8ight T 2.0 RTR Ordered!!! Now to the questions

[Orph3o]

Hey all,
I shall receive my new Truggy next week end!

Now to the questions
Sorry there are lots of them... I have researched and found answers for most (not here), but these are the one I can't make my mind up with. Either because multiple answers were found or I couldn't find a "simple" answer.


1) I heard that the truggyi was crunching Servo as if they were peanuts...
- One cause was heat from engine adding to heat from servos. Fix is to put a lexan sheet between the two
- Linkage and chassis flex. I have dl the Losi PDF (Throttle brake linkage). Is it enough? I believe Neobart has some "tweaks" up his sleeve could you share?

2) Breaking in the 454 engine?
Any recommendations? Heat Cycle? Idle? Traxxas approach (increasing speed and time)...

3) Setup sheet.
I have DLd two setup sheet. One is the Adam Drake "basic" set, the other the rolling chassis one.
Those two are different... as a basic setup which one would you recommend?

4) Engine
Through Drake's sheet, I read that he was using a .21 geared 13/50. This raises many questions
- why are we rolling .25/.28? They are more fuel hungry... My only real answer is that Drake could beat me with a .12 but what about real racers?
- What is the gearing of the RTR version (can't find this info) and can the engine sustain other ratios?
- I plan on getting a new mill for the truggy. Always had good experiences with OS engines and planning to get either the 25XZ or 28XZ. Planning on a JP4 exhaust to mellow low band and increase top end. What would you recommend (in this price range, I would love a "racing" serie but they are quite expensive).
- if Going 25XZ or 28XZ, what gearing would you recommend to "save" the drive line and gears?
- Gaz consumption is not a strong factor, but I would rather run 10 minutes than 8

6) exhaust
What exhaust is the RTR coming with? I read great things about the Losi RE-10 even paired with OS engines?

5) Toe Out?
Just noticed that both setup sheets are recommending toe out in the rear... Is this truggy specific? I have never used toe out on any of my trucks (I was mostly 1degree in rear and 2-3 in front).

6) Spektrum DX3S
- I have read so many different things... from amazing to piece of poopoo. Should I plan on an upgrade quickly?
- How accurate is the telemetry thingy?

7) Electricity
- Any lipo I could use as Hump pack? Planning on getting hungry servos. Lipo would be amazing.
- Start box: I have seen that Losi is selling a 4s Lipo for the start box. it is quite expensive though... do you have other solutions?



Again, sorry for the "barrage" of questions, but as I will have a couple months of tinkering, the more I can learn and implement, the better the season will be!

Very happy to jump to Truggy. I have been a revo person for quite a while, and I hope that going 8ight will just be revo +1

Heeehaaaa

Orph3o
Montreal/Canada.

 

[neobart]

Congrats on the purchase, with a few tweaks you'll love it.



1) I heard that the truggyi was crunching Servo as if they were peanuts...
- One cause was heat from engine adding to heat from servos. Fix is to put a lexan sheet between the two
- Linkage and chassis flex. I have dl the Losi PDF (Throttle brake linkage). Is it enough? I believe Neobart has some "tweaks" up his sleeve could you share?

Throttle servo should be mounted with rubber grommets, and should be tightened so it can still flex a little in the grommets. The linkage arm connecting to the engine must be completely level with the chassis. Also when checking the throttle servo, make sure it's off the chassis with room to spare, and the it doesn't touch the inside of the mudguard. The mudguard may need a little trimming depending on what servo you put in there.

All the other tweaks and stiffeners don't do anything other than cost you a pretty penny. Just make sure the throttle linkage is a straight as can be.

It's also a good idea to run rubber bands on the carb in stead of the return spring on the linkage. It cause too much stress on the servo when braking. The rubber bands must be strong enough so the carb is pulled shut in case of power loss. This will save you from a runaway of the rx battery dies.


2) Breaking in the 454 engine?
Any recommendations? Heat Cycle? Idle? Traxxas approach (increasing speed and time)...
It's been almost a year since I ran anything nitro, I'll let someone else take this one.

3) Setup sheet.
I have DLd two setup sheet. One is the Adam Drake "basic" set, the other the rolling chassis one.
Those two are different... as a basic setup which one would you recommend?
The std. Race Roller setup is a good starting point. I ran something very similar when I had my truggy.


4) Engine
Through Drake's sheet, I read that he was using a .21 geared 13/50. This raises many questions
- why are we rolling .25/.28? They are more fuel hungry... My only real answer is that Drake could beat me with a .12 but what about real racers?
- What is the gearing of the RTR version (can't find this info) and can the engine sustain other ratios?
- I plan on getting a new mill for the truggy. Always had good experiences with OS engines and planning to get either the 25XZ or 28XZ. Planning on a JP4 exhaust to mellow low band and increase top end. What would you recommend (in this price range, I would love a "racing" serie but they are quite expensive).
- if Going 25XZ or 28XZ, what gearing would you recommend to "save" the drive line and gears?
- Gaz consumption is not a strong factor, but I would rather run 10 minutes than 8

Get a good .21 and it will power that truggy just fine, no need for anything bigger. It will also be easier to drive. I had a GRP .21 in my truggy, and it did just fine.


6) exhaust
What exhaust is the RTR coming with? I read great things about the Losi RE-10 even paired with OS engines? The stock pipe is the same as the HT pipe Losi uses on the LST2 and XXL trucks. Pretty decent pipe, but will not work to well on most race mills.

5) Toe Out?
Just noticed that both setup sheets are recommending toe out in the rear... Is this truggy specific? I have never used toe out on any of my trucks (I was mostly 1degree in rear and 2-3 in front).
That is a mistake. Most 8T setups call for 1-2 degrees out in front, and 3 degrees in rear.

6) Spektrum DX3S
- I have read so many different things... from amazing to piece of poopoo. Should I plan on an upgrade quickly?
- How accurate is the telemetry thingy?
Great radio, telemetry has limited range though.


7) Electricity
- Any lipo I could use as Hump pack? Planning on getting hungry servos. Lipo would be amazing.
- Start box: I have seen that Losi is selling a 4s Lipo for the start box. it is quite expensive though... do you have other solutions?
You don't have to buy a Losi Lipo for the start box, just get a cheap 4s 20C lipo for it. Hobby King has a great selection.
For rx battery, I would go with a Life battery pack. Almost as light as Lipo, but wont burn out servos or rx's that aren't rated for lipo. I got 50 minutes of runtime on a 850mah life pack in my buggy last season. That was running two savox digital servos.

 

[Orph3o]

Thanks a lot Neobart, pretty usefull information there.

Apart from that, any hop-ups you would recommend? I am not a competitive racer, but if some modifications can prevent wear or ease maintenance, increase reliability or efficiency, I am all for it.
I read that alum. shock caps would be a great idea, as well as a new clutch set... still trying to figure out what clutch set would be appropriate (4 pads I guess).

Unfortunately, GRP is no longer producing mills. From what I have read their factory burned down, and they decided to focus on tires. Not sure what would be the equivalent. I use a .21 in my race revo (Os 21 Vspec) and I must say it is plenty power. I was very surprised that a truggy would be fed with a .28 as I was expecting this roller to be much lighter than a monster truck.
I hope some other members can enlight me regarding a good .21

Regarding the lifepo, do you still use a regulator or are there 6v lipos?

What are you rolling those days?

 

[neobart]

No need for a regulator with lifepo packs, they put out 6.6 volts fully charged.

As for engine, a buddy of mine who used to do all my engines (www.clockworkracingengines.com), has high praise for a Werks B5. It's a great .21 that won't break the bank.

Hop-ups. all I ran was a aluminum servo horn on the steering and rear uprights in aluminum. Anything else is not needed IMO.

Clutch wise, I would get a set of Ascendancy shoes for the Losi clutch, and use the four gold springs they come with. Great setup for truggy, and it will last a while.

I gone to electric power now. Have a XXL monster truck with a 2200kv Mamba monster, and a 8ight EU with a 2100kv Xcelorin.

 

[neobart]

Here's a few pictures to further explain what I'm talking about. I don't have enough confidence in my written explanation, to leave it at that.

Just to clarify how straight the linkages need to be, and the rubber bands and no return spring. You can see I'm not using grommets, I would only recommend that if you're really confident in the linkages and EPA's. I worked fine for me. Actually both servos are 4 seasons old and still run fine.

Another thing to check is all screws going into metal. Basically check all screws, but the ones going into metal should be locktighted(is that a word?).
Blue locktite should be enough to hold it.

The four screws holding the front tower to the bulkhead are a little short, I think they're only 1/2" ones. Get some 3/4" ones, or you'll have to check them avery few runs.

Camber links. On the earlier runs Losi used screws that were a little short, so the locknut couldn't lock down tight enough. You may need longer screws for them as well.

And definitely get the alu. caps. I hear the plastic ones can pop off from big landings.

OK I think that is everything now. Nothing major, just little tweaks that should make it even more enjoyable to be a Losi owner.

 

[MotoGod]

No need for a regulator with lifepo packs, they put out 6.6 volts fully charged.

As for engine, a buddy of mine who used to do all my engines (www.clockworkracingengines.com), has high praise for a Werks B5. It's a great .21 that won't break the bank.

Hop-ups. all I ran was a aluminum servo horn on the steering and rear uprights in aluminum. Anything else is not needed IMO.

Clutch wise, I would get a set of Ascendancy shoes for the Losi clutch, and use the four gold springs they come with. Great setup for truggy, and it will last a while.

I gone to electric power now. Have a XXL monster truck with a 2200kv Mamba monster, and a 8ight EU with a 2100kv Xcelorin.

The Clockwork B5 really is hard to beat, but a regular B5 will get the job done mighty well too. I run a B5 in my Buggy and it's got almost too much bottom end already. I run an Alpha Plus S852 in my Truggy (similar to the B5 power-wise) and both are just awesome $200 mills. I won't ever spend more than $300 on a mill again ;-)

 

[neobart]

Yup, forgot to say that you don't need to get a "clocked" version of it. When it comes to engines, I trust anything Neal(CRE) says.

 

[MotoGod]

Neal does AWESOME work for sure.....

 

[Orph3o]

300 was the kind of $$ I planned on putting on a mill... I see the clocked B5 at 299... If you are so confident about this mill and the mod I'll contact them and see if they can ship to Canada.
Never ran a modded engine, that could be a nice treat for my Truggy. I'll read more on Werk, haven't seen one around here (Picco/OS/Nova being the selected ones it seems).

But first, Servos, Shock caps and batteries.

Thanks a lot for all the info. Can't wait to receive the truggy and tear it down

 

[neobart]

CRE is in Canada, Winnipeg to be exact.

 

[Orph3o]

and that's canadian dollars... Oh My!!!!!!
Thanks for the tip guys!

 

[Orph3o]

Neobart, I received the truggy and... wow... it is intimidating after being used to traxxas
Not That I feel Traxxas is anyway not up to Losi, but different!

This is beautiful engineering... I can't stop looking at the rear tables, CVDs being so close and so "discreet" and thinking... This is so efficient!

Now to the more boring part
I can't see the rubber bands on your pics, and being this close from the engine, I don't know what to use... The spring looks a bit too aggressive, but I don't want to get into a spring that would melt.
Also, I have been told that throttle/brake servo may be giving up because of the engine heat.

Already ordered shock caps and setting the beast as the basic roller for a start up., we'll move from there.

Now, a quick question for you... Is this forum dead? I feel like there is one post every 10 days Just like the Losi ones!
I have tried RC Tech, but it's so noisy and so badly organized... I can't seem to be able to find my own posts!
Any forum you would recommend for a curious guy with limited time because he has a family and they all prefer Mickey to Nitro engine?

Have a great day... BTW, we just had a couple "cold" days... -36 celsius the last four days. I have to walk 20+ minutes every morning, Felt I was loosing one great part of my body every morning this week!
Come to Canada they say! Mofos!

 

[MotoGod]

I use rubber bands made for girls hair on my throttle as a return spring. They are the black ones hat come in a bag of like 75 or 100 or whatever for a few bucks. I replace em whenever they start to look their spring. Cheap too! Basically you want to connect the little nipple on the carb slide to one end of the band, and then stretch it around the carb neck and secure the other end on the High Speed Needle housing. So it kind of makes a half moon shape if you look straight down on it.

The goal is to have the rubber band/spring/hair tie hold the carb nipple shut...and pull it shut again if the servo should fail....or the linkage should break...or if the radio glitches. So once you install it....just pull out on the carb slide. If it springs back to idle position...you have the return on there the right way.

This forum isn't dead at all...just a lot of guys don't check it every 30 min like rctech. rctech is a great place for info as well, but the chatter and idiots there make it less fun for sure!

 

[neobart]

Heat being the cause of servo failure is not something I have heard before, not on a Losi anyway. As long as the servo clears the chassis and sideguard, and the EPA(at full throttle you should still be able to pull the carb another 1-2mm) is set, you should have no trouble.

What servos does it come with? I remember the 1.0 RTR's came with a z650 for steering and z270 for brake/throttle. If it's a 270, get rid of it quick. Bad, bad servo. The 650's are good servos, a little slow but at least they're metal geared.

 

[nasir]

Great choice of car. They look fantastic

 

[Orph3o]

Thanks all,

Yes I have just discovered RCtech and while I can search a wealth of info (and there are some amazing one), the noise/info ratio is not super positive

Neobart, my LHS told me about the heat issue... I like the guy, but he likes to feel "I know it all" I usually take it with a grain of salt

Motogod, My concern was that this rubber link is so close from the engine, and that rubber is not the best "heat resistant" material it may melt... but I guess you are talking about those rubers with "fabric" around them. I'll try to find some. However I have removed the spring, and it was quite weak (not too strong).
I have also downloaded the Losi file regarding linkage settings and the need for extra play when fully open.

As I am moving forward in tearing the truck down and up, a couple other questions. I'll start a new thread as this may be a lot more specific.

Again, thanks a lot!

 

[MotoGod]

Yeah I use the fabric covered ones, but the bare ones should work as well. Not a lot of heat in that area while the truck is moving. Sounds like you are making good progress man.

 

[timmyltr]

how about telemetry, is it some kind of precise or you can't rely on it at all?
I'm looking for this truggy or the buggy from losi, its sounds like a nice package for playing around on the track