Associated Reflex 14t/14b

[Sledgehog]

Anyone else pick up one of these guys? Heck of a lot of fun but needs some tuning/upgrades. For wheels and tires I went with the LC Racing rear buggy tires all around. part#L6230. Leaps and bounds better than the stock ones.

Did anyone replace their springs? Looking for a set that actually FIT the shocks. Not fond of the fact you have to have the preload collar almost all the way down just for the spring to not slide up and down on the shock body... why are they so short!

On the subject of shocks, did anyone try different shock oil wt and what worked for you. Stock is 30 all around and way too thick. This thing just bounces as is. I think I read somewhere 20w front and 10w rear was a good way to go but looking for other opinions if any

Last but not least, I'm a complete noober when it comes to 4wd diffs and diff fluid. Seen reports of 10/10/4 and 7/5/3 on another forum. Wondering if anyone else changed them out and what worked best for you.


Asides from those small issues though (which are generally the same things you swap out anyways on any RTR) I love the lil' guy. It's fun as heck to rip around my driveway and yard as well as the carpet track. Can't wait to toss it on the dirt track this weekend as well.

 

[Sledgehog]

Just ordered some Associated 20w and 10w. Gonna start with the 20w all around and see how it goes. I have some losi 15w as well but i've read losi is a bit thicker than associated in comparison. I'll post some results when I get to tinkering with it.

 

[Sledgehog]

Cars go faster with bling. Everyone knows that...

 

[D3MON]

Cars go faster with bling. Everyone knows that...





View attachment 118688
View attachment 118689

View attachment 118690

those lights turned out awesome!

 

[Sledgehog]

After some experimenting, the losi 15w all around is almost perfect. No more bounce in the rear and takes off jumps nice and level now where before the butt-end would fly up almost flipping it forward on every launch.
I also had to pull the rear springs a bit. My biggest gripe with this vehicle is they use front springs all around and just push the pre-load collars all the way down on the rears so they don't slide up and down the shock body.
I basically just pulled them until they were about an extra 15mm longer (they are 40.5mm originally) and let them sit that way overnight before reinstalling to make sure they didn't go back to where they were. They don't seem to have lost any strength and I can now put the preload collars just a few cm from the top where they should be. No noticeable loss in performance on rough stuff or jumps so far and the car plants nice and level when you drop it where before as mentioned, the back end would bounce, and the front would sit much higher than the rear even with the preloads all the way down in the rear.

Car is MUCH better on the carpet track now but could still use some tweaking. The next tuning option I suppose would be the diff oils but as I've never taken a diff apart in my life yet, I'll wait until it "needs" to be done to start experimenting with different weights in there.

 

[D3MON]

After some experimenting, the losi 15w all around is almost perfect. No more bounce in the rear and takes off jumps nice and level now where before the butt-end would fly up almost flipping it forward on every launch.
I also had to pull the rear springs a bit. My biggest gripe with this vehicle is they use front springs all around and just push the pre-load collars all the way down on the rears so they don't slide up and down the shock body.
I basically just pulled them until they were about an extra 15mm longer (they are 40.5mm originally) and let them sit that way overnight before reinstalling to make sure they didn't go back to where they were. They don't seem to have lost any strength and I can now put the preload collars just a few cm from the top where they should be. No noticeable loss in performance on rough stuff or jumps so far and the car plants nice and level when you drop it where before as mentioned, the back end would bounce, and the front would sit much higher than the rear even with the preloads all the way down in the rear.

Car is MUCH better on the carpet track now but could still use some tweaking. The next tuning option I suppose would be the diff oils but as I've never taken a diff apart in my life yet, I'll wait until it "needs" to be done to start experimenting with different weights in there.

do they make stiffer springs for the truck even the fronts? you could do a stacked spring setup on it. would take some calculations, but if you do a stiff spring for the bottom, then install a spacer between, then a shorter softer spring. much like how the pro-line powerstrokes work. while the softer spring is not compressed it will give you a soft plush feel, then when needed and the short/soft spring collapses it will transfer all weight to the stiffer spring so it will make it stiffer harder to bottom out.
just a thought. been doing a bit of research into this wanting to test it out on a pre-runner truck build I'm planning.
if you want to calculate (if i remember right, ill double check) the spring tension its:
soft spring weight plus bottom spring weight divided by
soft spring weight times stiff spring weight.
it will tell you a really soft reading but remember when the softer spring compresses, all tension is diverted to the stiffer spring. thus why the softer spring is typically shorter.

 

[Sledgehog]

There's no need for stiffer springs. Springs don't mainly dampen the landings, the oil filled shock itself does. The spring is mostly there to return the arm to its position after dampening to return the vehicle to its proper ride height. The only issue I had spring-wise is the rears dont match the length of the actual shock because Associated cheaped out and just re-used a second set of front shock springs. their stiffness is fine, I just needed them to be a length where I could actually adjust my pre-load height. The butt end sat way lower than the front and there was nothing I could do about it. It also attributed to the flipping over issue.

The problem I and others are having is Associated includes 30wt oil from the factory which is WAY too heavy for a car this small and light. My car would just hit the ground and bounce on the hard shocks instead of soaking up the landing like they should.

This is a short driveway vid I made the first day I got it. You can see whenever I hit a bump of any kind the back-end always bounces up or it just flips right over once the rear hits because of how borked the suspension is from factory setting. Now it just soaks it right up and keeps going forward like it should.

 

[D3MON]

There's no need for stiffer springs. Springs don't mainly dampen the landings, the oil filled shock itself does. The spring is mostly there to return the arm to its position after dampening to return the vehicle to its proper ride height. The only issue I had spring-wise is the rears dont match the length of the actual shock because Associated cheaped out and just re-used a second set of front shock springs. their stiffness is fine, I just needed them to be a length where I could actually adjust my pre-load height. The butt end sat way lower than the front and there was nothing I could do about it. It also attributed to the flipping over issue.

The problem I and others are having is Associated includes 30wt oil from the factory which is WAY too heavy for a car this small and light. My car would just hit the ground and bounce on the hard shocks instead of soaking up the landing like they should.

This is a short driveway vid I made the first day I got it. You can see whenever I hit a bump of any kind the back-end always bounces up or it just flips right over once the rear hits because of how borked the suspension is from factory setting. Now it just soaks it right up and keeps going forward like it should.

wasn't as much the stiffness I was meaning out of that, was more for the extra length and to create it to be super plush in the beginning then dampen down to approximately factory.
Definitely Looks like it would be a fun rig with the oil tamed a bit!

 

[Sledgehog]

Oh I misunderstood They literally only needed about an extra 15mm or so to fit properly. The full spring is 40.5mm so two of those would be way too long. Being it's such a new vehicle there's not many options from Associated and noone really knows yet what aftermarkets will fit them properly like Losi or LC Racing. I would iamgine though they would be similar lengths and I guess they'd have to be cut to length, which I'm not fond of doing. They never sit right in the caps when you do that

Hopefully I'll be able to at least grab a few clean laps at the track tomorrow on my phone. Now that I have decent tires and suspension set up it's way more fun that it already was.

Also excited to see what Tbone racing has in store for this model. Last newsletter I got from them stated new Associated reflex stuff coming soon.

 

[D3MON]

out of curiosity, what is the inner diameter of the shock spring? is there any spec as to the spring weight?

 

[Sledgehog]

I'll have to measure the diameter but they are 40.5cm long and 2.25lb/inch

Had a blast with it at the track today. All the guys were jealous of my ground effects Didn't get any video though cuz my battery was super low and I wanted to save it for a call if needed

 

[D3MON]

I'm over a thousand miles away and jealous your ground effects did beautiful work with it! How did you attach the lights etc? Been wanting to add lights to one of my nitro trucks for night running

 

[Slick2500]

Minis are the best.

 

[Sledgehog]

You're gonna laugh but I went full ghetto on the installation on this car and just coiled up the long wire and gorilla taped it to the body . They just plug right into your receiver for power. The windows "were" clear but I sprayed them black and used the included window decals to cover up the mess.

Next one I'm going to actually do it right by shortening and soldering the wires a correct length.

Here's the lights I used in the reflex:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/4-LED-Ligh...Traxxas-HSP-Redcat-RC4WD-RC-K2I3/323756761692

Also have a set of these coming for my future crawler and the blue lights are for my talion

https://www.ebay.com/itm/4pcs-Night...ght-Lamp-For-1-10-RC-On-Road-Car/361680768746

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2-RC-Buggy...be-Bar-For10-1-Crawler-Drift-Car/192867217928

 

[Slick2500]

You're gonna laugh but I went full ghetto on the installation on this car and just coiled up the long wire and gorilla taped it to the body . They just plug right into your receiver for power. The windows "were" clear but I sprayed them black and used the included window decals to cover up the mess.

View attachment 118738
Next one I'm going to actually do it right by shortening and soldering the wires a correct length.

Here's the lights I used in the reflex:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/4-LED-Ligh...Traxxas-HSP-Redcat-RC4WD-RC-K2I3/323756761692

Also have a set of these coming for my future crawler and the blue lights are for my talion

https://www.ebay.com/itm/4pcs-Night...ght-Lamp-For-1-10-RC-On-Road-Car/361680768746

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2-RC-Buggy...be-Bar-For10-1-Crawler-Drift-Car/192867217928

Associated must have a sway bar kit coming for these. Is there a spot on the bulkheads to mount one? I see the mounts on the a arms.

 

[Sledgehog]

No idea Never installed a sway bar, are the mounts the little nubs that are sticking out in the middle of the arm there?

 

[Slick2500]

No idea Never installed a sway bar, are the mounts the little nubs that are sticking out in the middle of the arm there? View attachment 118743

Yup, that is how Team Associated attaches sway bars to their a arms.

 

[Sledgehog]

So I can't say much about associated support. Car is literally a month old.

Been run twice at the carpet track and once in my driveway. The rear shock pre-load collars are completely stuck on the threads and will not turn whatsoever.

First support told me they no longer support discontinued models even though I stated it was the 14t 1/14th scale. Then when we got the model settled they told me this:

AE can go screw. I should have bought an LC Racing or Losi. I'm about ready to see if that return item link works.
Also this is the third email I've gotten from their support with blatant spelling and grammatical errors. It's like they have a 4th grader doing their support responses.

 

[D3MON]

So I can't say much about associated support. Car is literally a month old.

View attachment 118760

Been run twice at the carpet track and once in my driveway. The rear shock pre-load collars are completely stuck on the threads and will not turn whatsoever.

First support told me they no longer support discontinued models even though I stated it was the 14t 1/14th scale. Then when we got the model settled they told me this:

View attachment 118759

AE can go screw. I should have bought an LC Racing or Losi. I'm about ready to see if that return item link works.
Also this is the third email I've gotten from their support with blatant spelling and grammatical errors. It's like they have a 4th grader doing their support responses.

had you tried going through Hobby Town to see their response? guess i can't really say to much as i typically have spelling errors on that part, that is one issue I've had with threaded shock bodies, seem to get debris in the threads and a pain to remove. then once they get broken loose and i can remove them after a few times the threads get worn and dont like to stay in place very well.
I've personally had good experience from Associated, dont get me wrong i never tried getting them to fix my stuff but for me, they went out of their way to answer a few questions i had about very discontinued models.
hope you get it sorted though!

 

[Sledgehog]

Hobbytown is sending me replacement shock bodies/collars. Still can't say much for the AE "support" I received. Still can't believe they wouldn't send me literally $4 in parts.

Another little thing I have to gripe about with this vehicle is the way Associated sells replacements. I let my buddy run a few laps at the turf track the other night and he busted the right caster block when he put it in to the concrete wall at speed . Wasn't even mad though, we had a good laugh about it. But I can't just buy a set of caster blocks. I have to buy the entire plastic parts tree it comes on which is front casters, rear hubs, and a bunch of inserts I don't want or need... Almost every part of this car is sold on a part tree 'set" instead of individual parts. I guess I'll have spares but I'm literally spending 2x-3x as much for the one part I need. Can't say I'm a fan of this method.

Tbone just released a front and rear bumper for this as well. Just ordered a set, specially if I let him drive it again,