which truggy for conversion?
 

After my first year of racing, and having a blast while doing it with my Revo, I have decided I am going to do a truggy for next year, as most guys at the track run truggies. So, just so it is known, this is for strictly racing.

Up until now I have been thinking about a 8T 2.0, but after talking to some guys at the track, who is winning, what is breaking... I have second thoughts on the Losi, especially considering it's $700.

I am thinking all the following would be fair candidates:

-Mugen MBX6T
-Hot Bodies D8T
-XRay XT8
-Jammin X2 CRT?
-and of course the Losi 8T 2.0

If everyone one could post their comments and/or opinions on each kit for a BL race conversion, I would greatly appreciate it. Just comment whether or not you like it or not, what are the key aspects that set it apart from the others, and what are some issues with them as well.

Thanks!

The D8T probably has the best price tag. I like to build em myself anyway (just started on my Ve8).

Hate to say that, but after a season with XT8 2009 spec, I have to say go with mugen.

I've been breaking stuff on every race like it's e-savage. 2009 spec got few new parts to save weigth = they keep crashing. It's small joint that holds front upper arm to shock tower. However if it breaks, your lower arm will got with it as well and there is good chance to loos/bend shock as well.

also I've broken average of 1 rear hub carrier per race. Which is total nonsence considering small tracks I am running on. I am guessing new mixture of plastic. Maybe boil them will help. Or of course there is 50$ alu piece that will do the job.
Or there is Mugen for same amount of money...

however 2008 spec was perfect and I've never broken anything on it.


next year I want to go with buggy, there is massive xray support around here, but still I am considering to switch with truggy to mugen and get mugen buggy too....

This discussion has come up a lot recently. I own 2 mugens...mbx5 and 5T. They are built like tanks. I have heard that the 6T was having some diff issues...but, once that gets worked out, mugen would be my first choice. Second choice would be the losi 2.0 or the Jammin.

Great, thanks guys, keep the posts coming! :smile:

I am leaning towards either the 6T Mugen, or the 8T 2.0 (I just can't shake the 8T urge). I have heard other places as well that the Mugen is built great as far as quality/durability, compared to the 8T, it might handle better in the corners, and on the other hand, the 8T should be more stable powering down the straight... but I am sure any truggy can put down power efficiently I would think?

MUGEN


I would stay away from D8T as the front center driveshaft ange is awfull and the driveshaft would not last very long with the BL power. Of course you could buy the new Double joint one but thats extra money.

I would get a truck that has direct fit for slipperential as Mugen or RC8T.

6T is a great truggy and I plan to get it for next season

8ight, the offset diffs and such help to better balance out the truck leaving plenty of battery room. Get the Rcm motor mount and losi battery tray and your in buisness!

Lots of parts support- Tuning options andtechnical support- alot of people run them

any truggy has plenty of battery room if you go the standard RCM way - front right servo, rear right motor, left battery + ESC. unels you plan to use extra long batteries of course :)

I loved my XT8 '09 but thought pretty hard about the MBX6T - that looks like a great ride. By the way, has anyone tried the Z01-T?

+1 vote for xray. lovelovelove my xt8 (non-'09 spec).

Z01-T handles great but the durability is not as good as it should be.
i vote mugen or xray xt8 2008

The 6T does not have diff issues. It's people building them wrong. I have blasted my 6T for the past month several times a week, and besides cleaning the wheel bearings, there is nothing wrong with them. We have a pretty flowy medium sized track, with a long straight, huge double, and a very tight turn-leading into a straight: all the ingredients for stripping diffs and breaking parts.

The trick to the diffs are... you guessed it. Shimming. 2 shims on the pinion / ring side (it'll make sense when you are building them, trust me). Also, I never put the rubber o-rings behind the spider gears - just the shims.

6T. Super stable and light.

Oh, you guys are a life saver.

I also forgot to mention, very important that I will be running twin packs on each side (2x 3s/4200 G3 packs), so I might have to modify the CD to move forward... and that is thing, I can't tell you guys what I am doing as it's a secret, I will not be using a Neu, nor a Tekin, or even an inrunner at all for that matter. But just keep in mind that the motor will be centered in the chassis...

After hearing mostly MBX6T thumbs up, I am kinda torn between that and the 8T 2.0, I just like the extra room available on the Losi I guess.

Here's my chassis set-up for my 6T (set up for 2 packs in a series). Yes, I had to dremmel the chassis a bit to make room for the center diff (super simple). I also put some washers underneath each center diff plate to raise the spur off the chassis a bit (before the spur was perfectly flush with the bottom of the chassis), a little too close for my liking.

The truck is perfectly balanced. Absolutely no adjustments needed in the air.

My buddy has the 2.0 T (nitro). It's a pretty dialed truck too. It's either him or me in the lead. Both trucks handle on rails and hold a straight line under acceleration.

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/h...g?t=1254359177

The 8ight-t's 1.0 and 2.0 are awesome and super durable.. but consider what parts are available near you when making your choice... losi is VERY popular and usually easy to find but if your LHS doesn't carry, I'd condsider the other models. I ran the 8t-e 1.0 this year and the only two guys that beat me had 2.0's not that was all there was to it.. LOL as they are great drivers. That said everyone under had all of those models previously mentioned and seemed to have a lot of issues, at least a lot more than we did finishing up mains due to breaks and other tecnical probs. You could always snag a tekno 8ight-t conversion for the 1.0 off amainhobbies for 69.99 and then just pickup the rest of the 1.0 parts on ebay for pennys on the dollar saving you hundreds. I plan on running my 1.0 for at least 1 more year, just finished a full rebuild myself, going to pack her up till next spring :( already missing racing In fact I noticed a few new race roller 1.0's for under 400 last week on ebay. Get the losi conversion or Mikes conversion or the tekno conversion and done for a large savings.

bah, the 'get the brand your LHS carries' shouldn't be a consideration... not when you can get replacement parts from numerous online sources pretty dang fast. overnight, if needed. i had to special order my xt8 from my LHS - when it came in, everyone loved it and the shop owner wished he could carry them...but everyone buys losi around here, lol.

unless you live in an area with lots and lots of tracks, you probably won't find mugen or xray in the LHS's... and that would be sad to not consider the 2 best (well, imho of course lol)

Man that sucks. Its pretty rare to hear anyone with any significant durability issues on the xray.

I have gone all season and litterally havent broken a single thing on the XT8 09. Only DNF I had was from a nut working loose in the steering. The other guy at my track with the Xray runs his nitro and litterally just last week broke the first part on it. (rear hub) We were laughing about how we both went all season and it took until the 2nd to last race before one of us finally broke something.

I have to say, at my clubs track the Xrays seem pretty much untouchable. Only one race all year did anything except an XT8 win when there was an XT8 in the race. It was Xray domination.


I vote Xray. But I dont think you can go wrong with the Mugen either Very nice truck too. Just not to big arround this area. Its pretty much just littered with Losi ad AE.

You sound like me, someone who carries huge HUGE stock of spare parts so when you go racing you don't waste time or money having to worry about not having the right part to fix it and get back in the race. That or you just don't race at all and don't have a clue what it's like to be at the track and not have a part!!! If you want to keep $$'s invested low, get what your LHS carries and make good with them for a discount :) Otherwise buy what you want and deal with waits and missing fun or again like I said spend the money and have your own part lot :)

The brand your LHS carries doesn't matter unless your track is at the LHS. If not and you do t have the part your race day is still done.

Alright, after rereading all the posts in the thread, and checking a couple other forums and such, I think I have settled on what I want, and XRay XT8. I really read up on it, and I think I want one! The parts and materials used in the XT8 seem to be superior to the other truggies and only costs a tad more than the rest, with exception to the Losi. Now, the XRay is at the top of my list right now, but the Losi is in a close second, with the downside being the price... but I might be able to work out a deal with someone at my track to get the Losi 8T w/radio and starter box, and sell the starter box and radio to someone?

But to keep it real for now, this is a project for spring, but I would just like to get a head start on it and make it the best it can be, before I bite the bullet.

I might even sell my race Revo to make it an inexpensive jump, but I am not sure on that one... I love my baby. :smile:

you mean to tell me an obvious seasoned racer like yourself doesn't carry spare parts to the track, even though your LHS carries the parts?? it doesn't have to be a 'huge' stock.... you keep the usual suspects on hand that you know are likely to break. oh that's right... you don't own an xray. if you did, you'd know you wouldn't have to worry about that, lol.

Typically I can rebuild my trucks complete.... that is what I said. I live over an hour from my track and when I go, I don't plan on missing ANY race time. Now moving on to what I broke this year on the 8ight-t ZERO parts, I did however have my shock disc screws back out a couple times, and I did waste one of my JR 400oz servo's. Any DNF's or lost laps for me this year were because of the two times I had shock issues and a few times when I ran out of juice (batteries hit LVC). The two guys w/ xray's at the track had several 'parts' break.. so while you may have thought your joke was funny, it was even more funny for me to hear because I've seen the exact opposite and no truth to it. It doesn't matter though as both are great trucks and the driver is who causes the breaks, neither are bullet proof, but both are tough cookies.

well shoot me a pm / ICQ ...
I am having one perfectly fine xt8 for sale, with another xt8 for spares and tons of spares in boxes around.. maybe we can cut a deal there.

it could be my driving style that I keep breaking stuff ;)

Kalbien, well if it were 5 months in the future I would, believe me. I am just getting a head start at this point, and even keeping it open for newer models come spring. Both the Xray and Losi have some upsides and downsides, so who knows yet which one I'll get... but the Xray is just cheaper, and looks better built, but who knows, I know of no one at my track that runs Xray, so no second hand experience there. Every one either runs Mugen, Losi, OFNA, or Associated, so no spare parts to 'borrow' from anyone.

In a couple weeks I am going to post a CAD drawing of the 'special weapon', that is if I get around to doing it. It will blow your mind. :wink:

Just from my experience, the whole "spare parts" thing only works if the LHS has what you need in stock. I tried the 8T 2.0 and the LHS was hard core Losi. Everyone at the track pretty much ran Losi too. However, there were a few times I had something break and the LHS was out of stock for that item. Especially at first when there were the shock rod ends problem and stuff like that.

I went back to the Xray because I hate things going wrong on race day. That's never happened in any Xray I've had. Just my $.02

Yeah, my local hobby shop (2 hours away) is completely useless for the parts we need, it's all special order. But, it is on the same road as the track that I go to, so if they had a part that I need, it is only a 10 min commute.