Glad to hear it has shipped! That is HORRIBLE service from what i see.

It is horrible service. I sent them another email asking politely but firmly what the heck was going on as I didnt know (or them) whether my package had been shipped; didnt get any responce to that but I did get the 'order shipped' email yesterday afternoon- only taken them a month to pull their finger out....
This is what puts me off ordering from a company; we all have a bad experience from time to time (rc4wd- hopeless, repeatedly), but first impressions are vital to get return customers, but I wont be going anywhere near them again. Thankfully I only have to order my suspension from GorillaMaxx (trust them totally) and some dogbones & flm towers from here (mike is the best), so then I will be sorted.

its more scary when you have a big order, ordered. thats what would get on my nerves.

As long as it finally comes in, no worries.

Well, it did arrive (eventually).... peep this:

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...xx/gmaxx27.jpg

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...xx/gmaxx28.jpg

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...xx/gmaxx29.jpg

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...xx/gmaxx30.jpg

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...xx/gmaxx31.jpg

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...xx/gmaxx32.jpg

And with any luck the FLM towers will be here tomorrow or tuesday.

If you're wandering about the two black boxes- they house two 9v batteries wired in series to power the two 12v 40mm fans which are mounted above & below the esc. I couldnt find any other way of powering them, nor could I find any 5v 40mm fans so that will have to do- I will fab up a mount and attach them over the spare servo mounting slot. I also redid the wiring for the final time- everything cabled tied down onto the chassis and out of harms way. I used the original esc fan to cool the motor by attaching it to the 2 sheatsinks which came with the 30mm fans (broke one- go figure); the rx supplies the juice for that now. Finally, you will notice my lovely modified motor mount- I wanted a single motor mount so I removed it, traced around the gearbox, cut and filed it into shape, then stripped the anodising for good measure; I like it alot. Cheers.

Are those titanium or inox screws? (in the g-maxx chassis?)

If they are inox, i would replace them, before you go out and drive, with the 12.9's included with the g-maxx chassis, otherwise you will be ending up ordering new x-braces/bulks because of broken screws.

Inox... never heard of them. I have the 12.9s included with the gmaxx chassis in the underside, and the hardened steel ones in the upperside (keep it all shiney looking on top). The steel ones are so strong I nearly snapped an allen key- wont be stripping out any hexes thats for sure. I have loads of the 12.9s and steel ones spare too- just incase, and a whole tube of lovely blue loctite.

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...xx/gmaxx35.jpg

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...xx/gmaxx36.jpg

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...xx/gmaxx37.jpg

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...xx/gmaxx38.jpg

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...xx/gmaxx39.jpg

The finish on the towers is much better than the bulkheads, though it wouldnt have hurt FLM to polish the alloy a bit before machining it. Anyway, thats them fitted and the RC-Monster dogbones; they are really nice pieces and fit perfectly, near-zero slop or backlash. I also drilled a couple new holes into the shell so it will fit the extended chassis- despite it being 1.5+ inches too short it looks nearly perfect in my eyes, so thats ideal. Just have to get the A-arms and any other shiney new bits I like the look of from Gorillamaxx and then it'll be 100% done.

So, after finding out today that the GorillaMaxx site wont be reopening until the 2ND APRIL due to delays, I thought I'd fill the time by making a few essential tweaks to the truck, mainly locking the tranny into 2nd gear. I took the oportunity to snap a few shots of the modifed tranny/ motor mount while I had it off the truck:

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...xx/gmaxx41.jpg

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...xx/gmaxx40.jpg

It was a simple enough job- trace outline of gearbox onto motor mount plate, then remove it, and attack it with a hacksaw & small files. Took about 2 hours at most. I also removed the anodizing with some, um, medium grit sand paper since I ran out of wirewool.... Looks way better silver though.

So I got bored of waiting for the GorillaMaxx site to reopen and bough a few pieces to tide me over/ help practice with....

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...xx/gmaxx42.jpg

The result of which is this:-

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...xx/gmaxx43.jpg

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...xx/gmaxx44.jpg

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...xx/gmaxx45.jpg

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...xx/gmaxx46.jpg

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...xx/gmaxx47.jpg

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...xx/gmaxx48.jpg

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...xx/gmaxx49.jpg

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...xx/gmaxx50.jpg

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...xx/gmaxx51.jpg

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...xx/gmaxx52.jpg

It is in need of 'tweakage' yet, but I had it up on the shoebox/stand and connected up the batteries; noisy as heck but runs nice and smooth. The steering action is great, the diffs are nice and smooth, the dogbones are nice & smooth etc. The suspension is soft as mush though- I want the ride height nice and low, but it bottoms out really easily just by gently pressing down on it. I will have a fiddle with the shock posistions and adjust the adjustable spring thingy- to make them stiffer. So long as the weather holds out I may be able to get a mini 'test flight' at the weekend & video hopefully.

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...xx/gmaxx53.jpg

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...xx/gmaxx54.jpg

Finally got the fan battery mount made- thats some left over carbonfibre mounted over the shifting servo hole. Then a large helping of heavyduty velco secures the battery cases in place. I also got the shell lowered by elongating the rear holes in the shell a tiny bit.

woooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwww
i'm falling in love for your truck;i love the tires!!!!!!!

Yep, that about sums it up. How has your luck been with the Novak system?

nice looking truck!

one thing i noticed is that you didn't have bumpers...you may want to get at least a front bumper. I have rpm skids/gorillamaxx skids and bent the gmaxx skid lip inwards from hitting a car tire.

its very nice!

Thanks guys- bumper wise... hate them, they make an otherwise cool truck look like a kiddies toy. Granted they are great in crashes, but I just dont like them- my bashing spot is nice big & open, no rocks or bins to crash into, so I'll run it with the skids & wear plates. The HvMaxx has been great; I've had it for 2 years nearly and ran it in the TXT-1 with no problems what so ever. Its a great system so long as you dont plan on going mad with the gearing/speed etc. And the tyres.... they didnt look so huge on the TXT-1, but I do love the look it gives the Gmaxx so they are for keeps.

I have friday off so hopefully I'lll do a video then, if not then we break up for easter the end of next week- a good 3 weeks holiday to go bashing (if it stays dry).

sweet ride lol.:004:

I ran out of paint yesterday whilst finishing off the spare room- will have to wait until the weekend before I can go and get anymore paint, so I decided it was about time to give the truck its first run (yay!). Only, things didnt go quite according to plan.....

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n..._Gmaxxvid1.jpg

Carnage.....

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...icture1001.jpg

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...icture1003.jpg

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...ture1004-1.jpg

crappy batteries.

What are the batteries rated for?

i feel sorry for you Neil, you paid 40 big ones for these packs each?

i can get you a good address of proper cells here in Europe if you are interested?

Thanks, that makes me feel so much better ;) . Well, they seemed rather good when I was using them in the TXT-1- lots of speed/punch/run-time, but I guess they just decided to let go on me. Hopefully I'll be able to get a refund or replacement- IB3800 or something similar? Lipo not an option due to insane £££ required for batts & charger & balancer etc.

Edit: It cant hurt to see some decent ones I suppose- if I like them and can get a refund on the duds, Im all for it, cheers.

and if i may give you a small tip; invest in some deans plugs. the tamiya plugs are too poor to describe.

Is that a Acoms stick transmitter I am hearing?!

I edited post #61 a bit.

If you can get a replacement, try to set with GP3700 packs. stay away from the higher rated GP's..

A Hitec lazer 6 actually, wonderful radio. I tried deans, but I cant solder well enough to swap over all my equipment. Are high rated Nimh dodgy, or is there something Im missing?...

No, they CAN be okay..

But the packs as you have them are connected with relative poor tin connecting thingies.. (the horror for high amp aplications) good stick packs (the way your packs are configured) are soldered inline. End to end soldering is a nice technique of getting the lowest possible internal resistance.

I saw a vid somewhere on the net of how to solder Deans, perhaps that provides help..? A good soldering iron sure helps.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CT18mxfGRjo

youtube rules..

Haha, yeah, got that vid already, but a good video is no substitute for a lousy electrician.... truth be told the plugs never go that hot when I was driving the TXT-1, and thats a much heavier truck- i think it was the overgearing that killed the poor battery, but Deans are much better plugs.

If you can't solder, get the Polerpoles. They even make a crimper especially for them.

Yeah, been looking at those (someone mentioned them before- probably you!), and I've been looking at better servos; my poor HS645MG isnt man enough for my 11LB truck....

EDIT: So, after looking at the price of digital servos and pooping myself, I bought a new HS645MG, new Kimbrough servo saver, and new GPM steering bellcrank- what have I got planned you ask? Well, you'll just have to wait about 10-14 days and see.......

Dual 645MG's....

Okay, it was fairly obvious really wasnt it. The plan is to mount a second steering servo in the other slot, and run that to a modified GPM bell crank (which will use the 2 servo-connect-to-bits). Add a Y-harness for perfect alignment (hopefully), and the two servos will push/pull the bell crank from both sides, giving double the turning power (revo style almost) at about 18KG of torque @ 6v. It should work wonderfully provided I get it all lined up/ centered okay (easy enough I hope), and it will look rather trick too. It beats paying $110 for a digital servo like a Hitec 5955TG- nice servo but $$$ -way too much for one servo. Unique is the key word I think for my plan, or barmy....

I like the idea of dual servos, as it would be easier on each servo. Only thing is more weight, but hey, not much.

Yeah, its only about 50g or something like that- I'll loose the CF fan battery mount and mount the batts next to the X-braces or something similar, that should keep the weight down. Its a 'for fun' truck too so performance isnt vital, just want it to do the 30-35mph it should be doing, not 10-15mph like in the vid!

Dude.. 18 pics and video!!! :D

:032: I dont get the joke..... Anyway, after the exploding battery saga due to over gearing, I sent the pack back to modelsport and they phoned mr this morning- they are sending me a new 4200mah 6cell pack as a replacement, since the 4000mah is a discontinued item. Wow, free upgrade! Only trouble is one 4200 is no good, I need a matching pair and Im not spending another 40 quid on another pack. So, my simple solution is to sell the remaining 4000mah pack on ebay (finishes in a day or so), and then sell the new 4200mah pack too. The money raised will go towards a matching pair of something else- IBs, EPs or something like that. My G3.3 suspension should be here soon, and the towerhobbies order too- photos to follow as and when.

man that's nice! keep us updated on how it crushes EVERYTHING lol

The truck is looking great..........

Now we just need to have some action videos!!!!

Patience is a virtue.... Once the new steering servo & saver arrive in a few days or so the truck will be 100% ready for action. I say action, I actually mean another test run around the carpark to check the new gearing and steering works okay, then if it stays dry I will head down to the park and do some proper speed runs etc.

That trucks insane suisideniel, but I think thoose shock towers have way to may holes in them.
I hope you dont mind me asking but where in devon do u live??

Tupers

Dartmouth.... lovely town, but you wouldnt want to live there. As for the shocktowers, they have mucho-lotto holes for mucho-lotto of adjustment options. Im not a racer per-say, so I dont need low-profile towers, and I do like the many high/low ground clearance options they give me.