Mantis Bl Conversion
 

specs:
mm
12xl
4s
18 tooth pinon(cause it's all i have)

what do you guys think of this setup?

would like to try 5s but everyone on here states you cannot do that or it'll burn up sooner or later

I really can't comment, because I don't know anything about that vehicle. If it is an 1/8 scale vehicle, I'd say that it will run, but I wouldn't look for too many thrills with it. I think that the 12XL is at least a 5S motor. I'd try a 9XL on 4S lipo. It will work very well with the MM.

it's a 1/8th scale truggy darn i wanna do 5s but mm's will fry on it...what i might do is run it for the time being and get a motor better suited for 4s and then run 4s i dunno..still debating

pic of it when it was running:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...tisTruggy1.jpg

The definite cheapest way to get into doing wheelies and higher speeds is to get yourself a 9XL. On 4S lipo is won't be crazy/stupid fast or powerful, but it sure will smoke just about any nitro.

well not looking for wheelies..but i'll take the higher speeds...want to be able to race at club races with it...thanks for your input...will run 12xl for now but when money permits i'll be getting the 9xl which is what i meant to buy lol.but oh well soon enough it'll be proper

my correction it's a 10xl

couple pics of the conversion progress so far...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...Project003.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...Project001.jpg

old pl cp 2.0 for st-r was gonna be mounted on something else will be used on this for now...

i still have this car and will be running a 4s/10xl/mm setup...granted my mm is still workable...

10xl will be fine for the track, certainly better than a 12xl anyway. You just have to make up some of the speed with a little taller gearing.

I actaully run 5s in my MMs all day long. I have 3 of them running 5s. Never had a problem. The only MM I ever burnt was due to cogging on a Neu motor before the software update.

The only trouble I see with 5s is that the newer MMs dont seem to like to run it. I have all older ones. But I was talking to Mike earlier today and he mentioed that he was able to get newer MMs to run on 5s. You just need to go into the usb programing software and choose restore defaults. Then shut it down and unhook it, then you can go in and set it for a custom voltage cut off of 15v and it should run ok on 5s. I dont have a new one to test it with so I cant comment. this is just what I was told.

i think i have the older mm's as well one i have to send in cause i didn't disable the bec and i was running an rx pack it isn't toast but im afraid if i run it anymore it will be so i'll just have to send it in...but i plugged it up on 5s and it armed just fine i will try it and see if it doesn't work right i can always take it out but yea that was my mistake thinking i had a 12xl lol...also does anyone know where i can get those motor clamps for the xl series motor do you know if homedepot carries them? i just wanna use them and sit the motor low to the chassis floor and then make a battery mount

do you think 18/48 will be ok?

Looks good to me, I like insane power too but there is alot to be said for reserving components by not pushing the limits...

P.S. clean up your work area, you'll be more productive and happier about your progress :)

i would think about a 25mm fan and the novak hv cap for the MM - mine seem much happier with those small changes and the ubec of course...

thanks for the tips guys...also about that workspace believe me i know it's gnarly in there man i've got so much stuff that i need to centralize and or sell...

hey arctik you think that would help in my quest to run a 5s setup on the 10xl it's gonna be a 2s 8000mah and a 3s 8000mah ran through a y harness

hey guys i am thinking of putting the motor over the center diff...what are your suggestions on this?

cause i want to run a pack on each side of the chassis...

that angle aluminum you're using looks very thin.... there might be quite a bit of flex there..?

not going to use that...really was a tester i have think aluminum that ill be using but i want to place the motor above the center diff towards the rear and then have a battery on both sides i'll snap some pics of this in a little...but yes that L aluminum has way too much flex i could pull it back and forth lol

Motor over diff = easily do-able: Clicky

exactly i want to do that cause it'll be so cool

that's a clean install

The only issue I fore-see is that the rear chassis braces bolt onto the chassis right behind the center diff, so you may need a rather funky motor mount that bridges over that area, and bolts to the chassis with some new holes that could be drilled, then bolt it to the existing center diff too for extra security. Should be able to work something suitable out though, and I hope you do, since I really like the look of the Mantis too for a conversion....

A second way to place your batteries on both sides would be to turn your center diff by 180 degrees so that the spur now faces the front axle and place your motor on the opposite side of your steering servo. This might give you a better front/rear balance. But battery pack length will determine if you can do it this way (mine measure 135mm/5.31in lenghtwise).

Here are 2 pics how i started my Mantis conversion: pic1 and pic2

. I posted my conversion with videos of its maiden in this thread.
. A Video of the same setup running on snow with eagletree Data inserts can be found in this thread.

After having some issues with a loose endbell on my Neu 1512 motor i installed a Neu 1515/2Y motor which has even more torque.
. Video showing performance on asphalt
. video showing performance on gras
. Latest video driving on my favorite bashing space

After more then 220 runs with the brushless Mantis i can safely say it's a good brushless truggy platform but it has its weak spots like every car. I now run my truggy without rear wing because it can put too much stress (when cartwheeling or falling on its wing) on the weak shock tower mount. I already replaced it five times: pic1 (with german description), pic2 (broken piece)

Check your diffs and shim them properly. Brushless motors without a clutch put a lot of stress (instant torque) especially on your rear diff.

Looking forward to see your conversion pics. Your suggested brushless components will for sure be more adequate for a race track.

I'm thinking of doing the same thing with my hyper7, I'll give up a bit of the center of gravity to have an even balance and much cleaner setup...

othello i actully did that because while cutting the metal i cut too much off but had enough left width wise to mount and so the motor is towards the front!

pics:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...tFinalLayo.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...ctFinalL-1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...ctFinalL-2.jpg

updates tommorow

yea o this truck is plagued by that...but since i've tried to sell/trade so many times without success i said i may as well do a brushless 1/8th since i've been wanting one and i've had the 10xl for a very long time i am hoping to have everything installed tommorow except for my steering servo which i'll have to wait a little on..but i wanna show it to my team mates even though i know they'll talk trash haha(you're weird.....get a jammin.....sell that....) haha things i always here! but yea more complete pics up tommorow

Looking good so far. Make sure your motor doesn't flex when pushing the rear end from left to right or top to bottom. Otherwise your pinion and spur will wear out quickly. What center diff bulks did you use? Still using the mantis center diff? You really have to secure the enbell of your Feigao (RCMonster heatsink for example). The endbell of my Neu 1512 loosened itself after some frontal crashes with the motor placed in the same position. The second drawback with this motor position is dirt/stones projected directly on the motor. You might want to think about some kind of mud guard to protect your motor (especially the bearing of your endbell).

Let them talk trash ... when they see it accelerating they might want to throw their nitro motors in the trash right away :mdr:.

haha yea i race nitro with them but i don't always feel like dealing with that...yea i need an rc monster clamp for the motor...and thanks for the tips and input...getting ready to go out there right now and put the finishing touches

oh almost forgot that's a jammin buggy center diff....don't have the original mounts anymore...i'll see how it works it might not go so well if that's the case i'll find a way to mount the 52 spur again...using the same bulks....

more pics:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...ctFinalL-4.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...ctFinalL-3.jpg

temporary layout for running arond the yard everything needs to be more secure for off-road...

this thing glitches going away from me but runs fine coming towards me..is that because of the fm(synthersized radio?)

Propably the way you have your wires ran, try getting the servo/esc wires away from the motor wires. Also move the antenna as far away from the esc/motor as possible. If that doesn't do the trick try putting a small capacitor (10v 330uf) on the power wires to a servo or if you have an unused 3rd channel port in your reciever and a spare servo connector you can build a "plug in" capacitor too.

I've never seen if fix a glitch but braiding the motor wires is supposed to cancel some of the RFI (radio frequency interferience).

if you were to get spektrum im sure everything would change.

could it be cause my esc is right over the motor? and i did move my reciever to the back of the chassis...i'll snap a pic after i get back from my job interview

btw....thanks for all your input...imma try the spectrum out if it doesn't work still then i'll go into other means of trying to get it right

2.4Ghz systems did the trick for me. Before i switched, i also moved the receiver/antenna as far away from the motor/esc as i could. This improved the glitches somewhat.

ok so for some reason my truck won't go all the way down the street...it's almost like failsafe is kicking in and the truck isn't responding at all...this is really working my nerves

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...ctFinalL-5.jpg

pics...still need trays before real off roading but i need to figure out why it looses signal when i am down the street? it doesn't glitch anymore but it's like the failsafe or something causes it to shut off after a very limited space

Flip the batteries over so the leads come out twards the front of the car. Take on ohme meter and make sure none of the motor leads are grounding to the can. Get a plastic gear for the center diff. Ditch the reciever pack and pick up a Castle Creations UBEC. Eliminate any loops in the radio/servo wires (loops are bad!) fold the wires back and forth (stacked) and then secure with a small wire tie.

Get the layout exactly how you want it, then eliminate any and all extra wire length.

my next question on this...are about the brakes...the car has awesome motor brakes almost enough that if i slam on them on the street the rear lifts up...but i don't slam them hard i pump them much like abs...anyway my question is will pumping the brakes cause any problems as far as heat and such?