So far so good
 

Well, I just recieved my Xterminator buggy from Mike, and as always, his work is just fenominal. Shipping was only a couple days, and everything turned out just awesome. Pictures just don't do it justice. I still have not bought the motor, ESC, battery or anything else, as I need to get a little extra money for it first. I also will be buying a Hot Bodies diff for the center, and a kyosho spur to replace the aluminum one.
As of right now, my set up will be a Mamba Max ESC, 8xl motor, ubec, Max AMps 4s 8000 lipo charged by a MRC sueprbrain 989. I will be gettign quite a bit of money in mid to late May, so I will probably only make the purchase then, unless there is word about the Mamba Monster Max again.

Now on to the pics:

Now a few pictures of my brushless rc18mt. I have a Mamba 6800 in it right now. Let me know if you want the upgrades... I have a lot, lol.

Sweet! Looks nice! What battery tray is that?

Do me a favor though: give her a bath and get some new tires. ;)

The battery tray was made by Mike, but it looks to be just some hard plastic. Yes, I definately have to give her a thorough cleaning. As for tires, I have some nice pin tires for dirt. These tires were just the closest so I used them for the pictures. They seem to work well for street though, lol, they are practically slicks!! :005:

Yeah, then it would be phenominal, LOL

mount looks good, and that battery tray looks great.

hehe i aggree!!!! even just with a tooth brush and some cleaner to get some off! lol then it will really look sick!

The battery tray is a Kyosho twin force tray that I modified slightly. A little dremel work and a couple piece of plastic to space the packs out and secure the gorilla strap to(and a 3/8" thick piece screwed to the chassis using existing holes that the tray is then screwed into to provide a flat surface and clear the mud guards) and whoila! It worked out pretty well.

Could you do me something similar?

I'm planning on a brushless MBX5-R with the motor in the center and 3s lipos on each side.

RC,
I would like a list of upgrades on your RC18, I have a FT RC18T that I have put touring car tires on (they don't balloon at all!). I have a mamba 6800 combo with 1500 3S LIPO, and MIP superdiffs (other ones melted in 2 mins.) Are there any other drivetrain upgrades that you would suggest, because I figure mine will need them, since the power is uncontrollable at any speed. Also, how do you have your wing mounted, the best way I have seen so far is to cut the nub off of each mount and use zip ties. Thanks.

Thanks Mike. That mudguard-clearing spacer sounds a lot like what I did in my buggy. I hate having any weight mounted on the relatively flimsy mudguards and the spacer thing works well. What material did you use? I used some 19mm wide x 10mm tall x whatever length plastic/nylon stock. It is light and self-threads nicely.

Is this something that you might carry? I did a search didn't find much available as far as Kyosho parts. I'm making up my own aluminum ones but these look pretty darn good.

I am only runnign 6 cells on the 6800, and only have a MIP super diff in the rear. I ran it for a long time though with stock diffs and it did great. With the upgraded diffs in the front and rear, it should do fine with 3s lipo on the 6800. I have 3racing shocks in the rear, and factory team shocks in the front. I have 3racing CVD's in the rear, and MIP CVD's in the front. I also have 3racing turnbuckles. Multiple replaced stock shock towers. Deans connectors... I know there are more, I just can't remember at the moment what they are. I'll let you know when I have it in front of me.

I also have the DP gear cover. I still can't remember the rest, lol. :026:

I will be ordering a kyosho 46t spur and the hot bodies diff within the next week hopefully. Mike told me that i will only need a few shims to make it fit. Does anyone know what shims will fit and work well? A link would be great.

Thanks. :018:

I do carry the Kyosho battery trays. I thought I had them listed in the store, but a quick search didn't yield the result I was looking for! That explains why they don't sell so well(though I do sell them here or there through emails)!

Brian - I used HDPE for the spacer. I have this stuff around all the time - it is pretty cheap, cuts real easy and is pretty rugged stuff. I cut all my prototypes in the stuff before I waste the aluminum to find out it doesn't fit the way I hoped! It costs about 1/3 as much as aluminum and I can cut it 5 times as fast. :)

Geez, if I only knew it was the simple things!

2 piece motor mount/bulk setup - 4 -6 hours+ work(design, cut, drill, tap)= looks good

Battery mount - 30 minutes work(after I figured out what I was going to do)= looks great



I rather liked the motor mount, as well as the battery tray(just did another one in similar fashion for a crt). :)

Lol, that's usually how it is!

lol see I am easy to please. okay the motor mount looks great too. :) I think the battery mount stood out more to me more because I haven't seen it before. I didn't think kyosho even made those anymore.

I already have one of your motor mounts (just one side though in my 8ight). Now that I know how good the kyosho tray can look I think I will have to order one the next time I make an order.

I will be buying a the Kyosho spur and Hot Bodies hardened diff tonight. Would it be better to start with a 44t or 46t spur? I haven't bought the brushless system yet, but I will probably use an 18t pinion, unless I am convinced differently. For those of you running the MM esc and 8xl motor... do you think it would get too hot with 18, 44 gearing? And this will all be on 4s lipo.

Thanks

My Hyper 8 is setup with 18/46 for the 8XL and 4s Lipo.

Have you driven it yet metalman? What would you estimate the speed to be?
Thanks.

I didn't get a chance to order it last night, so I'll buy it this afternoon.

I'm still waiting for a battery to try it out with. With 4s, the estimated speed is 40mph.

Just another quick question...

I still have not bought the charger, as I still need to get a little mroe money so I can buy everything at once, but I was considering to buy this:
http://www.b-p-p.com/proddetail.php?...f279e8d426084c

Has anyone had experience with it. I would buy it as a combo with the AC/DC charger and LBA10 balancer with a 4s adapter. Now there is an option for a Net Cable, but I have no idea what it does, so if soemone could explain this to me and tell me their experince with the charger/balancer, that would be great.

Thanks

i have one (charger) and i like it. but there is an 50W max for charging so when you charge a 4S pack, you can only charge with roughly 3amps.
i don't know what kind of batteries you are running but if they are something like 8000mah i would buy an other charger.

Yah, I was planning on charging the Max Amps 4s 8000 pack.

Thanks for the info. I was originally looking at the mrc superbrain, but it is just so much money, and then with balancer... even more. Any other suggestions, that will work well with this battery and balancer?

Thanks

The MRC 989 is a pretty good deal if you do not already own a power supply, and it is easy to program.

I own the MRC 989 and really like the functionality of it. It works great! As said above, if you do not own a PS, it's the best bang for the buck...

Hey RC nice looking buggy, Congrats to you!!!! I bet it will be ballistic:018:

Hey, thanks!! I can only hope that you are right. :027:

I was originally planning to get the mrc 989, but then I saw the hyperion charger and balancer for as much as just the 989... so I am still deciding, Any other suggestions are welcome.

Which Hyperion? My Hyperion EOS 7i will not charge my 5s FYI....I have both and personally like the 989 a tad better.....

Also look at the power requirements. Some chargers (like the 989 IIRC) have an AC PS built-in, while some need a seperate 12v PS...

Meaning, the Hyperion does not come with a power supply. (He might understand that a tad better, LOL)

Nice looking buggy you got there. This site I fear is contagious. I've never been a "buggy guy" but there are so many sweet setups here that the bug is bitting me.

and sorry to hijack.... but as a non racer, bashing only type of person is there a buggy that is up to the task? or should I stick to trucks?

All buggies are good for bashing.

Newe: lol. Yeah, I guess I should have been a little clearer. :dft001:

DickyT: Buggies are actually quite durable. They are subject to some pretty harsh terrains and conditions. The term "racing" may lead people to believe it's just high speed running, but there are a lot of pretty good size jumps, hard accelerating, tight cornering, and rough spots to negotiate. If you are going to just bash, I would set the suspension a little tigher/higher and use thicker center diff fluid for less slip. Better yet, get a truggy since they sit higher and have bigger tires already, yet are built using a buggy-like platform. IMO, truggies are the best of both worlds of buggies and trucks. Most truggies also share many common parts with buggies.

Looking good RC!

I think he did a great job on it. And yes, buggies can be great bashers, they are very durable and take a beating!

Before the buggy became electric, it was an all out basher. Hasn't even seen the track, lol. :005: Btu it did great in all terrain, and was very durable. A truggy would probably suite you even better.

This was the hyperion charger and balancer I wasconsidering: http://www.b-p-p.com/proddetail.php?prod=d_EOS_5IDP&PHPSESSID=6ac2125e4 419ffb806f279e8d426084c"]http://www.b-p-p.com/proddetail.php?prod=d_EOS_5IDP&PHPSESSID=6ac2125e4 419ffb806f279e8d426084c"]http://www.b-p-p.com/proddetail.php?prod=d_EOS_5IDP&PHPSESSID=6ac2125e4 419ffb806f279e8d426084c
I would get it as the AC/DC charger with the LBA10 balancer. I only need to charge 4s lipo also. So I will probably buy this or the 989, unless I am otherwise persuaded.

Not a bad price, but you would need a Power Supply to go with it. Either way, you would still be looking at 170.00 or so, even with getting the 989 and a balancer. The 989 may be a tad more, but I would think you would be much happier with it. I know I am. To build a cheap Power Supply is not difficult, but you need to find the right one, then do the mods to it for it to work. IMO, the most hastle free would be the 989 and get the LBA10. That is what I would do. Plus, if you ever wanted to do more than 5s or 4s, the option is always there. The 989 will do all that the Hyperion can do plus, so for the price of the 989 is a good deal as well. No mods, no hastle.

Thanks for the info. Than the 989 is what I will probably go for. Do you balance the packs after every run, or every couple runs?