MIke C. are you running an AM or FM radio. If it is an FM set-up I can lend you crystals to try before you spend the money and find out that was'nt the problem. I always have them with me so just come over and ask..............WAYNE

MIke C. are you running an AM or FM radio. If it is an FM set-up I can lend you crystals to try before you spend the money and find out that was'nt the problem. I always have them with me so just come over and ask..............WAYNE

Thx Wayne but i have am, the guy from crusin is bring me new crystals at the race, thanks anyway

Hi everyone, I have to think a lot before I can write, so don't make to much fun about my writing, thanks that I don't have to take out the brush-less motor from the truck, I still having problems to tune up the Tmaxx.......I NEED HELPPPPPPPPPPPPP
thanks
Galo

Hi everyone, I have to think a lot before I can write, so don't make to much fun about my writing, thanks that I don't have to take out the brush-less motor from the truck, I still having problems to tune up the Tmaxx.......I NEED HELPPPPPPPPPPPPP
thanks
GaloGalo, its good that you have to think alot before writing, i think others on this forum should do the same:rolleyes: I would have to say thanks to everyone with trying to change the atmoshpere around here. It is getting back to what i originall intended my first posts for.

Jon, please explain the Oil vs Piston for me, as i thought that majorily they did the same thing. I could be wrong, and probably am, but does not making hole smaller limit the amount of flow thru the orifice? And so does changing viscosity?? Otherwise, your setup seems pretty much like mine..

Front Outer hole
piston #2
25wt oil
1deg neg cam
0 toe

Rear middle hole
piston#2
20wt oil
2deg neg cam
1.5 antisquat
rear carriers all the way back(supposedly to give less weight behind wheels and prevent tail slides)

battery all the way back
arms and bones level

Oh yeah, this is a T3, and they come with #2 pistons, i have no others..

Good luk everyone at next race.....

i need a good setup with my b4 i am going to put 20 in the front and 15 in rear with stock piston andhopefullly it will give me better traction.

i need help with my suspension to for my mf2 almost the front feels fine but the rear i think might be to soft

i need help with my suspension to for my mf2 almost the front feels fine but the rear i think might be to soft

when i drove it for ya in the b-main it seemed pretty nice, it might be because it was slow at the time but it was really easy to drive. i didn't crash it once the whole race

when i drove it for ya in the b-main it seemed pretty nice, it might be because it was slow at the time but it was really easy to drive. i didn't crash it once the whole race

oh yea i admit it handles ok but i wantr my car to handle like how a fire man handles a small fire but now it rides diffrent with a faster motor so i am going to go to practice amap (as much as possible)

u no before dirt runners challange we whould have a work day to get it ready for the biggest race of the year like the triplecould use fixing cause if u hit in one spot u jump alot diffrent then in the other spot and like before the reversed bank turn there is a huge ditch and u would flip ur car real easily

oh yea i admit it handles ok but i wantr my car to handle like how a fire man handles a small fire but now it rides diffrent with a faster motor so i am going to go to practice amap (as much as possible)
waaaa?

Jon, please explain the Oil vs Piston for me, as i thought that majorily they did the same thing. I could be wrong, and probably am, but does not making hole smaller limit the amount of flow thru the orifice? And so does changing viscosity?? Otherwise, your setup seems pretty much like mine..

I can't tell you exactly how the size/number of holes in the piston correlates to the weight oil run, but yes they do the same thing, just in varying degrees. It has been my experience that changing piston is a much larger change in dampening than changing oil.

Nick

i need a good setup with my b4 i am going to put 20 in the front and 15 in rear with stock piston andhopefullly it will give me better traction.
If the B4 is anything like a Losi Buggy, I think you should stick with the same oil all the way around, I like a heavier oil in the rear of my Truck, but in the buggies (jrx, xx, xxx) I've always run the same oil all the way around (25 weight).

If you're looking for traction, you'd be better off changing something other than the rear oil. Heres a couple options for you (not in this order, though):

1) try a softer rear tire or try some traction additive
2) try changing to a slightly lighter rear Spring
3) Battery Placement, is it rearward?
4) Electronics Placement, are your reciever and Speed Control rearward (it does make a little difference)
5) Try less camber, giving more side bite, and more grip in corners
6) Try a different tread
7) Try running somewhere without the sand :lol:


Nick

i need help with my suspension to for my mf2 almost the front feels fine but the rear i think might be to soft

I run 25wt front oil and 35wt rear oil, seems to work well for my mf, worked well for my xxt as well


Nick

check this crazy thing out. its dirt cheap too



http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=44029&item=5902960157&rd=1

Jon, please explain the Oil vs Piston for me, as i thought that majorily they did the same thing. I could be wrong, and probably am, but does not making hole smaller limit the amount of flow thru the orifice? And so does changing viscosity??
Well, I'm not Jon, (but then again, neither was Nick ;) ) so I'll jump in with my opinion here, too. You need to adjust the piston size as you adjust the viscosity - the weight - of the shock oil. The oil in the shock is not compressible - you can't squish it into a smaller space. So as the piston is moving up and down in the shock body, the holes in the piston are the only way the oil can get from one side of the piston to the other. If the hole in the piston is too small and the oil is too thick - too heavy - it can't flow thru the little hole quickly enough to keep up with the movement of the piston up and down. What happens then is the shock "packs" - in effect, the oil "locks" the shock until the heavy oil gets thru the small hole. If there is enough pack, and the wheel is putting enough force on the locked piston (like by jumping the triple) the "pack" can even blow out the seals in the cartridge (on a Losi) or blow off the shock cap (like on a stock Traxxas).

On the other hand, if the oil is light, and the hole in the piston is too big, there isn't enough resistance - the shock acts like there is no piston at all in it, and you lose the whole damping effect. So, the general relationship is light oil/small holes, thick oil/big holes. Another point to keep in mind that the difference in viscosity of the oil changes with temperature. A given weight of oil, say 30 weight, is "heavier" when it is 50 degrees out than when it is 95 degrees out, so you may have to adjust your setup if you get it perfect in July when October rolls around, to the tune of 2.5 - 5 weight.

Of course, after watching Cheese wheel my truck around in practice Sunday, my current plan is to think a lot less about the setup on the truck, and a lot more about the driver..... ;)

Wayne,

Here are the links I was talking about.

http://home.hvc.rr.com/zgraphix/115a.jpg
http://home.hvc.rr.com/zgraphix/115b.jpg
http://home.hvc.rr.com/zgraphix/115c.jpg

Howdy Boys, with our track surface I think that the driver has to adjust to track conditions rather than keep trying to set car up for track.Our surface changes so much during the course of the day that it would be hard to keep changing your set-up. Then again your are hearing this from a guy who only brings the tires that are on his cars. But I seem to do OK. Having a ball and thats all that matters..............WAYNE

Pete, those shots look really great. You should bring some bodies down to one of our races.Bummer about the 100 lapper getting rained out. It was good to see you and Bruce. Hope to see you guys at Dirtrunners one sunday.......WAYNE

Hey, Galo. Re: the brushless motor thing...yeah, I have no problem with that either. Like everyone else has said, there's not much if any advantage over a brushed motor on a track like ours. Controlling wheelspin on the roadcourse is way more crucial than top-end.

Kudos to all for the posts relating to things other than quads and chew. Keep 'em coming.

-jon

Oh yeah, one other thing I wanted to ask everyone's opinions about: tires.

Here's what I've discovered so far (for the T4):

Track conditions:

- If it rained the night before and it's real wet and chunky for 1st race: Step-pins
- Very dry and dusty: Holeshots
- Moderate (typical race conditions): Holeshots/Ifmar pins

Basically, I'm wondering if anyone has tried some of the alternate configs/compounds like the Proline Fuzzie-T, Blade fronts, Evil Twin, etc.

-jon

I run 25wt front oil and 35wt rear oil, seems to work well for my mf, worked well for my xxt as well


Nick

yea ill have to try that in the rear cause i am going to start stocking up on shock oil

how do you kow when a comm needs comm needs to be cut?

Hey Jon, tried Evil's, not very good. Our track is too sandy. Tried Losi T-2000's and they werent much better than the Evil's. Haven't used Bowties yet, but it seems to me that the tire of choice is Step-pin or Lugnut. Both seem to do well even as the track changes. I run Steps on my truck and buggy and seem to have no real problem, much better than anything else.

fREAk

Yeah, Mike, I kinda figured you/Nick/Mike K. would have tried some of the other compounds already.

Keep the info coming.

-jon

how do you kow when a comm needs comm needs to be cut?

Really, to keep the motor running healthy and strong you should have it cut each time you change the brushes (some cut every other run in spite of brushes--I don't particularly sponsor that idea myself--some of the lubrication is gone out of the brushes by then.) And, you should change your brushes every four to six runs optimally.

Obviously, you can have it cut far less often, but you'll notice a degradation of performance as well as more strain on the motor.

Some indicators of needing a motor rebuild: severe discoloration of the comm, motor drawing more/less amps (i.e.: 12 turn drawing 2 amps or 25 amps) than normal, discolored or mishapen brushes (also due to overgearing), severe arcing

-jon

bowtiesw dont work to well sean has them on his buggy and he gets no traction

Really, to keep the motor running healthy and strong you should have it cut each time you change the brushes (some cut every other run in spite of brushes--I don't particularly sponsor that idea myself--some of the lubrication is gone out of the brushes by then.) And, you should change your brushes every four to six runs optimally.

Obviously, you can have it cut far less often, but you'll notice a degradation of performance as well as more strain on the motor.

Some indicators of needing a motor rebuild: severe discoloration of the comm, motor drawing more/less amps (i.e.: 12 turn drawing 2 amps or 25 amps) than normal, discolored or mishapen brushes (also due to overgearing), severe arcing

-jon
the comm is slightly discolored but thats all. it has about 10 runs on it but i am running a vantage endbell with high copper brushes and supposedly it will get anywhere from 10-30 runs so i am unsure.

Oh yeah, one other thing I wanted to ask everyone's opinions about: tires.


Jon - Here is what Kevin and I have run so far, FWIW. Most of it had been with 1/10th gas truck, some with my electric, too.

When it's been dry, hard and sandy, we've done best with Holeshots and Bowties, both in M2. We also had some success last year when the track was dry and the sand was more blown off the racing line with Losi Taper Pins and Panther Switches. Like Mike said, they didn't work too well once the sand was on top of the hardpack, though.

When it's been wetter and looser, we've had good luck with Losi Step Pins in Red, Panther Step Pins in soft and Lugnuts (ours are M3). I've liked the Panthers best.

I tried the Lugnuts this past weekend on the wet loose dirt on my flashlite truck, but they didn't hook up as well for me as my Panther Step Pins did. However, the set I tried were pretty blown away by now as Kevin has run them quite a bit on his gas truck. I'm going to try a new set before I give up on them. A lot of the 'young crowd' have been doing well with them.

I've tried Panther Studs in Soft, but haven't found a day so far this year when they were right.

As far as fronts, we've mostly used Losi Taper Pins or Panther Switches on the front, in both gas and electric. Unless the track is very damp and loose like last weekend, we found they are smoother and more progressive. We have plenty of steering with them, even in gas. When it was as wet as last Sunday, we went with Losi Directionals in Red - the Taper Pins loaded up too much. Kevin has also run Holeshots on the front (as did I in gas on the oval last year) as well as Step Pins, but I didn't like how they steered - too grabby for me. (Kevin never seems to think he has has too much steering...)

Gary

Hey Jon, Gary, and the rest. Basically i stick with Blades in M3. They seem to be the most predictable to me. I have Edges in M3 also, but even the slightest hint of water or dust and the steering goes away. Blades seem to be the perfect fit for most of our races, and as the track changes, usually they dont...

Jon, just for your own info, most will agree with this, so far this year, we have had basically a perfect track. Don't base your whole season on what we have right now. When the drier weather hits, the track becomes way more sandy, and with the wetdowns every so often, we wind up with wet tack in one area, and dry loose sand in another. Hopefully this year wull be different, but i just think we have been luky...

FrEAK

Mike on the duratrax charger how come ican only charger ni-mhs at 3 amps. Will it false peak if i turn the amps up?

No erik, it wont false peak, it will melt your batteries. The peak detection mode will not recognized it fast enought to cut off charging. Once again, charge all you batteries the night before the race, then at race, all you need to do is repeak.....

FrEAK

Hey guys, this lighting the tire on fire thing, anyone try it? Im a little leary because im not sure you will get consistent results. Please let me know if anyone tried it, i may on my junk steps next time....

fREaK

ok mike, me and cheese have lite up our tires for street use and wow to they hook up. Total traction on the 2 rear wheels.

ok mike, me and cheese have lite up our tires for street use and wow to they hook up. Total traction on the 2 rear wheels.
Hmm, this "lighting the tires up" technique sounds interesting, but a little risky. I think I'll try it at the next race...on Wayne's tires!! :p

Gary

When you lite the tires make sure you spin them while lit the flame only last about 30 seconds.I usally spin them on a allen wrench and lite them up. :dude:

1 other thing I liked when I tested there, I ran the longer wheelbase for me I was able to be very aggressive with the throttle for a dry track.

Hey guys, this lighting the tire on fire thing, anyone try it? Im a little leary because im not sure you will get consistent results. Please let me know if anyone tried it, i may on my junk steps next time....

fREaK

Well i have done it before to my step pins on my truck, and unless you have a unlimited amount of tires dont do it to pins, it burns the pins off, that is what happend to mine, i works fine to tires with smaller tread

Hi guys, I just want to say thank you to all for give me your friendship and let me be in the club, no body know how hard is to be from other country, I think that I can't talk just about RC cars or racing, We can talk about friendship, and you guys are the best, and the only friends that I have, Thanks to all!!!!!!!!!
Galo
P.D. thanks also to the spelling in the computer!!!!!!!

Hey Galo,
Your from another country? I dont believe it!!!:p Friendship is what it is all about, we are there to race, but making friends is the icing on the cake. It also brings people from all ages, jobs, AND COUNTRIES FOR THAT MATTER, together. Most of the people i have met at "Runners", i would have never had the chance to talk to in the real world. It is a common ground that we can all bond with. And i can say personally i have made many friends that i enjoy there. I can see that this is your experience too, so enjoy it.

fREaK

Erik, fixed Ryans truck last night, put in the aluminum caster blocks so we wont have any more dissapointments. Tell your bro, watchout, cause he should be there in 2 races...

fREAk

Erik, fixed Ryans truck last night, put in the aluminum caster blocks so we wont have any more dissapointments. Tell your bro, watchout, cause he should be there in 2 races...

fREAk

Great Mike just wonderful now my bro is gonna have pay attention and focus and not worry about getting bit by a bug right in the middle of the final lap when he was in the lead.

;) The main purpose of lighting the tires is to get the factory release agent off the tires,the flame should only last about 30 seconds.Ive done it to step pins and never saw any change in tire ware.If you over do the lighting ,yea you may see extra wear due to getting the tire tooo soft and you may experence tire flex. Just make sure you spin the tire and dont let it burn for more than 30 sec. and wait about 30 min. before running tire so it has a chance to cure or no cure time will also result in severe tire wear.

;) The main purpose of lighting the tires is to get the factory release agent off the tires,the flame should only last about 30 seconds.Ive done it to step pins and never saw any change in tire ware.If you over do the lighting ,yea you may see extra wear due to getting the tire tooo soft and you may experence tire flex. Just make sure you spin the tire and dont let it burn for more than 30 sec. and wait about 30 min. before running tire so it has a chance to cure or no cure time will also result in severe tire wear.

when me and cheese did this to his tires he left the flame burn for a hair bit too long causing some pins to burn off but once we did it a couple of times we became very familiar with when to kill the flame.

> Jon - Here is what Kevin and I have run so far, FWIW. Most of it had been
> with 1/10th gas truck, some with my electric, too.

Thanks for the info, Gary. It seems like most of what I've found with my setups you have found the same.

Yeah, Mike, I can see what you're saying. I took the truck to the track a few days ago when it was like 95 degrees. The track was completely sandy. I could see how the track will basically be wet and chunky in the turns and sandy and dry in the rest. I played with Holeshot M3s in the rear and Edges in the front and it was pretty nice. Taper/Step-pins would have been a mess in that condition.

Mike, you mentioned that the Blades didn't work well for you. Could you explain how they felt? I know Gary mentioned running some small spikes in the front. Have you run fuzzies or anything in the front? I'm thinking that Edges are probably the way to go 100% of the time, but I'd like to hear your opinion as to why.

-jon

Hey Jon, what i have experienced with the edges is this:

1) They have very good grip on the hardpack, but if you get out of line, or have to take a different line to get round someone and hit some sand, it all goes wrong..LOL

B) When we do water, if the heat you are in has any mud in ANY turn, THEY WILL PACK, this in turn, ends up with unbalence and no traction. Everytime i ran something small pin this year, it seems to me that they always pack. I'd rather be a little less steering all the time, then none if it packs up...

3) My T3 i've been fighting rear end sliding under acceleration, the Blades usually get good grip in the turns(because most of the sand is pushed out) and this is not where i need steering, it actually hurts me to have to much steering coming out of a turn. I NEED MORE HIGH SPEED STEERING!!!!!:cry:


Freak

the comm is slightly discolored but thats all. it has about 10 runs on it but i am running a vantage endbell with high copper brushes and supposedly it will get anywhere from 10-30 runs so i am unsure.

10 runs on the Vantage is about all you want to do. The Vantage/Orion endbell/brushes are definitely more reliable, gentler on the comm and provide longer wear but 10 runs is still their limit. If you keep running them you'll notice the truck getting slower and less responsive. You may have heard 20 runs, but I wouldn't buy that. Besides, with dirt you get all kinds of crud in there and the thing needs to be torn down and rebuilt.

BTW, I have a Vantage 14T double and I'm very happy with it. It's the first time I've used anything other than an Epic/Trinity based motor in probably 16 years (okay, wait, I ran Peak Performance back in the late eighties.) Believe me, that's a *lot* of motors. ;-) With the Orion endbells you should really have the brushes replaced and the comm cut every 6-10 runs. I find that hot Epic based winds (11 and below) should be cut every 4-6 runs. The comms get ultra-nasty and the brushes are trashed by then. With the higher winds (>12T) you can get away with 6-8, but it's not the smartest idea.

-jon

Hey Jon, what i have experienced with the edges is this:

1) They have very good grip on the hardpack, but if you get out of line, or have to take a different line to get round someone and hit some sand, it all goes wrong..LOL

B) When we do water, if the heat you are in has any mud in ANY turn, THEY WILL PACK, this in turn, ends up with unbalence and no traction. Everytime i ran something small pin this year, it seems to me that they always pack. I'd rather be a little less steering all the time, then none if it packs up...

3) My T3 i've been fighting rear end sliding under acceleration, the Blades usually get good grip in the turns(because most of the sand is pushed out) and this is not where i need steering, it actually hurts me to have to much steering coming out of a turn. I NEED MORE HIGH SPEED STEERING!!!!!:cry:


Freak

Same problem with my t3 mike i need more high speed steering. Now that i have the mfe with the same servo as the t3 i get a lot quicker response in steering even with 4 rib fronts that dont turn. I will be able to see the difference this week once i get my directional fronts for it.

> Hey Jon, what i have experienced with the edges is this:

1) They have very good grip on the hardpack, but if you get out of line, or have to take a different line to get round someone and hit some sand, it all goes wrong..LOL

Okay, I getcha.

B) When we do water, if the heat you are in has any mud in ANY turn, THEY WILL PACK, this in turn, ends up with unbalence and no traction. Everytime i ran something small pin this year, it seems to me that they always pack. I'd rather be a little less steering all the time, then none if it packs up...

Hmmm...I'll watch for this.

3) My T3 i've been fighting rear end sliding under acceleration, the Blades usually get good grip in the turns(because most of the sand is pushed out) and this is not where i need steering, it actually hurts me to have to much steering coming out of a turn. I NEED MORE HIGH SPEED STEERING!!!!!:cry:

Yeah, I've definitely got to bring a few different sets of tires up there (maybe at some point this week) and try 'em all out. I really want to document how my truck feels with each, so I can better troubleshoot come race time.

Gotta get myself a buggy too. ;-)

-jon

> Hi guys, I just want to say thank you to all for give me your friendship
> <snip>

Hey, Galo. It's a pleasure to have you as a friend too. I know Mike K. and I really enjoy pitting with you and chatting.

-jon

Mike when you go to mikes next week to fix his quad do you think you could cut the comm on my bros stock motor because it needs to be cut real bad, and he needs it in order to get a good shot at your neighbor.