'll let you know and send the discount code.

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3 minutes ago, 87lc2 said:

Just checked and the sale is over, it was 20% off certain items for 48 hours.  I feel like I've seen it on sale before and they send me emails all the time, if I see it go on sale again I'll let you know and send the discount code.

I get emails from them too, but I need to change my email from them to the account that auto updates on my phone 

 

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My LMT Roller arrived today.  While I don't have it running yet (waiting on a motor), I have to say I'm not overly impressed.  I really hate to be negative, but something is just off with this truck.  Hopefully once it's running and lives up to it's tough (albeit young) reputation all will be well, but going over the truck all I can focus on are the things I don't like.  In case anyone is interested I'll go through a few things I noticed. 

The good > Individual part quality seems OK.  The plastics are very nice, hardware is good, and chassis plates are beefy.  While those are all great things, that's about all for the good.  I definitley didn't have a 'wow' moment when removing it from the box. 

The bad > I don't remember reading anywhere that the rear non-steering solid axle would have a few degrees of toe-in.  I'm sure it helps with traction and straight line stability, but it looks terrible.  It's very noticeable and just doesn't have any place on a solid axle monster truck in my opinion.  Will be adding 4WS so shouldnt be an issue. 

Wheels & Tires are as bad as they look in photos.  The tires are a hard compound (which is fine for a heavy truck), but the wheels look terrible & cheap.  Since the tires are pre-glued it will take some masking to paint them, but will definitely be doing that.  No idea why they wouldn't put a functional beadlock on this truck (even a plastic one).  Have 12mm hexes that will work so going to be swapping the wheels for something else.  

Shocks are very unimpressive, not extremely smooth and the springs rattle around on them.  They are also mounted in an odd way where they some away from the truck as they come down and mount on the axle.  No ides why they would have either widened the chassis plates or mounted the shocks furhter in on the axle, makes it look like a giant buggy.  Will be making some spacers for these so they mount vertically.  

Entire front end of the truck is loose/noisy.  It's mostly the sway bar, but it sounds and feels like junk.  I can shim everything, but for $400 with no electronics, come on. 

Differentials are not smooth at all.  I know they're large and oil-filled, but do not feel confidence-inspiring.  I'll probably end up going through the truck as I found a bunch of loose hardware anyway.

Roll Cage is completely out of proportion and sits way too high.  I knew the Digger body looked a bit bulky up top and now I know why.  I sat my JConcepts 88 Chevy Snoop Noet body on the truck (that is already cut for a cage on my SMT10) and it sits ridiculously high when sitting on the cage, see photos below.  When the cage is removed the body sits nicely and looks good, but without the cage this is just another boring twin plate truck, would like to keep the look of the cage if possible (will have to figure something out).  I'm not using this body, but the few bodies I'm thinking of will be similar so may have to go a different route.

 

Like I said earlier I really, really hate to be negative about this truck, but I'm just not impressed.  Maybe once I get it powered up it will be the beast it's been made out to be and a lot can be forgiven, at least that's my hope.  I know all of the issues I have with it can be fixed, but I think a lot of them could have been thought through and addressed when this was designed.  Funny that I haven't heard a lot of these things being mentioned, but I guess thats what happens when the only people out there talking about the truck are people getting paid to do so...At this point not really excited about it and it will probably go to the bottom of my projects list.  Would rather build the Holiday Buggy to be honest and that's saying a lot coming from someone that is absolutely nuts for RC monster trucks.

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Thanks for being honest. Just from the pics, I'm not crazy about the larger inner wheel diameter.

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3 hours ago, Saito2 said:

Thanks for being honest. Just from the pics, I'm not crazy about the larger inner wheel diameter.

The inner wheel diameter is the most glaring aesthetic issue with the truck.  I knew this and planned on just painting the inside of the wheels black to hide it, but the entire wheel/tire set feels a lot cheaper than I thought.  

Oh well, I'll make the best of it when I get some time to dig into it.  

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Very interesting review there @87lc2 especially from someone so experienced with monster trucks.  I wasn't expecting it to be so negative but since I can't afford to buy one right now I'm not too concerned about it :lol:

Actually, unexpectedly this sort of backs up my first post.  I hadn't noticed until I was looking pricing up a potential future purchase last week that the tyres are odd diameters inside and out.  I guess Losi had a valid reason for doing this but if that reason comes down to "because it performs better" then it's a fine example of better performance overriding scale correctness.  Monster truck tyres are supposed to be big, heavy, unwieldy and floppy.  I'm not sure if racing rules currently dictate a tyre spec and if so that might already be covered off if you want to race, but I wouldn't want that even on my bashers.  Of course if this isn't a performance consideration then the point is largely irrelevant - and I know other classes (e.g. short course) have had mismatched tyre diameters for years.

I hadn't noticed about the rear shock angle either - stock photos seem to do a good job of hiding that, intentionally or otherwise.  I'd think this has got to be a performance choice, for the same reason we angle our shocks on buggies.  I've never seen a 1:1 monster truck with that setup, but then again I've not seen a lot of 1:1 monster truck competition, just the odd video on youtube, and I'm usually looking at the spectacular jumps instead of studying the chassis closely.  I know RC monsters have a lot of options when it comes to mounting shocks - conventional upright, dual upright, link-mounted and various cantilever options.  I don't know what's technically allowed in RC racing rules and what's appeared on full-size monsters over the years, so perhaps we shouldn't judge too hard just for having a slight angle.  It's only a problem if every truck in the RC race paddock switches to the same layout because of the performance advantage.

The high cage just looks like an unfortunate packaging issue and it will be up to individual owners if they want to cherish it, live with it, modify it or do without it altogether.

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The larger inner diameter wheel was done for performance purposes from what I've read.  It helps keep the truck more planted and offers more predictable landings, which to your point, are not what a monster truck is supposed to have.  The large, unpredictable tires are just part of what makes them interesting.  They also look terrible, even worse in person to be honest.  

On the shock mounting, it's just an odd choice for a truck that they were going for a scale look on.  They do hide it well and I'm sure if I just mounted a body and ran the truck I would hardly notice, but it does look odd when seeing it in person.  I'm sure there is a performance reason as you said, but I'd rather have them look proper. 

The cage can be dealt with as you said, not the biggest deal but kind of a shame to hack it up when putting a normal pickup body on.  

As far as rules, I'm sure most clubs will just have LMT specific classes.  These can also run in pro-mod as-is, I don't see anything that would be a violation of current rule (maybe the wheels, but that's a gray area with how the rules are worded).  

Overall, I dont want to put the truck down too much until I actually get to use it.  Hopefully it performs great and a lot can be forgiven.  It's nice that there are some things I can do to make it my own, but at the same time with so many other projects it would have been nice to just mount electronics and a body and be done.  I think I put more value into aesthetics with RC monsters than performance.  Of course when racing performance matters, but I really like my trucks to look the part even if it means sacrificing in the performance area.  

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Just ordered one today. I’m looking forward to it after 15 years of owning the Losi Aftershock in nitro and brushless form.  Perfection or not, it should be fun to run.

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I have one on backorder but not as excited as day 1.  I have seen reports of broken housing (CCXRC at least) after heavy bashing.  I then noticed that if you break a housing you have to buy the complete set, plastics, screws, etc.  Losi charges $40 for the rear and $54 for the front!  I always felt like kit prices were too high and it appears to carryover to parts too.  

 

On the subject of folks being paid to test I am beginning to have a huge problem with Youtube personalities getting these kits early and playing Horizon's hype men (women) to sell kits.   I like some of the personalities but I notice there are VERY few negatives pointed out.  You dont care about prices when it comes for free.  Akin to "Fake News" in the parlance of our times.

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25 minutes ago, tamiya3speed said:

I have one on backorder but not as excited as day 1.  I have seen reports of broken housing (CCXRC at least) after heavy bashing.  I then noticed that if you break a housing you have to buy the complete set, plastics, screws, etc.  Losi charges $40 for the rear and $54 for the front!  I always felt like kit prices were too high and it appears to carryover to parts too.  

 

On the subject of folks being paid to test I am beginning to have a huge problem with Youtube personalities getting these kits early and playing Horizon's hype men (women) to sell kits.   I like some of the personalities but I notice there are VERY few negatives pointed out.  You dont care about prices when it comes for free.  Akin to "Fake News" in the parlance of our times.

I have seen the same on broken housings.  I like to use my trucks in a scale sense so I don't think I'll have an issue, but who knows.  I 100% agree with you on the YouTube content on these new models.  They didn't really influence me on buying it, but they did over-hype it big time.  For all of the negatives I will say that it definitely looks and feels way more durable out of the box than a Clod or SMT10, but it should at the price point.  Another thing that's bothering me is the color of the chassis.  Why in the world would they anodize it in gunmetal and not black?  Thinking of having it powder coated.

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22 hours ago, 87lc2 said:

I think I put more value into aesthetics with RC monsters than performance.  Of course when racing performance matters, but I really like my trucks to look the part even if it means sacrificing in the performance area.  

From what I've seen of Trigger Kings videos on Youtube, most racers give more than a passing nod to aesthetics and it seems to be baked into the spirit, if not directly into the rules - and the gist of my first post was really about maintaining this even as trucks like this one try to push the out-of-the-box formula toward better performance.

If monster racing ever becomes a thing over this side of the pond, I'd really hope we set out the rules so the scale element isn't lost.

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Yea, the Trigger King guys have some nice looking trucks.  The retro & sport mod class trucks definitely have a great aesthetic appeal and their rules push the trucks towards that which is great.  Pro mod allows some more room for interpretation and most still look the part, but there is room in that class to get away from it a bit.  Especially with some of the mod Clods, there are some outrageous setups guys are running on those that don't appeal to me much.  They perform great, but as the chassis get smaller and the body seems to float in the air above the truck it loses some of the scale look.

 

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...... I'm starting to think I'll just get a Clod - and with the $400 I saved, invest in Performance upgrades!!! 😁 

Besides, I've never bought a RTR... Why start now? Hype or not, I'm just no longer sure I want to deal with that level of expensive.... 

Even though I'm going through radical change, and COULD afford to. Being dirt POOR has made me really appreciate value!!

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Nothing beats a Clod as far as I'm concerned.  Especially with the Black Special out now.  Price is good and the color scheme is the best since the original Clod.

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I have thought about getting one of these since the YouTube hype videos came out and ultimately decided 

If I want a Basher I’ll get a non scale basher like and Arrma Granite or Big Rock.

If I want scale truck I’ll build one. ( either a clod or my LHS has an SMT 10 Kit for. $179USD ) 

I ride a Kawasaki KLR650 a well known Dual-Sport motorcycle. It’s known for doings everything, but not the greatest at any one thing.It’s neither a great road bike or great dirt bike.

The LMT does straddle the line between performance basher and scale solid axle truck, but it is a compromise like a dual sport motorcycle. 
It is pretty cool in the Son of A Digger livery though

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On 1/8/2021 at 2:02 PM, paullyjay said:

All of this has been very helpful, based on what you and others have said above about the Losi, I’ve decided not to go for the LMT... I’m not looking to race, just bash in the back garden, local fields and bmx tracks... There aren’t many places in the UK to get Losi stuff, so spares could be an issue, so, I’ve just ordered a Super Clod Buster - after looking around, I see so much stuff available for the Clod, I plan to build it stock out of the box then upgrade as I go... And... you never know if our local RC club starts doing some monster truck stuff, perhaps I’ll get into a bit of racing!

Thanks for your post - it led me down an interesting path, and I’m quite excited now, looking forward to getting the Clod in a couple of weeks!

I went this route and loving every part of it so far.

It is really fun to see a stock Clod change and perform better with every upgrade you do B)

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On 1/8/2021 at 6:02 AM, paullyjay said:

All of this has been very helpful, based on what you and others have said above about the Losi, I’ve decided not to go for the LMT... I’m not looking to race, just bash in the back garden, local fields and bmx tracks... There aren’t many places in the UK to get Losi stuff, so spares could be an issue, so, I’ve just ordered a Super Clod Buster - after looking around, I see so much stuff available for the Clod, I plan to build it stock out of the box then upgrade as I go... And... you never know if our local RC club starts doing some monster truck stuff, perhaps I’ll get into a bit of racing!

Thanks for your post - it led me down an interesting path, and I’m quite excited now, looking forward to getting the Clod in a couple of weeks!

I'm concurring with nearly everyone!! The Hype stage is over.... The LMT is FLAWED. So are some others - but they DON'T cost $600.00!!!! 

I'm getting a Clod, or Bullhead, whichever is still in stock - in the U.S., when I get my money.  And I'm not going crazy with it, to where you can't even tell what it is anymore!! Keeping the Tub, LOSING the completely USELESS single Servo Steering for Servo on Axle.

Better Tires (actual RUBBER, not Vinyl like, like the stock ones!!). 120mm Oil Shocks and some Axle reinforcements....

And I'll have a Fun Monster for less than HALF the cost of the LMT!

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Guys, let's not get too crazy here.  While there are things about the LMT that are not ideal and some modifications to make for "scale" purposes, it still way outclasses all previous solid axle monsters in terms of performance & durability dollar for dollar (with the possible exception of the Kyosho Mad Force VE, I love mine and it's a beast but very "unscale").  My LMT still hasn't turned a wheel yet, but there is no doubt this will be a durable truck at 25+ mph speeds while others will struggle to get to that speed, let alone stay in one piece.  Don't get me wrong, will always love my Clods, TXTs, and SMT10s and they all have their purpose and unique charm for different reasons.

@Carmine A - No doubt the Clod is still an excellent choice, but everything you're looking to do to a stock Clod will not equal out to less than half the cost of an LMT.  I believe a new Clod kit is around $275, just adding tires and wheels (JConcepts I assume) is another $120 and then depending on shocks another $50 or so, axle mounted servos another $80 using cheaper servos, you're already at over $500...I still maintain that building a Clod to compete with an LMT would cost more than the LMT, but that's not to say there's no reason to do it. 

Still waiting on my motor to show up then I'll get her running.  I have a Mamba Monster 2 going in but only had a 2000kv motor, ordered a 2650kv that will be here shortly.  Have been working on some other things which I will post up shortly, maybe make another thread as I make progress on the truck.  Biggest thing is deciding what to do with the body, it will be easy just to ditch the cage, but I'd really like to keep it if possible.  Unfortunately not sure if there's a body out there that will sit low enough when being installed over top of the cage. 

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8 hours ago, Carmine A said:

120mm Oil Shocks and some Axle reinforcements....

stock is 100mm wont 120mm be too big for clod chassis?

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On 1/13/2021 at 2:27 PM, DaveBuildsRC said:

stock is 100mm wont 120mm be too big for clod chassis?

Yes, they are.... If I wanted a bouncy bouncy Truck! 😲 I'm also fitting Soft Axial Yeti Springs. My plan is to have it droop about 25mm when sitting at rest. 

That way, just like my proper Crawlers, the Suspension will move DOWN as well as Up!! Rolls much smoother that way and has better traction, because all 4 Wheels constantly put pressure on the ground.

...... Unlike stock Clod - where the Suspension BARELY moves, if at all, 😖  just bouncing OVER the Bumps instead of driving through them, with SOME level of Control..... 

And I'm NOT KIDDING MYSELF!! 😜 I know that in the end it's still a Clodbuster!  It will just be improved, better suited for what I want out of it.

@87lc2 I'm Old enough to admit that I overreacted!! 😖  We all do at times....  The LMT has some "bugs" sure. Nearly every new complex product does in one way or another. There's already a small pile of Videos on YouTube about the quirks, and how to address them. 😉 

I'm about to be in a unique (for me!!) position where I can go Shopping like a Teenage Girl in a Shoe Store during a Sale!!! 😜😂 I won't have to ask 'how much?'  Yet I've been in a dire place financially for SO long, I'm still going to be concerned about how I spend..... 

And I remember how FAST Clods can get expensive! My first one in 88, I eventually modified for Truck Pulling (anyone remember THAT??). Even in 1990 dollars, I ended up pouring almost $1000 into it!!! 😲😳  Won some Trophies though.... 

But I do plan on keeping this one looking as stock as possible. 😊  And I'm getting RC4WD Clod Tires, Mud Slinger style. They're the most aggressive - yet the LEAST expensive!!! $58 for Tires, stock Wheels, for now.

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