What?! No dremel? It's crazy what you can do with one of those. Just get a regular A/C one, not the battery one.

Do you have your CRT.5 yet? It's already pretty sturdy. It only flexes where the CD is. If you put a battery tray on there and maybe use a top plate from the CD to the front brace area, there is absolutely no flex whatsoever. And I tried to bend it quite hard (I put the middle of the chassis on the edge of my workbench and pushed).

I have gotten my CRT .5. Its sitting right next to me.

Brian, if you put your thumbs on the center diff area and have your fingers on the front and rear and push down, it flexes pretty significantly.

Given, this is with the chassis completely bare. There is nothing on it besides the front and rear braces and center diff assembly. I'm sure it will stiffen up when stuff gets mounted up.

Even so, I am planning to find some turnbuckles to mount to create a type of "upper deck." I will take some from the front top plate (probably the steering posts) to the front center diff mount, then take one or two from the rear center diff mount to the part of the wing stay thats on the inside of the rear shock tower (drill holes, of course).

I may get a dremel, but for now I'll stick with the compressor rotary tool (kind of like a dremel) - or maybe leech of MetalMan. LOL :p

Yeah, I did that when the chassis was bare and it did flex. With a battery tray, it strengthens it significantly.

Leeching off MetalMan sounds like the best (and cheapest) option to me. :)

I like the idea of the extended frame but I was thinking more then an inch. More like 1.75-2 to bring it up to 1/10th scale size.

Thanks for info Mike. Too bad about the useless spurs you made.

Can't wait for the final product.:027:

Don't forget that I have a scroll saw, bench grinder (nice for smoothing edges) and a drill press, as well as some slight milling capabilities (with the drill press and end mill bits).

I knew you had a drill press, but not the other two. I'm really going to have to leach off you then :D

I talked to Mike today about the spur gear issue. I think I will have a solution in a couple days. Hang tight....

Mike has the motor mount covered... all we need is a sweet battery mount and the conversion will be super easy.

sounds great, I should have my crt.5 in a few days. I didn't know mike was going to be making a battery mount too? That will make this even easier.

Now I just have to hope he finishes the losi 8t mount soon, or for that matter horizon to get them back in stock.

Well... I don't know that he is working on a battery mount. I talked to him today and that never came up... we were more concerned about the motor mount and gear. But a drop in battery tray would be killer to make a complete conversion.

A local guy wants me to come up with a battery mount... so I'm going to see what I can do. I will have his truck tomorrow to get started.


As for the losi mount.... my design never got done. The shop had issues with their cnc mill so the project is still delayed. I gave up on them... it's been months now. I may send my design to Mike so he can make a few for anyone waiting on it.

The Al battery tray I made is simple and effective. It could probably use a bit of tweaking, but is quite solid.

Oh yeah - I did hack mine up a bit.:eek:


I really debated whether or not to mod the chassis but I looked around at prices and a replacement chassis runs about $40. Not nearly as bad as potentially screwing up a 1/8th job. So far it's holding out. I re-did my battery tray much the same as yours. Uses the existing motor mount and servo holes. No need for further drilling there.

Well, my 1530/8 has officially been ordered through Mike. I sent him an email and he says he will let me know when it gets here. I'll be very suprised if it beats my 1950/6 here...since the 1950/6 has been on order forever. I'll probably send him an email bugging him on the 1950 sometime this weekend.

Now, I just need to find a CAD program to design myself an extended chassis :D

Well, I've run about a dozen packs worth through the CRT.5 with the hardened steel pinion and it still seems to be fine. You can see the wear marks, but the overall shape of the teeth are the same.

http://scriptasylum.com/forumpics/ha...pinion_16t.jpg

However, it seems to have developed a wobble, probably because of the 1/8" to 5mm sleeve adaptor. The motor shaft spins perfectly fine by itself. Also, 16T is simply geared too high to continue to use it in this vehicle. So, I'll save it as a spare for my Hyper 8, which is also using a steel spur for testing purposes. I know Mike is working on a plastic spur solution, and so is someone else here, so I think I'll wait until then.

I kind of lost track on this topic; but is that an RC-monster pinion? it looks like it... are these the new hardened or the 'normal' pinions?

I personally don't see a sign of wear, (perhaps it's the photo) i only see the silver thru the black coating.. (which is pretty normal)