Team Losi's Baja Rey Thread
#47
Tech Elite
iTrader: (124)
So after a couple quals. Its NOT a race truck to be competing with normal 4wd sct. Fastest lap I could musture was a 21.0 and in the 21's alot. Fast three all where in the 19's. That solid rear just makes it really a handful in the corners. Very top heavy frontal truck makes it nose dives big time with any brakes or sudden speed changes mid flight. Also have to watch the corners. It'll roll over at the slightest touch. Great steering though and acceleration.
I tried. Still maybe if they had there own class but who wants another class at the races. lol
Its a great truck and awesome to watch but next to try is a actual rock racer track. :P
I tried. Still maybe if they had there own class but who wants another class at the races. lol
Its a great truck and awesome to watch but next to try is a actual rock racer track. :P
#52
Tech Champion
iTrader: (1)
Fair enough.
The stock tires do kinda suck, but they are perfect for the truck in bashing conditions. They have just enough grip to accelerate, steer, and brake, but not enough grip to make the truck traction-roll constantly. I tried a set of Trencher SCs I had laying around, and they were awful -- the truck traction-rolled 2-3x as often. I put the stock tires back on immediately. I also tried running the rear shocks in alternate positions, and ended up putting them back to stock too.
The last time I bought a vehicle that was so well-tuned from the factory was my Wraith, two years ago. Granted, I've modded the hell out of that truck since then, but it did what it was supposed to do, right out of the box. My Wraith, my Summit, and now my Baja Rey, are the only vehicles I've ever bought that earned the honor of "does what it says on the tin" without requiring significant modifications.
The only change I made to my Baja Rey that I haven't reverted back to stock was filling the center diff with 10K silicone oil, and cleaning out the front diff and greasing the gears. The 10K oil in the center diff makes it able to climb a little better (I can now drive it diagonally over curbs), and keeps the front axle from spinning like crazy when accelerating. But the completely open front diff means the inside-front tire can still diff-out easily to unload excess torque from the drivetrain when cornering; the locked rear axle does most of the work of moving the truck anyway, the front axle just needs some power to help with steering, braking, and stability when accelerating. Between the center diff, the properly-tuned rear suspension, and the lower motor and battery positions, the Baja Rey totally spanks the Yeti TT in terms of high-speed driveability. The Baja Rey isn't perfect, but it's so much better than the competition.
The stock tires do kinda suck, but they are perfect for the truck in bashing conditions. They have just enough grip to accelerate, steer, and brake, but not enough grip to make the truck traction-roll constantly. I tried a set of Trencher SCs I had laying around, and they were awful -- the truck traction-rolled 2-3x as often. I put the stock tires back on immediately. I also tried running the rear shocks in alternate positions, and ended up putting them back to stock too.
The last time I bought a vehicle that was so well-tuned from the factory was my Wraith, two years ago. Granted, I've modded the hell out of that truck since then, but it did what it was supposed to do, right out of the box. My Wraith, my Summit, and now my Baja Rey, are the only vehicles I've ever bought that earned the honor of "does what it says on the tin" without requiring significant modifications.
The only change I made to my Baja Rey that I haven't reverted back to stock was filling the center diff with 10K silicone oil, and cleaning out the front diff and greasing the gears. The 10K oil in the center diff makes it able to climb a little better (I can now drive it diagonally over curbs), and keeps the front axle from spinning like crazy when accelerating. But the completely open front diff means the inside-front tire can still diff-out easily to unload excess torque from the drivetrain when cornering; the locked rear axle does most of the work of moving the truck anyway, the front axle just needs some power to help with steering, braking, and stability when accelerating. Between the center diff, the properly-tuned rear suspension, and the lower motor and battery positions, the Baja Rey totally spanks the Yeti TT in terms of high-speed driveability. The Baja Rey isn't perfect, but it's so much better than the competition.
#53
Tech Champion
iTrader: (1)
I've seen several people complaining about grit getting into the center gearbox. I noticed a bit sneaking into mine as well. Based on what I saw when I dug into the center gearbox, the most likely entry point is the un-sealed area covered by the trap-door used to access the motor. I have a ton of miscellaneous Tamiya parts handy, from all those XV-01s I built, so I dug out a piece of soft adhesive foam padding and made a seal for that part of the trap-door. This should stop grit from sneaking in when the slide-out motor mount wiggles around inside the gearbox bulkhead. It might not be a 100% solution, but currently that area has no seal at all, so it will definitely be an improvement.
#54
My Baja Rey is put on hold till my new Spektrum radio arrives. Nice to see someone likes it.
#55
Tech Rookie
Seems like there's a bit of negativity adding this truck...not sure why. I took mine out to the desert the other night with a friend and between us we put 7 packs through the thing with zero issues. My buddy and I both have Yeti SCOREs, and the Baja Rey was 100x better in our opinion. It was faster, better handling, better jumping, and easier to drive. The only advantage to the Axial is the run time. We get 20-30 minutes on them on 5000ish 3s packs, where we were getting 10-15 on 5000ish 2s packs. We expected that mind you...going faster on 2s than the competition on 3s is obviously going to result in more amp draw.
The steering feels sloppy on the bench, but it wasn't as much of an issue on loose stuff out in the desert. On a higher traction surface perhaps it would have caused issues, and it may still in the future. It's the past of the truck that is most underwhelming to me I the bench. Still, over an hour of hard use in extremely dusty and silty conditions with zero issues has me less worried about it than before running the truck.
The truck is awesome!
The steering feels sloppy on the bench, but it wasn't as much of an issue on loose stuff out in the desert. On a higher traction surface perhaps it would have caused issues, and it may still in the future. It's the past of the truck that is most underwhelming to me I the bench. Still, over an hour of hard use in extremely dusty and silty conditions with zero issues has me less worried about it than before running the truck.
The truck is awesome!
#57
Tech Champion
iTrader: (1)
Does anyone know what the shock oil weights are in this truck? The suspension is set-up just about perfectly for me, so I want to be able to rebuild it as close as possible to stock. I talked to a rep at Horizon and he didn't have that information.
I also told him about the improperly-greased gears and the super-easy way to seal the trapdoor against debris coming in, so maybe that info will make its way into the second production batch. Fortunately those problems are easy to fix.
I also told him about the improperly-greased gears and the super-easy way to seal the trapdoor against debris coming in, so maybe that info will make its way into the second production batch. Fortunately those problems are easy to fix.
#58
Tech Champion
iTrader: (1)
Replaced the stock electronics. Kept the motor though, it will do fine until I can get a 1/8"-to-5mm adapter for the pinion gear to use my preferred motor.
The ESC is now mounted lower. (the old ESC is set in-place for comparison's sake.) Probably doesn't affect the center of gravity that much, but it makes me feel good:
The ESC is now mounted lower. (the old ESC is set in-place for comparison's sake.) Probably doesn't affect the center of gravity that much, but it makes me feel good:
Last edited by fyrstormer; 03-29-2018 at 04:35 PM.
#59
Tech Champion
iTrader: (1)
The truck steers much more precisely with the Hitec HS-7955TG servo and the TLR aluminum servo horn I installed, and the SkyRC ESC has typically excellent motor startup, with none of the cogging that the Hobbywing ESC exhibited. The HS-7955TG servo is much faster than the stock servo, so the gyro can correct the truck's steering without making it wiggle like an old Cadillac with blown-out shocks.
I didn't have any 20K oil and I was too lazy to mix some up, so I put in 30K oil instead. Based on what I saw when I opened the center diff, the 30K oil should shear down to 20K pretty quickly anyways. So, 30K oil is good for popping wheelies on dry concrete, if there's anyone looking for that kind of action. I left the front diff completely open because it still handles corners better that way; just thickening the oil in the center diff improved acceleration off-road quite a bit.
I noticed a longer runtime with the new setup. Not sure if it's because I'm not using the cheap Hobbywing ESC anymore, or if the 30K oil in the center diff is keeping the truck from wasting power; probably some of both.
I'm learning that when the truck traction-rolls in a corner, the best thing to do is keep the steering turned and stay on the throttle; the truck will usually roll far enough that the wheels touch the ground again, and then they can grab and pull the truck upright again. But if you let off the throttle and straighten the steering, and then try to use the truck's own power to flip it upright after the fact, it almost never works.
In any event, I'm still really happy with this truck.
I didn't have any 20K oil and I was too lazy to mix some up, so I put in 30K oil instead. Based on what I saw when I opened the center diff, the 30K oil should shear down to 20K pretty quickly anyways. So, 30K oil is good for popping wheelies on dry concrete, if there's anyone looking for that kind of action. I left the front diff completely open because it still handles corners better that way; just thickening the oil in the center diff improved acceleration off-road quite a bit.
I noticed a longer runtime with the new setup. Not sure if it's because I'm not using the cheap Hobbywing ESC anymore, or if the 30K oil in the center diff is keeping the truck from wasting power; probably some of both.
I'm learning that when the truck traction-rolls in a corner, the best thing to do is keep the steering turned and stay on the throttle; the truck will usually roll far enough that the wheels touch the ground again, and then they can grab and pull the truck upright again. But if you let off the throttle and straighten the steering, and then try to use the truck's own power to flip it upright after the fact, it almost never works.
In any event, I'm still really happy with this truck.
#60
Does anyone know what the shock oil weights are in this truck? The suspension is set-up just about perfectly for me, so I want to be able to rebuild it as close as possible to stock. I talked to a rep at Horizon and he didn't have that information.
I also told him about the improperly-greased gears and the super-easy way to seal the trapdoor against debris coming in, so maybe that info will make its way into the second production batch. Fortunately those problems are easy to fix.
I also told him about the improperly-greased gears and the super-easy way to seal the trapdoor against debris coming in, so maybe that info will make its way into the second production batch. Fortunately those problems are easy to fix.