1/10 Nitro set up

[Mike220ST]

hi there just finished building my Acme Condor 1/10th Nitro RC Buggy and looking to set up the suspension and wheels.
I can find loads of info on setting up the engine, but i want to set the tracking, toe, camber and alinement and looking for a setup jig.

thanks Mike

 

[Greywolf74]

I've never done any hard core tuning like for racing but if your just looking for some tools to set it up then I can recommend the ones that RPM makes. They make a toe gauge and a camber gauge for sure, and I think they also make a ride height gauge.

 

[Mike220ST]

thanks for the info, not doing racing well not yet. but rather have the car set right so makes it handle as best as it can.

 

[Ben Willis]

I have the acme cyclone and a friend of mine has the condor and to be honest trying to set it up correctly is going to be an absolute nightmare, since there is so much slop in the linkages. To properly get a good setup you'll need to get some sealable diffs and possibly a centre diff too, since the acme ones aren't sealable and will just leak. I've found adjusting the ride height by moving the shocks around and adjusting the preload pretty successful, and if you have the roll bars that works quite well too. I've found that the condor does understeer a fair bit, so it might be useful to think about some softer front springs to help combat this. Adjusting camber on the front and toe on the rear is pretty much useless as theres no way to do it other than screwing in one of the ball end screws more than the other (the ones linking the arms to the axle carriers) and this doesn't really work too well as its impossible to tell how far to go as you have to take the wheels off to do it :')

Now, I'm not trying to put you off, but if you are seriously thinking about racing I would recommend getting a higher quality buggy, such as a Losi 8ight. I absolutely love my cyclone, but it's not of the highest quality... especially the engine... But if you just want to try out racing to see what its like before investing more money, then the condor will be fine

Hope this helps

 

[Mike220ST]

thanks for the insight, been doing a lot of research into the set up and found a few useful things to help me get it set up. after building the buggy i can see your point about the slop in the suspension, so it will always be adjusted to the centre of the play.
tbh i am not looking to get into racing mainly because of geography, i am miles away from a track that will take a nitro, but as you do i have started window shopping for my next buggy already, and the HPI 1/8th baja has caught my eye, is that any good btw.
The condor was always going to be my starter nItro RC, to learn how there put together and use.


thanks Mike

 

[SchrodeMode]

You can always try rod ends from higher quality models, they may have a better fit and reduce some of the "slop".

the HPI 1/8th baja has caught my eye

Do you have a link to what buggy you're talking about? HPI makes a few 1/8 buggies but the Baja is their 1/5 petrol model (now a micro electric as well).

 

[Mike220ST]

already looked at replacing shocks, hub, wishbones with metal parts and will look out for better rods.

And this is the one that caught my eye.
http://www.hpiracing.co.uk/piw.php?partNo=101704

 

[SchrodeMode]

I would keep the arms plastic, you want a "weak" point at your corners. I've heard good things about the Trophy buggy (and truggy), it will be a huge jump in the right direction.

 

[Mike220ST]

thanks for the info.

 

[Greywolf74]

You could also look at the Associated RC 8.2 or any of the OFNA buggies also if youd like more choices

 

[ninnon]

To be honest if your planning on tuning it that finely and racing it in the first place then I wouldn't of chosen an acme...

 

[Mike220ST]

To be honest if your planning on tuning it that finely and racing it in the first place then I wouldn't of chosen an acme...

Never planned to race this buggy, it was always a starter car, so before I move onto a more expensive and race able buggy, I am using the the acme to learn how there put together and how set up can change the driving charatistics.

 

[ninnon]

Never planned to race this buggy, it was always a starter car, so before I move onto a more expensive and race able buggy, I am using the the acme to learn how there put together and how set up can change the driving charatistics.

Aaah, that's fine then- if your only using it for a starter buggy then I wouldn't be too concerned about getting stuff like that perfect- as long as it drives straight and follows the general guidelines then you'll be good to go.

 

[Mike220ST]

Aaah, that's fine then- if your only using it for a starter buggy then I wouldn't be too concerned about getting stuff like that perfect- as long as it drives straight and follows the general guidelines then you'll be good to go.

I found a guy in my town that races them and he gave me advice how to give it a basic neutral set up, and will be getting tips and lessons on driving

 

[ninnon]

I found a guy in my town that races them and he gave me advice how to give it a basic neutral set up, and will be getting tips and lessons on driving

That's good then- if you want to get in to racing then I would look towards a Traxxas, Losi or HPI vehicle.

 

[Greywolf74]

That's good then- if you want to get in to racing then I would look towards a Traxxas, Losi or HPI vehicle.

Traxxas doesn't make any race quality kits. Losi, Associated, Mugen, Kyosho, and to a very small extent HPI/Hotbodies and OFNA are some of the brands Id look for race quality kits from.

 

[hamz9561]

Traxxas doesn't make any race quality kits. Losi, Associated, Mugen, Kyosho, and to a very small extent HPI/Hotbodies and OFNA are some of the brands Id look for race quality kits from.

As is X-Ray.

 

[Greywolf74]

As is X-Ray.

X-Ray make other good racing kits besides their on-road? I know very little about x-ray actually.

 

[hamz9561]

They make great buggies as well. The XB-808 has quite a few titles under its belt and its predecessor the XB-8 (which I had) was great, too.

 

[ninnon]

Traxxas doesn't make any race quality kits. Losi, Associated, Mugen, Kyosho, and to a very small extent HPI/Hotbodies and OFNA are some of the brands Id look for race quality kits from.

Yeah- thinking about traxxas aren't the best for racing- X-ray are supposed to be good too...although thinking about most buggies are better than acme for racing...