Originally Posted by Rivermaxx (Post 315693)

Looks like you had fun though and we all know you did this because your bored and like to work on it just as much drive it lol. Try droping the camera again maybe it will fix itself. As far as the axle givin up the ghost it was bound to happen with that amount of power and those big ass tires. I had those same tires on my kids t-maxx because I didnt want him to break anything. Those tire just bounced off everthing without a scratch lol. I am really surprised you havent striped a hex yet, those are 14mm right?

Originally Posted by suicideneil (Post 315665)

Holy monkies....

So, not to be outdone by the Candyman I took the Gmaxx out today for a thorough bash session, and boy, did I bash that poor truck.

Damage report:

destroyed wheelie bar
destroyed rear-left drive shaft
bent Ti front skidplate
crippled slipper clutch
dented both 5s lipos
slightly bent whole front end of truck 1-2 degrees to one side
destroyed digital camera

The wheelie bar is great so long as you dont get to lively with the steering under power, the result of which is cartwheels that extert alot of leverage onto it. End result of some wicked-nasty large jumps was a wheeliebar bent upwards at 45 degrees, and 2 sheered screw heads holding the braces onto the bar.

Rear left driveshaft was on its way out as noted earlier, but I finally ripped it apart at the yolk. On the upside, this allowed me to experience what having a dodgey center diff must be like- no power to the rear wheels and massively ballooning front tyres. And I do mean massive, as in about 10inches diameter at full throttle, made an incredible sight and sound too, almost like a pulse jet-type grumble as the truck roared along trying desperately to get traction. No vid of that as the camera was dead by then saddly.

Whilst doing those large jumps and and down a 6-8" tall hill, I misjudged a jump and sent the truck straight into a little ledge, only about 2" high, but it hit hard enough to bend the skid right back- no damage to the chassis thankfully, just need to bend the skid back into shape.

Slipper clutch also decided it didnt want to be locked anymore, so I had to tighten that a couple times during each set of batteries. The last time it came loose I couldnt get it tight again, so had to call it a day- needs a bit of CA glue and a 2nd nyloc nut I reckon to hold it tight.

Lipo damage was annoying more than anything, seems they shifted forwards during one of my little bumps, causing the rear edge of servo plate to dig in a little bit; just made a little dent about 15mm wide and 5mm deep in the upper two cells in each pack. They still work fine.

The bad damage, slight as it is, came when I misjudged a turn and clipped the corner of a little metal framed dugout thing at the side of the rugby pitch, hit the metal pole just hard enough to bend the entire front end to one side. I think its damage to the FLM bulkheads rather than the chassis, just stretched or compressed on side a bit. Have hammer & vice, will fix :yes:

Saddly my old digital camera which was serving as the action-cam wasnt so lucky. During one big jump, the whole improvised mount it was bolted to flexed enough to allow the telescopic lens to smack against the top of the esc. Result is that it killed the little drive motor for the lens, and I just get a 'lens error' notice when I turn it on, and shuts itself off again. Even more annoying is that the video I was shooting when it died didnt get saved to the memory card , otherwise that would have made for an excellent end to the vid (grass-sky-grass-sky-grass-grass-grass-dead).

Performance:

Motor temps averaged around 130*F for most of the session, although I did reach 180*F on the last run using the A123s (forgot to stop for a break half way through the run to check temps).

Esc temps were hard to get as usual, but the highest I managed to record were 100-110*F around the caps & base of the battery and motor wires. Didnt help stuffing the fan full of dried grass like I normally do, so I will add a fine mesh over the fan grill before the next run.

Lipo temps were exellent, barely above ambient at 90-100*F, A123s temps were a bit higher, kinda nice to hold on a cool evening actually :lol, so around the 110*F mark.

Im very pleased at how well the truck stood up to the abuse, but Im thinking if I want to jump it like I was doing, then a much cheaper purpose built beater-truck will be in order, like those cheap chinese ebay items you see around, I cant justify trashing the Gmaxx for when Im in one of those 'f*ck it, lets go for it!' kind of moods- that was fine when I had the madbull that was made of rubbery plastic that would-not-break, but its not fine for an all metal 13lb truck.

So, a new project shall be beginning soon.... *dun dun dun* :mdr:

Video will be uploaded once its been edited.

Originally Posted by swiftneed (Post 316114)

Ok, I checked several sites and cant seem to find a g4 for my build who is hiding them and if gorillamaxx is saying they are still fabricating them, why arent they available from rcmonster or should i use Fastlane Machine or am i 2yrs to late in finishing my build LOL