Modena AL

heres what I think of the things on your wish list

aluminum input shafts - buy them
aluminum outdrives - .......i think they work
threaded shocks - work great and are easy to adjust
carbon fiber wheels - not heard of those before
teflon sealed bearings - "apparently" they are smoother than rubber sealed, you'll have to ask someone with experince with both of them
ti turnbuckles - not really needed...but they look COOL
steering rack bearings - only 12 bucks....why not?
robinson TC3 spur gear - buy it. I have them and have never stripped one. Makes a cool sound too because they machined it.
steering rackcover - only needed if you race on a dirty track with lots of pebbles and such

Hope this helps

johnbull

Hi guys. Greetings from Malta.

Wow, what a lot of exciting controversy. This must be about the liveliest thread at rctech. Keep it up boys.

My son Josh (18) is racing a TC3 successfully for the 3rd season. We ordered it as soon as we heard there was such a thing, and waited 6 months before they finally arrived in Europe. We had one of the first batch of 100 cars in Europe.

He won the National Mod TC championships his first season with it, he only did a few races last season and won most of them, but this season is back doing the championship. Of the 18 rounds held so far he has won 11 and made fastest lap one all 18.

Here's the spec. All graphite, threaded shocks with hardened shock shafts, all FT add ons like alloy motor clamp, battery strap, wheel bearing spacers, etc. alloy mainshaft bearing clamp. That's about it.

We run Corally 12 turn motors, Corally SMH cells, Novak Cyclone TC2 speedo, and KO servo.

What I have done recently to strenghten it is replaced all the ball joints with rose joints, these don't pop off when he hits things. Oh yes, I have just replaced the steering rack with an alloy one.

I am however waiting for my first consignment of titanium goodies from Timanium Racing in UK for my shop, and will be fitting their outdrives, CVDs and layshafts.

Regards

Joe from sunny Malta.

over gear

iTrader: (18)

Ti shaft, CVD and outdrive!

any pricing on those??

over gear

iTrader: (18)

johnbull: I just send you a PM...

TPhalen

iTrader: (2)

Buda: F&R Graphite braces. Not really necessary unless you get them with the graphite chassis set. They originals are keyed to the chassis so strength is not an issue.

Over Gear: The Nitro front bumper will fit with a bit of massaging. It is also keyed to the lower suspension, but, if you whip out the ol' Xacto and a little ingenuity you can make it work.

My take on these...

- aluminum input shafts - ok if yer into lightweight stuff, just make sure you check the pin holes often, especially if you run mod. These holes will elongate if you run a hot mod motor.

- aluminum outdrives - ok, but the same thing happens with these also if you run mod motors. The plastic ones hold up better in the long run....

- threaded shocks with bleeder cap - DEFINITE MUST!!!! DO IT!!!! Ease of tuning....trust me (and Modena) on this one!!!!

- carbon fiber wheels - Never tried them, and don't know anyone that has....

- teflon sealed bearings - Smoother and less drag. Good upgrade for stock racing.

- ti turnbuckles - Good if yer a 'crasher'. Helps strengthen the car quite a bit...

- steering rack bearings - Another good upgrade. Bushings last pretty long but bearings are always better than bushings.

- robinson TC3 ultra spur gear - Helps keep a spur gear straight. I don't run one but I some people that do. Not a 'must' upgrade but it's cheap and it looks pretty cool....

- steering rack cover - Helps keep the boogers out of the rack. Ummm, well, we've run this for awhile when we were testing a prototype but it got to be a bit of a pain. We don't run them anymore...

- A competitive racer with enough skill not to hit the wall on every curve. - How much are you paying??? (For this one, get the TI Turnbuckles!!!!)

Buda

Price is about 30 pounds or the equivilant of around $50 for them so about $100 for the pair! They sound cool and I considered getting them but thats a bit too much $ for me. I want to get a new charger and batteries right now with some other bits like new chassis, threaded shocks.

Mike F

The only thing that I've heard about them is that if your in a wall banger of a crash they might warp and there's no massaging them back into "form". Same thing with the OFNA rims, you get 8 fro $8.00 but if someone nails you into a wall or a board and the rims are hit just right, they break. The OFNA rims I can speak about, I have some.

Corse-R

Ummmm.... after hearing this I prefeer to stay with the ProLine stock wheels. After a crash, prefeer to end the heat with a damaged wheel rather than DNF because a 'too cool' rims.

Cosmo

iTrader: (5)

Hmmm. I haven't had that problem with the Ofna wheels. I have used their dish wheels for two years with no problems. Of course, this is on a pretty large outdoor track.

Modena AL

I just stick with the proline axis rims that come with the kit.

benraldo the ho

Ofna rims are okay if you dont hit the walls. Personally I have seen two break. One on my car, and one on my buddys car. They broke right at the "hub," it just snapped right off! They are very stiff because they are made of a lexan (i think).

diesel31

i've had my best luck w/ nylon vs. plastic wheels. i seem to crack the plastic ones.

Mike F

Unfortunately for me , we don't have a large track I wish we did. I was, as they say here in Memphis, "punted" into a side walk and that's how my rim snapped.

TPhalen

iTrader: (2)

I used to use the OFNA's and was quite impressed with the durability!!!! I NEVER broke any!!! Amazing to me.... I do like the stiffness of them, though!

But, on the downside, they seemed a little 'small' when gluing the tires to them. So, back to the Pro-Lines....

Corse-R

Some time ago I made my 'own' wheel test. I tested HPI R5, ProLine and GM (OFNA for US guys) dishes. Here is my results:

The worst wheel was by far the R5 wheel, its cheapo material can't survive to a 'degluing' session done by Acetone. Were magically converted to a 'milky' fluid with tyres floating around...

The GM was really hard, sometimes too hard, flexes so little, but can't survive to degluing with Acetone and boiling them to deglue attacked and distorted.

The ProLines (put your favourite model: Aerodish, Wabash, Gumby....) survived to Acetone (In fact I 're-use' my wheels up to three times before sending to trash (first time used wheels are for Finals, second time for heats and third time for practice). Maybe the ProLines arent the best wheels, but for me works ok.