1LikesBarracuda from Alex racing
05-09-2003, 08:20 AM
#2191
Thanks Steve,
OK everybody....I want to say that Steve did a great job explaining to me what I did. I think there are 2 levels of RC cars out there....one would be the AE/Losi type where you can have a mediocre build and run fine. And then there are another type of car like the 'cuda/Atlas/X-Ray where the build of the car is critical. I can actually say that I have run a X-ray, but it was never up to par with other top drivers in the area. That being said, I learned ALOT in building a car from Steve...keep in mind I have been racing for about 2 1/2 years and was always in that 2nd tier of drivers...some is my driving...
and some is the car....
Again, from gas racing...I have kung foo grip and thread lock addiction!!!!!
Anyway, don't flame me....I am just a poor soul with a sweet car...
Thanks again Steve!!
His email to me:
Good Morning Mike,
I finished rebuilding your Cuda last night, and right now, the car is a lot smoother now then when I first got it (a lot smoother!). Here's a couple things I noticed and took care of for you :
1. The first thing I started with were the bearings. typically, brand new bearings in the kits are packed with heavy grease. This is just standard industry procedure from bearing manufactures, however, for our purpose, the thick grease really slows down the car and attract a lot of dirt. So I used an Integy sparkle cleaner (Part number E2006) which you fill with motor spray, dump in the bearings and it'll vibrate out all the grease. This is a little trick that every fast drivers do. For future kits you purchase, you should always do this to your bearings. After a good 30 minutes of shaking, all the grease should be out of the bearings, then you place a drop of light oil (ex. Trinity royal oil) to lube it.
For future maintainance of your bearings, you can do the sparkle cleaner procedure again. I do this after every weekend of racing. It is also a good time for you to inspect the bearing for any shot ones.
2. While I was cleaning the bearings, I decided to take all your suspension components apart. The front I noticed that the shock tower screws (the four long ones) one of them was the wrong length? and also I noticed a lot of thread lock residue on the screws. thread lock is a good idea on aluminum parts, but I think just a tiny half a drop on each screw is good enough. I think you had a tad too much on all the screws throughout the car This really didn't cause any problem on the screws that goes into the bulkheads, but the two setscrew that held on to the center shaft had too much threadlock as well and it went around the graphite shaft. I suspect the graphite shaft might not have set perfectly straight because of the threadlock. So I pull the shaft out, clean out the inside and the shaft a little bit, so it should be fine now.
3. Another thing I noticed was the amount of strength you used to tighten down the screws. Although the screws need to be tight, they were a way too tight. The plastic front and rear case on your car shows signs of stress cracks at where the screws goes through. This weakens the strength of the cases and also possibly causes a tweak in the drivetrain. The screws need to be tight, but don't overtighten
4. On the threads I saw you mention something about the diff housing and how it might be defective. I checked the diff housing against a spare ball diff of mine, and they were both equally good. As I rebuild the diff, I noticed that you only had 4 of the 6 thrust balls necessary for the thrust assembly. I put in some of my spare ones and rebuild it with associated black grease on the thrust and silicone grease on the diff balls.
5. I also noticed some over tightening on the camber link positions on the hub carriers (front and rear) The screws were tighten down too much to the point where the aluminum ball ends were eating into the plastic hub parts. Another thing I noticed was you put the front camber link on the other side of the C-hub (possibly to avoid rub on the front foam tires) this caused a severe bind on the front suspension and pushed back the upper deck by about a good 1/4th of an inch if you remove all the screws on the upperdeck, so I change those back to the front. You can try a lower profile screw (like a button head) for the front camber link mount to prevent possible rubbing.
6. I checked out the condition of your input bevel gears and the diff ring gears. I did the tip we mentioned before and sand down those gears. The gears are a bit sharp out of box and because of the hard matieral that it is made of, it would be a long while before they break in naturally, so you just sand it down a little bit until the sharp pointing edge of the teeth becomes a little bit flat. I'm not sure if you ran grease on your gears, but grease is not necessary, and I "flossed" the teeth with an Xcto knife
7. Okay, so by now the bearings are done and I'm putting the car together. I did notice some string fibers a quite a few places (I'm assuming they are from the carpet you race on) so if that's the case, you should maintain your car after every race day as the car will pick them up as you race. I followed the same transmission alignment procedure we posted online and assembled your car back. You basically screw in all the screw on the bulkhead at the bottom (but leave them about 2 turns away from tighten) place the shaft holder on the bulkhead (and make sure they are seated properly) hold it with your hand while you screw in the screws from the bottom of the bulkhead. Then you do the upper deck starting with the front and rear bulkhead and the two servo post screws last.
One thing I noticed is that you didn't have any shims between the axle pin and the outter most bearings (I believe the instruction shows 1 for the front axles and 2 for the rear) you'll need these shims to prevent the aluminum hex hubs from "eating" into the bearing when you tighten down the wheel nut on your tire.
--------------------------------------------------
That's pretty much it. All it was is a combination of a lot of little things that added up to a huge bind on your car. In racing that's really the whole secret behind a fast car, just a lot of small advantage here and there added together. Same goes for a lot of things (Motor tuning, battery maintenance, tire selection...etc.) just a lot of little things. You can post any of these information on the threads as you see fit. If you don't want to post it is perfectly fine too I will incorporate more tips to the Alex Racing USA website.
I'll be away for the weekend, but I wanted to get this taken care of before I leave. I will be in contact with you Monday when I return. Have a good weekend!
Sincerely,
Steve Wang
If anyone has ANY doubt...Steve is a great guy to do this for me and I have learned ALOT from this experience....
OK everybody....I want to say that Steve did a great job explaining to me what I did. I think there are 2 levels of RC cars out there....one would be the AE/Losi type where you can have a mediocre build and run fine. And then there are another type of car like the 'cuda/Atlas/X-Ray where the build of the car is critical. I can actually say that I have run a X-ray, but it was never up to par with other top drivers in the area. That being said, I learned ALOT in building a car from Steve...keep in mind I have been racing for about 2 1/2 years and was always in that 2nd tier of drivers...some is my driving...
and some is the car....Again, from gas racing...I have kung foo grip and thread lock addiction!!!!!
Anyway, don't flame me....I am just a poor soul with a sweet car...
Thanks again Steve!!
His email to me:
Good Morning Mike,
I finished rebuilding your Cuda last night, and right now, the car is a lot smoother now then when I first got it (a lot smoother!). Here's a couple things I noticed and took care of for you :
1. The first thing I started with were the bearings. typically, brand new bearings in the kits are packed with heavy grease. This is just standard industry procedure from bearing manufactures, however, for our purpose, the thick grease really slows down the car and attract a lot of dirt. So I used an Integy sparkle cleaner (Part number E2006) which you fill with motor spray, dump in the bearings and it'll vibrate out all the grease. This is a little trick that every fast drivers do. For future kits you purchase, you should always do this to your bearings. After a good 30 minutes of shaking, all the grease should be out of the bearings, then you place a drop of light oil (ex. Trinity royal oil) to lube it.
For future maintainance of your bearings, you can do the sparkle cleaner procedure again. I do this after every weekend of racing. It is also a good time for you to inspect the bearing for any shot ones.
2. While I was cleaning the bearings, I decided to take all your suspension components apart. The front I noticed that the shock tower screws (the four long ones) one of them was the wrong length? and also I noticed a lot of thread lock residue on the screws. thread lock is a good idea on aluminum parts, but I think just a tiny half a drop on each screw is good enough. I think you had a tad too much on all the screws throughout the car This really didn't cause any problem on the screws that goes into the bulkheads, but the two setscrew that held on to the center shaft had too much threadlock as well and it went around the graphite shaft. I suspect the graphite shaft might not have set perfectly straight because of the threadlock. So I pull the shaft out, clean out the inside and the shaft a little bit, so it should be fine now.
3. Another thing I noticed was the amount of strength you used to tighten down the screws. Although the screws need to be tight, they were a way too tight. The plastic front and rear case on your car shows signs of stress cracks at where the screws goes through. This weakens the strength of the cases and also possibly causes a tweak in the drivetrain. The screws need to be tight, but don't overtighten
4. On the threads I saw you mention something about the diff housing and how it might be defective. I checked the diff housing against a spare ball diff of mine, and they were both equally good. As I rebuild the diff, I noticed that you only had 4 of the 6 thrust balls necessary for the thrust assembly. I put in some of my spare ones and rebuild it with associated black grease on the thrust and silicone grease on the diff balls.
5. I also noticed some over tightening on the camber link positions on the hub carriers (front and rear) The screws were tighten down too much to the point where the aluminum ball ends were eating into the plastic hub parts. Another thing I noticed was you put the front camber link on the other side of the C-hub (possibly to avoid rub on the front foam tires) this caused a severe bind on the front suspension and pushed back the upper deck by about a good 1/4th of an inch if you remove all the screws on the upperdeck, so I change those back to the front. You can try a lower profile screw (like a button head) for the front camber link mount to prevent possible rubbing.
6. I checked out the condition of your input bevel gears and the diff ring gears. I did the tip we mentioned before and sand down those gears. The gears are a bit sharp out of box and because of the hard matieral that it is made of, it would be a long while before they break in naturally, so you just sand it down a little bit until the sharp pointing edge of the teeth becomes a little bit flat. I'm not sure if you ran grease on your gears, but grease is not necessary, and I "flossed" the teeth with an Xcto knife
7. Okay, so by now the bearings are done and I'm putting the car together. I did notice some string fibers a quite a few places (I'm assuming they are from the carpet you race on) so if that's the case, you should maintain your car after every race day as the car will pick them up as you race. I followed the same transmission alignment procedure we posted online and assembled your car back. You basically screw in all the screw on the bulkhead at the bottom (but leave them about 2 turns away from tighten) place the shaft holder on the bulkhead (and make sure they are seated properly) hold it with your hand while you screw in the screws from the bottom of the bulkhead. Then you do the upper deck starting with the front and rear bulkhead and the two servo post screws last.
One thing I noticed is that you didn't have any shims between the axle pin and the outter most bearings (I believe the instruction shows 1 for the front axles and 2 for the rear) you'll need these shims to prevent the aluminum hex hubs from "eating" into the bearing when you tighten down the wheel nut on your tire.
--------------------------------------------------
That's pretty much it. All it was is a combination of a lot of little things that added up to a huge bind on your car. In racing that's really the whole secret behind a fast car, just a lot of small advantage here and there added together. Same goes for a lot of things (Motor tuning, battery maintenance, tire selection...etc.) just a lot of little things. You can post any of these information on the threads as you see fit. If you don't want to post it is perfectly fine too I will incorporate more tips to the Alex Racing USA website.
I'll be away for the weekend, but I wanted to get this taken care of before I leave. I will be in contact with you Monday when I return. Have a good weekend!
Sincerely,
Steve Wang
If anyone has ANY doubt...Steve is a great guy to do this for me and I have learned ALOT from this experience....
05-09-2003, 08:57 AM
#2192
cuda back to life
thats great you car is fixed and thats the great part about this hobby LEARNING I dont care how old you are and how long you been it you always learn something new
hope to hear from you soon after you race it and see the difference.
on a postive note at least the cuda didnt become dinner "sushi"
enjoy racing the cuda
and thats the great part about this hobby LEARNING I dont care how old you are and how long you been it you always learn something new hope to hear from you soon after you race it and see the difference.on a postive note at least the cuda didnt become dinner "sushi"
enjoy racing the cuda
05-09-2003, 09:31 AM
#2193
Good to see it was a simple to fix problem
seems you need to loose the HeMan strength
Steve certainly seems to go that extra mile to give good service, other model shops should learn that good service means repeat business
Only place I find that needs thread lock is on the grub screw in the cvd's. First couple of runs the screws did come out of the bulkheads a little but now they don't move and I only tighten them until they start giving plenty of resistance. Cracked gear covers
I bet now Steve has freed things up you'll have one of the fastest cars at your track 
seems you need to loose the HeMan strength
Steve certainly seems to go that extra mile to give good service, other model shops should learn that good service means repeat business
Only place I find that needs thread lock is on the grub screw in the cvd's. First couple of runs the screws did come out of the bulkheads a little but now they don't move and I only tighten them until they start giving plenty of resistance. Cracked gear covers
I bet now Steve has freed things up you'll have one of the fastest cars at your track
05-09-2003, 09:34 AM
#2194
See,
the he-man strength comes from 2 things:
1. Racing gas on-road....like racing a food processor (things shake apart ALL the TIME!!)
2. Running the x-ray with the screws instead on lock nuts on the wheel...SUPER LOCK TITE...I can't tell you how many times a wheel has fallen off from not being tight enough...
OK, so there's my alibi... although I have NO CLUE where the thrust balls went???
Must have lost them after getting frustrated the Millionth time I built that diff...go figure, the diff really wasn't my problem after all!!!!....
the he-man strength comes from 2 things:
1. Racing gas on-road....like racing a food processor (things shake apart ALL the TIME!!)
2. Running the x-ray with the screws instead on lock nuts on the wheel...SUPER LOCK TITE...I can't tell you how many times a wheel has fallen off from not being tight enough...
OK, so there's my alibi...
although I have NO CLUE where the thrust balls went??? Must have lost them after getting frustrated the Millionth time I built that diff...go figure, the diff really wasn't my problem after all!!!!....
Last edited by kansasracer; 05-09-2003 at 01:37 PM.
05-09-2003, 11:57 AM
#2195
You talking to me?
Anyone want a Burito?
So steve found the ICH drops huh.
Cool
Anyone want a Burito?
So steve found the ICH drops huh.
Cool
05-09-2003, 03:48 PM
#2196
Originally posted by kansasracer
See,
the he-man strength comes from 2 things:
1. Racing gas on-road....like racing a food processor (things shake apart ALL the TIME!!)
2. Running the x-ray with the screws instead on lock nuts on the wheel...SUPER LOCK TITE...I can't tell you how many times a wheel has fallen off from not being tight enough...
OK, so there's my alibi... although I have NO CLUE where the thrust balls went??? Must have lost them after getting frustrated the Millionth time I built that diff...go figure, the diff really wasn't my problem after all!!!!....
See,
the he-man strength comes from 2 things:
1. Racing gas on-road....like racing a food processor (things shake apart ALL the TIME!!)
2. Running the x-ray with the screws instead on lock nuts on the wheel...SUPER LOCK TITE...I can't tell you how many times a wheel has fallen off from not being tight enough...
OK, so there's my alibi...
although I have NO CLUE where the thrust balls went??? Must have lost them after getting frustrated the Millionth time I built that diff...go figure, the diff really wasn't my problem after all!!!!....
BTW.. you would probibaly cry if you got your hands one my CUDA`s
very thing is SOooooooooooooooo Smooth it`s sick -Dave
05-09-2003, 04:03 PM
#2198
Originally posted by JDM_DOHC_SiR
Ummmmmmm NO!!!
-Dave 
Ummmmmmm NO!!!
-Dave
05-09-2003, 04:05 PM
#2199
Originally posted by Herminator
aww go on, I'll take all four, you know you want to stick to your Pro 3
aww go on, I'll take all four, you know you want to stick to your Pro 3
.. It Has to go the car handles well but my CE-4 can put it to shame -Dave
BTW do any of you guys want it
300$ shipped
05-09-2003, 04:49 PM
#2201
Originally posted by JDM_DOHC_SiR
Nads` what other car are you going to buy
-Dave
Nads` what other car are you going to buy
-Dave
we may let you off with a new Yoke SD
then again we may not 
05-09-2003, 05:31 PM
#2202
Tech Regular
Originally posted by JDM_DOHC_SiR
Nads` what other car are you going to buy
-Dave
Nads` what other car are you going to buy
-Dave
I might go for something simple to race in stock as I don't want to worry about maintanence. Might take a look at a TC3. About time I tried a US made car
05-09-2003, 07:12 PM
#2203
if anyone is looking to get out of nitro, and try one of these great cars, im letting mine go for the right kit.
I got one of the first batch that Steve got in at SpeedtechRC and have only used it twice on carpet.
This is a great car, but ive caught the big track bug.
200mm touring is where its at for me right now.
take a gander, and maybe you have the right car to swap
sorry for the shamelss plug, but I know there are some people out there looking for one of these, and ive got one with spares and a few hop ups that im looking to unload
Thanks
Nate
http://www.rctech.net/forum/showthre...threadid=17802
I got one of the first batch that Steve got in at SpeedtechRC and have only used it twice on carpet.
This is a great car, but ive caught the big track bug.
200mm touring is where its at for me right now.
take a gander, and maybe you have the right car to swap
sorry for the shamelss plug, but I know there are some people out there looking for one of these, and ive got one with spares and a few hop ups that im looking to unload
Thanks
Nate
http://www.rctech.net/forum/showthre...threadid=17802
05-10-2003, 12:25 AM
#2204
Originally posted by itchynads
Still not sure. I like the look of the Mr4tc sd but those diff gear placement remind me of the Evo3
I might go for something simple to race in stock as I don't want to worry about maintanence. Might take a look at a TC3. About time I tried a US made car
Still not sure. I like the look of the Mr4tc sd but those diff gear placement remind me of the Evo3
I might go for something simple to race in stock as I don't want to worry about maintanence. Might take a look at a TC3. About time I tried a US made car
A TC3
...do your self a favor and get one more R2 or a MR4TC SD -Dave
05-10-2003, 01:18 AM
#2205
Tech Regular
Originally posted by JDM_DOHC_SiR
A TC3 ...do your self a favor and get one more R2 or a MR4TC SD
-Dave
A TC3
...do your self a favor and get one more R2 or a MR4TC SD -Dave
A Mr4tc sd looks too much like an Evo3 (apart from the SSG) so I don't think I will miss anything by not getting it
I've pretty much driven Japanese cars all my life so I wan't to see what a US built car is like. The other US car I had on my mind was a XXX-S but that's for another time