Fyrstormer's Garage

[KuanR]

What's the maintenance like on the gas powered rigs? I had nitro rigs in the past and the maintenance was a pain the ***. I always assumed the gas rigs were similar to lawn mower and pocket bike engines where maintenance intervals are a lot longer

 

[cobrajack]

a very nice collection, I am wondering about your source for tires and wheels, I have one that is damaged and don't want to buy a set to replace one. cobrajack

 

[fyrstormer]

The pretty aluminum upgrade parts bend

That's why I always use plastic suspension arms. Plastic flexes instead of bending, and if it breaks, then it protects other more expensive parts from damage. I only use aluminum where extra weight and extra stiffness are more valuable than the risk of permanently damaging an expensive part. Chassis braces are a good example.

What's the maintenance like on the gas powered rigs? I had nitro rigs in the past and the maintenance was a pain the ***. I always assumed the gas rigs were similar to lawn mower and pocket bike engines where maintenance intervals are a lot longer

That is my understanding. However, nitro maintenance has gotten a lot easier since commercial nitro fuel blends started using degummed castor oil mixed with synthetic oil. There's basically no varnish buildup anymore. However, I add 1% pure castor oil to my fuel to improve lubrication, partly because 1% extra oil makes a significant difference on its own, and partly because pure castor oil breaks down into *even better* lubricants. Also, a little bit of varnish helps seal microscopic imperfections in the surfaces of the cylinder and piston. I haven't performed any significant maintenance on my nitro engines all year; I haven't even burned out a glowplug. (I use O'Donnell glowplugs; they last a long time and they seem to glow brighter than other brands, which helps with ignition.)

However, for 1/8-scale gas engines, the ignition is provided by a battery pack instead of a magneto generator, so there's an extra battery you have to charge before you can run the engine. I personally wouldn't bother with a gas engine in a vehicle smaller than 1/5-scale, because those engines are big enough to carry magneto generators to make their own spark.

 

[ven]

From the E savage of many years back, the to the 2 nitro savages and all the faffing involved(and a break) . It was my lads birthday on the 4th and mine on the 10th, so a little starter into RC cars again.

This time for simplicity......i hope! electric

HPI Bullet flux with a castle performance sct motor and a Strada(his choice and what he picked out of several)

keeping the flux on 2s as its just for fun and no serious stuff tbh, as that =£££'s so HPI 4000 and a turnigy 5000, as for the Strada, standard 1800 as back up and a couple of 3700 nimhs













Gonna get my a55 whooped :laughing:

No chance of trying out yet............

 

[fyrstormer]

Does that Bullet have CVD axles or dogbones? You'll want to get the CVD axles as soon as possible, because the dogbones have an annoying tendency of popping loose and jamming in the front caster blocks. Also the CVDs are made of harder steel.

You'll also want aluminum hubs. The stock plastic hubs are undersized for those big monster-truck tires and you will break one in short order, especially running brushless with LiPo.

You'll want aluminum chassis braces too. The plastic ones flex too much and eventually the chassis will bend. It's easier to install aluminum braces than to replace the entire chassis plate.

Also, make sure the slipper clutch is adjusted properly. The blue fiber pads used on the Bullet have a tendency to stick, so the slipper is probably stuck together from the factory. Loosen the adjuster nut as far as it will go, and mash the throttle a few times to break the pads free. Then tighten the adjuster nut a bit at a time until the truck can just manage to wheelie. This will set the slipper clutch properly and protect the drivetrain from the BONE-CRUSHING POWERRRRR of the brushless motor.

 

[fyrstormer]

Updated info for several vehicles, and added new vehicles.

 

[ven]

Does that Bullet have CVD axles or dogbones? You'll want to get the CVD axles as soon as possible, because the dogbones have an annoying tendency of popping loose and jamming in the front caster blocks. Also the CVDs are made of harder steel.

You'll also want aluminum hubs. The stock plastic hubs are undersized for those big monster-truck tires and you will break one in short order, especially running brushless with LiPo.

Thanks for the tip, have read that too, been checking some hop up parts and dont know which is better, any brand or site to use?

Callums as "too slow daddy" so its been traded in and now he is brushless. The nimh pack's did not last long at all, and if a 6yr old is complaining its slow ..............well it must be!





Tested indoors and adjusted the alignment and camber, just await no rain................:shakehead

 

[ven]

Well just nipped out for a run and Callum is happy, quite nippy so all good there..............for now!

Thinking mine has been fine was a bad thing the front n/s drive shaft slipping has made me google and now seen the upgrade CVD which makes sense. Look far better that the dog bone fitting in the axle cup(looks a sealed unit). So before ordering i will see if local model shop has them in stock. Have some hop up parts on order, steering,front and rear hub holders.........will be a few week though!

Once over come these weaknesses , it looks a pretty reliable little truck..........he says hoping :laughing:

 

[fyrstormer]

I've been happy with my Bullets. They just need a couple predictable upgrades to work well. I suspect in the long run you'll get better performance out of the Bullet than the Carnage; I'm not sure who the OEM is for the Carnage, but FTX is just a rebrand. That being said I'm using the wheels from the FTX Vantage buggy on my Arrma Raider and they're holding up well, so at least the plastic is good-quality.

 

[ven]

Afaik it's hpi who have the connection as they show the FTX in their manuals.

Thanks for the tips, hopefully next time the bullet is out , will be a bit longer ! Once sorted CVD front and rear and axle mounts, will leave for that until further failures. Have got some alloy body mounts and steering parts on the way which were ordered prior to this. Pondering over the wish bones but in past they have got bent where plastic flexes/bounces.

 

[orbital]

+

I do some off road only brushless/Lipo running myself,, from 2~5S
on raw/ungroomed motocross style tracks

my 1/8th scale 4WD delivers absolutely instantaneous 2000W*of power, the roost is nuts!!
..can devour diffs very easily though.

Gotta say; I have fun w/ my simple, but very fast 2S 2 wheel drive, easy to fix too:thumbsup:



*likely more

 

[Chauncey Gardiner]

Oops! Nevermind. Need coffee.

~ C.G.

 

[ven]

I remember building/upgrading my savage diffs, geez the amount i must have spent back then on 2 of them. Sausage fingers and little bevel gears dont mix! Saying that, its small fry compared to Frystormer's collection, amazing stuff and great eye candy

Now i want reliability............:laughing: ok maybe not quite, but decent runs before it exploding. Not going to go to 3s, just 2s as i am sure bits will start to undo on me.

May get a 3rd at some point as a back up(think more top gear and the car they end up with if theirs drops out :laughing: ).

Once my hop ups come, will do a post.......be a few weeks no doubt importing. Not cheap here in the UK, £30 for 2 CVD's or £16 imported, needing 2 sets thats some saving!

Got a spare (for best) body, standard orange again as not over struck on the black bullet one.

 

[orbital]

Oops! Nevermind. Need coffee.

~ C.G.

+

Chance, the S in my previous post refers to Voltage..
2S=8.4V
3S
4S=16.8V
5S
ect.
ect.

The more Voltage you have running your car, the less Amps you have to consume to generate Watts of power.
..running high Amps makes everything hot & drains batteries quick
The kv rating of the motor effects Amps drawn & I'll just leave it at that

Watts = Amps x Volts

Volts are your friend,,, up to a point before breaking lots-o-stuff


--------------------------
Fyrstormer's cars are really well turned out & impressive in every way

 

[fyrstormer]

Fyrstormer's cars are really well turned out & impressive in every way

Thanks! I have 3 that I'm wrapping up, and rebuilding one that I already have into a different type of vehicle (which is basically done, but I need some consistently warm dry weather to make sure I like its new configuration), but after that I am going to call it quits if I have to run my credit card through the shredder. The new shelf I got for Christmas to hold my RCs is already completely full (it was close to begin with, and then I finished filling it up), so that is IT for a while, dammit, I will only fiddle with cars I already have instead of getting more. Besides, I'll need to move in a few months and I don't need projects hanging in the air and parts shipping from China to make that more complicated.

 

[ven]

Never leave them unattended................lesson learned





















Things happen:naughty:

Couple of little editions just for round the house fun, you know, little ramps and stuff



KD summit , little 1/24 which is quite good fun, reviews on youtube seem fine and its cheap!


Even Rach has been having fun with it around the house, little jumps here and there.

Then picked up a maverick ion MT 1/18 , there are 4 or so to choose from(all look tempting to me). This runs on 7.2v 1200 nimh( youtube vid on 2s but kind of defeats my purpose of getting it so sticking with nimh for now even though it appears to make it quite fast!). Not proper tested yet but nice responsive steering and certainly nippy! . Oil filled shocks as standard and shares the same parts as the other ion models.






Some of the spares have come in frystormer, just await some CVD's and rear hubs, should be fine for a bit..........yeh famous last words :laughing: . Not fitted them yet as i am a believer in "if its not broke dont fix it". So as and when i will throw the bits on as i am not really "bashing" it.


Few bits i take out for quick repairs etc



The ven garage has grown a little, still a long long way to get a 1/10th of your amazing RC family

 

[fyrstormer]

Looks like a nice collection. I haven't actually needed the aluminum shock towers for my Bullet, but all the other aluminum parts in that picture I've ended up needing.

Was there a picture to go along with the "never leave them unattended" comment? If so, I can't see it.

 

[ven]

No the pic is with them multiplying over night .

Had to take the ion back as the receiver started to smoke Had this side of 10 mins use with no water or anything to harm it(manufacturing fault). So a quick swap for new and all seems well.....

Callum broke the front hub carrier on the carnage so the part should be with me today (bricks and plastic don't mix!)

Ironically the cheapest one , the KD summit has been faultless and it's had the most abuse!

 

[fyrstormer]

Added info for the SC10B, Twin Hammers DT, and DF-03Ra.

 

[orbital]

Added info for the SC10B, Twin Hammers DT, and DF-03Ra.

PM sent..