Buying a Slayer 4x4 Pro

[Dieselpowered]

I am going to order a Slayer tomorrow and have a few questions. I'm not sure if I should order it offline or at a store. Towerhobbies has it for $425 and free shipping. A local hobby shop can get it here by Wednesday for the same price. Does Tower ship that fast? Which route would you guys go?

Also, what brand and % fuel should I run? I've heard 20%. What else should I go ahead and order with it?

 

[SchrodeMode]

I'd go with the LHS, it's always nice to support a local business and they'll be more likely to help you when needed. When I worked at a shop, we always had guys who would buy online and then come in for help......it's a little frustrating when people come in for free advice and never buy anything to help you pay the bills.

 

[tmaxxfreek]

Agreed 100%^^^^

If you arent saving a ton of coin, support your LHS

 

[Dieselpowered]

That makes alot of sense. It would drive me crazy too if someone only asked for help without anything in return.

 

[Dieselpowered]

I ordered a Traxxas Slayer Pro 4x4 with the red Mike Jenkins body from my LHS, Hobby Central. The people were very nice and it was a pleasant experience. The total after tax was $457. It should be here Wednesday or Thursday. I am very excited!!

 

[Dieselpowered]

I picked it up this morning! It's so cool!

Tonight I took the engine apart and sealed it up with RTV and put lock tight on all bolts I took out.

I got it back together. Tomorrow i'll break it in using the heat cycle method.

 

[override]

Also, what brand and % fuel should I run? I've heard 20%. What else should I go ahead and order with it?

Congrats on the new purchase!

I always liked O'Donnell's Fuel, I used that VP fuel the LHS carries and it gave me problems, harder starts and tuning always seemed harder to me. 20% is the general fuel used for bashing but again 30%, atleast to me, is easier to tune with. If I could explain the difference it would go like this - with 20% you have a broader range of lean/rich you can be in and the motor sounds the same although you could be one way or the other on your tune. With 30% it has a smaller range of lean/rich that and gives a very noticeable sound change. The motor was easier to listen to for where your needles need to go, but for all I know I'm just a noob compared to some of the guys I've ran with.

 

[SchrodeMode]

Looks good man, I'm glad to see a "noob" who isn't afraid to start wrenching on their rig......it's the best way to get to know how to fix it after a crash.

 

[Jsmith]

I remember when my slayer looked that way. I think I'll take it out today!

 

[Dieselpowered]

Thanks guys! Thanks override for the fuel tips. I decided on Traxxas 20% for a couple reasons. I found that alot of people don't like it in non Traxxas engines. They say it works great in Traxxas engines, tunes well, and keeps temps lower than others. You hear good and bad about everything but I like to test and decide for myself and ya gotta start somewhere.

Shrodemode, I decided on Nitro instead of electric for the tinkering aspect. I like working on stuff just as much as using it! And you're right, it will make it easier to repair. I learned alot from it.

So after work I went by the LHS and picked up a gallon of fuel. Got home and prepared to go break in the truck. Then I realized I forgot to charge the starter battery pack! Oh well, i'll have all day to run it tomorrow!

I also forgot to mention I marked the flywheel in a few places with different colors (to make sure I can see atleast one mark) at BDC for when I break it in.

 

[Dieselpowered]

I got it broke in yesterday and boy is it fast!! I ran about 5 tanks yesterday and about 4 today. After break in I did a few car adjustments. Got it running great, running in the low 200's.

On the last tank of fuel yesterday it started to lose low end power. Today it only got worse. Low end power is gone to the point where it will barely burn out on dirt. If I tap the throttle a few times sometimes it will go like normal. Carb adjustments don't do much. It doesn't sound like it's bogging down, it just doesn't rev up.

So tonight I took the carb off, disassembled and cleaned it and the fuel tank. As I was putting the high speed needle fitting back in the carb cracked. I really don't think I over tightened it. Maybe it was defected?

 

[SchrodeMode]

Possibly man, I would contact Traxxas....they have pretty good customer service.

 

[Dieselpowered]

I bought a new carb body at a LHS this morning, $17. I'll write that one offas my fault, although I honestly don't think it was. Then this afternoon I got the truck back together and running great! I burned a couple of tanks, having a blast! Then the throttle/brake servo stopped working.... That's definitely a defect. I took the truck back to where I bought it from hoping they would take care of me. Nope. They told me to call Traxxas. Of course they did offer to sell me one. Ha! I walked out.

Got home and called Traxxas. They told me to send them an email with the receipt, address, and what the problem is. They'll "take care of it" We'll see.

Despite all the problems, I really love the Slayer! It's a blast. The speed is just amazing!

This afternoon I also made a air cleaner cover. The prefilter gets dirty very quick because the tires are constantly throwing dirt on it. This blocks most dirt without restricting air flow into the filter or past the engines cooling fins. After an hour of bashing in dirt it's still pretty clean.

 

[tmaxxfreek]

Be careful altering your airflow it will cause tuning headaches, easiest thing to do it get some extra filters oil them and put them in a sandwich bag and take them with you when your going out bashing (if your away from home) and change them when they get really dirty.

 

[Dieselpowered]

It did not seem to effect on my tuning. These engines don't pull in that much air compared to the enormous size of the filter (compare to the displacement).

Traxxas had still not gotten back to me tonight so I called them again. I explained the problem, the guy said he'd tell the first guy I talked to to call me back but i never got a call.

 

[Alexander_0_1]

You could try logging onto the traxxas website and registering your slayer, at least that's what was recommended to me when I melted a steering servo. As for the airfilter guard nice job, if you use lexan sheets next time it'll weigh less. These are alway a good idea: http://www.motorsaver.com/revo.htm

 

[Dieselpowered]

I looked around a bit for that exact type of cover, thanks! Traxxas got back to me (after I contacted them) and they said a servo has been shipped. It will take 7-10 days. I went ahead and bought one today anyways, I can't wait that long! I'll just store the one they sent for the future.

 

[Dieselpowered]

Well, I have now run 1.5 gallons through the truck and I am very happy with it! I'm getting pretty good at driving it and am getting the truck all dialed in. I had to replace the U joint going into the rear diff and the clutch bearings. Replacing the U joint required removing the entire rear end of the truck.

I plan to do some upgrades pretty soon. The truck does roll on hard turns on high traction surfaces, but not as bad as its reputation makes it seem. I might put sway bars on it, but before that i'm going to put heavier shock oil front and back.

Thicker oil in the diffs is next on the list. Coming out of corners fast and hard on the throttle, sometimes the inside front tire will lift off the ground, and if not off the ground, it's very light. Since the diffs are completely open, all the power is going to that very light tire, essentially making the truck 2wd. That makes it hard to control. Locked or nearly locked diffs will fix that.

 

[Dieselpowered]

I also took the front half shafts off to see how a 2wd handles. NO fun! I guess you'd get use to it but no front brakes sucks and more than half throttle is out of the question on dirt.

 

[Phatsavage]

They even Handle a lot better with revo set up with the axls and everything it's pretty nice and then through yourself a picco in it and it will be alsome I had one set up just like I said and it was a blast