My custom carbon fiber 8ight 2.0 brushless style. pics!
 

so some of you know i have been building my own chassis' from carbon for the last several months with great success. i have really got into racing lately and having a blast. the 3mm carbon chassis' are typically anywhere from 5-8 ounces lighter than the aluminum counterpart and i have yet to have any issues with any of them after months of hard racing and bashing.

its been a while since i have posted a build but i am having so much fun building this 8ight right now i just had to share. i cant wait to get it finished in the next week or so and start racing it. i am just waiting on a battery tray in the mail from Mike. i really like the RCM trays. the finished buggy weighs in at 7.5 lbs.

here are my most recent pics. i will post some more soon.

some info about the build:

-smart diffs front and center

-AE RC8 center diff mount used because i like the braking action of the AE much better. i simply used the RC8 outdrives on the losi smartdiff and everything worked out perfect.

-carbon fiber chassis with kickup. tapered chassis fits shape of the body perfectly for tight fit to keep dirt out.

-basic upgrades to hubs, axles, and other areas to increase strength.

-losi 2mm wider wheel hubs and PL V3 wheels and tires for wide footprint to hopefully increase stabililty on our very bumpy local track.

-one of the coolest new things are these spring flex chassis braces from Fioroni. i started running them on my carbon RC8T last week at the track. they can be locked like a regular alum. chassis brace or allowed to flex. i tried running both ways and the difference is amazing. the truggy was so much more supple and handled so much better with the spring flex. i recommend these to anyone. i have put a few washers on them to dial in the spring rate and flex just right.

this kit is made using Tekno parts primarily but the layout is changed and made to my taste. i also started running the Tekno 3 shoe clutch recently and love it. amazing on the track. i have always used mechanical brakes but was using a pinion so switching to the clutch required no mods and was a 5 minute change. has helped me on the track tremendously.



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I've seen this build in person, and these pics do not do it justice!

Nice build as always!

gives me wood. you should make a chassis for the pif maxx...

:lol:

what a work of art :)

Pm me- i'd like a qoute on a chassis blank :)

Is that chasis completely flat?

If I'm not mistaken, I think my Jammin chassis has a bit of angle in the front... I thought of making my own CF chassis also, but didn't know what to do with the angle.

That looks trick. I got wood too.

Nice work mang.

You guys are always excited...

I think carbon fiber makes Ryu excited. He's even got CF stickers on the the body...

He even has CF stickers on his DX3R. :yes:

i think carbon just looks clean. it all started last fall when i wanted to convert the new RC8T but no one had a conversion kit available yet. so i decided i would build my own and i thought the carbon would be easier to work with than aluminum. so after my first build i liked how the carbon looked, how it weighed less, and has a real quiet sound, due to some dampening qualities. anyway, all the carbon stickers and stuff is something i would do whether it was carbon or blue paint. i just like a clean, matching look.

as far as the chassis being flat, it is not. it does have about 10* of kickup on the front. not sure exactly. my RC8T has 7* but the losi is a bit steeper. as of now i just heat the carbon up at the exact spot where it needs the angle and once it is hot enough the carbon can be bent slightly. this has worked so far but i am waiting on a much more uniform and aesthetic process. my carbon guy is working on getting an aluminum matched tool made so that the carbon can be laid and cured with the angle already there. although i havent had any problems with the kickup to this point the manufactured angle will be better and much cleaner.

i have to admit though.....last night i had my first break. i knew those new spring flex Fioroni chassis braces would pose to be a problem even though i love how it makes the truck handle. anyway, due to having too much flex in the rear and seeing how carbon does not like to flex too much i snapped off the rear end in my RC8T when i took a major spill while racing. i have never had issues when running regular alum. or composit braces though and have had much harder hits. guess i need to switch back.

thanks kulang for posting some pics and stuff. i need to have you give me that program so i can load all the footage i have of these chassis' taking a beating and being "cased' and all but just keep going.

thanks for looking everyone.

where did you get the chassis supports for the buggy? i like em

Very nice, but I'd expect nothing less from you. :mdr:

wow dude, that's an awsome build. :gasp::surprised:

ok, so i just took out for the first test drive and HOLY @#$!!

i think the smartdiffs do make a difference. great handling characteristics. but the thing is stupid fast. i wanted to run that new Losi plastic spur gear to see how it worked out and its super smooth and quiet but the largest plastic spur they make is a 45t. the spur is so small that i have to run a 16t clutchbell to reach the spur without hitting up against the center diff mount. so basically i am running a 16/45 gearing with 2200kv on 5s. i knew it would be way too fast for the track but i just wanted to see how it was. i will have to get some vid and put up. absolutely crazy. it is uncontrollably fast. but despite the speeds everything stayed cool. *130 all around(clutch, esc, motor, brakes) except the pack was *99.

@ big greg: the rear Fioroni chassis brace is from amainhobbies.com but i will be taking it off and using the stock composite brace most likely after what happened last night.

that looks sick, where did the roof scoop come from

im looking foward to some videos

hood scoop is from Out Of Control RC. www.oocrcracing.com

which version of the smartdiff did you use in the center 1.0 or 2.0? would like to use one or two in my rc8, seems to be close in size yes?

i didnt know there was 2 different versions of the smartdiff. is that what you are asking?

to run in the rc8 the center diff is the same though. in fact, i run a losi center smartdiff in my assoc. rc8t. all you need to do to make this work is disassemble both the smartdiff and your rc8 center diff. then take the outdrives and the bearings from your assoc. center diff and put those on the smart diff and put it back together. the only thing to consider is how large of a spur you want to run. losi and assoc. run different spur sizes and they cant be swapped. shouldnt be too big of deal but just wanted to give you a heads up that your assoc. spur gear will not fit on the losi smartdiff. but your outdrives and bearings will.

so if you are running 46t right now on your rc8 you will probably have to use the 48t losi spur when you switch and just adjust the size of your pinion to get a similar gear ratio to what you had before.

It's much cheaper and easier to just convert your current center or front diff (reguardless of versoin 1.0 or 2.0) to a smart diff. In fact I have a set of the gears and return springs that are new on ebay for a nice deal. All you need is to make sure you swap to the heavy duty diff case, get some smart diff grease, the gears and return springs and build it yourself and save a few bucks and have more options as you get a full spring set.

Give me a link to your parts....

You need to make a CF chassis for the 8T 2.0 as well. ;). I will buy one!!!!!!

soon jz, soon.

no really i have been working on carbon fiber chassis for many of the popular 1/8 vehicles. i do want to make them available to anyone who wants them. i only am able to spend a few hours a week on this (and some weeks no time at all) but in the near future you should be able to buy complete carbon fiber chassis conversion kits for every major 1/8 buggy and truggy.

my problem is when i build these carbon kits for myself i make changes to exactly how i like it and will use parts from different kits and stuff. so i have been trying to focus more on making the chassis work with a kit out of the box and no mods need to be made. hopefully in the next 3-6 months i will have a bunch available and a place to buy them online.

when that happens you will certainly know about it.

one was listed for the 8/8T 1.0 and the other was for the new 2.0's. sweet sounds like a easy swap. been runnin a kyosho plastic spur (44) for a while and heard it fits the losi stuff right? like the idea of the SD, kinda best of both worlds or something like that. losi also makes a one-way for the L8 model oval car. geussing at this point that it would fit but it would be fun to try right?

So are you saying that if you have the HD Diff with the metal inserts that u can just purchase the gears and return springs along with the oil and you have a smart diff? I had been wondering about that.

Yes.. it's that easy, one thing to note though while this simple conversion saves a TON of money the Losi assembled smart diff's do come standard w/ the lightened out drives and lightened spurs which are costly, but are NOT needed.

what a great car!!

one question: is there a kick-up in the front, or not?

if yes, how did you do it? if not, is there a difference in driving it w/out kick-up?
I had planned and already started to build my own carbon chassis, but solving the kickup-problem stopped me.

florian

Great looking build my friend... Love the Carbon Fiber addiction... I have suffered with it over the years too :lol:

Heath

Read the whole thread- he heated up the front end and formed the kickup, then let it set at that angle. He is also working on getting the CF laid onto a mould to pre-form the angle, rathe than doing it retrospectively.

Just bolting the parts in place will cause the front end to naturally curve, but this isnt ideal as it stresses the CF and makes it more likely to snap. Measuring the stock chassis to get the required angle, then laying the CF on a wooden mould and hitting it with a heatgun should give it the correct shape in the correct place.

well I've read the whole thread...

here in germany you can buy a certain carbon which can be bent under heat w/out a problem, as it is a special blend of materials. when it has cooled down, it is like a normal carbon fibre composite.

I don't believe that you can bend finished cfk with heat, whithout having problems in the long run. that's why I have asked.

mr. constructor (his chassis' are even known here in this forum) solved that problem with a patended combination of a aluminium-kickup and cfk carbon chassis.

hey all!

a couple things:

to Mentat and Slimthelineman,

as far as the smartdiffs go i tried just buying the smartdiff gears and internals and then tried putting those in a regular losi diff case, an associated diff case, and a Mugen diff case and they dont fit so i am not sure which diff case stum is using. i am not familar with the HD diff case. if there is a diff case that works then that would be cheaper for sure but i couldnt find one so i just bought the smartdiff and then switched the outdrives and bearings. the rc8 outdrives and bearings will work on the smartdiff. then the diff could be used in several different 1/8 vehicles as most kits out there use the 8x16mm bearing like associated. although i must say i just switched my rc8t back to the stock center diff. i seemed to lose some turn-in with the smartdiff. not sure why but i like my truggy better with the stock diff. as for my buggy i havent tried the stock diffs. i just went straight to the smartdiffs. i know that very few of the losi pro drivers use the smartdiffs and this must be for a reason cuz they have all tried them. i am thinking of switching my 8ight to the stock diffs and see if i notice a difference at all and which is better. i might have a few smartdiffs for sale here soon. lol. we'll see.


to florianz,

thanks for your comments. when i set out to build my carbon chassis' i was aware of the technique many were doing of using multiple pieces to create the kickup or using aluminum. although those ways work i specifically did not want to go this route. i wanted a one piece, lightweight design that was all carbon. so far things have worked out great.


here are some pics of the 8ight now after a couple of weekends at the track. we have had a lot of rain this month so the track has been muddy. i used to hate to get my cars all dirty after putting so much time and money into building a sweet rig. now i dont care. but it is kind of a bitch cleaning them every so often. i like to build them but not really like to maintain them.


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In your situation, I would just make the angled plates and sell them for DIY modelers, who will bore and shape it for their vehicle. There are so many different chassis out there and you will have to spend countless hours cutting and boring if you decide to offer finished chassis. Except if you have a CNC mill and the CAD data of the different chassis... .

yeah i would never try to offer chassis' for all the kits just doing it by hand. i have a machinist and a design guy i have been working with. so far the rc8/rc8t is CAD designed and i am running CNC'd models myself. now i am working on the 8ight and the MBX5t as far as getting them CAD drawn and then CNC'd. we keep running into issues with the machining though. CNCing carbon is not easy. the first couple i did turned out great and then i had a bunch where the bit must have got dull or something cuz the carbon was tearing at all the cuts and delaminating on holes drilled. i have recently joined a machinists forum and have learned a lot about machining carbon. its almost like a trade secret really knowing how to machine carbon nicely. anyway, its a pain in the ass to work with but i think we will get a good system down soon.

i really have been doing this more as a hobby and so i havent been making very fast progress. slowly but surely things are coming along though.

Losi Heavy Duty Diff Case $6.25ea HERE

http://www.impaktrc.com/images/LOSB3..._8B_8T_LST.jpg

i see! yeah, that would work. a pic is worth a thousand words. thanks.

I am a certified CAD tech, using ACAD latest release. If i had a machinist person with a CNC etc. we could prob make some money. I have often thought about making my own rc parts.

for sure. where are you located? the guy that does my CAD drawings now has a construciton company and doesnt have alot of time to draw up my chassis'. i have wanted to find someone with the same passion for RC as me that could do the CAD stuff on a full time basis, or at least put more time into it than this current guy is.

Im right outside of Louisville KY.i would love to do some drawings for you. PM me we can talk more or email sadler.sadler@gmail.com