roddude65

speedy dave

as far as picking a car .. get whatever has local parts support and whatever is popular at your track so if you and the hobby shop happen to be out of a part you might be able to beg borrow or swap for the part .. this also is good fro getting setup help and oddball problem help .... if you choose the NTC3 I would go for the factory team kit right off the get ... and here is why ... I did a comparison shop for you at Stormer Hobbies ... a good online shop ... I did the two prices to get the cars mechanically the same .. not materially the same .. meaning the same differential options , pipes, tuning accessorys and such ... heres what I went for ... each kit with .. front and rear sway bars ... two diffs and a oneway ..and dual chamber pipes .... the factory team kit came out to 411.90 .. and the team kit came out to 442.65 ... then I did a fast list of the stuff you would need to finish out both kits to running status ... and that list was quart of fuel, after run oil, fuel filter, starter box, spring kit, all the spur and pinion gears, a decent starting motor, foam tire set, glow ingniter, and air filter and that list came out to 402.15 .. that list will be needed with either kit and most likely any kit .. minus the springs and gears cause those prices were specific to the NTC3 ... so the Factory team kit is the cheaper way to go .. and remember after the arms and stuff break the first time you can always put on the plastic parts ... if you want the full break down send me an IM and I can type it all out for you along with the manufactures and part numbers ...

jasoncsc

I ahve run the K Factory tank .. but I pulled it off and sold it because it was boiling the fuel at the back of the tank from it being so close to the motor ... this only happened on hot days .. but still the power loss was noticeable ... also like BBntc3 said .. the lid spring is on the weak side .. so I switched back ... its a nice idea .. but a little more thought needs to go into it

YSP

I have stripped out the two speed housing too .. now I just use a little bit of thread locker when I put on the spur and I havent had one come off since ... change gears as soon as your heats over so the thread locker has time to set up between rounds ... but I havent had one loosen up since I started doing that ...

tallyrc

I honestly havent looked for a full carbon fiber upgrade kit ... I have only done the towers and radio tray/chassis braces really ... I have been buying mostly plastic arms and hubs ... but check the Associated web site for parts availablity www.rc10.com

have fun racing

E

speedydave

Thanks for the replies. I'm still not sure which car I'm going to get, but I have time to decide, so I'm not in a hurry. The NTC3 would be an easy choice for me except for the fact that I've heard a lot of people complain about durability. I'm new to racing onroad, but I've been into RC for over 6 years, racing for over half of that, and racing nitro for 2+ years, but everything I've ever done (except for some bashers) has been offroad. I've got glow ignitors and after-run oil and that kind of stuff, and I've got electronics and engine stuff all figured out already. All I need is to figure out which damn car I'm gonna get.

Local support for AE (both my lhs that does not hold races, and the shop at the track slightly farther away) is awesome, not only for the NTC3, but for the TC3, T4, B4, etc... The LHS has Mugen parts, but they are going to stop carrying Mugen, and don't have much in now as it is. The track has some Mugen parts, and they're always willing to order stuff for people, but they don't stock the same range of parts (like, they don't have a lot of parts for Mugen, just main stuff you should need) as they do for AE. If the rumors are generally true, I won't need to buy spares for the MTX3 as often as I will for the NTC3, so not having as many parts being stocked isn't that bad, but having the selection and support of AE stuff would also be very helpful, especially if I break something that's not a common break. This is going to be difficult to come to a final decision.

roddude65

I dont know what folks are talking about as far as it not being durable .. maybe I have just been lucky with the crashes that I have had ... last race weekend I was pushed off the track ( an oval ) and sent into the grass to start cartwheeling .. I went about 30 ft cartwheeling all that happened to the car were broken rims on the rear tires ( just the edges broken I reglued them and I will use them as practice tires now and they were rubber tires anyway ) I have the new rear suspension I set the car up on the setup gauges and nothing was out of alignment ... nothing broken .. so I dont know what the folks are complaining about I totally expected to walk over and find the car in shreads but nothing broken ... I stock in my pit box extra arms, lots of extra pivot balls, spurs and pinions, hubs, a spare set of hinge pins and a spare set of body mounts .. and thats it ... and I have never run out of parts to repair the car ... what I have broken / bent the most are pivot balls ... I started last summer running this chassis and I have replaced more on it due to stripped out screw holes ( I bought the chassis used ) and stripped out screws than due to breakage ... so I wouldnt say that it is any more fragile than any other car out there ... now .. if you hit every board on the track any car is going to be fragile ... but from your post I doubt that will be the case here ... but get whatever your comfortable with ... and I only did the comparison like that because I didnt know from what level of racing you were comming from and what you already had or not ...

have fun racing

E

jshracing

I just recently bought a ntc3 version 2 , any suggestions on a setup for a medium bite asphalt track on foams

thanks in advance

OB42TC3

My biggest problem the last two years was by far; roasting the diff gears, but in general the only true issue I think the car has is drivetrain durability, and that may be a thing of the past. I have also had the front drive cup explode, ejecting the driveshaft, two speed gear screws coming off, two speed deciding not to shift for the main, etc. Again, most if not all of these issues have been addressed but not acknowledged by AE.

sedanaddict

I wish i could understand the diff gear problem. I know some guys who definently know how to shim the diffs and are excellent drivers, but they go through diff gears. I am an average driver and my ntc3 from 2 years ago was the first kit i built and i have never had a gear strip. the ftntc3 for this year is the third one i have had and i have a pretty powerful motor but they just don't strip. diff covers are a different story but that is a direct result of my driving.

revzalot

iTrader: (4)

Just bought a used ftnct3. I'm still looking for the following parts. Any expert suggestions and tips would be greatly appreciated.

1. Where can I get the rear v2 suspension upgrade? I'd like to use paypal to order them.

2. I'm looking for competition tires. Any suggestions?

3. What are good servos that are not too expensive?

Thanks.

tallyrc

iTrader: (12)

are you looking for foam tires or rubber?

i love my hitec servos, they are all i use. they are plenty fast, durable and very reasonably priced. i used to run the hs 525mg for steering, now i run their base model digital for better centering, and the throttle servo, frankly i think you want a good 70 oz of toque, but you don't want it too fast, or at least it doesn't NEED to be too fast.

get them from servocity.com as they have hands down the best pricing i have ever found on servos and receivers and cheap shiping or free is you spend enough... jmho

revzalot

iTrader: (4)

Thanks for the servo info. I'm looking into getting some good foams like 35 shores.

Solara

iTrader: (17)

CA the whole thing....I did mine about 2 years ago (first thing to do with that housing), still running the same gear and same housing....since I don't have any plan to change that 48T....

Solara

iTrader: (17)

PIVOT balls, get a lot of them.....they will bent very easily, however, they rarely snapped..........but if you stay away from the board, you should not have anything bent.

If you are using V2 suspension....get some spare rear lower arm, I sold out all the lower arms on the first day of racing....ppl like to touch the board and that is the part most ppl break.

Beside, those, NTC3 is a very strong car.....strong and FAST car.

Solara

iTrader: (17)

1. if what you said is correct, the 'FTNTC3" is already come with the V2 suspension........so no need, to do upgrade....only for those who has the TEAM KIT NTC3 will need to do the upgrade.

2.......FOAM tires...NITRO SHOES or whatever that you like, 40/40 or 40/37 or 37/37.....etc

3. Throttle...Futaba 3101...$23, Steering...Hitec sounds good.

DMACK

I have great luck with my NTC3, durability hasn't been a problem. Definately use locktight in the screws that hold the two speed gears on.

V2 rear suspension works great, made a big difference eliminating the high speed push the ols rear suspension had, and it holds toe settings much better.

As for set ups for the V2, for high bite tracks, smooth tracks, I usually run 2 degrees of toe in, shock in the center hole, same in front, and the camber link in the top hole. This keeps the roll center very low, and the car is very responsive.

For slippery, parking lot tracks, I usually go with the inside shock hole, same in front, and the bottom hole for the camber link. This raises the roll center a little, which aids in weight transfer and seems to give the car a little better grip in slippery conditions.

revzalot

iTrader: (4)

I believe my used ntc3 doesn't have the v2 rear setup since it's two years old. The manual was written in 2001. Anyone know of a paypal friendly store that has the v2 upgrade?

Solara

iTrader: (17)

Does TOWER take paypal...? If so, that is the easiest place to get AE parts online and fair price.