The stock 16t will be fine with that.

Chicky,

I am converting from your old setup to your new and have a couple of questions.

The front aluminum spindles, I see those on Joe's etruggy setup also, what is the reasoning for those over the plastics? I also noticed you run them in the "high" position, which I assume is the one shim on the stock plastics, 2 shims on the aluminum, what does that change in the setup? I see the same on the Spyder a lot and not sure what spindle height does for handling. The setup seems to favor adding rear traction over the previous which has been an issue for me at one track, but not so much others. I'll have it out on Saturday and will see. I will also be by to bug you at AMS. We are heading up Thursday morning and I will have the ebuggy and etruggy.

Thanks!

Grant

The buggy I use them and Joe does not. The alu 600497 are the same as the stock steering blocks but have a little more throw. The 600611 are 0 deg steering blocks and we use them on truggy. They just seem to work better on truggy than the stock ones.

The higher spindle takes away a little steering.

Let us know how the setup works out. it has a lot more rear traction I think.

I run a 1900 motor, and run a 17t pinion everywhere that I go.

I've been running Chicky's setup as well, but changed to Joe's piston/oil setup from the Mugen Challenge for a bit more pack. We have some pretty big air jumps and my car was getting un settled on landings. Now I love the way it drives everywhere. The sway bar play adjustment is especially clever.

Triple/single jump our quad and my rear shock shaft separated from the tube. That seemed odd to me, so when I tore it down and inspected it, I found a sheared shaft piece. The shaft is hollow, and a 2.5 x 6mm screw holds the piston to the shaft. Where the shaft meets the piston, there is a different diameter section of the shaft. This part sheared off. When I got a replacement shaft from another Serpent owner, I finger-tightened the piston to the shaft with a 2.5 x 6mm screw, and the screw started very smooth. When I tightened it 1/4 to get it snug, the same thing happened. The part where the piston attaches to the shaft snapped off around the screw.
This must be a manufacturer defect because it did not take much force at all to do this, and it might be possible for the shaft speed to create enough force to cause this to happen off of big jumps. I want everyone to be aware of this issue. I really enjoyed driving my Serpent despite it scratching 3 races due to part failures.

17/50 or 17/48?

Good info. I am not sure which spindles I have as they came with a nitro buggy I got a while back. I have 2 sets, and one is on the truggy now, still using the plastics on the buggy. Went higher spindle on the buggy and will see how it works Saturday at our series race. I am excited to try the setup though!

I run a 16t with the 46 spur. Running setting 5 boost on the Hobbywing ESC and it comes off 140-150 after a 10 min main on our larger outdoor tracks. I could probably do a 17 if I either cut down the boost or opened some holes in the body for air flow, but speed has not been an issue so far compared to others.

I shouldn't have that issue this weekend as the track is built to be 8th and 10th friendly, but AMS might be another story. I am not seeing Joe's setup anywhere?

So oddly enough I had a similar failure where the shoulder of the shock shaft separated from the shaft and came apart during practice. I put it back together with some elbow grease and prayers and it held the rest of the race day (3 quals and a main). I have never had that issue before, and this is a 2.0 rear shaft but fairly old. I just got new shafts in the mail yesterday to replace it, but I have not heard of this. Keep in mind the threads go beyond the shoulder so this should not happen as most of the thread engagement is below the shoulder. What pistons are you running and are you running the spacer with them?

I assume 17/46, as most buggies use the 46 spur. Truggies use the 48 and 50 as I recall.

I could be wrong, but Steve is very aware of that...

I was running the stock pistons and the spacer according to the set up sheet for the 811-Be 2.0.

That should be correct, with the spacer fitting into the inset in the piston, and the piston fitting on the shoulder. I assume the top of the shoulder (top of the shock shaft as well) is flush with the top of the piston? I want to say the shoulder is only 2-3mm, so a 6mm screw should be well into the shaft. Mine was in pieces when I found the problem, but the assumption is the screw backed out enough that when the suspension twisted from a hard landing, the torque on the shaft through the piston and to the bolt was put completely against that shoulder and caused it to fail. I have used locktite in the past on those screws but cannot recall if I did the last time.

I can't say if there is a defect or not, as my pieces are all older, but we will see with the new shafts I just got if there is any trouble screwing them in. I did get the ti-ni coated ones, vs the plain ones previously. I'll also measure my screws and make sure they are 6mm.

You put back together with some elbow grease?

I just recently had 1 of my shock shaft break at the same point. The wall thickness after that part of the shaft has been turned down then tapped is not very thick. The new one's I just got are solid on that part with the threads cut on the outside, using a nut to hold the piston down. Should be a much stronger setup now.

OK OK, but to be fair, you probably broke it when you rear ended me with that piggy Kyosho of yours...

That is how the Spyder works, and would be great if that is how they are now. I didnt look closely at the ones that just arrived to see if they used the 2.6 screws or nuts.

I tried 1.2x4/1.3x4 tapered pistons, taper up, front and rear, and like it better than 1.3x8 taper up pistons.