Well, have had this thing for 2 years. Bought it used. For most of that time, I ran 2S in it and it did fine. I replaced what I broke with stock or something better and as time went on, I really enjoyed running it. One issue I always had was the steering was very sketchy at higher speeds on pavement. I run in skate parks a lot, so hitting a jump how I intended didn't happen more often than I'd like. Then about 4 months or so ago, I started running 3S in it... then it got really sketchy.
So much so that the last time I had it out, it jerked off course and hit a concrete leg of a skate park wall and snapped my alloy axle carrier on the front and mangled an alloy carrier on the rear.
So, it was time for something hopefully better. I had replaced the servo saver/steering rack with hot racing 6 months or so ago. That took out some of the slop. I really needed to change all the ball ends, but never got around to it, that probably added to my issue as well. Since I had to replace both sets of carriers, I just went all in and got hot racing c-hubs, carriers for the front and carriers for the rear.
When installing the rears, I didn't have to grind anything for the MIP's to fit without rubbing, but I'm not a huge fan of using tiny eclips on hinge pins... but I'll see how it does. One nice thing I guess is that the rear hinge pins have a set screw in the carrier so that the pivot in the arm instead of the carrier, which helps avoid wear/slop on the alloy part.
When installing fronts, I liked that locked hinge pin, but they didn't include any. So, I made some out of 3mm bolts that hand the unthreaded part just long enough to go through entirely and with a 1mm spacer on one side with 1mm on the other, the locknut tight on where the threads stopped worked well to leave about 1mm of float. I drilled/tapped a hole in the carrier and put a set screw in there so it now also pivots on the arm instead of the alloy part:
The king pin has a bushing so brass on aluminum vs steel on aluminum. Not sure which is better or worse, guess time will tell.
I also have 12-17mm hubs that are extended 6mm to widen the footprint a bit, should help make it more stable at speed. They fit over the MIP alloy 12mm hexes which are slotted vs using a pin through the axle. Makes for a pretty solid setup:
I also got some more ball ends as I didn't have enough to replace all of them, so will still need to change the ones on the steering rods. Got RPM ones to try out as well as stock ones in case they don't hold up well.
Really looking forward to running this truck all summer. Hoping the max10 sct/3200kv system in holds up to 3S.
Also need to figure out something to put on the tower 2 tower brace to support the cab of the body before I put a new body on. I had an ugly roll bar I made so it wouldn't crush the body and get destroyed after 3-4 roof landings, but it was a pain to work around. The T2T was to support the bed and hood, but the cab still crushes, so need to figure out something to hold the cab up. The T2T is easier to work around, so I'd like to stick with that approach vs strapping something to the sides of the chassis again.
So much so that the last time I had it out, it jerked off course and hit a concrete leg of a skate park wall and snapped my alloy axle carrier on the front and mangled an alloy carrier on the rear.
So, it was time for something hopefully better. I had replaced the servo saver/steering rack with hot racing 6 months or so ago. That took out some of the slop. I really needed to change all the ball ends, but never got around to it, that probably added to my issue as well. Since I had to replace both sets of carriers, I just went all in and got hot racing c-hubs, carriers for the front and carriers for the rear.
When installing the rears, I didn't have to grind anything for the MIP's to fit without rubbing, but I'm not a huge fan of using tiny eclips on hinge pins... but I'll see how it does. One nice thing I guess is that the rear hinge pins have a set screw in the carrier so that the pivot in the arm instead of the carrier, which helps avoid wear/slop on the alloy part.
When installing fronts, I liked that locked hinge pin, but they didn't include any. So, I made some out of 3mm bolts that hand the unthreaded part just long enough to go through entirely and with a 1mm spacer on one side with 1mm on the other, the locknut tight on where the threads stopped worked well to leave about 1mm of float. I drilled/tapped a hole in the carrier and put a set screw in there so it now also pivots on the arm instead of the alloy part:
The king pin has a bushing so brass on aluminum vs steel on aluminum. Not sure which is better or worse, guess time will tell.
I also have 12-17mm hubs that are extended 6mm to widen the footprint a bit, should help make it more stable at speed. They fit over the MIP alloy 12mm hexes which are slotted vs using a pin through the axle. Makes for a pretty solid setup:
I also got some more ball ends as I didn't have enough to replace all of them, so will still need to change the ones on the steering rods. Got RPM ones to try out as well as stock ones in case they don't hold up well.
Really looking forward to running this truck all summer. Hoping the max10 sct/3200kv system in holds up to 3S.
Also need to figure out something to put on the tower 2 tower brace to support the cab of the body before I put a new body on. I had an ugly roll bar I made so it wouldn't crush the body and get destroyed after 3-4 roof landings, but it was a pain to work around. The T2T was to support the bed and hood, but the cab still crushes, so need to figure out something to hold the cab up. The T2T is easier to work around, so I'd like to stick with that approach vs strapping something to the sides of the chassis again.
