The X-Ray would be my choice. The Hellfire isn't that great of a truggy from what I've heard...

stay with the xray imo.

and the diff cup of an xray is smaller in diameter.:002: so that why it doesnt fit.

I'm now convinced that the hellfire is NOT worth getting. But is there any way to make the X-ray work?

If not, what are some other vehicle choices in the 400 buck price range? I see the hyper 8 looks nice, but it's not as good as the X-ray. Yea, I'm biased :).

I agree, the hyper 8 isn't as nice as the X-Ray. Unfortunately, I don't have an X-Ray readily available to make a comparison; however, if the chief difference is that the diff cup is smaller in diameter, that may not be too big a deal. What's important, I think, is the total length of the space between the diff mounts. You just need to find a diff that will fit between the mounts. I know the losi/sportwerks diff cup will work with the Kyosho spur with a little massaging. We also know that the hotbodies diff will work with the spur, but is a bit longer than the sportwerks diff cup.

Well, I think I'm going to say screw it to the X-ray and go with an LSP-R pro rolling chassis. Much easier as I don't have metal working tools except for a dremel and costs less.

Just a couple last questions:

Is the Fegiao 8xl still a good motor? Did you guys mean the 540c XL?

Are the lightning pro's as good as I've read?

Lastly, what's a good gearing starting point and will the 46t spur from kyosho work?

Thanks a ton for the help guys, great forum, site and group of RCer's! :)

EDIT: Here's the list to look over:

Lighting Pro rr $400.00
Mamba Max +Fegiao 8xl $215.00
Kyosho 44t Spur $5.00
Mod 1 Pinion $12.00
BEC/UBEC $37.00
Motor mount $40.00
Total $709.00

i'd get a 46T spur, and a 15T pinion on the 8xl will do about 35ish on 4s lipo.

I'm using 12 Ni-Mh batts.

http://www.rc-monster.com/forum/show...ighlight=video

And I found this for you x-rayted, in case you decide you can make it work with the XB8 ;).