sakadachi

iTrader: (1)

I guess the next step for me is to see if I can find a dremel tip to sand out the inside of the ball cup adjusters a little bit to salvage the parts. The plastic cups are too tight on some of them when connected to the balls causing binding (both steering linkage and upper suspension arms use the same ball cup adjusters).

RotorTruck

iTrader: (2)

Sounds like I should put a drop of loctite or superglue on the ball diff retaining nut before installing it. I read on another forum that the thrust bearings were dry from the factory. Might as well take the diffs apart and check before assembly.

sakadachi

iTrader: (1)

I applied Tamiya AW grease on the thrust bearing during chassis assy; and the nut that keeps the diff together is a standard nylon based metal lock nut. I suppose adding loctite can help but I've snapped the main screw on other diffs so didn't want to risk it given I have no spare parts.

The main diff balls came greased. Hell, even the oil dampers are preoiled!

I found a Dremel bit that will fit inside the ball adjusters. Going to try salvaging the parts later today. . Those ball connectors are too tight on 8 out of 10 of them on my kit.

heretic

You could pinch the ball cups on the balls with pliers. Yes, it is a bit ghetto, but the Dremel things seems much ghetto-er to me.

sakadachi

iTrader: (1)

Thanks, heretic!! That worked. I didn't even have to remove anything.
I used my nylon jaw Tamiya pliers.

Guess I've been too spoiled by using quality parts. Learned something new

I don't care about ghetto or not, I'm about having solutions and this is a great solution!

sakadachi

iTrader: (1)

Re-tightened both diffs only to find this on the rear axle hub. Car is not even a week old, maybe 20-22 runs tops running nothing more than a Mabuchi silver can.

I want to note that I run these cars on my private track at home. My cars have a lot of hours run time on them, easily do 30-40 (10min) runs in a week. I'm comparing this BSR to my CupRacer as it is most similar vs all the other m-chassis I have. My CupRacer has easily over 200 runs and no such wear running 21.5T with both NiCd's and 2S. Obviously my other m-chassis do not show this level of wear either, my Sabre's run Lipo all the time 21.5T and 17.5T easily over 500 runs on them.

Bottom line, you get what you pay for.. Not that I'm complaining, hope they sell aluminum hubs for this car with blades.

RotorTruck

iTrader: (2)

What a bummer. Is there a way to harden plastic or are we stuck?

sakadachi

iTrader: (1)

I think we're stuck. HobbyKing wants $20 for the diff assembly , and I don't think Nanda ever released an aluminum hub diff with blades? Maybe we can get HobbyKing to sell just the diff housings?

Anyway, I put in another 15 rounds of 10min driving over the weekend and that wear area now looks like a frikken mouse hole.
My fronts are also wearing now to.

I'm going to cut the slot wider and install blades on the drive axles. Maybe plastic vs plastic will make it last a little longer? (maybe, not sure)

Sucks because I really like how this car drives.

sakadachi

iTrader: (1)

If anyone is looking for the four 3x6x2.5 mm bearings to use in the steering rack (slider thingie) Amazon has a good deal going for 10pcs. I had to file the posts a little bit to make the ID 3mm bearings fit.

http://www.amazon.com/Miniature-Bear...6x2.5+bearings

If you're into Mini-Z's this the same size that goes in the rear axle.. just FYI.
My 2nd M-Rage kit is in the house. I'm going to use this one for spare parts.

RotorTruck

iTrader: (2)

What suspension setup did you end up with sakadachi? Got my rage into roller form and all the electronics have arrived. I'll run a Trackstar 21.5 v2 and a Trackstar 60a blinky ESC.

Had to tighten up the top cap and bottom cap on each shock, they were about 1/4 turn loose each. Don't know which pistons or shock oil are in there as the shocks are built from factory but I'll try them out as is.

sakadachi

iTrader: (1)

Yeah, definitely tighten the caps for sure. Mine were leaking too..

As for the springs and dampers I am using it as-is.

The tires that the kit comes with is actually pretty good, and kind of similar in performance to the Shimizu 55mm Hard compound that I use regularly on most of my m-chassis.

As for the towers, I am using the outer most on the front, 2nd from outside on the rear, 4.5mm front/ 7mm rear ride heights, no stabilizer.

I changed the front wheel hub to 4mm and running a 0.75mm spacer to push the wheel into the wells a little bit to clear the body.

I think you're going to like this car. It has quickly become one of my favorites.

RotorTruck

iTrader: (2)

Thanks! How about camber, toe, and rear wheel base spacers? And how tight should the diffs be? I'm starting with the front diff rather tight, and rear more medium. With the factory built diffs considered soft.

I'll be trying out some SWEEP Soft compounds with aqua inserts this weekend.

sakadachi

iTrader: (1)

On my track which is moderate traction, I use -0.5 camber on the front, -1.5 on the rear which is the same on my other 4WD m-chassis.

I have slight toe out on the front, rear is the factory setting.

As for diff, I have the front set on the stiffer side, but not super stiff, rear on the soft side. I unscrewed the diff nut while on the car and put a dab of loctite on it, screwed it back on so that it doesn't loosen up. I bought an extra kit so have 2 extra diffs just in case something breaks.

I'm not sure how the Sweep tires work on the car. I have the soft and middle hardness Sweeps but they did not work well on my track surface (too soft). No spacers on my setup, rather I pulled the front inward by about 1mm.

Hope some of this helps you get started; depending on your grip level you'll probably find another setup more suited for you.

eR1c

iTrader: (2)

Just read about this car in the latest issue of RC Car Action.
They give it a much better review than you do Sakadachi. However I trust your review on this thread 100% more than RC Action ...they tend to praise everything and are rarely critical.

For $80ish I was going to pick one up ...but I think i'll stick w/ my other 2 1/12th scale cars for now and pass. The steering seems to be an issue, -one that can be fixed but would rather invest in another Tamiya M class car as a spare/backup for race day. (I almost missed a race or two this past year as my Tamiya M needed a motor swap 7 mins before one race -never soldered so quick in my life. Also ran into a steering issue which I just barely fixed prior to another race.). ...anyway...

RotorTruck

iTrader: (2)

I got my steering rack to move very very easily when using Acer bearings instead of the stock bushings, and a gratuitous amount of Super Lube and Tri Flow in the bearings. Also put a thin teflon washer under the two nuts that hold the rack assembly together. But, once I attached the rack to the tie rods, the steering became much slower. I have the upright screws on the loose side, and the tie rods have a little drag but not much. Hmm...

Besides that it looks like a great car and was fun to build, except the instructions didnt reference which bag the parts were in so a bit of unnecessary searching was in order.

Haven't driven the car yet but will this weekend.